Once again, we're switching gears and picking back up where Chapter 5 left off.

And, as always, I don't own Rockman.exe.

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Chapter 7: It Might Be…

Netto felt like screaming.

Never in his life had he been more tired of anything then he was right now with testing. It seemed that before he was even aware one had ended, he was whisked away to yet another test.

But despite the urge, Netto did refrain from screaming. This was not without consequences, however.

The nurses found themselves becoming increasingly annoyed and upset with the boy's complaining. There only defense against the boy's vocal frustration, it seemed, was the boy's navi. They would watch in amazement as the navi accomplished what they failed to do: soothe and quiet the boy. They considered the blue navi's patience to border miraculous everytime he repeated, yet again, "These tests are necessary, Netto-kun. They won't know what's wrong unless they do them. Just hold up a little longer, okay?" The boy would always pout in response, but, to the nurses' relief, quit complaining and relent to the next test. At this point, the navi would smile and reassure his friend that everything would work out. The boy always smiled back.

"Well, Hikari-kun," a nurse addressed to Netto as he climbed off a table, "we're finally done with the testing for now."

"Thank goodness! I thought I'd never hear that!" Netto exclaimed.

"Oh, come on. It wasn't that bad, was it?" Rockman teased.

"Oh, yes it was," Netto returned playfully. "I don't think it could have been any worse if I had actually felt sick."

Rockman shrugged, unable to come up with a comeback. He was just glad his brother was not in any pain at the moment.

"Well, are you ready to return to your room, Hikari-kun?" the nurse asked.

"Sure," Netto answered. The nurse pulled out a wheelchair and pushed it over to Netto. Netto crossed his arms. "I can walk," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Maybe, but after so much testing I figured you be tired," the nurse said.

"I can walk," Netto repeated.

"Netto-kun, just cooperate with the nurse please," Rockman begged.

Netto rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said as he sat down in the wheelchair. Once situated, the nurse pushed the wheelchair out of the room.

"Rock, what time is it?" Netto asked once they were making their way down the hall.

"About 1:00," Rockman answered as he appeared on Netto's shoulder. "Mama should be here," he added. Netto nodded. "What's wrong?" Rockman as he noted the concerned look on his netop's face.

"I'm just hoping Mama's not too worried," Netto responded.

Rockman smiled understandingly. "She probably is. But Mama's strong and is used to dealing with stress. After all, she has you for a son," Rockman teased.

"It's not all me!" Netto exclaimed defensively.

"Yeah, but most of it," Rockman returned.

"No way!"

"Deny it all you want, but it's true."

"I seem to recall that you're always in trouble with me," Netto accused.

"I'm just there to get you out of trouble," Rockman charged back.

Before Netto could say anything back, the nurse asked, "Are you two always like this?"

The pair looked at each other amused. Rockman rubbed the back of his head: "Yeah, pretty much," he answered

The nurse smiled. "It's good you two are such good friends."

"Yeah, it is," Netto agreed. He turned back to his navi. "Rockman, I'm glad you're feeling better."

Rockman adverted his eyes away. "I'm still just as scared," he said quietly.

"I know," Netto responded gently. "But, it means a lot to me that you are trying to act genki." Netto watched amused as his navi blushed slightly.

"I…well…I just thought—," Rockman stuttered.

Netto interrupted: "You don't need to explain it to me, Rockman. Just accept it, okay?"

Rockman returned his gaze to his netop and then gave a small smile. "Okay," he whispered.

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"Mama! Papa!?" Netto exclaimed once they reached the room. Both looked up immediately and then rushed to their son.

"Are you okay?" Yuuichiro asked as he tightly embraced his son.

"Yeah," Netto answered as he squirmed out of his parents' choking hugs. Once free, he asked, "But what are you doing here Papa? What about your conference in Kingland?"

Yuuichiro knelt beside Netto. "You're more important to me than any conference, Netto. You have no idea how scared I was when I received that call from Meijin, especially after having just talked Mama about what had happened earlier. Netto, you need to take better care of yourself!" Yuuichiro scolded.

"I didn't think anything would happen. It was supposed to be dehydration and it was supposed to be a meeting," Netto explained.

