The next morning, Cass went to wake the boys up. She came over to Tadashi's side, sitting on the boy's bed and combing her hand through his hair lovingly. "Time to wake up, sweetie," she said softly, leaning over to kiss his cheek and shake his shoulder gently. Tadashi's eyes slowly opened and he couldn't help but smile. It had been a while since Cass did this, and it was very much welcomed.

"Good morning Cass." He greeted before she moved to wake Hiro and he sat up.

"Time to wake, sweetie," she repeated softly to her youngest nephew, combing her hand through his hair and pausing, furrowing her brows at how damp it was. She felt his forehead and came away with a fever, then she noticed the clear tube running over the side of the bed. Cass moved the blankets slightly, earning a groan from the boy, and saw that he was sleeping with his oxygen mask.

"Babydoll," she brushed his bangs from his face, "Are you not feeling well today?"

Hiro gave a weak shake of his head, cracking tired dark eyes open to look up at her.

"Not really," He croaked. "I don' wanna get out of bed today…please?"

"That's okay," she consoled with a small, worried sigh, "You can stay in bed today. I'm going to get you some water and Tylenol, okay?"

"'Kay," he breathed as she stood up. Once Cass was gone Tadashi sat on the edge of Hiro's bed, "You okay?"

"Not really," Hiro repeated, looking at Tadashi blearily and coughing a few times, "I just feel really tired and sore….I think I might've caught a cold or something last night."

Tadashi ran his fingers through Hiro's sweat-dampened hair. "Do you want me to get Baymax or Rex to keep you company?"

"Can't you stay?" he croaked, coughing again softly and making a small noise of pain. "Ugh. This sucks."

Tadashi smiled lightly. "Okay, otouto. Of course, I can stay." He promised. If Hiro wanted him to stay, he'd stay. Hiro hummed gratefully.

Cass brought him his medications and a glass of water, helping him swallow the pills and foul-tasting liquid and then convincing him to rest some. Tadashi stayed by Hiro's side all day, and he was glad he did. Hiro twisted fitfully in his bed, his face pale and clammy. Tadashi had pulled a chair by the bed and was doing homework when he heard Hiro groan. He barely had time to jump out of his chair before Hiro rolled over and threw up all over the floor.

"Hiro?" Tadashi called his brother's name worriedly, carefully avoiding the vomit as he rubbed the boy's back soothingly. Hiro collapsed back on the pillows, groaning. Tadashi repeated his name a few more times, but the boy didn't seem to hear him, his eyes soon slipping shut as he fell into another fitful nap.

Tadashi cleaned up the vomit and gently wiped Hiro's face with a washcloth, replacing his now-spoiled shirt with a fresh one. He noticed how thin the teen had gotten, but tried not to dwell on it too much as he made sure Hiro was comfortable.

Hiro vomited several times throughout the day, and after the second time Tadashi kept the trashcan by the side of the bed, remaining close by to ensure that Hiro didn't choke on his own vomit. At one point he had to hold Hiro up so that he could retch into the trashcan, the boy's frail body shaking in his arms as he coughed and spluttered as Tadashi fretfully smoothed Hiro's damp hair back from his forehead.

Tadashi held Hiro's hand as the boy slept; his thick, irregular breaths audible, his scrawny chest heaving and trembling. Tadashi watched him worriedly.

Around noon, Tadashi was starting to nod off. But then his subconscious noticed that something felt off, and he blinked and glanced around, trying to see what was wrong.

Then he realized what it was, and his heart exploded in his chest: he could no longer hear Hiro's raspy breathing. He jumped out of his chair, his ears ringing.

Hiro wasn't breathing.

The next few hours were a blur.

He remembered grabbing Hiro by the shoulders and screaming his name, and then Cass was there, pulling him away from the bed and frantically calling emergency services. Baymax helped as much as he could and was able to keep Hiro stable until the ambulance arrived.

Tadashi's ears were ringing and he was in shock during one of the many longest car rides of his life as Cass drove to the hospital. When they arrived, Hiro was rushed into the emergency room and Cass and Tadashi were left in the waiting room at the mercy of their own thoughts and fears.

Tadashi sat hunched over in his chair, rocking back and forth to calm himself.
It didn't help.

This can't be happening, he thought to himself frantically. He couldn't lose Hiro, not now, not after how much work they had put into Rex and had made it through the showcase. He couldn't give up now!

Finally, they were allowed to see Hiro, and Tadashi gripped his cold, tiny hand, being careful not to bother the shunt taped to the back. He held onto his brother tightly, afraid he would slip away if he loosened his grip.

Exhausted from the emotional turmoil of the day, Tadashi hadn't even realized he'd nodded off until he was roused by Hiro shifting in the bed. His eyes fluttered open and his foggy brain slowly registered his surroundings. Then he realized that Hiro was awake and quickly rose from the chair, tightening his grip on the boy's hand.

"Oh thank god you're awake," he breathed, hugging his brother in relief. Hiro weakly wrapped his arms around Tadashi, blinking tiredly at him as he looked around the room in confusion.

"Why are we here?" he croaked, voice hoarse, "What happened?"

