(Sick+new job=no time to do anything else lol.) 

"Someone fucking talk to me!" Tarren yelled as his father just barely managed to get him out the door before one of the doctors slammed it shut in his face.

"Calm down! If you go in there right now and distract them, Tiegan will die," Jordan warned, clearly trying to talk some sense into his son.

"He was fine last night! He's just getting a cold. They're overreacting!" Tarren yelled back, panting hard from stress.

"No, he's not! You know what happened and you know this is his only chance," his father warned.

"But they can't take them out now!" he yelled, getting no response from Jordan.

After another minute of struggling against his father Tarren finally gave up, but only so that he could be allowed back in to be with Tiegan once it was safe. The doctor returned after a few minutes, and once Tarren assured him that he wouldn't lose his temper again, he was allowed back in the room.

The first kitten came out, incredibly tiny and unmoving. One of the six doctors in the room took it in a towel and began rubbing it as he put his hands in a warm incubator. While he did that another kitten came out. This was one even smaller and, unfortunately, it had definitely not made it. The third one appeared soon after, not moving but thankfully fully developed. It was quickly brought over to the warm chamber by a second doctor as they tried to stimulate breathing.

Please, make them be okay. He knew that it was unlikely that all of them would survive, especially since one came out already deceased, but he didn't want to have to tell Tiegan that all of his kittens had died while he'd been under anesthesia and that the doctors had to fix him after the procedure to save his life, too.

They had done one scan and immediately gotten the paperwork to sign off on surgery. His female reproductive organs were riddled with cancer and had to be removed as soon as possible. Unfortunately, that meant that all of the kittens had to be immediately removed early.

Tarren gave a shaky sigh as the fifth, and final kitten was taken out. It was rushed over to the other four in the incubator and he focused his whole attention on those four tiny bundles of goldish-orange fur. The doctors were doing their best keeping their noses and mouths clear of fluids and rubbing, but it didn't look like Tiegan was going to get his babies.

Tarren leaned his forehead against the chilly glass separating himself from the doctors working just beyond it. Two glanced up, but quickly went back to trying to revive the kittens. After a heartbreaking minute he let his eyes move to Tiegan. There were two doctors by him, one literally removing his ability to have anymore offspring, as the other wiped and cleaned up so infections wouldn't occur. Well, at least they're fast and know what they are doing.

"Son, look."

Jordan nudged him, then nodded toward the incubator. There were two tiny, adorable, amazing kittens weakly swatting at the doctor's hands as they continued to rub them with towels. Besides them were two, unmoving cubs that had clearly not made it. Tarren had to bite his tongue and refocus on the two still alive. The ones that were still fighting.

The two doctors holding the cubs took them over to Tiegan as soon as the one working on him finished stitching him up. He had been stuck in his tiger form for quite awhile so they carefully set them up so that they could nurse. The lead doctor stepped out of the room a minute later with the deceased kittens wrapped up in a small blanket.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Leo. We could only save two."

Jordan finally released Tarren, allowing him to reach out and take the bundle.

"The two that survived are doing okay, but they will need to be kept in a warm place. There is one girl and one boy and they are feeding very well on their own, so the prognosis is good. Now then, onto Tiegan."

Tarren did his best to keep himself calm as he waited for the man to speak.

"We removed a lot of cancerous tissue. He was extremely lucky that you got him here when you did. I ran a small scanner over his abdomen after removing everything and didn't see anymore possible growths, but I definitely would like to see him back here in two weeks, and likely again in a month. Just to be sure."

Tarren gave him a stiff nod, then bolted inside as soon as the doctor motioned that it was okay. He remained by Tiegan's bedside for nearly five hours before he finally saw him start to wake up.

"Tiegan?"

His tiger was finally blinking open its beautiful golden eyes, but it was clearly exhausted.

"Hey there, sweetie."

Tiegan gave a pained grumble, making Tarren's heart hurt for him. Giving a small smile in return, he reached out and ran his fingers along his soft fur.

I'm so tired. It hurts.

"I know, hun. You remember you were telling me that your abdomen was hurting?"

Yeah.

Tarren gently scratched behind his ear, getting a small whining rumble in response.

"Well, it turns out that you had cancer."

His eyes widened, but Tarren quickly continued in the hopes that he wouldn't panic. He couldn't move yet since the kittens were still feeding and he'd just had surgery. They had slept in the incubator for about an hour, then ate, then slept a bit more. Now they were both drooling as they tugged and bit at Tiegan for milk.

"The doctors had to... fix you, in order to save your life."

Tiegan waited a moment before he gave a worried grumble and tried to get up.

"Wait! You can't move, you'll hurt yourself and your kittens!"

He immediately froze, confusion clouding his face.

What did they do with them?

"They had to take them out. You were going to die."

They, but...

Tarren could feel the pain in his mind as Tiegan's voice got more and more desperate. His hand ran down along his soft fur as he quickly replied.

"They were able to save two, but they are very fragile and are currently feeding from their amazing mother."

Tiegan grumbled into his mind but Tarren kept quiet, letting him morn his three lost cubs. They were silent for several long minutes before Tiegan spoke again.

Please lift my paw. I need to see but my body feels like it's weighed down.

The doctors had drugged him up pretty heavily to keep him from messing with his stitches or accidentally hurting the kittens as they fed, so Tarren could understand why he couldn't do it much himself.

"Of course, here."

He got up and carefully grabbed Tiegan's large paw, then gently lifted it enough so that he could see his two tiny cubs nursing away. The look he gave them was that of a very proud mother.

Mine.

With a nod Tarren set his paw back down on the soft blanket and sat down in his chair right next to the bed.

"Yes, Tiegan. They are both yours and they are never going to be taken away."