Zach's POV
We all stopped at Bill's room and through the huge window, I was horrified. He is very pale and had loads of IVs attached to him because dehydration is one of the symptoms of ketoacidosis. He is also intubated which immediately traumatised Tubbo. Seeing your friend hooked up to loads of needles and machines is traumatising.
Toby: Oh no.
Mat: Tubbo, you alright?
Toby: Headache.
Jamie: Seeing someone in the hospital is so scary.
Freddie: Especially when he's your best friend.
Zach: You can go in and see him, the ICU has strict visitation rules so not all of us will come in.
Freddie: Sure, I would.
Tommy: I'll go in, Billzo's practically my friend.
Zach: Go ahead. Aimsey, wanna see him?
Aimee: Sure.
Aimee, Tommy and Freddie entered Bill's room with Freddie on one side holding Bill's hand, Tommy on the other and Aimee on the end of his bed. The rest of my team would just mind our own business and stuff.
Tommy's POV
Aimsey, Freddie and I are now in Billzo's hospital room trying to talk to him to see if he remembers us and stuff. I couldn't believe I'm seeing Bill in the hospital, pale and hooked up to so many machines and IVs. I felt like I was dreaming but no, this is reality, the reality I wish it wasn't real. And because Karl's rewind powers don't work on any Zodiac hero, we couldn't rewind back to the time Bill was fine.
Aimee: Poor Billzo.
Tommy: I know. That goddamn estrogen, am I right?
Freddie: I just hope he's alright, not hooked up to so many machines and needles. Look how many IVs he's hooked up to.
Aimee: Looks painful.
Freddie: I know.
Tommy: Yeah, I agree. I've been hooked up to IVs before and now I have a PICC line for the vasopressin. Because prior to that, I have to be hooked up to IVs or have myself pricked just to get the vasopressin in. Thank low blood pressure for that.
Aimee: What would we do when Billzo recovers?
Freddie: We might have to help him walk unless he has brain damage. Brain damage is one of the complications of type 1 diabetes even though not everybody gets that.
Tommy: I just wish that Billzo would have a speedy recovery. Or would wake up soon. I just hope it wouldn't be a month like what happened to Mat.
Aimee: Yeah.
Freddie: Yeah.
Zach's POV
My teammates and I were in the waiting room until Aimsey, Tommy and Freddie came. Later, Brad came in with Ryan, Kyle and Raphael with their diabetic pumps. I ran up to my boyfriend and hugged him.
Zach: How was it?
Ryan L: Felt like I was pricked by an IV.
Zach: Brad, whenever he showers, does he need the pump off?
Brad: Yeah and he might also need tube changes as well. Gerald, you should be listening so that you could learn how you could change the tube and stuff.
Gerald: Alright.
Brad: Calum, you know what to do, right?
Calum: Yeah, Raphael used to own one before it broke down and we had to stick to pens.
Brad: Good.
Aimee: What about Bill?
Brad: He will get his pump as soon as he wakes up. But you must handle it with care. I already told Zach about it.
Zach: It would require occasional tube changes and stuff.
Freddie: Where should we put the cannula though?
Brad: Either on the arm or at the back and the device should be put at the back of your pants. Preferably on the belt.
Zach: It should be connected to your amulet so that you could be alerted whether your insulin or blood sugar is low. That's what I've been programming recently.
Kyle: Thank you.
Brad: Okay, you guys can go back to your dorms. I'll text you when Bill wakes up.
Luke H: Do you mind if we continue working here?
Brad: Sure.
Zach: See you later.
We walked back to our dorms and settled down in the common room. Just wondering what our next mission is even though Bill's not here. But someone's gonna assign us to a new mission but it won't happen today. Probably soon but not today.
Mr Tan: So, our next mission will be in Wales, right?
Aimee: Yeah, cuz we needed to find the remaining Time Travelling Spirits. At least we found a Power Eater but there are still some Time Eaters out there.
Karl: Yeah, I've been seeing them a lot while I was trying to beat up the caretaker.
