A/N Oh looky, a Carlos sicky ficcy.
Carlos is one of those happy, nutty, ADHD kids you just have to love however annoying they may be. He's always on the go, always trying new things, and his best friends and band mates had trouble keeping up with him sometimes.
Carlos also never had any room to keep secrets. He wore his emotions on his sleeve, he never saw the point in keeping things bottled up or hidden. Until he was 17, when he was diagnosed with asthma all because of a stupid allergy to animals. Carlos could never resist petting a kitten, no matter how many times his mother reminded him that his allergies could progress into something worse.
The day Carlos was diagnosed was the day he found a cute little kitten on the street on his way home from happy burger. The little bundle of fur was just begging to be picked up and cuddled and that's exactly what Carlos did. He shoved the poor thing into his jacket pocket (gently of course) and raced home to show his guardian, Mrs. Knight and his best friends Logan, James, and Kendall.
"Mama Knight, look what I found!" Carlos said excitedly, bounding into the apartment with the most priceless grin on his face. Mrs. Knight couldn't help but smile warmly at the precious boy she looked after.
"What did you find, Carlos?"
"A kitten!" Carlos pulled out the mewling ball of fur and held it to his chest, nuzzling his nose into it. "Can I please keep him? He was all sad looking on the side of the road and-"
"Sweetie, that's not a good idea," Mrs. Knight said, hating that she was the reason why Carlos' huge grin drooped into the saddest pout she'd ever seen. "I'm sorry but you're allergic."
"I know but I don't care. He's all alone and needs-aachooo!" Carlos' begs were cut off by a shuddering sneeze. Mrs. Knight could see the small Latinos eyes getting redder and waterier by the minute and his nose was dripping, not to mention the little red bumps on his skin where the kittens' fur touched him.
"Carlos, honey, give me the kitten."
"No!" Carlos said, nuzzling the kitten tighter. He wanted this pet so bad, he didn't care how bad he was feeling at the moment. "His name is Alfredo and he's mine. Where are the guys I need to show them."
Mrs. Knight stared at the young boy like he lost his mind. "They're down at the pool and you seriously named it already? Ok, honey I'm sorry but the kitten has to go. Get your face out of its fur. We'll take it to the pet shelter. Let's go." Mrs. Knight took the kitten from Carlos' grasp and led him to the car. The poor boy was sneezing and sniffling the whole way.
"By Alfredo. I love you," Carlos said softly. He stroked the kitten's fur one last time before Mrs. Knight took him into the shelter. She made Carlos sit in the car because no way was he going inside the shelter with all those animals.
"I can't believe he's gone," Carlos said when Mrs. Knight got back into the car.
"I'm sorry baby. He's fine though, the shelter will take good care of him. Let's get you some Benadryl, you're looking terrible." Mrs. Knight was starting to get a little worried about Carlos. He was sneezing constantly and had a slight wheeze. She pulled into a drugstore parking lot and hurried into the store. What she found when she came back to the car made her blood run cold. In the short 10 minutes that she was gone, Carlos had gone from being energetic and pouting to pale and slumped against the passenger door.
"Carlos, honey are you ok?" Mrs. Knight asked, feeling the boys' forehead. He was cool and clammy and each breath he took was short and strangled.
"I don't feel well Mama Knight," Carlos whimpered. He was scared. He all of a sudden couldn't breathe and he didn't know why.
"Ok, we're going to the hospital. It's going to be ok baby." Mrs. Knight stepped on the gas and weaved through crazy L.A traffic to get her boy to the hospital. She helped him out of the car and practically carried the sick child into the hospital. He could hardly breathe now and his lips were turning a pale blue.
"Help me, my boy he can't breathe," Mrs. Knight said as she rushed through the doors in a panic. The nurses at the front desk immediately took notice in the teenagers' ill appearance and all of a sudden there were several doctors and Carlos was being loaded onto a gurney and wheeled away with oxygen, leaving Mrs. Knight to answer nurses' questions about Carlos.
"I'm his guardian, he's practically my son," Mrs. Knight said to one of the nurses who asked their relation.
"Do you have any idea why Carlos may have trouble breathing? Has this happened before, does he have food allergies?"
"No, he's allergic to animals. He found a kitten today and was petting him and now... Oh God I know Carlos has always been allergic to animals but it's always just sneezing, never anything this bad." Mrs. Knight was on the verge of tears. She couldn't stand the thought of one of her boys so sick. "Is he going to be ok?"
"I'm sure he'll be fine we see this all the time," The nurse assured her. "We'll put him on some antihistamines and give him a breathing treatment. Go ahead and fill out these papers and the doctor will be out shortly."
