Chapter 8

No, Tadashi panicked. It can't be. He stared blankly at the machine, unwilling to accept the truth.

Then, slowly, pain began to collect within him. He remembered the time when he had broken his arm; remembered the sickening snap that it had made. He remembered the time when he had been shot trying to protect his brother from the botfighters; the incident had landed him in the hospital for a month. Back then, the pain had been unbearable; he could barely muster the strength to breathe. Every inch of his body had stung, throbbed as if it was on fire. He'd felt like he was dying. But nothing, nothing could compare to this.

He felt darkness engulf the corners of his vision. Tears stung at his eyes, but he made no effort to blink them away. His heart pounded at a nauseatingly slow speed. All that he could think was that his brother was dead.

Hiro was dead.

If those words had pained him before, they were suffocating him now.

When he had rescued Hiro from the flames, he'd kept hope that the hospital could save him. Every time he visited his brother, the rise and fall of the heart monitor confirmed that Hiro was still alive. Even when Aunt Cass had broken the news to him, he had believed so naively that he could help.

But now, there were no more lies to make the truth less painful. Now, the last light of hope inside of him had been stifled - extinguished - put out, leaving him in a world of darkness.

He wanted to disappear. He wanted to die. Anything was better than accepting his brother's departure.

His brother couldn't be dead.

He hadn't had the chance to say goodbye.

Somewhere, something snapped inside his mind. Baymax, Tadashi remembered. Maybe he can help.

He placed the red cartridge on the ground, his heart pounding in his chest. "Ow," he called.

Slowly, Baymax inflated from his charging station. "Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion."

"Scan Hiro," Tadashi commanded. "Please."

A flicker of a scan passed through the robot's eyes. Tadashi watched him closely. "Will he be okay?" he inquired shakily.

Baymax walked up Hiro and unplugged his IV. "Now he will."

"What are you doing?" Tadashi yelled, his voice trembling with anguish. "That was supplying him with his necessary medications!"

"No," Baymax said quietly. "It was supplying him with poison."

At first, the readings on the heart monitor had been perfectly still. But then, slowly, the line began to tremble, as if it was in the midst an earthquake.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Slowly, the mountains and valleys of life returned.

It was a miracle.

Baymax had supplied Hiro with the proper medications to remove the poisons from his system. Now all they had to do was wait.

Tadashi took a seat next to the hospital bed, just like so many days before this. "Hello, Hiro."

He had learned to stop expecting a reply.

Tadashi bit his lip nervously. "We're all really worried about you. So... wake up soon, okay?"

He knew his words would go unheard. But that never stopped him from saying them.

"I'll take you bot fighting..." Tadashi's voice trailed off. "We can go to the university. I'll take you to your favorite restaurant a-and everything will be okay again." He swallowed, tears pooling up in his eyes.

"If only you'd just wake up..."

"I miss you. More than you'll ever comprehend."

He had never meant it more.

"I'm sorry. This was all my fault. I'll protect you next time." He was unable to suppress a tremor in his voice. "This will never happen again. I promise."

As usual, Tadashi took a seat next to the hospital bed. Everything was falling apart. He was barely passing his classes. His friends had tried to comfort him, but their words never really reached him. Even Aunt Cass was unable to cheer him up.

Without Hiro, it just wasn't the same.

His life was colorless. It was like the faded light of a sunset just before the world was immersed in darkness, or the last petals of a flower that was just moments away from wilting. He felt so empty.

It was all dying.

He was starting to lose hope that Hiro would ever wake up. Even though Hiro was alive, he seemed to be trapped in an endless dream that separated him from his brother.

Tadashi swallowed, forcing a smile onto his face. He felt tears form in his eyes as he uttered the words that he had said so many times before. "Hello, Hiro."

A small, almost unnoticeable smile hinted at the younger boy's lips.

"Hello, Tadashi."

This sucks. I know. I'm sorry. :(