Honey, It's All Chemical

    "Er... hello?" A small voice sounded on the other end of the line, a child's voice, wobbly and uncertain. 

    "Hello," Remus responded on instinct, wondering if the kid was playing on the phone and accidentally dialed emergency services. It wouldn't be the first call he'd gotten like that. "Is there an emergency? Do you need help?"

    "Not me, but Daddy.." The voice trailed off with a sniffle, growing smaller and mumbling something Remus couldn't hear. 

    "What was that? Your father is hurt?" He asked, opening a report to start filling out. 

    "Not hurt, but he's sleeping too much," The kid said through a wet sigh, "Mummy said I have to call if something bad happens and there's no adults." 

    "You did a good job calling. What's your name, kiddo?"

    "Harry, I just turned six."

    "That's nice, Harry, my name is Remus. I'm going to ask you some questions and send someone to help your dad, alright?" 

    "Mmhm." 

    "You said he's sleeping too much, did you see him fall down or did he go for a kip and he's not waking up?" 

    "He was making lunch and I think he fell, I was playing with my blocks," Harry tugged on his father's sleeve, still trying in vain to wake him, "He's sleeping on the kitchen floor and our toasties are burning, smells bad." He added as an afterthought, he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to say, but the kitchen was filled with that burning smell, and it was starting to clog his throat.

    "Do you see smoke?" 

    "A little, from the hob. It hurts in my throat."

    "Okay Harry, do you know your address? I need to tell the people who are going to help where to go."

    Harry rattled off the address immediately, clearly having been trained for this possibility, despite the teary voice he spoke with. He coughed a little when he finished speaking, and there was shuffling on the other end of the line. Remus found the nearest fire brigade and ambulance as soon as Harry finished speaking, sending the report to dispatch with fingers flying across the keyboard.

    "You're doing brilliantly, Harry, your parents will be very proud of you. I'm sending help your way, you'll hear sirens soon, which means they're for you and your dad. Do you know how to check if your dad is breathing?"

    "Mm no."

    "That's okay, you can put your hand in front of his nose and if you feel air, that's good, it means he's breathing. Go ahead and do that, tell me what you feel." 

    Harry shuffled over to where his dad was crumpled on the floor, face drained of color and slack, flipper resting a few inches from his open hand. He looked so unlike Daddy like this, his face void of his usual grins and expressive brows that he always wiggled to make Harry laugh. His cheeks were devoid of the flush they usually held, glasses barely on his face, knocked askew in the fall. Harry put a hand under his nose and felt the warm air ghost over it, relaxing a little under the feeling as he settled into his dad's side. 

    "I can feel the air," Harry said with a cough, glancing up toward the hob, dark smoke clouds thickening and billowing up toward their ceiling. 

    "Good, that's a good thing, Harry, you should hear sirens soon. Can you open the door so they can come in? Find a shoe or something to keep it open while you wait." 

    "Okay," Harry patted his dad on the chest, a little reassurance that he would be back in a second, scrambling to do it quickly so he could come back. He yanked the door open, setting the phone on the floor to stick his wellies under the door and prop it open. He picked up the phone and ran back to his dad's side, curling his free hand in the bottom of his shirt, and tucking himself under his limp arm. "Remus?"

    "Right here, kiddo, did you open the door?" 

    "Yeah, I used my wellies."

    "Good boy. How're you feeling?" 

    "My chest hurts a little, and there's more smoke now," His head perked up to the sound of sirens, lots of them, and anxiety squirmed in his gut. He felt relieved and simultaneously afraid, he'd never had to call 999 before, and he didn't want anyone to be angry with him, as his mum said it's a very serious thing to do. "I hear the sirens. Am I going to be in trouble, Remus?" 

    "No, not at all. You did exactly what you should, they're only going to help, no one will be mad at you." On the other end of the line, Remus could hear the sirens, the distant slam of doors, and the thud of heavy boots. "Harry?" 

    "They're here," his nervous voice said with a deep cough, and Remus wished he could hug him. 

