Just me and him- autistic Tommy and big brother Tubbo, SBI adoption story

Chapter 9: sitting in a waiting room

Tubbo's POV:

"Our floor, Tubbo." I nodded and followed Nadia and Tommy out. He was doing his little skip-like steps, which he did sometimes. I saw a sign for the fracture clinic and speed up a little. "Tobias Trusser is here." Nadia stated, speaking to a man at the desk.

"Ok, thanks for letting me know. Wait over there please." He pointed to a small huddle of chairs that made up a waiting room. Nadia just nodded and we walked over and sat down.

"Things aren't normally done like this, but things have had to be changed a little for you two. Normally, we would have waited down in a & e until we got back your x-rays, and then they would have reset your bones there. But you wouldn't let us anywhere near it, until we got Tommy sorted, and I knew that Tommy was going to continue to have issues until we got him somewhere, quieter and calmer. So, and this is going to sound really scary, the doctors here, are probably going to reset the bones your wrist, and then do a plaster cast."

"Oh. What is going to happen after this?"

"Then, I think the plan is to give you a drip. Tommy's bloods came back pretty normal, a little low, but I understand how difficult giving Tommy and IV would be, so as long as he keeps drinking and eats something, it won't be anything to worry about. As for you, most of your levels were getting a little too low, so we'd like to give you an drip, just for the main vitamins and nutrients, and some fluids. Do you ever not get food Tubbo?"

"Umm, at school most of the time I don't get lunch, and then I eat when I get home, and have dinner, but there isn't always loads of food into the house."

"That's ok, you did your best, and you must have looked after Tommy really well, because he's all good."

"Yea." I said sadly. There was a small pause, full of silence and fear.

 "I know that's a lot of information, but I wanted you to know what was really happening."

"No, that's fine thank you Nadia, I appreciate it. But will resetting my bones hurt?"

"Yes, but they might give you something for the pain, and it's over within seconds."

"Oh ok. And do I get to choose the colour of my cast?" I asked my question with a small laugh.

Nadia chucked before saying, "yes, and they have quite a few different colours for you to choose from." We made polite chatter for another 10 minutes or so, Nadia just asked me some basic questions, like about my favourite tv show and movie.

But then, I felt someone poking me in my shoulder, and turned round to Tommy who had sat down next to me. "Hey?" He signed toilet, the one invaluable sign I had taught him. Dad had potty trained him, even though it had taken nearly 2 years for it to work reliably, but that only really worked at home, where Tommy could just take himself off to the toilet whenever he wanted to. For when we were out, like out the weekends, there were several years where Tommy couldn't communicate through signing, and I would take Tommy to the toilet every hour, just to make sure he could go if he needed to. The day that the toilet sign finally worked, was the day that Tommy finally got independence, enough to not be sat right next to me in public. That doesn't mean he uses that independence however, because he tends to stick very close to me anyway, but still, he could.

"Nadia, where's the closest toilet?"

"Does Tommy need to go?"

"Yea." I looked at her nervously, but calmed down when she offered a kind smile.

"The toilet is just round the corner, take a-" she got cut off.

The technician I had seen earlier at the desk stood at the end of the waiting room, "Tobias Trusser?" I have Nadia a panicked look.