There was silence in the darkened room, as both doctor and nurse went over the newest test results. For the third time.

James's lips were set in a thin line, a vein pulsing in his forehead. Adam was just beside him, a hard frown overtaking his features, arms crossed as his eyes scanned the results. 

"This complicates things a little... but his pain..."

Adam trailed off as James set the results down and ran a hand over his tired face. Well, so much for trying to wean him off the pain medicine.

Dick's seizures... they have been happening this whole time yet they have been so small no one has even noticed. Not even Dick himself, as he has no memory of them. 

Until today, when he had started to eat breakfast. There had been a commotion in the hall when James had been on his way to make his hourly check on Dick, Mr. Wayne had started yelling for help.

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Dick was unresponsive in his bed, eyes staring blankly ahead, his lips moving involuntarily while moans came from his mouth. 

Focal seizures. 

James heard the other staff murmuring this to each other as he started to push them out of his way, yelling ahead that those in his patient's room make space around the bed. 

When he entered he discovered Adam was already with Dick, a calming hand on his shoulder while speaking calmly to Mr. Wayne, assuring him that his son was not in any pain. 

Wayne didn't look all that convinced.

Adam's head swiveled around to the sounds of the door closing with an irritated look on his face before realizing who entered.

James glanced briefly at his nurse before taking Adam's place at Dick's side, grabbing his wrist to monitor his pulse, his eyes locked onto his patient's face. 

"Time?"

Adam immediately knew what he meant.

"Approximately three minutes. I've been in here for two minutes, they haven't seemed to have gotten worse."

Three minutes... danger zone is usually longer than five.

About a minute later, Dick's mouth stopped convulsing, and along with that his vocalizations stopped. Thirty seconds after that his facial muscles relaxed all together. 

His eyes drooped and James reflexively tightened his hold on Dick's wrist. Bruce let out a heavy sigh before coming around the other side, his hand reaching up to cup Dick's cheek.

"Dick? You with us son?"

Bruce gently tipped his face up, Dick's hooded eyes starting to flutter.

They paused for a moment before opening, his bleary eyes starting to come into focus once more.

Once his eyes were visible, James let go of his wrist and pulled Adam aside to talk while Bruce gained eye contact with Dick.

"Dick, do you know who I am? Or where you are?"

Dick blinked up at Bruce, before furrowing his brows a little.

"Y-yeah. W-what is going o-on? D-did something h-happen?" (Remember guys, he has a stutter right now.)

Dick blinked once more then glanced past Bruce to his doctor and nurse, who were talking quietly amongst themselves.

"His oxygen was stable the whole time, and they never progressed worse."

"Still, this is the first time we've witnessed them, it's time we start--"

Bruce gently squeezed Dick's cheek, bringing Dick's gaze and focus back to his own.

"Focus on me, not them. You're fine, you just had a small seizure, like what the doctor warned us about earlier this week." 

Oh. 

Dick maintained eye contact with Bruce a moment more before he gently pulled away from his grasp, allowing his head to carefully loll back against his pillows.

Oh man, his head hurt so bad.

He slowly turned his head to the side, closing his eyes tight in a grimace and allowing a faint whine to slip from his throat. 

It hasn't hurt this bad for a few-- 

Doamne dragă, fă-o să se oprească. Vă rog! (Dear God, make it stop. Please!)

There was a shuffle beside him before the lights were shut off completely and a comforting hand was placed on his shoulder. 

"Easy son, it'll pass..."

Dick cracked open his eyes but Bruce wasn't looking at him anymore. His hard gaze was directed to the present doctor and nurse.

Adam and James however, had their attention on Dick. 

Adam looked a little perplexed and while James briefly shared the same look, he gave a soft smile to Dick.

"Well, Richard, we were going to start to wean you off your current pain medication today--"

Dick's eyes nearly bulged out of his eye sockets.

"But I think we'll be postponing that for a few days."