    Harry set the phone down and shrunk against his father's side as the strangers poured into the smoky room, two men with inky black hair and nearly identical sharp features came in first, going straight for them. The one with longer hair and rounder eyes crouched in front of Harry with an easy smile, while the other knelt by his father's unconscious form, wrapping his hand around his wrist, long fingers pressed to his pulse point as he stared down at his watch, muttering something to himself. Harry looked between them uneasily, unsure what the next steps were.

    "Heya, my name's Sirius," The man with longer hair said kindly before he gestured to the other man, "That's my brother, Regulus, we're paramedics. What's your name?" 

    "Harry. Daddy's name is James, but Mummy calls him toerag and some other things I'm not allowed to say," He informed them, smiling a little when Sirius snorted in amusement. More people poured through the open door, moving around them at a rapid pace, opening the windows to let out the smoke, turning off the hob, and throwing blackened food in the sink. 

    Regulus lifted James' eyelids, shining a small light in the pupils, "Unreactive to stimulus and tachycardic, pulse 150bpm," He informed Sirius, turning intense green-grey eyes on Harry, "Do you know if your dad has any illness? Do you have any idea why he might pass out?"

    Harry nodded, wracking his brain for the correct word for it, "He has to have sugar when he feels bad, I don't remember what it's called, but sugar usually makes him better. I tried to give him a juice box, but Daddy wouldn't drink it," He gestured to the spilled juice box on the floor, crunched up, and sat in a puddle.

    Sirius and Regulus shared a look, seeming to read each other's minds, and after a moment, Regulus said, "I'll grab the glucose monitor and pulse ox," He glanced at Harry when he coughed, a little rattle in his chest despite the slowly dissipating smoke. "Oxygen, too." 

    Sirius nodded, "Have Frank help with the board, I'm gonna stay with him," He turned to Harry, "Do you know your mum's number? We should call her over here."

    "On the fridge," Harry pointed to a torn slip of paper held with a turtle magnet, "Are we going to hospital?" He asked, rubbing his hand under his running nose, hand still curled in his dad's shirt.

    "Your dad is, we're going to get him on a bed and into the ambulance. But we're going to have to wait for your mum or someone else to get here to bring you to the hospital to meet him. You can't come with us, unfortunately." 

    Harry's wide eyes turned teary, fist tightening his hold on his father, "I want to stay with Daddy, why can't I stay?"

    Sirius softened, passing a hand over the boy's messy hair, "It's not safe for you, and your parents would want you to be safe, don't you reckon?" 

    Harry pushed his face into his dad's shirt, shaking his head with a mournful sniffle, "I don't care, I don't care, I want to stay with Daddy." 

    Sirius sighed, plucking up the abandoned phone to dial the number on the fridge when he noticed there was an ongoing call, and realized it was probably 999. "This is Sirius Black, paramedic dispatched in response to the distress call at Godrics Hollow, we've got things under control here, thanks for your help." He was about to hang up when he heard a familiar low tone on the other end of the line.

    "Hey, Black, Harry doing alright?" 

    Sirius brightened, straightening up instinctively, even though Remus couldn't see him, "Remus! Darling, my favorite operator, he's fine, a little upset but alright."

    "His father?"

    "Diabetic, probably hypoglycemic, we're working on it. How about dinner on Saturday? I'll update you then." 

    "How about you do your job and stop flirting, darling?"  

    "One of these days, Remus Lupin, I'll get you to go on a date with me." 

    He suppressed a grin when Remus hung up on him without another word, finally dialing the number on the fridge as Regulus and Frank came into the kitchen, heavy boots echoing off the tiles. The air had cleared of the majority of the smoke, luckily, there was no fire, but a few more minutes, and eventually there would've been a worse emergency, a child and his unconscious father amongst the flames. A few more minutes and it might've been a very different story. 

    Harry coughed as he cried into his father's side, refusing to move with crocodile tears and splotchy cheeks. Regulus set a hesitant hand on his back, sending a concerned glance to where  Frank was waiting off to the side. The fire brigade was getting ready to leave, having checked the house and eliminated the threat, the kitchen slowly becoming a less chaotic space.

