A/N; Please be aware that I am no doctor, and any medical terminology or situation may not be correct. But also bear in mind that this is fictitious, and I'm just trying to write what makes sense in the story and to me. If anything is drastically incorrect, please don't hesitate to message me and I will correct it ASAP.

Rena hated hospitals. Hated. Them. As soon as they arrived, she was ushered into a room and poked, prodded, questioned, bandaged and x-rayed. She barely registered what was happening, consumed by her own thoughts. The brief happiness that she had felt upon learning that Tadashi was alive was quickly extinguished and replaced with a gnawing worry that ate away at her as the minutes slowly ticked away. Why hadn't she heard anything? Surely they should have let her known what was happening by now? What if he'd died? What if she never got a chance to say goodbye? The idea that the last thing she ever said to him was angry shouts made her heave into a pathetic cardboard bowl held under her chin by a sympathetic nurse.

She was sure that hours had passed by the time they let her escape to the waiting room. She had barely gotten through the door when a blur of blonde hair had swept her up and hugged her, quickly followed by several more pairs of arms. She felt safe in the arms of her friends, and hugged back with all the strength that she could muster. Admittedly, it was not much. It took them several seconds to disentangle, and when she was finally free she sank down in the nearest chair. Her eyes quickly swept over the tiny room, they seemed to be the only people in there. She relaxed slightly, she was not in the mood for forced smiles with strangers. Hiro was sat in a chair in the corner, staring into space. Cass was sat next to him, trying to coax a conversation out of him. He only gave the slightest of nods, and this was the only indication he gave of him being there at all. Rena realised with a pang that he had Tadashi's SFIT hat clutched tightly to his chest, his fingers were tracing the letters embroidered on the front slightly. She sighed and stretched out in the hard wooden chair, resting her new cast onto the arm rest. Her friends collected around her, sitting in chairs in the close proximity. It was a few minutes before she broke the heavy silence.

'Where's Tadashi?'

Aunt Cass looked over at her, scandalised. 'They didn't tell you?'

She shook her head, lips pursed together tightly.

'He's gone in for emergency surgery.'

She let out a deep breath, stomach still in knots. She didn't want to ask why. Didn't need to know. 'Okay.'

She glanced at her phone for the first time since she had heard the fire alarm. 7:43? How the HELL was it 7:43? Surely not? How had it only been 3 short hours since Hiro's presentation? Her life had completely changed in 3 short hours. She scarcely believed it. She tried to distract herself from the idea of Tadashi sat in a far off room, being sliced open and meddled with.

'How did you guys get here?'

'We drove your Aunt's car. She threw me the keys before tearing off after you lot.' Gogo replied, 'we tried to follow her but by the time we reached the hall they'd blocked it off, said we weren't allowed any nearer.' She trailed off slightly, considerably less nonchalant than normal. Rena nodded, not having the energy to re-spark the weak conversation. They sat in silence. Honey took her hand and squeezed it, but she barely noticed. Her mind was in overdrive.

She wasn't sure if the hours dragged or went by so rapidly that she didn't notice. A few weak attempts at conversation had been made, but all friendly chatter had died before it had really started. Her friends slowly trickled away, starting with Wasabi at 10pm, making promises to come and visit again as soon as he could. He was followed by Fred, then Gogo, and eventually Honey Lemon at around midnight. Rena's eyes drooped, but she didn't dare sleep. Not like she could anyway, every time she closed her eyes all she could see was Tadashi running into the exhibition hall, and Hiro's screams. She sat up and dug her palms into her eyes, rubbing until she could see stars and swirls of colour dance across her vision. She could hear Aunt Cass rifling through the small pile of magazines for what seemed like the tenth time that hour. Cass couldn't seem to keep still, whether or not she was flicking through a magazine she wasn't reading, pacing up and down the room or constantly getting up and switching seats. Rena and Hiro stayed where they were, Rena stretched uncomfortablely across two or three seats and the latter remaining firmly where he was, knees tucked up to his chest. The only indication that any time passed at all was the slow, monotonous ticking of the clock on the wall above the door. Tick. Tick. Tick. It was driving her mad.

