Different Angles
Nightmare
Hiro had a nightmare, and he was just glad that Tadashi was there to help him fall asleep again.
"Hiro, please get some rest," Aunt Cass said worriedly, eyeing the clock on the wall. It was a little over ten in the evening, which wasn't considered very late, but these past few days, two in the morning had become his bedtime.
Hiro turned away from the notebook he was scribbling on, and looked up at his aunt with dead eyes. He replied, "I'll get some sleep; I'll just finish this up. Don't worry about me, Aunt Cass."
"You've hardly been getting any sleep these days," she said. "You're going to get sick at this rate."
Baymax walked over to them, and stopped next to Cass. He pointed up a vinyl finger, and said, "Precisely. At your age, your body requires at least eight hours of rest in order to function properly. According to my scans, you have been getting only three to four hours of sleep per night."
"I'm fine, guys. Really," Hiro said, turning away from them.
Cass headed for the door, and took one last look at her nephew before exiting the room. "Baymax," she called, gesturing for him to come to her. When he finally made his way over to her, she whispered, "Please make sure he sleeps early tonight."
The nursebot nodded, "I will."
"Hiro, it is now twelve thirty in the morning. I suggest you get some rest," Baymax said.
"I'm fine, Baymax," Hiro answered, blinking more than usually as an attempt to keep himself awake.
"Resting would be beneficial to your health," he stated. When Hiro didn't answer him, the robot continued, "The effects of sleep deprivation include an increase in blood pressure, impaired brain activity, weakened immune response-"
"Fine, fine, I'll get some rest," Hiro said, putting down his pencil and closing his textbooks. It suddenly became extremely difficult to keep his eyes open. He got out of his swivel chair, walked over to his bed and slipped under the covers.
"According to your schedule, your class tomorrow begins at ten in the morning. I suggest waking up at nine in the morning so that you will get at least eight hours of sleep," Baymax said.
"Huh? Okay," Hiro replied, closing his eyes. "Good night… Bay… max…"
"Good night, Hiro. Are you satisfied with your care?"
Hiro woke up in the middle of the night covered in cold sweat. He sat upright, panting heavily and holding a hand on his chest as an attempt to calm his pounding heart.
He had a nightmare.
Breathing heavily, Hiro lied back down on his bed, and tried to fall back asleep, but to no avail. Whenever he closed his eyes, the terrifying scenes of his nightmare would flash in his mind, forcing him to open his eyes to make them disappear.
Unable to take it anymore, he quietly got out of bed and walked over to his brother's side of the room. He pulled the Japanese folding screen open, "T-Tadashi?" Hiro mumbled, shaking as he recalled his nightmare. The lump under the blankets didn't move.
Tadashi was a heavy sleeper, so Hiro's first approach wasn't strong enough to wake him up. Hiro walked over to the side of his big brother's bed, and shook him and called out his name numerous times in hopes of waking him up.
After a few tries, Tadashi finally woke up, making Hiro sigh in relief. Tadashi yawned and slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. When his vision cleared and adjusted to the darkness, he turned to his right and saw his little brother standing next to him with a look of fear and distress on his face. He softly mumbled, "Hiro…?"
Hiro sniffled, and worry immediately filled Tadashi's body, waking him up completely. He then asked in a panic, "Hiro, what happened?" When his little brother didn't reply, he tried again, this time in a softer tone, "What's wrong?"
After calming himself down, Hiro replied, "I… I had a nightmare. Can I sleep here with you for the night?"
Tadashi smiled at his brother's innocence. He thought for one second that he saw little five-year-old Hiro again. "Sure," he said, moving over to the side to make some space for Hiro. "If you don't mind me asking… What was your nightmare about?"
Hiro slowly slipped into his brother's bed, and felt fresh tears pooling in his eyes, "After I got my college acceptance letter, Aunt Cass and the others left for the café, while we decided to stay behind for just a little longer to talk. Then, a fire broke out at the Showcase building, and a student said that Professor Callaghan was still inside. You ran in there to save him, but…" Hiro paused, and after a deep breath, he finished with a shaky voice, "You never came back out."
After hearing the end of his nightmare, Tadashi moved closer to his brother, and smiled down at him, "Hey, come on, men don't cry." Hiro let out a little chuckle upon hearing those words. Tadashi always said that to stop him from crying when they were younger. "I'm here now, aren't I?" Tadashi gently ruffled his little brother's hair, "It was all just a dream."
"Yeah… you're right," Hiro smiled, looking up at his brother. "I'm so glad you're still here. I wouldn't know what I'd do if I woke up and you weren't here."
"You need to have more faith in me, Hiro. It'll take a lot more than a little fire to get rid of me," he joked. "Try to get some sleep, okay?"
Hiro nodded, and let out a heavy yawn, "Okay. At least I can sleep well tonight knowing that you're still here."
"Good night, Hiro," Tadashi smiled.
"Good night, Tadashi. See you in the morning."
Hiro closed his eyes, and the last thing he heard before drifting off to sleep was a robotic voice that said,
"You appear to be having hallucinations."
A/N: Notice that Hiro fell asleep before he could answer "yes" when Baymax asked him, "Are you satisfied with your care?" That means he didn't get to deactivate Baymax. I like to think that Baymax was calling out to Hiro during the whole conversation he had with "Tadashi", but his hallucinations were so strong that he couldn't hear Baymax until the very end ("You appear to be having hallucinations."). But he's dead tired and falling asleep, so he doesn't realize he's hallucinating until he wakes up the next morning. At first, he's confused as to how he got in his brother's bed, but then he remembers what happened and just breaks down. Sleep deprivation also causes hallucinations he realizes, and after this experience, he stops sleeping so late.
I was reading you guys' requests and so many of you asked for a "Hiro hallucinating that Tadashi's there" and I was halfway done making this already so I was just laughing and crying in the corner going all like, "Way ahead of you guys." Thank you for the request, Storm Arashi! (Insert smiling face with tears streaming down its cheeks endlessly).
REQUESTS ARE NOW CLOSED.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT EVERYONE! NO WORDS WILL EVER BE ABLE TO DESCRIBE HOW HAPPY YOU'VE ALL MADE ME AND HOW GRATEFUL I AM TO HAVE YOU AS READERS! THANK YOU! ;w; (Now please excuse me while I go cry in the corner forever).
