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For as long as Joshua could remember, he had always avoided celery. As a child, Joshua could vaguely remember a hospital trip after eating a dish cooked by his mother. Since then, Joshua always had an EpiPen tucked in his pocket.
As a young child, he never understood why he had to keep it on him, but as a teenager, Joshua found out that he was actually allergic to celery, and that the EpiPen was essential if he accidentally ate celery and went into anaphylactic shock. He needed it to stay alive.
So far, since he was a kid, Joshua hadn’t been to the hospital again for his allergy. Since he discovered that it was an allergy (Why the hell his parents didn’t tell him, he doesn’t know)
Joshua had been very careful, always checking takeaway menus before ordering food and checking over the recipes Mingyu used.
Not wanting to worry the group, Joshua just told his members he hated celery and that it tasted weirdly strong for him. Once he had asked the members to avoid cooking with celery, he hadn’t had a problem. Mingyu always let Joshua check over recipes if he was worried that there might be celery in the meal, and the members always warned Joshua if there was celery in a certain part of a takeaway so he could avoid it.
SEVENTEEN was something Joshua had always been grateful for, even more so when they took such good care of him.
One thing Joshua didn’t think through, was when they were filming Going Seventeen. Usually, they didn’t eat on Going Seventeen, and if they did they were told beforehand.
For today's episode, the group had been running around fields all day and playing games. The loser had to cook a meal with the ingredients provided, without knowing what the ingredients were.
Unfortunately for the group, Seokmin lost, a member that was not profound in their cooking skills or their ability to recognise random ingredients with no labels or information.
Seokmin took a long time cooking but eventually came up with a reasonable meal.
Joshua paid very little attention to what he was eating, simply appreciating the taste and thanking Seokmin.
Once the meal was over, everyone helped wash up and headed back to running around for a game of tag.
Halfway through the game, Joshua noticed something odd. His heart was racing, despite not putting too much effort into the game, and his breaths were coming out in short wheezes.
Joshua called over to the staff, asking for a time-out.
During the time out, Joshua sat down, trying to regain his breath and slow his heart rate.
With every passing second, it was getting harder and harder to take a breath, to the point where the other members were noticing.
“Shua, you’re looking kinda clammy. Why don’t you take a break for us?” Jeonghan said, pulling Joshua closer.
Joshua shook his head. “I’m fine…” He whispered in English, still wheezing.
Jeonghan took a hold of Joshua’s wrist, spotting the hives starting to break out on his arms.
“Shua, what’s this?” Jeonghan asked, voice turning distressed.
Joshua shook his head. “EpiPen…”
Jeonghan cocked his head to the side. “Why do you need that?”
“Allergic… Celery.”
Jeonghan gasped, looking up at Seungcheol. “He’s allergic to celery. He has an EpiPen.”
Seungcheol nodded, running off to find Joshua’s bag while Seokmin called an ambulance for them.
Seungcheol returned just as Seokmin ended the call with the emergency operator, opening Joshua’s bag and digging around until he found the blue and orange EpiPen.
Without hesitation, Seungcheol pressed the orange side to Joshua’s thigh and the American felt the sharp sting of the needle in his thigh before he took his first deep breath in almost five minutes.
His brain jolted back to awareness, properly taking in his surroundings.
Seungcheol was still holding the needle to his leg, and Jeonghan was still holding him in his lap, comforting Joshua as Seungcheol removed the needle. Joshua sobbed as he felt the harsh sting of the needle being pulled from his thigh, Junhui holding his leg still so he didn’t flinch away.
“You’re okay, Shua. You’ve had the EpiPen.” Seungcheol said, pushing the EpiPen away from them as some medical staff came over with their supplies.
An oxygen mask was placed over Joshua’s face and his blood pressure was checked.
When the ambulance came, they were quick to load him onto the gurney and take him away to the hospital for analysis. Jeonghan went with him, too worried to be separated from his best friend for too long.
———————
The hospital trip was long and draining for Joshua. He didn’t get admitted beyond the ER but he was still there for a good 12 hours before he was discharged. He had to wear the uncomfortable hospital gowns and had to be stuck with a needle a few times, much to his annoyance, while Jeonghan sat nearby and checked up on him every few minutes.
Anaphylaxis was the obvious diagnosis, and Joshua was just given some more Epinephrine and monitored for a few hours before being discharged.
Joshua was picked up by their manager and he was greeted back to the dorms by all the anxious members giving him warm hugs one by one.
Once everyone had received their hugs, Joshua was taken back to his room and tucked up in bed by Jeonghan, a warm blanket thrown over him and a few plushies thrown on his bed for comfort.
“Please warn us if something like this could happen again. It was scary for everyone.”
Joshua nodded. “I’m sorry.” He whispered, voice soft and sad.
Jeonghan shook his head. “Don’t be. Now we know, it won’t happen again.”
Joshua smiled and pulled Jeonghan down into the bed. “Stay with me.”
Jeonghan chuckled and wrapped his arms around Joshua. “Fine.”
The two held each other close, relieved to be together. They closed their eyes and fell asleep within minutes, thankful to hear each other breathing.