Two months after the Hamada family's arrival at the hospital the swelling around Tadashi's spinal cord was down and most of the skin grafts were healing well. The doctors began to slowly decrease the sedative and pain medication in his IV. They said he could wake up at any time, but not to force it. Hiro, Baymax, and Aunt Cass refused to leave the hospital during this. Cass woke up with a terrible crick in her neck from sleeping in the chair. It was early. The sun was just starting to come up. Hiro was practically folded in half with his butt on the chair and his head on the bed beside Tadashi. Baymax was in his charging station. He blinked at Cass and she smiled back. She got up as quietly as possible. "I'm going to get some coffee. Keep an eye on the boys," Cass ordered. Baymax nodded.
Waking up was like swimming through cotton. Sensations came one at a time. First, Tadashi heard the soft beeping. It wasn't loud, just steady and incessant. Next he was aware of something on his face. He wanted to move it away. It made him feel claustrophobic. But his body felt too heavy to move. He waited. The longer he was aware of the thing on his face the worse his claustrophobia became. It was covering his nose and mouth. He couldn't get enough air. The beeping was getting faster. With sheer force of will, Tadashi opened his eyes. The world was a smear of colors- pale blue, tan, and a large while blob. Tadashi knew this should bother him, but he was too tired to care about that. He just wanted the thing off his face. His arms were still too heavy to move. Tadashi blinked several times and the white blob solidified into a familiar face. "Baymax," Tadashi tried to say. It came out more like "Baamaaks." The robot blinked happily and put a finger to its face. That surprised Tadashi. Why did he have to be quiet? Where was he? Tadashi turned his head to get a better look at the room. One side of his face brushed the pillow and it was all Tadashi could do to keep from crying out. He blinked back tears and found himself face to face with a sleeping Hiro. Hiro's mouth was open slightly and his breath whistled slightly through his tooth gap, just like when he was little. He looked so young when he was asleep and not being a little twerp. That made Tadashi smile and he instantly regretted it. It felt like his skin was ripping all the way up one side of his face. The world spun and this time Tadashi couldn't totally contain the grasp of pain. Hiro was awake instantly.
"Tadashi?!" Hiro hissed.
Tadashi forced himself to open his eyes again. "Sup?" he muttered. Hiro grinned from ear to ear, but tears glittered in his eyes. "Is okay," Tadashi tried to comfort Hiro, but tears ran down his younger brother's face. Something was very wrong. The medicine was wearing off faster now. Looking passed Hiro, Tadashi could see that he was in a hospital room. The arm beside Hiro was weighed down with IVs. The thing over his nose and mouth was an oxygen mask and he was only seeing out of one eye because the other side of his face was covered in some kind of a bandage. What happened to me? He wondered. Slowly the memories trickled back. The smell of smoke, heat, and a crushing pressure. There'd been a fire at the showcase. Callahagn. He'd gone in after the professor. There was fire everywhere and a beam fell. He was trapped. Smoke burned his lungs and flame licked his body. He screamed and it seared his lungs. One side of his body was pressed to the floor. He couldn't move. He was going to die and leave Hiro all alone.
Tadashi forced his arm to move until it touched Hiro's hand. "Don't cry," he ordered. Hiro took his brother's hand gently.
"It's okay. They're happy tears," Hiro whispered. His voice was hoarse with emotion.
Aunt Cass ran in, followed by a team of doctors. Hiro pressed himself closer to the bed and refused to let go of Tadashi's hand. Tadashi was too tired to keep track of it all. The voices blurred together into incomprehensible gibberish. He closed his eyes and slipped back to sleep. Hiro saw Tadashi close his eyes and felt the hand in his go lip. Baymax had to physically lift Hiro up and carry him out of the room so the doctors could work. Aunt Cass closed the door behind them. Hiro struggled against Baymax, kicking and screaming. Tears were running down his face. "PUT ME DOWN! THAT"S MY BROTHER! TAKE ME BACK!" he sobbed. Baymax followed Cass to a waiting room with the hysterical Hiro in his arms. Baymax settled on the couch and held Hiro close. The teen buried his face in Baymax's body and sobbed. Baymax rocked back and forth slightly and turned on his heater. Aunt Cass started to hum. Hiro's sobs slowly subsided. In his head he could see another funeral. This time they'd have a body to bury.
"Hiro, he's going to be okay. The doctors need to run some tests and make sure that his doesn't damage his spinal cord from moving too much. The vertebrae fragments are still there," Aunt Cass explained softly when Hiro had calmed down.
"I thought… He went limp and…" Hiro couldn't say it.
"Tadashi woke up early. The sedative and pain medication are still really strong in his system. He should not have woken for another couple of hours," Baymax added. "Considering the situation, he is in good health." Baymax kept his worries about the last two skin grafts to himself.
Hiro just pressed himself tighter to Baymax. The next four hours crawled by. Cass dozed and Hiro did his best not to imagine the worst. He kept Baymax's last comment close, like a security blanket, but even that assurance couldn't keep the "Amazing Grace" from echoing through his mind.
