Learning to Love
Chapter 14
Normal POV
As Mrs. Bell left the hallway, Tadashi looked nervously at the room she had pointed at to where Hiro was. He was anxious to run in and shower Hiro with all the love he was capable of, but knew he couldn't. If what Mrs. Bell had told him was true, Hiro had developed a sense of selective mutism and wouldn't be willing to talk. Tadashi felt awful and he hadn't even seen Hiro yet.
Finally getting up, he trudged to the door excruciatingly slowly. The man blinked and stared blankly at the doorknob as if he weren't sure what to do with it. He reached out and gripped the handle tightly, as if it might leave were he to let it go.
It was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop, or in this case, Tadashi could hear his own steady breathing. Slowly, and ever so slowly, Tadashi turned the handle and walked in with a deep breath.
A man was standing in front of a counter where Tadashi assumed Hiro was sitting because he couldn't exactly see. Tadashi figured it was the doctor and his suspicions were confirmed when the man turned around and he saw a stethoscope hanging loosely around his neck.
"Doctor?" Tadashi asked apprehensively.
"Yes, you are?" The man asked.
"I'm T-Tadashi. Tadashi Hamada. Hiro's, fath- I'm a friend of Hiro's." he says, stumbling over his words.
"I see. A friend. Nice to meet you Tadashi. I'm Dr. Walls." He says, shaking Tadashi's hand. The man didn't know if it was just his imagination, but the doctor seemed to have a rather rough handshake.
"Erm, how is he?" Tadashi asks.
The doctor gives Tadashi a tight-lipped, forced smile and his eyes glint something accusatory.
"How do you think?" He asks quietly. Tadashi was taken aback. 'Is he automatically assuming this is my fault?'
"I don't know doc. That's why I asked you." He said firmly.
"He would've been better if a certain 'adult' handled his daddy issues a little better." The doctor said sarcastically, making little quote marks at the word 'adult.'
Tadashi felt a sharp pang at his heart. He couldn't say anything to that because of the fact that it was true. He felt like a failure and there was nothing that could change that.
"You have about ten minutes until Ms. Rose comes back with his food. Good luck." Dr. Walls said, but anyone could tell that he was being sarcastic in his tone about being lucky. It was clear that this man wanted nothing but trouble and was doing well to fire up Tadashi. The doctor was doing everything in his power to be downright irritating, but the worst part of it all (at least to Tadashi) was that when the doctor moved, Hiro hadn't even moved up to look at him in acknowledgement.
"Well I'll be on my way then." The doctor said, heading out the door, and that was when Tadashi saw it. When Hiro had looked up, having comprehended Dr. Walls's words, his messy hair went whooshing back and Tadashi caught sight of his face. Red puffy eyes, slight bags under them, frown etched seemingly permanently, an expression that read 'damaged beyond repair.' It was all too much and it was all Tadashi could do to keep from crying; staring at the one person that gave his life meaning.
Hiro's worn out eyes widened in shock as Dr. Walls made his way closer to the door, silently pleading for him not to leave.
Dr. Walls turned around at hearing the sudden movement or crinkling paper that Hiro was sitting on (the doctor's bench thing with paper. idk what it's really called).
"Hiro? Is everything alright?" He asked. Hiro didn't verbally reply, but his uncomfortable expression told the man enough.
"What is it?" Tadashi asked.
"Oh yeah, because he's definitely going to respond if you ask him a question." Dr. Walls whisper spat. Tadashi fought the urge to give him a glare and instead used his better judgment to focus on Hiro. The child was the only reason he was here and as of right now, was his main and only priority.
Without another word, to Tadashi's sheer relief, Dr. Walls began to leave again. This time, instead of moving, Hiro simply hung his head back down and looked miserable and it hit Tadashi like a brick. Hiro didn't want to be alone with him. Hiro didn't want Dr. Walls to leave because it would mean having to face Tadashi. Nothing had ever hurt him more aside from the fact that Hiro didn't love him, but now he understood that the boy had every right not to.
Dr. Walls left before Hiro could protest (not that he would) and soon it was just Tadashi and him left in the room. Tadashi took a deep breath and sat in a chair next to the counter that Hiro was seated on.
"Hey bud. I heard you weren't feeling too good." Tadashi said weakly at an attempt to get Hiro to at least look at him. No such luck as the boy kept his head down, allowing his crow's nest of hair to act as a cover.
"Hiro, you honestly have no idea how sorry I am. I messed up. BIG time. But I also want to fix this. What can I do? I'm so sorry. No matter how many times I say it, I'll still be sorry. No amount of apologies can fix what I've done, but that won't stop me from trying." Tadashi said in complete honesty. That got Hiro to look up, but he still had the worn out look on his face. He squinted his eyes at Tadashi as if he were reading him like a book and realized he wasn't interesting enough by facing away immediately.
Before Tadashi could muster up the courage to speak again, Hiro suddenly bore his gaze deeply into Tadashi's eyes. The man was taken aback, but watched nervously as Hiro seemed to read him again. The boy's lip quivered and trembled, almost as if his lips were afraid to betray his mindset.
"Hiro. If you want to talk, please talk. Don't let your fears get in the way of that. Don't let ME get in the way of that. Say anything! Scream at me. Tell me you hate me. Just say something." Tadashi pleaded. Hiro blinked in response before opening his mouth slightly, not even enough to where Tadashi could see that adorable little tooth gap.
Still, the man grew hopeful. Anxiously, he awaited as Hiro opened it up just a little more to where Tadashi could see the outline of the bottom of his top teeth. The young man was getting extremely hopeful, but all hope died when Hiro clamped his mouth shut again, looking down in horror at what he was about to do. He blinked rapidly and looked anywhere but at Tadashi.
"Hiro?" Tadashi whispered, voice on the verge of cracking.
When Hiro faced Tadashi once more, he was biting his lip and for once, he looked exactly like what he was; an innocent little kid. He look like he desperately wanted to talk. Wanted to tell not just Tadashi, but the world what he was feeling, but his voice wouldn't let him.
Tadashi decided to communicate with Hiro the same way the child was to him; by facial expressions and actions. The man gave Hiro a small wave and smile. The boy looked once to the right, and then once to the left before back at Tadashi. The man didn't know exactly what to think of the gesture, but he took it as a 'please leave. I don't want you here. Can't you tell?'
Tadashi began to stand up just as the doorknob turned and Ms. Rose walked in. the older woman nodded at Tadashi before rushing to Hiro's side and offering him the bowl of soup.
"Um, thank you Ms. Rose, for informing me about everything, but I really must be getting home. I'll be back tomorrow to see how things are." Tadashi said awkwardly, before shuffling out of the room before she could even ask how things went.
Shrugging, the woman turned her attention back to Hiro, who watched Tadashi's retreating form in utter focus. Once he was sure Tadashi was gone, Hiro looked back at Ms. Rose blankly.
"Soup?" She offered with a smile.
Hiro blinked a bit before seeming to register what the lady said. He accepted the bowl and cooled down a spoonful before placing it in his awaiting mouth. The boy made a face at the taste, but not of disgust. More of a shock.
"Yeah, I put a hint of lemon in it. Don't worry, I'll bring some gummy candies to you after you finish. I know how much you like them." Ms. Rose promised, stroking Hiro's cheek.
A single tear escaped Hiro's right eye in remembrance of a similar scenario with Tadashi.