Mr Tan: Time Eaters are really dangerous. Not only it'll affect the world but also you as a Time Travelling Spirit.
Karl: Woah.
Tina: Does that mean that Karl would get hurt in the process?
Mr Tan: Yes. And eventually, he'll be killed.
Nick: At least he'll reincarnate or merge spirits, right?
Mat: Time Travelling Spirits don't reincarnate or have their Spirits merged with other team members, unfortunately. So when you guys encounter a Time Eater, you need to prevent Karl from being killed.
Karl: Great, y'all are babying me now.
Alex: Unfortunately, we are.
Karl: God.
Jonah: Welp, lead the babying to me as Corbyn and I are fathers. Zach and Ryan are adopted.
Zach: So Aimsey, how can you take the train from Cambridge to Swansea?
Aimee: We need to go to the train station and head to London where we'll have a stopover. And then we'll head to Wales.
Toby: Cool.
Bea: Wait, does that mean I might be killed too? By those time eaters?
Karl: Unfortunately, yes.
Bea: Holy-
Beau: Why do Time Eaters want to eat Time Travelling Spirits?
Mr Tan: That's just what they do? They cause destruction and you waste your rewind powers on those guys. They also eat up a few seconds of your time, basically wasting your time.
Nick: Basically just 'wasting your time' in a literal sense. No wonder why they're called Time Eaters.
We continued talking about our mission until Freddie decided to switch the topic to Bill. He's been wondering if we could see him again after dinner because he wanted to check on him. Making sure he could wake up soon.
Freddie: Hey, wanna see Bill in the hospital after dinner?
Zach: Why?
Freddie: I just wanna check on Billzo and see if anything has changed. I can't bear to see him suffer.
Aimee: Same, he was practically my little brother. Gosh, I even saved up enough money just to buy insulin pens for him because I knew that goddamn caretaker didn't get the right meds for him.
Oli: Aimsey as a big sister? Wow.
Aimee: I'm the oldest in our little group of orphans, the youngest is Beau.
Beau: I mean, yeah.
Tommy: Honestly, seeing Bill laying on that hospital room with wires and machines attached to him is so scary. I really feel bad for him. Diabetes? Whack! Low fucking blood pressure? Whack!
Darryl: You better watch that mouth, Tommy.
Tommy: Well, sorry. Cystic fibrosis? Whack!
Toby: I'm on the transplant list though.
Tommy: Good for you. What other conditions do all of you have?
Cooper: Asthma and gastroparesis.
Henry: Lung cancer.
Noah L: Lupus and pulmonary fibrosis.
Tommy: Lupus?
Zach: It's an autoimmune disorder. Autoimmune disorders is where the immune system attacks healthy cells when it was supposed to fight foreign bodies or germs. His immune system had attacked his lungs.
Wilbur: I have Hashimoto's.
Mat: Pulmonary fibrosis for me.
Larry: Also have cystic fibrosis but it was unknown by the time I was born and only discovered like before World War 2 happened.
Tommy: You know what? All your medical conditions? Whack!
Tina: Let's just have dinner.
We walked out of our dorms and headed to the cafeteria to have dinner. The sun is setting and we're walking calmly in silence as the street lights turned on. I haven't felt this calm in a while. It just felt weird to me because I'm always stressed out because of missions and my teammates health. I didn't even care about my own health.
Ryan L: Hey Zach, I haven't seen you this calm before.
Zach: Really?
Ryan L: Yeah, you're always stressed out. Leader duties, coding, everyone's health and stuff.
Zach: I know.
Toby: Yeah Zach, you weren't usually this calm before. How does it feel?
Zach: It feels weird. I mean, whatever I do, I was never calm. Not even this calm.
Ryan L: That's good, because if you're not calm, your oxygen levels would drop.
Zach: I know, Brad and I had a lecture back in the bus about that.
Jonah: Zach, you haven't been this calm today. What's going on?
Zach: Not much, I just saw the sunset and then it actually calmed me down. I've been really stressed out cuz of Bill and stuff, you know, him being in a coma after diabetic keto acidosis and stuff.