Dick playfully rolled his eyes, earning a small chuckle from Bruce, before letting his head loll back once more, his breathing quickly slowing until he fell asleep. 

He was exhausted. His body has been through so much... to be able to withstand all of this...

Neither James or Adam believed they would handle it as well as Dick has. 

James watched Dick's monitors as he fell asleep, and once they confirmed he was indeed out, he cleared his throat and addressed Bruce.

"Mr. Wayne, we're going to take him for more tests, just as a precaution. And we're going to begin him on a prescription of anti-seizure meds. Depending on what the results show after reviewing his medication history of course."

Bruce merely nodded before he sunk into the chair closest to Dick's bed.

Dick's not the only one who's exhausted. This was taxing for everyone, and James was starting to feel the pressure more and more everyday.

This man was a hero he needed to be fine, without him so many people could be in danger tomorrow. Or tonight. Hell, even right now--

James was interrupted from his thoughts as Adam cleared his throat beside him.

"Um, Dr. James, maybe you should go take a quick rest. Call your family for a little bit. I'll take care of things here."

Adam's face was twisted in concern. James was the reason he was able to get through medical school. Both financially and because of support. James and Adam's father were best friends after all. So, he knew James's time at the hospital was causing rifts between his wife and son.

Adam on the other hand, was alone in the city and practically lived at the hospital. It's not like he really had a reason to leave. 

James merely nodded and quietly let him know he would be resting in the break room before he sluggishly walked out the door. 

Adam watched the doctor leave before turning his head back to the patient.

Dick was dead to the world and it looked like Mr. Wayne was well on his way to joining him.

Adam let out a gentle sigh and bit his lip before walking over to Dick's bed, getting it ready for transport.

Alright, let's go see if we can figure this out.

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So, once the tests had finished and once Adam made sure Dick was resting comfortably in his room, he had went and fetched James out of a dead sleep to review the results together.

James glanced wearily at his nurse before nodding his head.

"It could very well be worse Adam."

Adam, quite exhausted himself, only muttered one thing:

"Yeah, he could have been killed."

James's head turned sharply to the younger man, making Adam tense up.

Urgh, he hadn't meant to say that. It's not like him but he's just so... he hasn't slept for about two days now.

However, James was aware of this. The scolding look he sent Adam soon turned into a gentle one, and he only offered a soft murmur in return.

"It seems you could use some rest too."

Adam's body betrayed him, his eyes drooping and his shoulders sagging. He hesitated for just a moment before quickly leaving the room, blindly finding the break room, and proceeding to fall face first into the first bed he came across, immediately out.

As Adam was becoming the walking dead, James had gone over the results once more before heading back to Dick's room.

When James entered, Dick was still fast asleep and Mr. Wayne seemed to be resisting the urge to pass out himself. When Bruce noticed the doctor's arrival, he practically jumped out of the chair with a slight stagger in his gait.

"The tests show that the seizure was not severe, nor do we expect them to be as long as he takes his medicine appropriately. However, it showed that his headaches may be another issue..."

Bruce narrowed his eyes at the doctor.

What could it possibly be now?

"These headaches are likely to be chronic, and though we may be able to treat the pain with other medications in time, they cannot be cured. They will likely continue through the rest of his life. Hopefully, with time and appropriate treatment, we may be able to help lessen the severity and rate of his headaches. But unfortunately, he cannot be on his current pain medication much longer." (The reason for this, is that his current pain medication is intravenous, heavy duty as well. Realistically, he probably shouldn't even be on it still. Cause ya know... risk of addiction? Yeah well, it's fanfiction anyway.)

Bruce sat back down, running a hand through his hair. 

Great, just great. One more thing for his son to suffer from long-term.

Bruce honestly wasn't sure how much more his son could take.

Both physically and emotionally.

He knew Dick had a breaking point, he was just worried they would be reaching that point soon.

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Yeah, I didn't even consult Google once for the medical terminology in this chapter. So... be aware this is probably FAR from being medically accurate.