"Over here," Tadashi called from across the hall where he held another door open to his lab. With the fiasco of introducing his friends to his kid brother, he obviously wanted to put as much distance between himself and the mess as was possible.
Almost absently, Hiro followed his brother into the familiar lab space, wondering how long the argument between the others about being super heroes would go on. Probably indefinitely. At least Fred was on his side. "Guess being a superhero isn't your thing," he sighed. Tadashi hadn't been around when the Big Heroes had been formed so it wasn't all that surprising. But he wished his brother had been more supporting when he'd presented the idea only moments earlier.
"Not really," Tadashi confirmed. "But I'll show you what is." He turned to his tool box, reminding Hiro of how he'd used duct tape to demonstrate the healthcare robot the first time around. He'd taken a piece of tape and stuck it to his brother's arm, before pulling it off like a bandage.
There was no way that was happening again, Hiro decided, and rushed forward. In his haste, he almost tripped over a stool that stood in the way. "Ow." And it really did hurt, making his stitches pull once more.
Tadashi turned at the sound, duct tape in hand. At the same moment, Baymax's case beeped, indicating the start of his activation process. He stopped halfway to Hiro as Baymax stepped free of his case and waddled forward, waiting to see what would happen. He had to resist the urge to make sure his brother was alright, knowing Baymax would tell him soon enough.
"Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion," the robot announced with a small circular wave. "I was alerted to the need for medical attention when you said 'ow'." Then his vinyl belly lit up with a projection of ten faces depicting the different levels of pain. "On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"
Unexpectedly, that question made Hiro think back to the nurse at the hospital and his response to her question. Physical or emotional? They'd never gotten around to the emotional part. The nurse had been more worried about the physical. Hiro felt his throat constrict just a bit as he tried to fight down the sudden need to cry.
"I will scan you now," Baymax announced, despite not getting an answer to his question. "Scan complete."
Hiro looked up at that, having slipped back into dark memories. They were still very much there, just below the surface. A long line of successive failures. And, technically, casually convincing his not-yet friends to become superheroes counted as yet another one. A stray tear leaked from his eyes.
"You appear to have recently had your appendix removed," Baymax observed. "While you seem to be healing well inside, your incision has been stretched and should be checked for stress. I also detect a fluctuation in hormone and neurotransmitter levels. This indicates you are distressed."
He gave a valiant effort, but it didn't work. The tears leaked out of Hiro's eyes and a half hiccup/half sob escaped his throat as he stood helplessly staring at the soft white belly of the one constant in his life. Then he felt warm vinyl arms wrapping around him in a hug. He didn't even remember seeing the healthcare bot move.
"It is okay to cry. Crying is a natural response to pain," the robot said in a gentle tone, inviting Hiro to just let it all out. "It will be alright. There. There."
And Hiro did. The tears coursed down his cheeks, smudged by the soft body of the marshmallow robot. He hugged him back, skinny arms only partially wrapping around the massive belly, despite them sitting closer to the robot's armpits.
Tadashi hesitantly walked over, his expression filled with concern. "Hey, what's going on? You okay? Hiro?"
But Tadashi's concern only made the tears flow more freely. Oh man was that embarrassing! But he couldn't make them stop. It had been a long time since he'd last let himself cry like this and he really, really needed it. And he knew that, somehow, Baymax understood that. Unfortunately, Tadashi didn't.
"I'm okay. I'm okay," Hiro said, repeating it over and over like a chant. After repeating those words a few more times, the tears began to abate and he brushed them aside. He took a deep breath, giving Baymax one more hug for good measure before pulling back. A few sniffles lingers as he stood with slumped shoulders.
Tadashi, meanwhile, waited patiently for an explanation. Once he saw his brother had calmed down at least a little, he moved a little closer. "Hey, you know you can talk to me, right?"
Hiro sniffled again, then wiped his nose on a sleeve, mostly because he didn't have a tissue. "Yeah. Sorry. I just felt a little... I flashed back to being in the hospital and..."