Corbyn: That's actually good, because your oxygen levels drop when you're stressed.
Once we reached the cafeteria, we grabbed our food and sat down. I started eating my food, I haven't eaten much in a long time but I have to eat a lot so that I won't need a feeding tube. Apparently, someone with cystic fibrosis cannot absorb nutrients so I've been trying to get them into my system.
Aimee: Zach, what's the rush? I haven't seen you eat this much.
Zach: People with cystic fibrosis, like me, need to eat a lot.
Cooper: Don't you have a g-tube?
Zach: Oh yeah I forgot about that. And I haven't used it in a while. But better safe than sorry, I guess. I'm starting to hate the feeding tubes anyway.
Ryan L: Darling, I know how much you hated the tubes but you still need to do them.
Zach: Yeah.
Ryan L: That and the nebuliser treatments you've been missing.
Zach: What the?
Aimee: Nebuliser?
Toby: That medicine you inhale to thin out your mucus and stuff. Everyone with lung infections must take it.
Tommy: Imagine having one. I have to take vasopressin via my PICC line because of my low blood pressure.
Cooper: I had to take one whenever my asthma turns into pneumonia. The rest is taken care of by my inhaler.
Ryan L: You see Zach, you've missed a lot of treatment. Even more than Noah's. What's happened?
Zach: Honestly, I've been putting myself first just to help the team. Or lead the team as I'm the leader. Even though Tubbo and Tommy are also leaders, I still put myself first just to make sure everyone's okay. Bill in a coma is already the last straw for me.
Freddie: Hey Zach. Next time, please don't overwork yourself just to help all of us. You got Tommy and Tubbo.
Tommy: Yeah, I could overwork myself until my blood pressure drops just to make sure you're alright.
Toby: Tommy, you know how many times you passed out during battles.
Tommy: Oh yeah, I forgot about that.
Aimee: Can we see Billzo now? The cafeteria's about to close.
Zach: Erm... okay. Let's keep our stuff first before we head back to the hospital.
We kept our stuff and then we didn't walk back to our dorms. Instead, we walked to the hospital to see Billzo and hope that something's gonna change about him. Whether it was a bad change or a good change, I just wanna see what's going on with Bill. I basically need an update.
Zach: Worried about Billzo, right?
Aimee: Yeah.
Zach: Don't worry, once we get to the hospital, we'll get some updates on him. Whether they're good or bad.
Aimee: I just want him to be better, that's all.
Eryn: Honestly, I feel the same way.
Beau: He's everybody's little brother, right?
Jamie: Apparently, I am.
Beau: Never mind.
Ryan L: Can't believe it's dark already. Aren't we not allowed to be out during the night?
Mr Tan: Only the real Zodiac heroes are.
Ryan L: Fair enough.
Alice: So how did Bill end up with diabetes?
Oli: It's genetics. However, we don't know the true cause of type 1 diabetes so let's just say, it's unknown.
Zach: If you cannot properly manage your diabetes, you'll end up in a diabetic coma. Apparently, the pancreas is in charge of controlling the amount of insulin and blood sugar to make sure it is balanced. Due to diabetes, the pancreas cannot work as it should so you need to take insulin shots or have a piece of sweets or whatever to maintain both your insulin and blood sugar. That's why you get glucose tests. I worked hard on those insulin pumps just to sync with the amulets.
Raphael: Very useful of you.
Zach: Thank you.
Ryan L: Now I know another reason why you didn't put your health first, coding.
Zach: Yeah, but at least my coding is more useful.
Mr Tan: Yeah, Zach's the top student in his computer science course. Also, don't be such an overachiever and overwork yourself. Especially towards those who look up to you.
Kyle: Really?
Mr Tan: Especially you, Howick.
Kyle: No fair, why did you refer to Zach by his first name and not me?
Mr Tan: It'll take me some time to call you by your first name, we just have to bond first.
Kyle: Oh.
