Chapter 4
A day passed.
Then another.
Tadashi found himself slowly disappearing from reality. He would zone out for long periods of time, unable to concentrate on anything. He found himself unable to tell the difference between dreams and reality. Every day was the same; an endless, meaningless haze that blocked out everything beyond it.
But that was okay.
His life didn't need a meaning anymore.
People had whispered kind words to him in an attempt to comfort him. But those were just meaningless lies. And although they could hide the damage that had been done, they could never truly heal the wounds.
He forced himself to attend the university, but his mind was far from his studies. He found himself struggling to remember what had happened with each passing day.
Yet, infallibly, he would always find himself at the hospital after school. Every day, he would ask the same question.
"How is he?"
And every day, he would receive the same answer...
"He hasn't woken up yet. I'm sorry."
"Tadashi!"
The voice seemed to fade away in the depths of his mind, falling into an endless abyss of nothingness...
"Tadashi!"
It finally registered that someone was calling him. Tadashi turned around, his movements slow and uncalculated. "Is something wrong?"
"Hiro. He's..." Aunt Cass paused. There was something in her eyes that she had never let him see before. Something like... panic.
She lowered her head, trying to conceal the tears in her eyes. "They've lost hope on him. They're going to disconnect him from the machines tonight."
Tadashi's eyes grew wide. "No," he muttered. "NO!" He was no medical genius, but he knew enough to know what that meant. They were going to give up on his brother. They were going to just let him die.
He felt choked. Suffocated. Lifeless.
If only there was a way for him to save his brother. He knew the hospital's decision was final, but it seemed so excruciatingly cruel.
He had told himself that Hiro would wake up; that there was still hope in his survival. And for awhile now, those words had served as a painkiller to him. But now... the painkiller had worn off and all that was left was pain.
Unbearable, agonizing pain.
Tadashi buried his face in his hands, letting out a muffled sob. He heard the soft sound of air rushing into something, but he was too disoriented to tell what it was.
"Hello, I am Baymax."
The voice took him by surprise. Tadashi looked up at the robot, his eyes wide with shock. "B-Baymax?" He stuttered. He had completely forgotten about his robot. "But I'm not hurt..." he trailed off, lost in thought. Baymax was programmed to respond to physical pain, not emotional...
"I heard a sound of distress," Baymax stated. "I am detecting the protein-based compounds prolactin, adrenocorticotropic hormone, and leucine enkephalin, which suggests that you are crying."
Tadashi nodded wordlessly, realizing he hadn't told Baymax about the incident. Come to think about it, he hadn't talked to the robot for days now.
He proceeded to recount all the events to Baymax, who listened closely, not questioning him once. When he finished, the robot tilted his head curiously to the side, before asking:
"May I see him?"
Tadashi frowned, thinking he had heard wrong. "What?"
"May I see him?" The robot repeated, confirming his suspicions. "I would like to help."
Slowly, the ghost of a smile made its way onto Tadashi's lips. Maybe there was a way to save Hiro...
I really hate this chapter. It's cringeworthy.
But it's the last decent length chapter there is. The rest are gravely short...
Should I still continue this...?