    "Harry, we can't help your dad if you don't move," Regulus tried, not nearly as good with children as his brother, "I know you've been really scared all this time, but you did everything you were supposed to, and now that we're here, you've gotta let us do our job so we can make it better, alright? Can you be brave for a little longer so we can help him? Then, you can visit him in the hospital when he's feeling better." 

    Harry was silent for a minute, except for his sniffles and rattling coughs, and then he released his hold on his father, sitting back a little. Frank and Regulus swooped in quickly, setting the board down next to James and maneuvering his limbs into the right position, rolling him on his back. Regulus pulled out a glucose monitor, pricking James' finger right over the dozens of white dotted scars.

    The monitor beeped, flashing a number that made Regulus curse under his breath, "43, we should get going." 

    Frank pulled a syringe out of a red bag, filled with clear medicine and a long needle, flicking it to clear the air bubbles. Harry tensed when he saw it, inching toward his father, but Sirius grabbed his hand, holding him back. "It's alright," Frank smiled at him kindly, "This will make your dad feel loads better, I promise, we're really good at our job."

    Regulus tossed the oxygen mask to Sirius, who caught it one-handed, setting it aside for a moment as he grabbed his stethoscope, drawing Harry's attention away from his father as Frank inserted the needle in his arm. 

    "Here, can you hold this for me, Harry?" Sirius handed him the mask, "I'm just going to listen to your lungs, make sure they're doing alright, take some deep breaths for me," He instructed, placing the nubs in his ears and sliding the cold metal under his shirt. Harry listened to him half-heartedly, eyes fixed on his father, whose eyelids were starting to flutter for the first time in what felt like hours as the two men strapped him to the board. 

    "Is Daddy awake?" He asked, fiddling with the strap on the mask. 

    Regulus gave him a small, reassuring smile, "Starting to wake, he's already feeling better. We're going to get him in the ambulance soon."

    Harry looked at each of them with a trembling lip, "Are you going to leave me behind?" He tried to take a deep breath when Sirius instructed him to, but coughed through it, chest burning with the action.

    Sirius removed the stethoscope from his ears and put it around his neck, nudging the mask over Harry's nose and mouth, holding it up for him, "Take deep breaths through this, it'll help. We won't leave you behind, Harry. Reggie and Frank will take your dad to the hospital and I'll stay here with you until your mum gets here." 

    Harry was still upset about it, but nodded, slumping against Sirius, though his eyes never left his father. When his eyelids flicked open lazily, hazel eyes roaming around the room uncomprehendingly, Harry shot forward before Sirius could grab him, on his knees by his father's head. 

    "Daddy?" Harry prodded, a little hand tapping his shoulder until his father's eyes finally locked on him. They widened a bit, and he jolted like he wanted to reach out but couldn't because of the way he was strapped. 

    "H'rry? What's... what's happened?"  

    Harry took off the mask to speak, little voice rasping, "You were making toasties and went to sleep, and they burned and you wouldn't wake up, so I did what you said and called Remus, and fire people and doctors came to help," He informed eagerly, anxious hands twisting in his father's shirt.

    "Remus? Fire?" James repeated slowly, color returning to his cheeks slowly, though understanding slipped through his fingers like water. He tried to move again but was unable to, panic setting in despite his confusion, "Why can't I move?" 

    A voice above him cleared his throat, and James tore his eyes away from his son to look, finding a beautiful man with ebony hair, shiny curls around his ears and brushing his forehead, green eyes with grey flecks that seemed to catch the light and sparkle, rosebud pink lips that opened to release a melodic voice.

    "Sir, you're hypoglycemic, you had a severe drop in blood sugar and your son called for help. There was a fire risk, but it's been eliminated, your son is fine, except for some smoke inhalation. We're going to take you to the hospital, and we've contacted your wife to collect your son."

    James opened his mouth, feeling more than a little dazed with the beautiful man's attention on him, and very eloquently said, "Oh. Wow, I-"

    Regulus frowned, glancing down at his hand as a beeping sound made itself known, "Are you feeling okay? Your heart is starting to race again." 

    "Yeah, I think.. what's your name?" James asked, feeling his cheeks heat as Regulus scanned his face, then fumbled with something attaching to his hand, whatever was beeping, he guessed. He heard a snort from somewhere by his feet, someone he couldn't see, and a mutter of something that made Regulus scowl. 

