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"Hey buddy, you understand that Mom and I aren't going to be living together anymore, right?"
The toddler sniffled and rubbed his nose. "Y-yeah."
Ben wiped his son's tears away and kissed his forehead. "It's going to be okay. You're gonna stay with me during the week, and then you can hang out with her on weekends."
"I-I don't like it. I don't w-want her to go."
"I know, bud. It's hard for all of us. But I need you to be strong and use your listening ears right now, okay?"
Kenny sniffled again. "O-okay."
Ben took a deep breath. "I get sick sometimes and start shaking." He then imitated a seizure. "If we're alone when that happens, I need you to go get great-grandpa. It's really important."
Kenny looked up at his father with fear in his eyes.
Ben held his son's face in his hands. "I know it's scary, but if it happens, I really need you to be my superhero, okay? You're the only one who can help me."
---
Even though Ben and Kai's divorce was relatively amicable, it was still a major stressor in both of their lives. Ben knew his triggers and expected the stress to cause a seizure, but he didn't expect it to be as bad as it was.
Kenny ran into the kitchen after hearing his father cry out and found him convulsing on the floor. "Daddy?" He then remembered the talk that they'd recently had and ran over to the com center. "Great-grandpa?"
Max's voice came through. "What's up, Kenny?"
"Daddy's sick. I need help."
"Okay." Max knew what this had to be about. "Can you start a timer and put a pillow under his head? I'll be right there."
"G-got it."
Max came up the elevator as quickly as he could. Once he reached the floor where Ben and Kenny were, he grabbed the timer from his great-grandson. "Kenny, I want you to go to your room now, okay?"
"But-"
"Please. I need space to take care of your dad."
Kenny sniffled and scampered off to his bedroom.
Once Ben's seizure passed the 5 minute mark, Max grabbed his grandson's rescue medication and called 911. "This is Max Tennyson. I'm at Tennyson Tower with my grandson, Ben Tennyson. He has epilepsy and has been seizing for over 5 minutes. I'm giving him Nayzilam now, but I need EMTs here as soon as possible."
Although Ben didn't stop seizing, Max did what he could to keep him safe and comfortable. It took two more treatments until Ben finally relaxed. Both Max and Kenny rode along with him to the hospital.
---
Once the phenobarbital wore off and Ben was fully awake, Max set Kenny on Ben's lap, and the father pulled his son a loose hug. "I'm so proud of you, Kenny. You did a great job."
Kenny cried into his chest. "P-please don't d-do that again."
"I'll try, buddy. I'm so sorry. That was pretty scary for me too."
After a while, Kenny sniffled and looked up at his father. "You're okay...right?"
Ben laughed softly, interrupted by a yawn, before nuzzling his son's nose. "Yeah, I'm okay, kiddo. Pinky promise. I think need another nap though."
Kenny flopped down against his father's chest, moving so that he could listen to his heartbeat. "Yeah, nap sounds good."
Ben tucked them both under the blanket previously around his waist, mumbled, "Ayóó ánííníshní," and the two fell asleep snuggled up to each other.
Max gave a sad smile at the two. He knew he'd been a shitty father, but he was glad that his sons had been better. And his grandson was clearly doing well too. Even after a highly traumatic experience, he was still able to be kind and patient.
Max sighed and gave a quick call to Kai, letting her know what happened.
Kai felt a bit guilty to see how comfortable the father and son were together when she arrived about an hour later, but she didn't let it show as she gently shook Ben's shoulder to wake him.
Ben looked up at his estranged wife. "Hey. What're you doing here?"
"Max called me. How are you feeling?"
"Oh you know, tired, sore, dizzy, nauseous... My head is killing me."
Kai took a deep breath and let it out quickly. "Why would you do this to Kenny?"
Ben glanced between her and their son in confusion. "Excuse me?"
"You haven't had a seizure in over two years, and now you have your worst ever one in front of him? Why couldn't you wait until he was with me?"
Ben's eyes went wide for a second, then he gave a soft, but bitter, laugh. "Do you really think I can just...control when they happen? One of my triggers is prolonged stress, so if anything, we can blame this on the divorce. And if you think I enjoy being epileptic, I'm so glad that you're leaving because it fucking sucks and hurts like hell. If Kenny wasn't there to tell Max, I...don't know what would've happened."
"Right. So all of this is my fault."
Ben rolled his eyes. "Jesus Christ, Kai, this isn't anyone's fault. I have a disability have we have to deal with it." He sighed. "Look, Kenny's sleeping right now, but you can take him when he wakes up. I'm on a lot of drugs right now to keep my brain from trying to fry itself again, and I really need to rest, so can you please for fuck's sake just chill out for a bit?"
Kai sighed defeatedly. She knew she was being too hard on Ben, but she was stressed and wanted to protect her son. "Okay. I'm sorry, Ben." She gently took his hand, making sure to avoid his IV, and fell into silence. Ben sighed and gave her hand a squeeze back.
As Ben was drifting back off to sleep, Kai pressed her hand to his forehead. "You still have a fever."
"I know I do, that's what the smaller IV bag is for." Ben sighed again and pulled his hand away. "Kai, please don't make this harder than it needs to be. I'm still in love with you, even if you don't feel the same. It's not fair to either of us, or to Kenny."
She responded only with silence.
The next time Ben woke up, only Max was there. Ben didn't say anything but let tears silently run down his cheeks.