Another hour dragged by, and Rena was sat chewing her nails when a doctor entered the room. Her neck snapped up instantly, and Aunt Cass had stopped her vigourus pacing. Even Hiro looked up, and Rena noticed sadly that he was holding onto Tadahshi's hat so tightly that his fingers had gone white. The doctor quickly read the mood of the room, and sat down on a seat near the door, as though he was ready to bolt. A moment passed before he opened his mouth. Rena couldn't breathe.

'Well.' He said, slowly, deliberately. 'I am pleased to tell you that the surgery was a success.'

Aunt Cass's pale face flooded with colour, and Hiro dropped his feet down onto the floor with a gentle thud. All three of them grinned, and the doctor's shoulders slumped in relief at their happiness at his news. He adjusted the clipboard resting on his knees and pushed his glasses up his nose, somewhat anxiously before continuing.

'Yes, Tadashi Hamada is a very lucky young man. Right now, he is in a medically induced coma. We don't know how long it is until he wakes up. Due to the extent of his injuries, this could be a mere few days, or it could be weeks. But he's alive.'

'Extent of his injuries?' Hiro said shakily, 'how, how b-badly is he hurt?'

Before the doctor could say another word, Rena strode over to her baby brother and hugged him close. He melted into her touch, and rested his head on her chest. She could hear him muttering very quietly to himself, and knew he was listening to her heartbeat. As weird as that seemed, she knew it was something he used to comfort himself. She suddenly felt extremely guilty, she was the eldest, at least for now. She needed to be looking out for him more, and she should have clocked on how badly he was hurting much, much earlier. She let her free hand wander up to his mop of hair, and began to run it through her dirty fingers. Time to take responsibility. She straightened up, and looked the doctor in the eye. She had to be strong.

'Well, you two sure are close. I don't think I've ever seen siblings this affectionate!'

Despite his kind tone, she felt a flash of annoyance. She hated when people commented on how close the three of them were. Why did it matter?

'Our parents are dead.' She stated simply, 'we need to look out for one another.'

Slightly taken aback, he nodded. 'Well yes of course, I suppose given your circumstances, it is not unusual...' He trailed off, and she narrowed her eyes.

'How badly is he hurt?' She asked, dreading the answer but not showing it. Hiro tensed slightly.

'When we found him, he was underneath a fallen beam.' Aunt Cass gasped, but the doctor ploughed on. 'However, if this had not happened, he would have ventured even further into the fire, and he would not have been so lucky then.' He paused and swallowed thickly. 'We were unsure of the extent of his injuries, but a quick analysis here at the hospital showed extreme damage to his lower half. In particular, his right leg. To put it simply; he had extreme nerve damage. As well as this, a number of deep gashes in his leg. However, the extent of the damage was so extreme that we only had one option for him to survive.' He paused, and looked at their expressions of horror. 'I am sorry, but removing his leg was the only option available.'

The doctor had left the room with Cass to discuss bills and insurance and god knows what else. Rena and Hiro sat in a nasty silence, minds reeling over what they had just heard. Rena was desperate to offer some form of comfort to her little brother, despite wanting to throw up all over again. She hesitated, and decided it was better to get it over and done with.

'So... not all bad right?' Rena offered hopefully, looking down at Hiro. When he gave no answer, she continued. 'He may be in a coma and without a leg, but that won't stop him. He'll pull through this. I know he will. He'll wake up, and then life will go back to normal. It will.' Hiro nodded.

'I.. I guess.'

'And besides.' She poked his cheek, 'I'm sure we'll come up with something. And when I say we, I mean you, Mr Genius Inventor. Make him a really badass prosthetic, and then we can steal it if he gets too annoying.'

To her delight, Hiro laughed. She smiled along with him, feeling slightly guilty that she was making a joke at Tadashi's expense but deciding it was worth it to see Hiro smile. It didn't last long, and he looked at her with large, dull eyes.

'What if he doesn't wake up?' Rena winced slightly at the idea, and quickly shoved it to a corner in her mind where she wouldn't have to think about it. She forced a smile and ruffled his hair.

'He will. I believe in him.'

The door opened again, and Cass came back into the room. She came and sat down beside Rena, and placed an arm around her shoulder, hugging her close. Rena returned the affection as best as she could with a cast on.

'I just spoke to the doctors and they suggested that we go home.' Rena could tell that the idea pained her Aunt Cass, that she would rather die than leave Tadashi alone. She straightened up, time to become responsible.