Tadashi pulled away and sighed sadly. "It's the tumor. Luckily, it didn't grow, but it let water into your lungs again." He winced just thinking about the sight of his brother, looking so weak and lifeless. "You...you stopped breathing, Hiro."

Hiro grunted, looking away guiltily he muttered, "That explains why I feel like shit." Tadashi didn't even bother scolding him on the cuss - they had more to worry about. Hiro coughed to clear his throat, wincing at the pain in his chest.

Tadashi frowned and reached up to run his fingers through Hiro's hair lightly. "I'm sorry, Hiro. There is some good news, though," he reached into his pocket and gave Hiro an envelope. "It came this morning."

Hiro gasped softly, "Open it, open it! Did I get in?"

Tadashi smiled and opened the envelope swiftly before pulling out the letter. He quickly skimmed the small print it until he found the important words.

"'We are happy to invite you, Hiro Hamada, to join us at SFIT on our full scholarship program.'" His voice rose excitedly as he continued to read, "'We hope to see you in classes next semester.' You did it, Hiro!" He cheered and hugged Hiro carefully.

Hiro felt tears run down his face as he hugged Tadashi tightly, grinning widely because he couldn't laugh; he could only release short wheezes and hiccups to substitute.

He couldn't believe he really got in! He'd done what he wanted to. He was going to be able to go to college with Tadashi!

Tadashi pulled away with a bright smile before reaching up and carefully wiping Hiro's tears, though his own eyes were glistening happily. "Good job, little bro."

A few days later, Cass had gone privately to meet with a few of the doctors from the children's cancer ward and Hiro's doctor. When she came back, she barely managed to pull Tadashi into the hall before she burst into tears.

"They don't want Hiro to go to school," she sobbed heavily against his chest, "T-they think it'll kill him…the stress and the work expected of him - they think it'll be too much. H-Hiro's doctor said that after running all the tests, it was the stress and anxiety from the showcase that caused him to get so sick….he said Hiro will be at higher risks of that happening again if he goes to SFIT. He also said with how much work is required, Hiro will h-have to push himself harder to meet the deadlines a-and he needs to be able to have time to rest. He shouldn't push himself or he'll just cause more problems."

"Oh, god..." Tadashi put a hand to his forehead, struggling to process her words.

"Oh, Tadashi…I don't know what to tell Hiro!" she sobbed, "I don't want to break his heart, but I also don't want to see him suffer more…"

"Cass…" Tadashi said, struggling to keep his voice under control, to force back the tears and sadness threatening to tear him apart. He rubbed his face wearily."It's… There's nothing we can do. Whether we like it or not, we'll have to tell him the truth. We can't just lead him on false hope." He buried his face in her hair, hugging her close. "I'll tell him if you don't want to." He regretted the words instantly, even though he knew it was the right thing to do.

"Please…he'll handle it better with you there," she sniffled, "Oh, this isn't fair!"

Tadashi felt terrible. He and Hiro had worked so hard to get into SFIT. He hadn't seen his brother so dedicated to a goal; never seen him so happy as he had been when he got the acceptance letter. Hiro hadn't deserved any of this. He deserved to go to college and learn and create and live for once. Tadashi was angry at the world, at fate, at God, at whatever the hell was making the decision to torture his brother so terribly.

He took a deep breath to gather his composure before walking into Hiro's room. Hiro was still playing on his little handheld device. He paused the game and looked up at him, still shining ever since he'd gotten accepted into SFIT, despite how sickly he still looked. "Hey!"

Tadashi managed to force a weak smile. "Hey Hiro," He greeted, moving to sit on the edge of Hiro's bed, not looking forward to this.

"So, I was thinkin'," Hiro croaked excitedly, breathing through the oxygen mask, "As soon as I get out we gotta…start moving my stuff to your lab. And then, you know those upgrade ideas…I had for Baymax? We could totally start on those….might have 'em done before your break, and then we can start on some of the other ideas I we had been talkin' about….how's that?"

As soon as Hiro started talking Tadashi knew he couldn't do it. He couldn't tell Hiro no when he looked so happy even with his lungs giving him a hard time - his eyes glowed happily and proudly, and even though he was weak he still gathered the energy to be enthusiastic about all of his ideas.

Tadashi smiled. "Sounds like a plan."

We can't give him false hope, he reminded himself and he sighed. "Hey, buddy…your doctor said some things, and…" Compromise, there had to be a compromise! Wait…

"And he doesn't want you to go to SFIT - but I think you should. They're afraid of you stressing yourself out. I think you could do online classes and come with me to the lab. Online classes have no due date for SFIT, so you could do them whenever and we can still work together." And it wasn't like they could be in the same classes either…

Hiro's blinked and nodded, though he looked disappointed.

"I can deal with that," he tried to sound positive, but Tadashi's heart ached at how sad Hiro looked. "I had wanted to actually go, but maybe this semester since I need to adjust, online classes could be okay."

Tadashi smiled encouragingly. "Good." He hugged Hiro lovingly. "As soon as you're out we'll move some of the stuff from the garage into our lab."

Hiro smiled weakly and nodded, "Okay. Deal."