Chapter Text
“Come on, Hero!” Kel shouted, practically bouncing up and down in his excitement. “We’re gonna be late for the sleepover!”
“Okay, Kel, okay!” Hero chuckled. His little brother was so excitable. Hero was sure they wouldn’t actually be late; if anything, they’d still be a bit early. Hero went back to double-checking if he and Kel had everything they needed to bring to the Suzukis’ house.
“Herooooooo!” Kel whined.
“Okay, okay, I’m coming, I’m coming,” Hero said, handing Kel his bag and swinging his own over his shoulder. Oh, well. They were only going right next door. If he’d forgotten anything, he could just run home and grab it.
“Oh, Henry, Kel, hello,” Mrs. Suzuki greeted as she opened the door for the brothers.
“Hi, Mrs. Suzuki,” Hero greeted back as Kel bolted inside. “Thanks for letting us stay over.”
“You’re welcome, Henry. But you know you don’t need to say that every time, right?” Mrs. Suzuki chuckled. “Mari and Sunny are always happy to have you two over.” Her smile turned teasing. “Mari’s always especially happy to have you over.”
“MOM!” Mari shouted, her face red as a tomato. Hero chuckled nervously, his own face red.
“Th-thanks, Mrs. Suzuki,” he stammered as he entered the house, trying not to make eye contact with the still-smirking woman. He sat next to Mari on the couch, both teens too flustered to even look at each other. Luckily, Kel and Sunny were too preoccupied with playing with the former’s toys to pay attention to their older siblings.
Minutes later, Basil and Aubrey arrived. Now that all six of them were here, the sleepover could officially begin. Mari and Sunny brought out some board games for them to play, only for Mari to decide to put them away for the rest of the night after a game of Uno nearly resulted in a fistfight. To calm everyone down, Sunny invited Kel, Aubrey, and Basil to his room to play with his plushies while Hero and Mari baked them cookies.
“Boy, that got intense, huh?” Hero said as he measured the dry ingredients.
“Yeah, but that’s what Uno does to people, I guess,” Mari shrugged as she mixed the wet ingredients. “Especially if they’re as, ah…spirited as Kel and Aubrey.”
“That’s one word for it, I guess,” Hero muttered. Hero loved his little brother with all his heart, but he was just so rambunctious. Honestly, he didn’t know where Kel kept getting all that energy. Mari giggled.
“Well, that’s just who they are, I suppose,” she said. “As frustrating as it can be at times, I wouldn’t want to change them for anything.” Hero smiled.
“Yeah, me either,” he said. Mari was right, as always. As tiring as it was to try to keep up with the likes of Kel and Aubrey, Hero wouldn’t want them any other way. That went for Sunny and Basil, too. And Mari. God, how Hero didn’t want to change anything about Mari.
“Hero, you’re turning red,” Mari pointed out with a smirk. “We only just turned the oven on a little bit ago.”
“E-Eh?!” Hero yelped, his face turning even redder. Mari just giggled and went back to what she was doing. Hero did as well, his eyes boring into the mixing bowl he was using in an effort to hide his blush. Mari sure did know how to make him feel breathless.
The kids practically raced down the stairs when they heard that the cookies were ready. Hero and Mari ended up having to ration them out to make sure nobody ended up choking.
“Hero, Mari, you guys’ cookies are the best!” Kel declared, spraying crumbs everywhere due to talking with his mouth full.
“Kel, don’t talk with your mouth full,” Mari scolded. Then her voice softened. “But thank you.” Indeed, Hero and Mari were considered very talented for 13-year-olds, especially when it came to baking. Even adults thought so.
“Yeah, Kel, don’t talk with your mouth full!” Aubrey practically mimicked Mari. As Kel and Aubrey got into another one of their trademark squabbles, Sunny surreptitiously snuck more cookies off the plate. Hero saw him do it, but didn’t say anything.
After everyone had eaten their cookies, they decided to go into the backyard to enjoy the last of the daylight. Mari and Hero sat together under Sunny’s favorite tree and watched the 10-year-olds burn off their sugar-fueled energy.