Mrs. Knight nodded and took the papers and sat in the busy waiting room. She didn't have to wait long for a doctor to approach her, smiling at her warmly.
"Hi Mrs. Knight I'm DR. Smith. Carlos is doing just fine. He had an asthma attack due to allergies so we gave him some antihistamines and a steroid shot. He's laying down right now with a breathing treatment, so don't be alarmed when you see him hooked up on machines, it's just albuterol mixed with oxygen. I'll take you to see him now." DR. Smith led the worried woman to a small hospital room where she saw Carlos laying down attached to some weird looking machine with big tubes pumping oxygen through a mask he wore. His caramel skin was quite pale and his eyes looked sleepy.
"Oh honey..." Mrs. Knight said, rushing to his side and running her fingers through his soft dark hair.
"Hi, mama," Carlos said, taking off the mask to talk. Mrs. Knight pressed the mask back down.
"Ssh don't talk hon. I'm so glad you're all right, Carlos. You scared me so much." Mrs. Knight sat down and held the Latino's hand until the treatment was over.
"I'm ok now," Carlos said with a weak smile. He took off his mask and leaned up to give his guardian a hug.
"I'm glad baby," Mrs. Knight said, brushing his bangs away from his face. He suddenly looked sad, brown eyes wet and lip quivering.
"What's wrong honey?" Mrs. Knight asked, and Carlos shrugged.
"I'm just sad because I loved that kitty and he made me so sick. I know it's not his fault. I just wanted a kitten."
"I know, honey. But I can buy you a goldfish instead, how does that sound? I know it's not a kitty but it's still a pet you can love," Mrs. Knight suggested. Her heart was breaking for Carlos and she wanted to make him feel better, and it seemed to work because Carlos no longer looked ready to cry.
"Really? You'd buy me a fishy?" Carlos asked.
"Yes, I'll buy you a fish," Mrs. Knight said, than turned to DR. Smith. "So is he all right now? Can I take him home?"
"You can take him home now," The doctor said. "But I'm afraid Carlos has asthma, Mrs. Knight. I prescribed him an inhaler, which he'll need to keep with him and take anytime he feels symptoms arising, like tightness in his chest or difficulty catching his breath. Keep him from any strenuous activity for the next couple days and keep a close eye on his symptoms. Also bring him in for a check-up next month so we can monitor the severity of his asthma. He should be fine though Mrs. Knight asthma is a common illness and if he is smart and stays away from those kittens, it's possible he'll never have an attack again." The next few minutes were spent with Carlos asking questions and the doctor explaining to him what asthma is and how to prevent an attack.
"Ok, thank you Doctor," Mrs. Knight said when they were finished. She helped Carlos to his feet and led him to the car, where he sat quietly, staring out the window.
"Carlos, are you ok honey?" Mrs. Knight said. The kid was never this silent.
"I didn't even know what asthma is," Carlos said softly. "How can I have it? The doctor said it could flare up while I'm exercising. I exercise all the time in the band. What if I have an attack during rehearsals?"
"Honey, don't get to far ahead of yourself. Just take your inhaler with you and if you need to use it I'm sure the guys will understand. Lots of people have to deal with asthma and they're just fine."
"Oh, no way. I'm not telling them," Carlos said, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"What? Carlos you have to tell them. They're your brothers and your bandmates, they need to know this."
Carlos shook his head. "No Mama Knight, please don't make me tell them. Not now anyway. They already think I'm screw-up enough. I don't need to add diseased to the list my weakness'."
"Carlos Garcia you know that is not true young man. You can't keep something like this a secret. Now I'll let you tell them on your own time because I know you're still shell-shocked but you need to tell them soon, understood?"
"Yes, ma'am," Carlos said softly. He was dreading telling his friends. What if they made fun of him, or babied him, or kicked him out of the band? Carlos made up his mind quickly. No way was he telling his friends that he had asthma.
A/N Uh-oh Carlos is gonna get in trouble! That's not a secret I think he should keep, anyone agree? Ok so I know this story is random and possibly done before but I wrote it as sort of a way to cope with being suddenly diagnosed with asthma after years of severe allergies and a nasty case of croup last year. Even though it's not that big of a deal. I'm like Carlos, I hate anything that slows down my crazy self and most of what Carlos is going to go through in this story, I went through. This is basically just going to be cute fluff with some Carlitos angst. Reviews? Yay or Nay? Ps sorry if it might seem rushed at the end, the 2 babies I nanny just woke up and they're driving me nuts. Lol I love them!