Summary: The boy couldn't speak. Not that it mattered. I couldn't hear him anyway. (Sora X Riku)

Warnings: BoyXboy. Mild swearing. Don't like, don't read.

Dedicated to: Those people out there who still know how to believe.

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"RIKU!"

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I had been fourteen years old at the time of the accident.

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"RIKU! DON'T YOU DARE LET GO!"

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It was a tragedy among tragedies in my family. We were devestated. Nearly fell apart.

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"Momma… momma, it's so dark… so dark… I can't see you…"

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We'd managed though. There were still some open wounds that were likely to never heal. But we'd managed.

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"Where are you…"

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I remember that night. So hot and humid. Midsummer. Almost midnight. Everything around us swallowed in blackness.

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"RIKU! RIKU, I'm right HERE! I'm right beside you! What are talking about? Riku? RIKU!"

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My mother. God… my mother. She'd just picked me up from school. I wasn't even supposed to have been there. I was supposed to be at soccer practice over in Fridley.

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"… Momma… Why's everything so silent? Momma?"

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But I'd skipped practice that day. Opted to hang out with my new friends for a while. They brought out some cigarettes, alcohol, the likes. Got a little late. I never noticed.

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"Oh god… oh, god, Riku, please be okay. CALL 911! Call an ambulance! CALL SOMEBODY!! DO SOMETHING!!!"

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She didn't even speak to me on the ride home. Just pursed her lips and drove. Her knuckles were white, and her muscles tense. She was angry.

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"… Momma… is… is that you? I can't see anything. It's so dark and silent… I wanna leave. I wanna go home…"

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I could tell that she knew what I had been doing. Mothers have that thing about them, you know?

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"We're going home soon, Riku. Please… just… Just hold on…"

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I was angry at her too. I won't deny it. I was mad at her for not understanding. Not trying to forgive me. Just leaving me to my own thoughts in silence. Alone.

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"Oh, thank god! You're here! Is he alright? Will he be okay? Please, he won't die, will he? I don't think I could bear it…"

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Now, I wish I would've spoken to her. Listened to her voice just one more time.

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"Ma'am. You're not looking too great yourself. Maybe you should get some assitance too…"

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And then the car came. It was over a bit too far, driving just a bit too fast. It hit us hard. The back end of the car crunched under the pressure. Then it flipped. My head flew forward into the dashboard. My eyes refused to open. I'm lucky that was it.

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"I don't need anything! Just take him! Take my boy!"

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Glass was everywhere. In my clothes, hair, hands, silcing open my skin. And then red. Everything went red. Blood? Maybe. I don't think it matters quite that much anymore.

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"Hey, boy… Can you hear me. Give me a sign, anything, if you can hear me…"

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I remember waking up and seeing white. Everywhere.

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"… He's not responding to anything."

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And it was cold. Very cold. I felt naked.

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"Try again. Just keep trying until we reach the hospital."

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Maybe I'd died. Mabye I'd died and gone to heaven.

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"Guys… I believe we have a bigger problem than his hearing…"

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But then the pain started and… when you're dead. There's not supposed to be pain. There's not supposed to be anything. But the pain was there, throbbing anywhere and everywhere imaginable.

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"She's stopped breathing. Just a couple of seconds ago, she stopped breathing."

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And then the black began seeping in, clouding my vision. I felt soffocated. I felt alone. More alone than ever before. I felt scared.

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"We've tried. We've tried everything. Nothing seems to be working…"

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I'd tried to open my eyes, but found that that movement was restricted by something. I lay there for a few moments. I concentrated on my breathing. I was alive.

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"Is he awake yet?"

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It wasn't until my mind had fully assessed the situation that I began panicing.

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"He's concious, but he doesn't seem to be aware of anything. Dilated pupils, unresponsive… this kid's not doing so good."

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I couldn't see anything. I was surrounded by silence. I was completely cut off from… everything.

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"And his mother…?"

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I freaked. I screamed, but no sound came out. I could feel my vocal chords tightening, but there was no other response. I lashed out at anything I felt, ripping off the cloth that was covering my lower body.

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"… We tried… We honestly did…"

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I tried screaming again, writhing around on the soft area I was splayed out on. Where was I? And then… then there was something restricting me. Something that felt… human.

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"Mr. Watanabe… please. Have a seat. It's about your wife…"

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It was a hand. Definitely a hand. But it was cold. And oh so harsh. Definitely not my mother's.

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"And my son… What happened… to my son…?"

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I screamed again. And, like every other time I tried it, no sound came out. Two more hands came and pinned me to the bed, effectively immobolizing me.

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"Your son… yes… your son…"

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I felt fingertips near my temple, I tossed my head to the other side, trying to avoid the touch. And then, as the hand once again sought my temple, I felt something cloth-like moth under the hand. Less pressure and… light. I could see light. Lots of it. Bright and glaring. I closed my eyes once again.

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"Is he… is he alive? Tell me. Tell me he's alive…"

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I wasn't blind. It had been a bandage. In fact, I was nearly perfectly unscathed.

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"You're son is alive. Yes, certainly alive. It's his hearing that's the problem."

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Except…

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"His… hearing…?"

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All except for…

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"Sir… you're son is deaf…

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