“It sure is a nice day, isn't it?” Mari said, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the light breeze.
“Yeah,” Hero sighed, taking a deep breath. And then another. And then another.
“Hero?” Mari asked, looking a bit concerned. “Are you okay?”
“Oh, uh, yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Hero answered. Truthfully, he’d been feeling a bit breathless since they’d baked the cookies and had been trying to play it off.
“Are you sure?” Mari asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Hero answered with a nod.
“Okay, if you say so,” Mari said, looking and sounding like she didn’t quite believe him. Hero went back to his deep breathing. He’d be fine. Surely it wasn’t anything too serious.
Once the sun had disappeared over the horizon, the kids went back inside and enjoyed a light dinner made by Mrs. Suzuki. (Well, Hero could only enjoy it so much with Mr. Suzuki’s eyes boring into him throughout the entire meal.) After which they settled into the living room and put on a marathon of the Sweetheart anime.
Hero yawned as he felt his eyes getting heavier. He should probably take his meds before he conks out. Hero rifled through his bag for his asthma medication, only to find that it wasn’t there. His heart sunk. He must’ve forgotten to pack it in his rush! He could probably run next door to get it, and, indeed, that’s probably what he should do, but…he was so tired and cozy.
Hero let his eyes slip shut and his head drop onto the pillow. Oh, well. Skipping his meds for one night wouldn’t kill him, right?
Hero woke up feeling like there was an elephant sitting on his chest. He sat bolt upright, trying to suck in as much air as he could. It didn’t help very much.
“Hero?” Mari called out groggily. She must’ve been woken up by his frantic attempts to breathe. She sat up when his panicked eyes met hers. “Hero, what’s wrong?”
“Can’t…” Hero panted out, barely having enough air to speak. “Can’t breathe…”
“What do you mean you can’t breathe?!” Mari yelped. Hero was too breathless to answer. “Do you have your medicine?” Hero shook his head. “O-Okay, I-I’ll go next door to your house and try to get them. Just sit tight, okay?” Hero nodded. It wasn’t like he could go anywhere even if he wanted to. All his energy was going into trying to get air into his lungs.
Mari scrambled upright and bolted out the door. She ran to the house next door as fast as her legs could carry her (which was pretty fast. She wasn’t the star player on her softball team for nothing.) She pounded on the door, hoping–-praying-–that Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez-Desoto would hear. Her prayers were answered when, only minutes later, the groggy-looking couple opened the door.
“Mari?” Mrs. Rodriguez-Desoto yawned. “What in the world are you doing here in the middle of the night?”
“It’s Hero!” Mari cried. “I think he’s having an asthma attack!” That woke the parents right up.
“Dios mio…” Mrs. Rodriguez-Desoto gasped.
“Doesn’t he have his inhaler?” Mr. Desoto asked frantically. Mari shook her head.
“Joel, go find Henry’s inhaler and bring it next door!” Mrs. Rodriguez-Desoto commanded. “I’ll go with Mari back to her house and try to keep him calm.”
“Right, okay,” Mr. Desoto nodded, already starting to make his way towards the stairway. Mari raced back to her house with Mrs. Rodriguez-Desoto in tow. By the time they got there, the younger kids had woken up and were looking at Hero in concern and terror.
“It’s okay, mijo,” Mrs. Rodriguez-Desoto said as she gathered her elder son in her arms. “Mama’s here.”
“What’s happening to Hero?” Basil asked frantically.
“Is he having an asthma attack?” Kel asked, clearly worried for his older brother.
“Yes, but he’ll be alright,” Mari said, forcing herself to remain calm for the sake of the younger kids. “Your dad is bringing his inhaler over.”
“He didn’t pack it?” Kel asked.
“Apparently not,” Mari shrugged. Mr. Desoto rushed in, Hero’s inhaler in hand.
“Here, Henry,” he said, holding the inhaler to his son’s lips. “Take a deep breath.” Hero tried to inhale as much of the medicine as he could, but it felt next to impossible when he still felt like he was being strangled. Eventually he pulled away and shook his head to communicate that he couldn’t do it.
