Birth of a Pilot

“Pssst, bro. Visiting hours are almost up. Wakey wakey… I brought you something!”

Angelo awakens to the rustling of a bag. After blinking a few times, his eyes adjust to reveal a sweet surprise--his brother! Also, a cupcake! 

“Hi love you, thanks.” Three different phrases mangle themselves together as a not-quite-awake Angelo reaches out for the cupcake. He’s hungry. The table connected to his hospital bed is already pulled out over him.

“So you can say it now, but not when you’re about to...” Leon trails off. “Here you go.” He hands Angelo the cupcake and laughs as the patient digs into it ravenously. “If I knew you were this hungry, I would’ve brought more. You should’ve seen Mia’s face when she saw these. You know how she is about icing ratios.”

With a mouth full of vanilla cupcake, Angelo nods. The chocolate icing isn’t stacked on too high, though he was hungry enough to eat through extra. It tastes so good, he could cry. He does.

“Slow down there, Ángie. You don’t wanna choke! Here.” His older brother sets down the orange juice on the table in front of him. Angelo immediately guzzles that down.

Leon shakes his head, smiling. “You’re a mess. Literally. Let me see if there’s some paper towels in the bathroom.”

As his brother disappears around the corner, Angelo stops to think. The panic he felt before his nap seems like so long ago. He can’t even remember when he fell asleep. The cupcake and orange juice brought him an indescribable amount of joy. His pain almost feels pleasant… Actually, no. It still hurts really bad, but at least he’s alive to feel it! To top it all off, his brother, his best friend is here to share this joy with him.

“Jun stopped by about an hour ago.” Leon approaches with paper towels. “They were only in for a little bit, but if you woke up then, you could’ve caught ‘em.”

That’s right, Jun did say they’d be back. Angelo could always see them again tomorrow. Hopefully, they’ll still want to visit.

While the younger Summers cleans his hands and face, the older one looks at the bedside stand. “Hope you like flowers! If I knew Emil and the captain got you real ones, I would’ve stepped up my game… or bought something else.” They both chuckle.

“Speaking of Emil!” He continues. “He couldn’t get enough of me talking about the lasso thing, he’s so proud of me! Can you believe he told me I’m cool?” 

Angelo’s been telling him that for years, but he can’t talk right now, so he just nods.

“He even said he’d give me his cowboy hat if he can find it on the ship. I couldn’t possibly take it from him, but just the thought of it! It’s so cool, right?”

It is to Angelo. He gleefully nods.

“All of us have the day off tomorrow to regroup from the incident. I’ll see if I can bring you more cupcakes then. To be honest, I’m surprised they even let me bring one to you. I thought I was gonna have to sneak it in.” Leon pulls on his uniform jacket as if he’s trying to conceal something. Angelo giggles.

“After you passed out, I drove you to the ambulance. I thought I was gonna get to ride with you, but they made me drive back to base by myself. Then, I got stopped by the emergency staff, and they took me somewhere for questioning. It doesn’t make sense now, but I was worried I was gonna get arrested.” He laughs. “Apparently, I missed all the action when I was out driving. Did Romero try to sneak into your room?”

Angelo shrugs with his good arm.

“I couldn’t follow it all when Roxie explained it, but it sounded hectic. His daughter did sneak in though, I think. Did she?”

The patient nods, even though he doesn’t quite remember it.

“I heard she’s not like her dad, though. I feel kinda bad for her, honestly, but it’s probably good she gets away from Romero if he was planning on making her pilot it. Did you know she’s the same age as you…?”

Angelo’s eyes go wide. He tilts his head repeatedly towards the ceiling, trying to motion at potential cameras.

“...were when you were 16?”

The teenager gives a small thumbs up. “I didn’t know.” He feels his voice coming back. “I didn’t read that far in the logs yet.”

“Oops, spoiler!” His brother covers his mouth. “I’ll show them all to you tomorrow, if you want. It’s kind of late now. They’re probably gonna kick me out in 30 minutes or so, but don’t worry! We’ll see each other tomorrow! I’ll be here as long as I can… Even if you are a sleepyhead. Did you even wake up while I was gone?”

“Yeah…” Angelo worries how he’ll fare after Leon leaves. He doesn’t want to be alone anymore today. Crying himself to sleep again is not his idea of a good night’s rest. Having sugar from both the cupcake and the orange juice in his system no longer seems like a good idea.

Leon notices his brother’s change in mood. “What’s wrong? Were you lonely?”

Angelo nods. “Th-that’s one way of putting it. I… The quiet made me feel like Romero could be here any moment.”

“Ohhhhh.” The actual 19-year-old bobs his head understandingly. “Hmm… Well, I can’t stay here with you, and you left your phone back on Earth, so you can’t text me, but…” He taps his chin, thinking. Then, he grabs his phone from his pocket. “Here. If you ever get scared, you can play music from my phone, okay?”

“Th-thank you…”

“You had a rough day…” Angelo wishes he had a quarter for every time his brother said that to him. He could buy a few more cupcakes. “You deserve a good night’s sleep… And if you text people from my phone, at least let them know it’s not me! Don’t be like Aiden.”

The patient giggles.

“And for goodness sakes, don’t use leet-speak!” Ah. So he does know about the noob incident! Angelo cracks up. “You’re better than that, Ángie! I’m so disappointed in you!”

They both laugh. Leon’s laughter tapers off.

“Angelo, I… Earlier today, if you didn’t…” He glances away. His mouth quivers. “Thanks for staying alive today.”

The words don’t fully leave his lips before he breaks into sobs. Even despite this, he’s still smiling. “I’m so sorry, Ángie, I…”

“Don’t be.” Big Brother, I just got finished crying. Really?? That thought is more out of incredulousness than annoyance. He wants nothing more than to hug Leon right now. Angelo motions for his brother to come around the bed, to his left side. The older Summers obeys. As soon as he does, Angelo stretches his arm out for a hug.

Before he can congratulate himself on not crying along with Leon, Angelo tears up too. But he doesn’t really care. He’s glad he can cry with his brother. He’s glad he can hug his brother. 

He’s glad he’s still alive.

The two stay embraced for a few minutes, until Leon pulls himself back together. For once, Angelo isn’t disappointed that he let go first. At least one of us can control ourselves.

“I’m good.” Leon insists, sniffling. “Thanks, Ángie.” He wipes his face with one of Angelo’s paper towels. There’s icing on his face now. Angelo tries to point it out.

“What’s wrong?” Leon doesn’t notice the chocolate on his nose. Angelo points to his own to clue his brother in.

“Is there something on my--?” The buck-toothed ranger touches his finger to the icing before he completes the question. He cracks a smile. “...We’re both a mess.”

Angelo alternates between sniffling and laughing as his brother goes to retrieve more paper towels for both of them. Afterwards, Leon continues talking about the better parts of his day while the patient replies nonverbally. Before either of them know it, it’s time for Leon to go.

“Goodbye Ángie! See you tomorrow!”

Angelo waves at him as he leaves. Though he feels bittersweet about being alone again, he looks down at Leon’s phone. It makes him feel better. As he navigates to the group chat logs, he realizes that he’s going to have one heck of a bedtime story.