Control Alt Delete (A BH6 crossover)

Chapter Twenty Three: Over Before you know it.

"At least you don't think I'm dead this time," Tadashi teased. "I woke up when the nurse came in but kept my eyes closed in case she had thoughts of chasing me out."

Hiro sat up a little, realizing the nurse was gone. "Oh. Where's Aunt Cass?" How long ago had that been? He had no idea. He was having a hard enough time keeping track of things as was. Then he decided it probably didn't matter.

Tadashi pulled up a chair, probably the one they'd used last night, Hiro realized, and sat down. "She's back at the café. As much as she'd love to just sit around a hospital all day, she had to make sure everything was running smoothly. After all, she'd already closed shop for one day."

That comment made Hiro hang his head. "S-sorry," he apologized.

His older brother leaned forward, instantly looking for signs of distress that might make Hiro's condition worse. If nothing else, he wanted to make sure his brother remained calm. "What do you have to be sorry about? It's not like you could control when your appendix decided to clock out."

Hiro's eyes widened at that comment. "Is that what happened?" He ran a hand through his hair, the one that didn't have an IV coming out of it. Sometime between closing his eyes and opening them again, his cup of ice chips had disappeared, then he realized they were sitting on the small removable table next to his bed, only they were halfway melted.

The expression on Tadashi's face was a mix of disbelief and confusion. "I thought someone told you," he confessed. "I mean, in the emergency room, or even after-"

"No," Hiro said, cutting him off. "No one told me. At least I don't remember anyone telling me." But that explained so much, why his stomach felt funny, why he was in a hospital, because he definitely would not have gone to one without some serious persuasion. It also explained why he still felt a bit loopy. Pain medication tended to do that sometimes.

What it didn't explain was why he was still there. From what he remembered, most people only stayed in the hospital for a day, maybe two, before being discharged. Despite being out of it, he rather thought more time had passed, though he could be wrong about that. There was one way to find out. "How long? How long have I been here?" he corrected, just in case his question was misinterpreted.

Tadashi scratched at the back of his head, making Hiro wonder if he was going to tell him the truth or try to soften the blow. "Three days," he said after careful consideration. "There were a few complications during surgery, mainly infection. They've got you on some heavy duty antibiotics."

At the mention of antibiotics, Hiro's mind rewound to his previous incarnation. He'd died from anaphylaxis, an allergic reaction to something. The only thing he could have reacted to was the medicine he'd taken prior to coming down the stairs. There was no way he'd come in contact with any other possible allergens. After all, Aunt Cass didn't usually keep anything with peanuts in the house. So it had to be the antibiotic they'd given him. What was it called again? Bactrim?

"What did they give me?" Hiro asked, coming out of his thoughts. "I might be allergic to some of them, something called Bactrim?" He didn't sound at all certain about the name.

Tadashi pulled back slightly at that. "What makes you think that?" He took a moment to assess his brother, noting his worried expression. "Still, better to be safe than sorry." He moved around to the IV pole and read off the label on the smaller of the two bags there. 'Nope. Looks like they've got you on Piperacillin Tazobactam. You should be in the clear."

That caused Hiro to heave a sigh of relief. "Good," he said, ignoring Tadashi's initial question. There would be no repeats of his past timeline. That would have totally sucked. Even though he wasn't really sure what either of those were. He'd have to look into it when he got back home, just to be safe. "When can I go home?"

Tadashi rubbed at the back of his neck again, making his hat move. "That's a difficult question to answer," he hedged. "I don't know. They think you still might have some infection in there so you've got a tube stuck in your gut to drain any out. They'll have to remove it in a day or two, once things clear up, but I don't think they want you moving around much until they do."

"What!" Hiro almost bolted off the bed but didn't because of Tadashi's restraining arms.

Bracing against the possibility his brother would continue to try rushing out of bed, Tadashi grit his teeth. "Try to calm down a little, will you?" he admonished. "If you make too much of fuss, they'll kick me out for riling you up. Besides, you'll only displace the drain, which means they'll have to open you up again to put it back in place. Do you want that?"

Hiro sank back against the pillows. "No," he sulked, his heart beat returning to a more normal rate. "It's just—you know I hate hospitals!"

That brought a smile to Tadashi's lips. "Don't I ever. I remember back when you were four and had to have your tonsils removed. You were so mad Aunt Cass made you stay that you refused to talk to her for days."

"Did not!" Hiro protested, not that he could remember that far back, though.

Tadashi rested his chin on the bed's railing. "Hey, cheer up. It'll be over before you know it."