“He’s turning blue!” Aubrey cried. Indeed, Hero’s face was beginning to take on a pale blue color.
“What is all the commotion?” Mr. Suzuki asked as he strutted out of his bedroom with his wife in tow.
“The commotion is that we need to take our son to the hospital,” Mr. Desoto said, lifting a still-wheezing Hero into his arms. “Sorry to wake you.”
“Wait!” Kel cried. “I wanna come, too!”
“Okay, mijo, just stay out of the way, okay?” Mrs. Rodriguez-Desoto said. The family then hurried out the door.
“We have to go with them!” Aubrey cried.
“Yeah, I won’t be able to sleep without knowing that Hero’s okay!” Basil agreed. Sunny didn’t say anything, but his wide eyes and pale face spoke for him.
“Mom? Dad?” Mari asked tentatively. “Can we…?”
“Of course!” Mrs. Suzuki said in response to her daughter’s unasked question. “I’ll get my keys!” Mrs. Suzuki rushed off to get her keys, not even bothering to get dressed (not that anyone else did, either). They all piled into the Suzukis’ car and followed the Rodriguez-Dostos to the hospital.
Everything from getting picked up from Mari and Sunny’s house to ending up in the hospital on a ventilator was a blur to Hero. On the way to the hospital, his vision had started to become spotty, and everything had sounded muffled and far away. There was a lot of panic and rushing around, but that was the only thing he could really process.
And now here he was, lying in a hospital bed hooked up to oxygen. He felt so stupid for not making sure he’d packed his medication. He’d probably scared everyone. No, he definitely had. This had to be the most disastrous sleepover ever. After all, what could be more disastrous than a sleepover that ended with someone being rushed to the hospital?
Hero heard some commotion outside his room. The door opened and Mari burst through, followed by the rest of their friends and his parents.
“Hero!” Mari cried when she reached his bedside. “Oh, Hero, I was so worried! We were so worried!”
“Mari?” he asked, though it came out muffled due to the mask.
“I’m here, Hero,” Mari said. “We’re all here.”
“Sorry…” Hero apologized. “Didn’t mean to…worry everyone…”
“We’re just glad you’re okay, son,” his dad said.
“Alright, alright,” a nurse said, striding up to the group. “Let’s not overwhelm the kid. One or two at a time, please.” Everyone apologized and slowly filed out. Kel got to stay because he was Hero’s brother. Hero's parents got to stay, too, for obvious reasons. Before she left, Mari touched Hero’s shoulder.
“I’m really glad you’re okay,” she said. “Get well soon.” Hero really hoped that the oxygen mask was enough to hide his light blush.
It was very late by the time Hero was allowed to go home. So late, in fact, that it would be more accurate to say that it was very early. As soon as Hero made it to his room, he crashed onto the bed and passed out for several hours.
When Hero woke up, he was disoriented and dehydrated, but he felt well-rested at the very least. Hero glanced at the clock by his bed. It was past noon. He’d never slept in this late before. Hero started to push himself up when he heard a knock on the door. Kel poked his head inside.
“Oh, hey, you’re awake!” he exclaimed. Then he pulled his head back out the door. “Hey, guys, he’s awake!” Before Hero could ask Kel who he was talking to, the door opened fully, revealing all of Hero’s friends.
“Hero!” the kids shouted, bolting forward and practically tackling him in a hug. Mari followed after him a bit more calmly, and Hero noticed that she was holding a picnic basket.
“Sunny’s idea,” Mari said when she saw that Hero had noticed the picnic basket. “He wanted to celebrate you getting out of the hospital with an indoor picnic.”
“And we all thought it was a great idea!” Kel added. Well, Hero could agree with that. An indoor picnic sounded great. It only took a moment to set everything up, and soon everyone was enjoying their indoor picnic. As everyone ate and talked and laughed, Mari stole a glance at Hero. Seeing him talking and laughing with everyone, it was almost hard to believe he’d been in such dire straits the night before.
Mari laid her head on Hero’s shoulder, causing the boy to blush and the younger kids to stare at them with expressions ranging from delight to disgust. She really, really hoped that nothing like this would ever happen again.