    Eventually, Regulus looked back at him, chewing on the inside of his cheek, "My name's Regulus, do you know yours?" When James just blinked, he added quickly, "For medical reasons obviously." Regulus hadn't really thought anything of the man at first, he didn't make it a habit to admire his patients when they were having a medical emergency, but then the man opened his eyes, gooey hazel, like caramel and chocolate, like warm brownies. He adjusted the crooked glasses on the man's face, hoping he looked more casual doing it than he felt.

    "James Potter," He said, his head still spinning a little, but not as bad as before, "You said Lily would be here soon?"

    "We called your wife as soon as we got in, Harry showed us the number on the fridge, she's on her way."

    "Don't have a wife," James mumbled, eyelids becoming heavier, the brief burst of energy he got when he woke starting to evaporate.

    "What?" Regulus said, the downturn of his lips wrinkling his chin. 

    "Divorced," James responded airily, trying to force his eyes open, wanting to look at Regulus some more. He knelt in front of the window, the sun illuminating his form, outlining Regulus in gold. "Pretty.." He mumbled, not really intending to say it, eyes closing against his will.

    "He's right, you do look so pretty, Reg," Sirius teased, a hand on Harry's shoulder, easing the mask back on, and a shit-eating grin on his face. Frank muffled a laugh with his fist, turning it into a cough when Regulus glared at them.

    "Daddy!" Harry interrupted, muffled by the mask, oblivious to all else except his dad falling asleep again, "Wake up!"

    "It's alright, Harry. We've got him, he's just extra tired now, but the medicine will do its work," Frank assured him kindly. "We've got to get going now, but you'll see him soon." 

    Sirius tugged him back gently to make room as Regulus and Frank expertly lifted the board, Regulus, with pink cheeks and a hidden smile, and Frank with his strong arms and lithe frame. Harry watched them go anxiously, packing James into the back of the ambulance and hopping in, the doors closing behind him. Sirius sat down on the porch steps with him, a hand on his back, the other holding the oxygen mask over his face. 

    James woke up to a warmth at his side, knowing immediately he was in the hospital, intimately familiar with the sterile smell and the fuzzy confusion of waking up with medication in his system and a cold drip in his arm.

    "Harry?" His throat was dry, the words rasping. He heard movement on his left side and turned his head to find Lily there too, fiddling with the water jug, long ginger hair brushing the small of her back in waves. "Lily?"

     She looked over at him with a kind smile, as effortless and timelessly beautiful as she was in school. She brought over a plastic cup of water and a straw, brushing hair out of James' face and planting a kiss on his forehead as she handed him the cup. "Always the drama queen, Potter. You've outdone yourself this time, nearly set fire to the house, and managed to be unconscious for the whole thing," She said wryly. 

     He winced, wrapping an arm around Harry as he wiggled further into James' side, and taking a deep drink from the cup of water. "I'm so sorry, Lils. It came on so quickly, I didn't have any time to react before I was dropping. Merlin, that could've been so bad."

     Lily waved him off, settling on the other side of the bed, "I'm just taking the piss, it's not your fault for being ill. Besides, our incredibly brilliant son saved the day." 

     Harry giggled and squirmed away from her fingers, "Noo! Daddy save me!" 

     "Who says I'm on your side?" James said, attacking his other side with tickles, smushing Harry between them. The three fell over each other with breathless giggles, James slumping back into the bed exhausted after a few minutes. 

      "There is one other thing," Lily said, a mischievous smirk on her face, "One of the EMTs gave your son something for you." 

      Harry perked up, pulling a crumpled note from his pocket and handing it to James. He took it with clumsy fingers, smoothing the paper until the scrawled words were clearer. 

      Since you found my brother so pretty, thought I'd pass along his number. 44 117 2345678 - don't tell Regulus I gave you this, it's not technically allowed. Feel better. Sincerely, the prettier EMT that also saved your arse, Sirius.

      Lily laughed loudly when an embarrassed flush spread across James' face, Harry joining in, though he wasn't sure what they were laughing about. "Only you, James Potter, would manage to pick up someone while unconscious."