'I'll tell you what,' she said. 'You stay here with Tadashi, and Hiro and I will go home. I'll leave my phone on full volume, and you can call me with any updates. We can sleep and return in the morning, and I'll bring some stuff with me, for you and Tadashi.'

Aunt Cass smiled gently. 'Okay. Thank you Rena. I love you.'

'I love you too Aunt Cass.'

After much protesting, she had finally managed to wrestle Hiro into the passenger seat of the car. He sat there, sulking. He didn't want to leave, and Rena didn't blame him. She didn't either, truth be told. But Tadashi wouldn't want them to sit in a smelly hospital waiting room just for him. She breathed out slowly and placed her good hand on the steering wheel. Driving one handed. This could be interesting. The doctor never explicitly said she couldn't drive... he just advised against it. She hadn't driven in a long time, preferring to leave the wheel to Tadashi. Cars made her feel queasy, ever since that day when... No. She thought to herself angrily. Stop. You need to be strong right now, you cannot start blubbering again. Slowly sucking in a breath, she steadied her shaking hand and turned they key. Now was not the time to get scared over a damn car. She reversed out of the multistory and onto the road, terrified that another car would come out of nowhere and take them out before she even had a chance to swerve out of their path. She realised as she reached the city centre that she nothing to worry about, though. The streets were empty, only a handful of vehicles passed them. She relaxed more as they drove on, attention now back on Hiro as well as the road. His hood was pulled over his head, and he had his legs tucked up tightly to his chest again. Like he wanted to disappear. You can't fix this. She thought to herself, not yet. Tadashi is the only one that can help him.

'What are you most looking forward to about SFIT?' She asked Hiro, fighting hard to keep the tremble out of her voice. She couldn't reverse what had happened, but she could certainly do her best to keep him distracted from it. She saw him perk up slightly, as though she had only just reminded him that he had won a scholarship to the school of his dreams.

'I don't know. Having a private lab would be pretty cool. Then I wouldn't have to share with you dodos.' His voice was muffled under his hood, but she could tell he was smiling.

'You know, it takes a while to be able to get your own private lab. Freshman's always just get a segment in the public lab.'

He pulled the hood down, looking outraged. 'Well you could've TOLD ME THAT!'

'I know. But it's funnier not to.'

He rolled his eyes and slumped back into his seat. He was still gripping Tadashi's hat.

'Well done on grabbing that.' Rena said, eyeing the cap in her brother's hands. 'He would've killed us if we'd lost it.'

Hiro sighed heavily. 'Yeah. He probably would. His fault for dropping it.'

'True.'

The conversation died. Rena didn't mind, the tension in the air had melted away somewhat and she felt slightly more at ease. It wasn't long before they were pulling back into the cafe, and she got out of the car feeling stupidly proud of herself. They entered the cafe in silence, Rena locking the door behind her and dropping the keys into her pocket. Clumsily, she made her way upstairs. Her eyes were dropping even more so than they were in the hospital. She made it to the the living room, Hiro close behind her. They stood in darkness for a second before she found the light switch, flicking it on and flooding the small room with light. It took a second for her eyes to adjust to the harshness.

'Well, I'm going to bed.' She said to Hiro, yawning massively.

'Same.'

'Do you need anything?'

'Don't think so.'

'Give me a shout if you do, then.'

He nodded and made his way quietly up to his room. Rena made her way to the kitchen and got a glass of water, not realising how thirsty she was until she'd gulped down the whole thing. She pulled out her phone, the screen read 2:23am. It pinged twice with messages from her Aunt Cass, and she replied quickly before she became worried. She debated about whether or not to text her friends in the group chat they shared, but decided against it. Besides, they'd all be asleep anyway. She should be too. Flicking the light off again, she made her way up

the stairs and into her tiny bedroom. She didn't share with Hiro and Tadashi, instead opting to take the smallest room in the entire building. Rena didn't mind it, it wasn't like she spent a lot of time in there anyway. She collapsed onto her bed, throwing her phone onto her bedside table. She was going to get changed into some pyjamas, but three seconds of fumbling clumsily with her new cast was enough for her sluggish brain. Her eyes slid shut, and she was asleep before she even pulled the blankets around herself.