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“Look,” Kenma said, fake irritation on his face, “I know I told you not to do anything to celebrate my birthday, but this is a particularly shitty way to spend it.”
Kuroo slipped his phone back into his pocket, and looked up at his husband. Something about seeing Kenma in a hospital gown was somewhat funny, but he couldn’t quite figure out why. Maybe it was the way he kept pulling at the sleeves as if willing them to become long sleeves. Kenma rarely wore anything with short sleeves, especially now that it was October and getting a bit cooler out.
“Maybe you should have thought of that before getting appendicitis,” he pointed out.
“I’m coming for your appendix next if you keep this up” Kenma threatened.
Kenma glared at him from the hospital bed. He ran his hands through his hair and put it up into a ponytail and then took it back out, not liking how it felt. He tried and failed again before just putting the hair tie back around his wrist.
“Wait are you nervous?” Kuroo asked, getting off the chair he was sitting in.
He’d been looking up information on appendicitis since they’d been put in this room. He told Kenma about how long the surgery would take, what it’d be like, and the fact that there are rarely any complications, but most importantly, he made fun of him for getting appendicitis at thirty five. Most people get it when they’re younger.
“Of course I’m nervous,” Kenma said, scrunching up his nose, “They’re going to drug me, stab me, and take one of my organs.”
“I feel like that’s not really an accurate depiction, dear,” he said, setting his hand on Kenma’s knee.
“What part of that is inaccurate?” Kenma asked, amused with himself.
“You know what I mean,” Kuroo said, unable to hide his own amused smile.
They both looked as a nurse went by with a tray with multiple jellos on it. Kenma eyed the orange ones.
“Can I have one of those?” Kenma asked her.
“Aren’t you going into surgery in just a bit?” she asked, checking his chart.
“Well, yes, but-“
“Then, no,” the nurse said, “You can’t eat anything. You haven’t eaten, have you?”
“No, I haven’t,” he said thoughtfully, “But can I sign a waiver that says it’s okay for me to aspirate the jello during surgery if it means I can have one now?”
“No, why would we even? You know what? For that, I’m not even bringing you one after your surgery,” she said with a smile as she signed something on the clipboard attached to Kenma’s bed.
“Can you bring me one of the orange ones?” Kenma asked her, “I don’t really like cherry flavored.”
“You’re getting none of them, now,” she said with a shake of her head, “I’m going to go get your pre-op team as long as you don’t have any other non-jello related questions.”
She waited for a second to see if Kenma would ask anything, but he stayed quiet, so she left.
“Kozume, née Kuroo, Tetsurou, as my husband-“
“Am I in trouble?” he asked with a laugh at hearing his extended name.
“You will be if you don’t procure me an orange jello after my surgery,” he said solemnly.
“The nurse is obviously messing with you. She’s going to bring you a jello,” Kuroo said.
“I’m pretty sure I annoyed her. I think she’s being serious, so I need you to step up to the plate,” Kenma insisted, “Think about it. It’s my birthday. You have to do this for me.”
“I will not have to do this for you because your nurse is going to do it,” he said with a laugh, “But if there’s something else you want for your birthday, let me know.”
“Alright, let me phrase it like this. I bet that she won’t get me an orange Jello and if I’m right, you have to get me one,” Kenma amended.
“Fair enough, love. When she, or another member of the hospital staff, brings you one, you have to let me get you a birthday present without complaining about it,” Kuroo countered.
“You know what,” Kenma said as he gestured to the medical professionals walking in, “I want to object but it seems like we don’t have the time.”
Kuroo gave his knee a squeeze.
“I’ll be here when you wake up. You’ll be okay. I promise. Then you’ll get to have your jello,” Kuroo said, noticing the worry that creeped back into Kenma’s expression when he saw the medical team come in, “It’ll be okay.”
“Alright,” the anesthetist said as she started preparing to put him under, “Tell me something about yourself like your job or your hobbies to get your mind off of this. By the time you’re done, you’ll be out. Then you’ll wake up in what feels like no time at all, okay?”
Kenma nodded, “So this weekend, I was on a date with my husband, who is really smart, and he was telling this absolutely adorable, but dorky, story about h-”
He woke up disoriented. Everything was a little bright, and a little fuzzy.
