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Pain. That’s what Katsuki woke up to. Really, the pain had started last night, coming in waves through his lower-right abdomen. And to make things worse, he was beginning to feel nauseous.
He slowly exited his bedroom, the smell of breakfast and the lights hitting his senses. Usually, the smell from the kitchen would have been amazing, but right now, all it did was make his stomach churn.
“Good morning, Katsuki,” Aizawa greeted him.
“Mornin’,” Katsuki replied. His voice was strained.
Aizawa looked at his son with concern. “Are you feeling okay, Katsuki?”
“I, uh…” Katsuki thickly swallowed. “Honestly, I kind of feel like I’m going to throw up.”
Aizawa’s concern furthered. He set all the breakfast food he’d just finished on the table and told Eri to help herself as he led his son to the bathroom. Katsuki was looking paler and greener by the second.
Aizawa rubbed his son’s back as he leaned over the toilet bowl, waiting for something to happen. And after a couple of minutes, Katsuki lurched forward, his stomach contents getting expelled out of his mouth. The blond only got a few seconds to breathe before he was heaving again.
Aizawa could feel Katsuki shaking as he rubbed his back with one hand, and used his other to move hair off his son’s forehead. After five minutes, Katsuki took a deep breath; the vomiting spell was over. The deep breath only made him wince.
“Are you in pain, Katsuki?” Aizawa asked, his brow furrowing.
“My-my stomach hurts,” Katsuki admitted, his voice raw from vomit.
Aizawa gently felt Katsuki’s forehead. “You must have caught a stomach bug somewhere. You are running a bit of a fever.”
Katsuki gave a slight hum, not really able to focus on much except the pain.
“How about we set you up on the couch and you can watch a movie? No way you’re going to school like this,” Aizawa suggested. Katsuki nodded and let his dad lead him to the living room.
Aizawa set a blanket over the couch cushions before having Katsuki lie down. He put a blanket over his son, then went and grabbed a small trash bag for when Katsuki would get sick again (and he had no doubt he would), along with an extra pillow for his son to be more elevated.
“Is Katsuki okay?” Eri poked her head out of the kitchen.
“Your brother’s not feeling well, but don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” Shota assured her.
Eri’s face was filled with worry. This was the first time she was seeing Katsuki sick, and it scared her. But she accepted her father’s words.
“I’m going to call ‘Zashi,” Aizawa mumbled. He settled in a chair next to his son and tapped his best friend’s contact.
“SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTA!” Hizashi’s loud voice came through the other line. Katsuki groaned at the noise.
“Hizashi, please be quiet,” Shota sighed. “Could you possibly take Eri to school and take over my class? Katsuki’s sick, and I don’t want to leave him alone.”
“I can do both those things!” Hizashi replied enthusiastically, but at more of a normal volume. “And I hope Katsuki feels better! I’ll be there soon to pick Eri up.”
Hizashi hung up the phone, and within two minutes, he was at the door. And the next minute, he was heading out with Eri.
“Dad…?”
“Yeah, Katsuki? Do you need something?”
“No. But it hurts to breathe.”
“I’m sorry, kiddo. Do you want to watch a movie to try to take your mind off it?”
Katsuki gave a slight nod. He sat up slightly, wincing at every little movement, and his dad handed him the remote.
Katsuki fell asleep for about half an hour during the movie, only waking up to hurl into the trash can his father had provided. Aizawa was by his side immediately, rubbing his back as he hacked.
“Ow…” Katsuki gripped his stomach, small tears forming in his eyes. “Dad… It hurts… It hurts really bad…”
Aizawa’s brow furrowed in concern. “Where does it hurt, Katsuki?”
Katsuki gestured to the lower-right portion of his abdomen. “It mainly hurts over here…”
Aizawa’s eyes slightly widened, and Katsuki hunched over the trash can again. Except he was dry-heaving this time, and tears were streaming down his cheeks.
“Katsuki, I don’t want to freak you out, but I think we need to get you to a hospital,” Aizawa said as calmly as possible, trying to keep the teenager from freaking out.
Katsuki just gave him a nod, tears still falling from his eyes. Aizawa gently picked him up, keeping him slightly wrapped in a blanket. The sick boy leaned his head against the man’s shoulder, whimpering as waves of pain washed through him.
Aizawa quickly put on a pair of slip-on shoes and grabbed the car keys. He gently put Katsuki into the front passenger seat and handed him a plastic shopping bag in case he needed to vomit again. Then the man got into the driver’s seat and headed on his way to the nearest hospital.
After describing what was happening to the hospital staff, they took Katsuki to the emergency room right away. After a few tests, they determined it was appendicitis, and wheeled Katsuki off to another room to get surgery, while Aizawa had to sit out in the waiting room.
Aizawa temporarily stepped outside, again calling Hizashi, despite knowing he would be in class.
“Sup, Shota!” Hizashi greeted.
Aizawa took a deep breath. “Could you stay with Eri this afternoon? I may not be able to pick her up from school.”
“Yeah, I can do that. Could I ask why, though? I assumed I was picking her up later, but why stay with her? Are you not at home?”
“No, I’m not home. I had to take Katsuki to the hospital.”
“Hospital? Sho, what happened?”
“Turns out, Katsuki has appendicitis. He’s in surgery right now.”
“Oh man, poor listener. Appendicitis is no joke on the pain scale.” Hizashi was speaking from experience, as he’d had to have his appendix removed at the age of 11 for the same reason.
“Yeah. I don’t know how long we’ll be at the hospital, but I’d guess the earliest he’d be released is tomorrow.”
“Alright, so I should plan on staying with Eri through the night? I can do that. I hope the surgery goes well.”
“Me too…”
“Well, I'd better get back to teaching your class. I just kind of walked out when I saw you were calling, and they’re probably so confused. Don’t worry, I won’t tell them about the current situation you’re in. I don’t want an entire freakout on my hands. Bye, Shota!”
Shota headed back into the waiting room. The chairs weren’t super uncomfortable, but he wouldn’t exactly call them comfortable either. He leaned his head against the wall, staring at the ceiling.
His mind was reeling. What if he hadn’t realized what was happening when he did? What if he’d continued thinking it was just a stomach bug and it got worse? What if-
It was no use dwelling on the what-ifs of this situation, or any other situation. That only leads to more stress.
After about an hour, a nurse called out Aizawa’s name. He stood up quickly, and the nurse led him to a recovery room, where Katsuki was currently asleep and hooked up to an IV.
“The surgery went really well, and he should be able to go home by tomorrow morning. I have these papers for you that will explain everything you need to know about recovery.” The nurse handed him the papers. She also handed him a paper about the cost, and he could pay it easily.
The next morning, he was able to take Katsuki home.