"Come here," Tadashi said, pulling him into a hug as well. "You gotta stop keeping all that stress inside, you know. One of these days you're going to just explode and either do something really stupid or just turn into a useless puddle of goo."
Hiro hung his head as he thought about that. Images of him sending Baymax after Callaghan filled his mind. Just as his brother had said, he'd let everything bottle up to the point of explosion. And he'd lost it, almost making his brother's creation a murderer in an explosion of fear, rage, and grief. He couldn't let that happen again. Ever.
Tadashi finished off the affection fest by giving Hiro a knuckle sandwich to his messy hair. "Just like Baymax said, it's okay to cry every now and again. So don't keep holding it all in, okay? You'll die before your time that way."
Giving a half-hearted laugh, Hiro nodded. He sniffled once more, accepting the handkerchief his brother held out. If only Tadashi knew.
"I can deactivate if you are satisfied with your care," Baymax said, reminding Hiro he had to pull himself together. The evening wasn't over yet. There would be one more visitor before the boy could let himself break down once more
"I am satisfied with my care," Hiro said rather dutifully. He watched as the robot shuffled back to his charging station and stepped inside before it folded back over the deflated form. Thankfully, he had enough time to dry his eyes and make himself look a bit more presentable before the door to Tadashi's lab opened once more.
"Burning the midnight oil, Mr. Hamada?"
"Oh, hey professor. I was just finishing up." Tadashi moved to turn off his computer. He didn't want to intentionally draw any attention to his brother, knowing it would only embarrass him more.
But Callaghan had already spotted the younger boy. "You must be Hiro," he said as he leaned against the door frame. "Bot fighter, right? When my daughter was younger, that's all she wanted to do."
It was time, Hiro thought. Time to set the next step of his plan in motion. "Not anymore," he said as he moved towards the professor. "I've been thinking maybe I should look into other options. Maybe apply here."
That seemed to shock both Callaghan and Tadashi. Hiro wasn't sure, though, as he kept his gaze firmly fixed on the professor. But he did hear Tadashi's footsteps pause as he went to turn off a lamp.
Callaghan seemed to need a moment to re-calibrate his brain, blinking to take up the time necessary to get back on track. He'd really not expected that. "That's probably not a bad idea," he finally said. "Your age wouldn't be an issue. I can send you an application tomorrow morning, but we'd still need to see an example of your work. Your reputation alone won't cut it." He gave what was probably meant to be an encouraging smile but it fell flat.
Tadashi finished turning off his equipment and came over to rest a hand on Hiro's shoulder. "He could enter the student showcase," he offered. "That would give him enough time to come up with an idea. What do you think?" He turned to look at his brother questioningly.
Hiro had to lick his lips. His throat had suddenly gone dry. Here he was, about to embark on the next phase of his plan. But what if he was wrong again? What would that cost him? Resolve filled his mind and he clenched a fist hidden in his pocket. Baymax had been right the last time around. Entering SFIT was a major milestone and this was the best way to achieve that. He could do this. "Sure," he shrugged to try and stay casual.
The smile his brother gave him almost broke his heart. "That's great! I know you'll come up with something amazing!"
"Yeah." Hiro smiled weakly at that, hoping the confrontation would just end already. He was more than ready to head back home and crash for the night. He'd had way too much excitement for one day, especially since he was still recovering. Not to mention he needed his beauty rest if he was going to go have his belly checked out. Fingers crossed, he'd be cleared for some serious heavy lifting because he had a lot to do in a short amount of time.
Callaghan offered a rather tired smile. "Well, in that case, I'd better not keep you. Coming up with ideas requires a lot of time and I'm sure you'd like to get started as soon as possible."
Thankfully, Tadashi started out the doorway, both Hiro and Callaghan following as the door closed behind them. Then there was the walk down the hall to the elevator, with Callaghan holding the doors open for one parting remark. "Good luck with the showcase." Then he was gone.
But Hiro didn't let himself relax until they got home. Part of him wanted to throw up in relief that it was over. But the other part of him just wanted to sleep, and the part that wanted sleep won out. He didn't even feel his brother tuck him in before dozing off.