Sturniolo Triplets - Hurt/Sickfics

Nick - Panic Attack

Guys idek whats gotten into me but im suddenly active ?! its crazy fr. anyway, this is a nick request (yay!) from the fun fanficsbymia11

"can you do one where chris has to go to the hospital and nick has a breakdown/ panic attack???"

Of course! sorry for the wait, I hope you enjoy the chapter!!!

TW: Hospitals and panic attacks, even some vomit (yk, the usual around here 🤩)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a long day. What an understatement.

To sum things up, Chris was in the hospital because he passed out from dehydration while Matt and him were at lacrosse practice. Should he have taken better care of himself? Yes. Was Nick really that surprised though? No. Let's be honest here, it's Chris we're talking about.

But that's besides the point.

Seeing your baby brother literally collapse on a field in the heat is not a very pleasant experience, shockingly. It's honestly a pretty stressful experience, especially when your other younger brother starts having a panic attack. Not that Nick didn't love Matt and he wanted the best for him and his health, but Nick really could not deal with Matt having a panic attack while Chris was riding alone in an ambulance.

Let's use our critical thinking skills. Matt was the only one who had his license and he was having a panic attack. Who does that leave to drive using Matt's license? If you had guessed Nick, you would've been correct.

So Nick was the one who had to get 911, help get Chris to the ambulance when it finally arrived, try to calm Matt down, heavy on the try, unsuccessfully calm Matt down, drive without his license, and drive while Matt was panicking. What a fun afternoon. 

Throughout this entire chaos session, Nick hadn't had time to address his emotions yet, and he was extremely close to having a breakdown in front of the entire hospital staff and patients. So Chris was laid in a bed and Matt had stopped panicking when they got to the hospital. When Matt found out Chris was going to be wheeled to his own room and no family was allowed, he started panicking again.

Nick was all about having patience with Matt, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.

"Matt, sweetheart? Calm down, take some deep breaths in.. and out.. Good job, just like that kid," Nick tried to comfort, but Matt wasn't having it this time.

He started screaming for Chris, begging the receptionist to let him see his brother. Of course the receptionist couldn't allow that because no one knew what was wrong with Chris yet. They still had to do a diagnosis.

Nick could've strangled Matt. He understood Matt had awful anxiety, but Nick couldn't deal with him right now. He needed a break from being the older brother. By some miracle, when Matt was having his breakdown, Marylou ran into the waiting room. You could literally see Nick's shoulders relax as he saw his mom.

But Nick couldn't even say hi to her. As soon as he saw her heading towards Matt, he figured that Matt would be fine. Nick ran to the bathroom, not even seeing where he was going. He couldn't break down in front of his family, he couldn't do it. He's supposed to be the strong one, he can't be weak. He has to be the older brother.

Nick slammed the bathroom door shut, locking it behind him. His back hit the wall as he slid down it and collapsed on the floor, tears burning his eyes. His breath came out in sharp, painful gasps as he curled up on the gross bathroom floor. 

He didn't know where he was or what he was doing. His vision was blurry, his throat was tight and it felt like his skin was on fire. 

He was having a panic attack. He absolutely hated having panic attacks. He would rather walk on legos for a mile in bare feet than have a panic attack. Normally there was someone with him to calm him down, help him breathe. But he was all alone this time. No Matt, no Chris..