Yuuichiro sighed. "Still, Netto…"

"I'm okay! Really," Netto said energetically in an attempt to comfort his worried father. It seemed to work somewhat because the scientist gave a small smile.

"Hikari-san?" the nurse asked. The man stood up and acknowledged the nurse. "After we get your son back into bed, is it all right if I talk to you outside for a moment?"

The scientist nodded: "Yeah, that will be fine."

Yuuichiro, Haruka and the nurse went to help Netto up and into bed, but he insisted that he was more than capable of getting into the bed himself. Once he was comfortable and his PET set on the table beside him, Yuuichiro followed the nurse into the hall.

"So, what is the diagnosis?" Yuuichiro inquired.

The nurse shook her head sadly as she explained that they did not have one yet. She expressed hope that the results from the tests that would come in later that night, or the next at the latest, would provide the answer they sought. She then continued to explain that it was probably a genetic heart disease because the boy, excluding his heart, was in very good health.

"Is there a history of heart disease in your family?" she finally concluded.

Yuuichiro sank down onto a bench and looked down at his feet, his hands clasped tightly in his lap. "Yes," he whispered. He paused, afraid to ask the question he was about to. "Has he been tested for HBD?" he finally asked quietly.

The nurse looked at the downcast man. "HBD?" she asked, embarrassed that she did not know the term.

"It's a very rare heart disease. His…twin brother died from it when they were 18 months," he answered, his voice barely audible.

"I see," was all the nurse could say, now beginning to realize the severity of the situation this family was now finding itself. "We'll run the tests tomorrow," she said, reaching her hand out to comfort the father. "However, if so much time has passed without it surfacing, it may be possible that it may not be HBD."

"That's what I'm hoping for," the scientist said, without looking up.

"Hikari-san, there is one more matter," the nurse said. "About the boy's navi."

Yuuichiro looked up in surprise. "What about Rockman?"

"The two are very close, aren't they?" she asked.

"Very," Yuuichiro answered, wondering where the nurse was going.

The nurse smiled and continued: "And Rockman is comfortable scolding Hikari-kun and not blindly obeying him, is that correct?"

"Yes," the scientist said slowly, still confused at the direction of this conversation.

"That's good," the nurse commented. "Hikari-san, in cases of extended stays, patients are issued nurse navis. However, watching your son today, I am beginning to wonder if Hikari-kun would not be in better care if his own navi. Hikari-kun seems much more willing to listen to his navi than anyone else," the nurse said. She continued on to explain, "So what I'm proposing is that Hikari-kun's navi go through a training program that would allow him to be a 'nurse' navi. This isn't normally offered to patient's navis because they can be too easily manipulated by their netops to not tell the nurses and doctores if a patient is doing something they are not supposed to. Furthermore, most navis would be too panicked to act quickly enough in an emergency. Bt since Hikari-kun and his navi are Net Savers, I'm sure he's use to acting quickly and effectively in emergency situations."

Yuuichiro pondered the proposal for a moment before asking, "When would Rockman go through the training?"

"Preferably tomorrow, but clearing him to take the program might be rather difficult for the reasons I explained earlier," the nurse answered.

Yuuichiro nodded and then looked down the hall when he heard his name called. He stood up as he greeted Meijin, Manabe and Kifune.

"How's Netto-kun?" Manabe inquired.

Yuuichiro forced a small weary smile. "Fine, from what I can tell."

"That's good to hear," Manabe responded.

"I guess I'll leave you all to visit," the nurse said as she turned to leave. "I'll inform you of anything that comes back as soon as possible, Hikari-san."

"Thank you," he said as she left.

"So do they know what's wrong?" Meijin asked.

Yuuichiro shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately, no."

"Hmm," was all Meijin could think to mutter.

"Well, why don't we go in and see Netto-kun for ourselves," Kifune suggested as he reached for the door.

"Sounds good," Meijin said as they entered the room. Meijin, Manabe and Kifune were relieved to find that Netto was in high spirits and that, except that he was sitting in a hospital bed, he appeared to be in normal health. It wasn't long before the tense feelings that everyone had brought had melted under the presence of Netto's characteristic energy. A few times, a few of the nurses and doctors had to stop to look in and see why everyone was laughing, finding such cheerfulness somewhat out of place.

And to those in the room, one could almost believe nothing was wrong at all.