We finally reached the hospital and Brad is already there in the waiting room. It seems like he's waiting for us but he's also on his amulet or something. I wonder what he's up to? But I couldn't just randomly go telepathy on him.
Brad: Oh, hey guys.
Zach: Hi, texting someone?
Brad: Yeah, I was about to tell you guys about Bill's condition.
Tommy: Has he improved?
Freddie: Is he dead?
Everyone: He is not dead.
Freddie: Alright, geez, sorry.
Aimee: Did he develop brain damage?
Everyone: He's not-
Aimee: I know.
Brad: First of all, he's not dead. Thank you everyone for saying that. Second of all, he is showing no signs of brain damage which is good but he's still in a coma.
Oli: Poor Bill.
Zach: Did you extubate him?
Brad: Not yet, we will once he wakes up. He had low oxygen levels when he was rushed here, almost to the point he stopped breathing.
Toby: Imagine breathing. Not my fault I can't breathe, it's genetics.
Brad: Speaking of that, you're on the transplant list, right?
Toby: Yeah.
Brad: Well, we are still trying to find the right lungs for you at the moment so you gotta be patient. Anyway, back to the topic of Bill. His condition is steadily improving, we didn't bump into any hiccups, thankfully. But we're not sure when will he wake up.
Tommy: Can we see him at least?
Brad: Sure. Follow me.
We followed Brad through the halls, out of the waiting room and headed to the intensive care unit. Those halls are a lot longer than before and the intensive care unit is where we go to frequently thanks to our teammates who have respiratory disorders. I broke out of my thoughts when Brad began to talk to me.
Brad: Zach, why are you guys here late at night?
Zach: We just wanted to check on Bill and get some updates on him.
Brad: Oh, but you shouldn't be out after curfew.
Mr Tan: I excused them but we don't want the monitors to just see that they're not in their dorms late at night.
Brad: I see. Okay, once you're done with seeing Bill, you can stay in the hospital for a bit.
Kan: You're admitting us, aren't you?
Brad: More like giving you guys shelter, remember the refugees who came here during Storm Eunice?
Mat: That's already months ago.
Brad: I know. Just offering you guys shelter for about a few days or for as long as you like or until Bill wakes up cuz I know how concerned you guys are.
Larry: Well, thank you.
Brad: You're welcome.
We finally reached Bill's room and not much has changed about him. He is still intubated even though there are signs of improvement. He's no longer pale but he is still attached to those wires and tubes. I really hope he could wake up soon so that his tube would be out.
Zach: Oh my God.
Brad: He's slowly healing from diabetic keto acidosis thanks to his healing powers. He should be waking up soon but I don't expect him to wake up in less than a few days.
Aimee: Poor Billzo.
Brad: I'm sure he'll recover even though he's at the late stages of diabetic keto acidosis.
Ben W: I couldn't bear to see a kid suffer like that, diabetes or not.
Zach: He didn't change much, did he?
Brad: I already told you his current condition, Zach. He's gonna recover steadily.
I started feeling a tear come out of my eye. I haven't felt this way for a long time because not only have I been too focused on my team but I wasn't able to get my emotions out. I began to cry until Ryan, Tommy, Tubbo and Noah comforted me.
Zach: I'm sorry, I haven't felt this way before.
Ryan L: It's okay, you've been focused on looking after all of us.
Toby: If I'm being honest, I'd be grateful that you're looking out for all of us but you need to focus on your own health and wellbeing as well. You know why you felt like being calm and eating a lot feels new to you?
Zach: Because I haven't felt that way before?
Tommy: Exactly. Don't worry, Tubbo and I are leaders too so if you're feeling too sick or you have to focus on your own mental health, we would willingly takeover.
Zach: Thanks.
Brad: So, visiting hours are actually up so I will lead you to the room you'll stay in until Billzo wakes up. Sounds good?
Mat: Of course.
Zach: Erm... we all have to sleep in hospital beds?
Brad: Honestly, that's all we got so yeah. You're used to it as you've been in and out of the hospital a lot.
Zach: Alright then.
Brad: Follow me.
The end...