Tadashi sighed as he solved the Rubik's cube for the eighth time; the nurse had given it to him when he noticed the young man staring vacantly at the ceiling.
The nurse's name was Richard. He was a redhead Scot and if it wasn't obvious in his looks, it was pronounced in his speech; "wee" instead of "little", "cannae" instead of "can't". Tadashi thoroughly enjoyed trying to guess the meaning behind every Scot word that the nurse spoke. Richard was only two years older than Tadashi himself so the two got on very well. Obviously, he couldn't hang around all day (he did have a job to do) but he would linger around a bit longer than necessary to have a chat with Tadashi.
He walked in now, just as Tadashi put down the cube and started waving his phone around in a doomed attempt to get some signal.
"That has worked exactly zero times since the first time you tried it," Richard sighed, nabbing Tadashi's phone and putting it on the windowsill.
"First time for everything."
Richard snorted in amusement. He then went to the trolley to give Tadashi his lunch. "Who's text are you looking for this time?"
"My friends said they'd visit today, I'm just trying to see if they're on their way yet."
"Nothing from your brother?"
"I hate you. I hate you."
It had been 3 days since Hiro had stormed out of his hospital room. Tadashi hadn't seen him since. His aunt came by everyday with updates, though they never changed.
"Hiro's fine. He's just upset. He'll be talking to you again before you know it."
Tadashi didn't have the heart to tell her that her youngest nephew had wished death upon him.
"Nothing."
Richard shook his head. "Don't be too hard on the lad. For a week, they were convinced you would never wake up again."
Between Richard and Aunt Cass, Tadashi had pieced together the events after he fell unconscious after hitting the ground.
Emergency services, who'd already been called when the fire first broke out, rushed to his aid, crowding around him to lift him onto a stretcher. They were hesitant about letting Hiro come with them, despite him being family because they didn't want him to have the burden of making difficult decisions, if it came to it.
Tadashi's stomach would tighten at the thought. He couldn't imagine what it'd be like for Hiro to make any decisions as big as that.
The main reason they finally let him in was so the paramedics could also tend to his small injuries.
Apparently the blast had been strong enough to throw Hiro backwards, as well. Of course, he arrived at the hospital in better condition than Tadashi.
Tadashi had immediately been whisked away for treatment. According to Richard, when Hiro had first seen him, covered in bandages, a slowly beeping heart monitor and a ventilator pushing air into his lungs, he'd burst into tears. People had tried to pull him out of the room, both to let Tadashi rest and so Hiro would calm down.
But it seemed the stubbornness gene was as prevalent as ever. Hiro hadn't left the room until their fight, three days ago.
Aunt Cass had closed her cafe for 2 days and spent those days with her nephews, praying to a God she wasn't sure existed that her family wouldn't be broken apart again.
Hiro had been in a worse state. Constantly switching between begging Tadashi to wake up and silence. Once he convinced Aunt Cass to go back home and back to the cafe, he had calmed down a bit but he didn't eat a morsel.
"I won't eat until he does." Richard recalled Hiro saying.
In that respect, Tadashi was glad for their fight as Cass divulged that Hiro had been eating since he got home. Not a lot, but it was better than nothing.
"I just wish he'd let me talk to him," Tadashi lamented, poking at the food he was given, miserably.
Richard didn't say anything, quietly making sure everything was in order.
There was a buzz in the corner of the room. Tadashi dropped the fork (he hadn't eaten a bite) and looked between Richard and his phone expectantly.
"You can just ask me for it, instead of looking like a lost puppy," Richard laughed, handing the phone back to Tadashi.
He ignored the jab, scrolling through his messages to find several messages from Fred announcing their visit. "They'll be here in a few minutes." Tadashi mumbled, looking from the clock to the time they said they would come.
"More like a few seconds," Richard told him, disappearing with a grin before Tadashi could question him.
"Tadashi!"
No more than 3 seconds after Richard had left the room, his friends came barreling in, calling his name in a mixture of happiness and relief. It was like they didn't believe he had survived until they saw him with their own eyes.
"Dude. You're absolutely insane!" Fred exclaimed, letting Honey Lemon hug their injured friend first.
Honey Lemon squeezed him, and while it hurt, he stayed silent. He didn't realise how much he needed a hug until that very moment. "I'm so glad you're okay," she told him, giving him one last squeeze before letting Fred and Wasabi hug him.
He must have been wincing before because the two of them hugged him much more carefully.
When they let go of him, Gogo stepped and hugged him uncharacteristically tight. "You selfless idiot," she grumbled and it felt like a weight lifted from his shoulders. His friends didn't hate him.
It was enough to keep him from thinking about Hiro, for now.
"How are you, dude?" Fred asked, making himself comfortable in the only seat available.
"Eh. I'm alright. Hospital food sucks, found out I'm confined to crutches and or a wheelchair for the rest of my life, made a new friend: the usual.
Apparently, they didn't appreciate his blasé approach to giving them the news.
"Losing the use of your leg is no small thing, Tadashi," Honey Lemon reminded him. "It's natural to be upset. Don't pretend for us."
Tadashi swallowed the lump in his throat and changed the subject.