“You have to put me back under, right? It didn’t work?” Kenma asked, acutely groggily. He felt like his lips weren’t keeping up with his brain.
“Nope, you’re all finished,” one of the nurses said, “I’m going to bring you back to your room.”
She started going over care directions with him, but he was more concerned about his lack of sleeves. He nodded as he shivered. He was cold. It occurred to him that he had a lack of an appendix along with his lack of sleeves. Oh, jello. He better not have a lack of jello too. Even though he was a bit nauseous, the thought of getting it soon was exciting. He loved the flavor of artificial orange things. He liked actual oranges less, but they were still good too, he supposed.
She laughed a bit as she looked down at him in the wheelchair, “I can see you’re still pretty out of it. I’ll have them write it all out and I’ll go through it with your husband.”
“Probably wise,” he said with a nod, returning to his thoughts.
Kuroo had said he wouldn’t be able to eat solid foods for a bit. Was it a short enough time that he could only eat jello? Maybe they could grind up some supplements and put them in there. It seemed reasonable enough.
The nurse helped him back into the hospital bed and attached an IV line to his arm. He didn’t particularly want to be back in the hospital bed, but at least he could use the sheets. He was absolutely freezing. He vaguely acknowledged that the nurse was talking to Kuroo, but Kenma wasn’t really occupied with her words. He was too busy noticing how much he liked to emerald green shirt Kuroo was wearing. It was a good color on him. It was also a good fit on him. He’d gotten used to three-piece suit Kuroo or pajama Kuroo. Those were pretty much the only Kuroos he had seen lately. This shirt, though, was a good shirt. It was just a slightly nicer long sleeved shirt, but it was really good. It reminded him of his own lack of sleeves. It was really cold. He decided he wouldn’t look as good in Kuroo’s shirt even if he wanted the sleeves. Kuroo filled the shirt out really well.
“How are you feeling?” Kuroo asked, placing his hand on top of Kenma’s.
“You should wear this shirt more often,” Kenma said intently, “I was going to steal it so I can have sleeves, but I don’t think it’d look good on me.”
Kuroo let out a little laugh, “That’s not what I asked.”
“Chilly,” he said scrunching his nose.
“You want my jacket?” he asked grabbing it from the chair behind him.
“Yeah,” he said with a soft smile.
Kuroo helped his free arm into the sleeve and draped the other half over his shoulder.
“They need long sleeved gowns,” Kenma pointed out.
“They can’t have sleeves because the people in them have things attached to their arms,” Kuroo pointed out as he gently tickled Kenma’s hand, the one on the arm with the IV.
“Hold that thought,” Kenma said as he furrowed his brow, “The nurse said she was going to tell you what I need to do.”
“She did. I’ve got you,” he said looping his pinky finger around Kenma’s.
“So can I have my jello now?” Kenma asked.
Kuroo sent an amused glance his way, “She said someone would be back in about an hour to check on you and bring you you Jello.”
“Sweet,” he said, nodding seriously.
They spent that hour talking, Kenma quickly regaining his ability to organize his thoughts better. It took him a bit longer to warm back up. They discussed all sorts of things, but mostly what Kenma thought about a new game he was playing.
“How are you feeling?” a new nurse asked him.
“I’m feeling alright,” Kenma answered.
“I heard from my coworker that you want me to bring you a thing of jello,” he said.
“Absolutely,” Kenma said, as the nurse removed his IV and covered the puncture with a bandage.
“I’ll be right back with it,” he said with a smile.
The nurse came back a short while later with a red Jello and a cup of ice.
“I don’t mean to be annoying,” Kenma said, “But do you have an orange one?”
“Sorry,” he responded, “We ran out.”
“Bummer,” Kenma said, taking the red one from him.
He waited for the nurse to leave the room again before announcing, “Kuroooo, it’s your time to shine.”
Kuroo laughed at the two additional syllables. Apparently it was one or four when it came to Kenma. The was no compromising.
“I’ll go do my husbandly duty,” he said, shaking his head, “I’ll be back shortly.”
“I don’t know what your problem is,” Kuroo said with a mouthful of red jello, “It’s actually pretty good.”
“Definitely not as good as this,” Kenma said, taking a bite of his own.