"Have any of you seen Hiro?"
"I went by yesterday," Wasabi said. "Did a lot of talking but not about you. He actually got angry at me and made me leave when I finally mentioned you."
Tadashi just groaned. Of all the things his brother had to inherit, why did it have to be stubbornness? He updated his friends on what had happened and Gogo was about to suggest something when Richard sashayed into the room.
"Hello, everyone! Don't mind me, just got to pick up the picky eater's plate."
"I'm not a picky eater," Tadashi retorted.
Richard laughed. "Then why has your meal been dissected like a frog?"
All Tadashi could do was mumble something about his friends distracting him and not being very hungry. Richard grinned.
"Well, it's very nice to meet you all. Bye!" And he disappeared once more.
Gogo raised her eyebrow at Tadashi.
Tadashi chuckled. "That was my new friend."
"Well, it's good to see you're doing okay." Wasabi said.
Tadashi picked up on the tone of his voice, immediately.
"You're leaving already?"
"Sorry," Gogo said. "But Honey Lemon and I have been helping your Aunt at the cafe and we came in Wasabi's car."
Suddenly, Tadashi wanted them to leave. He'd been here for days and this was the first time they could come and see him and only for a few minutes?
Any other person would have made a scathing remark or brushed them off.
But Tadashi couldn't be selfish. They were helping his family. What right was it of his to be angry at their short visit?
"Don't worry, I'll hang back for a little longer." Gogo raised an eyebrow at Fred's sudden announcement.
"How do you plan on getting home?"
"Uh…" Fred looked towards Tadashi, as the only one of their friendship group who knew that Fred was actually wealthy enough to have a butler come pick him up at the drop of a hat.
"Didn't you text me to tell me your mom would be here?"
Honey Lemon looked alarmed. "Freddie! You didn't mention your mom. Is she okay?"
Thankfully, Fred wasn't as stupid as he normally seemed to be. He caught on and replied, "It's just a routine checkup. Nothing major. It's in another 10 minutes so I'll have plenty of time to spend with Tadashi while I wait."
The friends exchanged goodbyes and Tadashi stayed quiet, even after the other three left.
When he didn't say anything, it seemed like Fred decided to take initiative. "Okay, spill. What's on your mind, Hamada?"
Tadashi blinked at him. He seemed to be doing quite a bit of that these days. "What are you talking about? I'm fine."
The deadpan look that Fred gave Tadashi didn't suit him at all.
"I've known you since we were 12. We dated for 2 years. I'm stupid, not an idiot. Something's on your mind. What is it?"
"You're not stupid," Tadashi mumbled in protest. But when Fred's gaze didn't falter, he sighed.
"I keep thinking about the night of the fire. What would've happened if I died…" He breathed in sharply. Suddenly, he was in front of the burning building. He felt himself pull away from Hiro's grip as he ran into the flames. The bright flash of white light brought him back to the hospital, where Fred was waiting for him to continue.
"I-Callaghan's dead. And I'm injured. If I had been a little bit quicker…or..or a little bit slower…everything would've been so different."
"But you weren't." Fred sighed. He was being so serious and quiet. Tadashi didn't like this personality shift at all. "Tadashi. You're injured and Callaghan's dead. Until you can build some kind of time machine that won't wreck the time space continuum," (here, Tadashi snorted in amusement) "you can't change what happened. All yo0u can do now is move forward and fix things with Hiro."
"He won't even speak to me," Tadashi reminded him.
He wished Fred would go. He just wanted to go back to sleep. Preferably for a few years.
It was like Fred read his mind as he stood to leave. "You love Hiro. You'll work it out like you always do."
Finally, Fred grinned and Tadashi relaxed. That was much better.
"Now, my man, is there anything I can bring you tomorrow to make your stay more comfortable?"
Tadashi couldn't help it. Despite the fear in his mind and the pain in his heart, he laughed.
"You sound like a hotel receptionist," he spluttered.
"I'm serious, man!"
That only made Tadashi laugh harder. Eventually Fred also started laughing, realising there may have been better ways to phrase it.
"Ok, let me try that again. You need anything? I'll bring it around tomorrow."
The bedridden man thought for a moment. There were a lot of things he'd like: Callaghan to be alive, Hiro to talk to him again, some kind of magical treatment for his leg.
He didn't voice any of this however. There was no need for his friend to know how deep-rooted his inner pain was.
Instead, he asked for two things. "Can you bring my laptop from home? And maybe a good blanket? My leg is freezing?"
"Your le-" Fred stopped himself short. Tadashi could see the shift in his face as he remembered that Tadashi couldn't feel his other leg.
"Sure thing. I've gotta get going. Get some rest." He hugged Tadashi once more before leaving.
Tadashi waited a moment…two…And then burst into tears.
His life had changed. He felt like a lost child, in a new place. He had seen his parents die, and raised his brother almost entirely by himself.
But now he was disabled, his mentor was gone and it was all his fault.
The silence he got in response to his tears was his only reminder that he was all alone.
A.N.: Thank you so much for your kudos and comments. Every single one makes my day and leaves me smiling like an idiot for a while. So thank you.