Written for Inspired By OQ Week, Day 4. Inspired by the wonderful art made by CarolinaMR9. Set in Sightless and Soundless verse, a short Flash-forward.
Sightless and Still Soundless
When the opportunity for Robin to get his hearing back arose, Regina has been ecstatic. She knew better than to hope for the best, but she couldn't help herself crying from happiness – even the possibility to regain a sense seemed like the life-changing thing.
Robin was more cautious when it came to showing his feelings, but he was obviously on cloud nine even though he didn't show it to others. There were many late evening conversations where Regina and Robin would talk about how much easier their lives would get if Robin could hear again; it would be such a blessing.
However, with each passing day, they'd become more and more nervous. They started having little fights and non-talking hours that soon turned into days of silence until one of them would finally apologize only to start a new fight.
They had a fight this morning, too. Robin was drinking his morning coffee when Regina suggested that now that he is finally on his way to getting his hearing back, he should contact Marian and ask her to see their son. It was a simple suggestion and Regina meant no harm, but it made Robin furious.
It wasn't her place to say, it was always a sore topic for Robin, but Regina just couldn't help herself – she knew Robin was tortured by the knowledge that somewhere out there he has a son, a little boy who doesn't even know about his father.
She didn't even have time to apologize before Robin stormed out of her apartment, shutting the door loudly behind himself. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach, but Regina told herself not to worry; it wasn't the first time he'd stormed out like that. These days even a misplaced sock turned him into a mess.
The feeling, however, stayed with Regina for most of the morning until she received a call from Will, who told her that Robin was hit by a car. Everything that happened after that is a blur in her head, she remembers only pieces of what Will told her as he drove her to the hospital.
When they reached the hospital, a nurse told them that Robin was in an examination room; he was conscious but had hit his head pretty hard and now they were running some scans on him. The woman escorted them to the waiting room where they've been sitting for what feels like hours.
"Regina?" Will's voice snaps her out of her thoughts, and Regina immediately turns towards him. "We can see Robin now," he says, taking Regina's hand in his and squeezing it.
Regina is up on her feet instantly, but the whole situation has drained out all of her energy and she wobbles a bit. Will steadies her and then wraps his arm around her for support. Any other time Regina would dismiss any help, but she's so tired and anxious that she only smiles gratefully and lets him walk her towards the room.
She counts the steps to keep her fears at bay. They take twenty steps, then turn to the left, then another fifty steps until Will is pushing the door of the room opened.
Regina drags her shaky palm over the wall, her other arm stretched out in front of her as she makes her way into the room, Will following right behind her.
"Robin?" she asks, fully aware that he cannot hear her. She listens carefully to any sound and follows the heavy breathing somewhere in the room, takes a few steps straight and then turns to the right until a hand grabs her own and she knows it is Robin.
A sigh of relief escapes her immediately and she quickly takes a few steps closer until her hip collides with the hospital bed. Feeling her body shake from emotions, she sits down carefully and then releases Robin's hand to cup his face.
Her breathing becomes easier, but only a bit. She doesn't know if he's injured badly, doesn't know if he has broken bones or anything, so she lets her fingertips run over his cheeks. When she touches his right brow Robin winces and she apologizes immediately, gently exploring the rest of his face in search of more bruises.
"You're alive," she finally whispers in a shaky voice. Feeling tears collecting in her eyes, Regina sighs in relief and wraps her arms around Robin, but her hand touches some of the wires and the machines beside them start to beep loudly, making her pull away instantly.
"Nobody was dying, you drama queen," Will teases from behind her, but even his voice is full of relief.
"I'm fine, Regina," Robin says in a hoarse voice. He swipes his thumbs over her cheeks and wipes away a few tears before leaning over and brushing his lips against Regina's. She smiles into the kiss, feeling relief in her veins – if he can kiss her and wipe away her tears, he's not badly injured.
Regina carefully runs her hand over Robin's arms and up to his shoulder and he hisses this time, shifting away from her touch. Regina makes a mental note not to touch his right side and exhales, telling her rapidly beating heart to calm down.
Robin shifts on the bed beside Regina and she realizes that his hands are in the air and moving, he's telling Will something in a sign language, something that he doesn't want Regina to know.
She hates when he does that so she quickly pulls her phone out of her purse and grabs Robin's moving hand, gives him the phone. She tries to furrow her brow and look disapproving, and it seems to work because Robin signs and takes the phone from her.
"Do not dare to lie to me, Robin Locksley," Regina says in a threatening voice and expects to hear a laugh from Robin but instead he just sighs.
Her hands start to shake on her lap as she realizes that something is definitely wrong. She swallows hard over the lump in her throat and forces herself to inhale through her nose and exhale through her mouth, forces herself to stay calm even though all she wants to do now is shake the truth out of Robin.
"I should go," Will says quickly and excuses himself, telling Regina to call him when she needs him to take her home.
After the door is closed, Regina lifts her still shaking hand to touch Robin's cheek. Her mouth opens in surprise when her fingertips collide with the wetness on his face.
Oh my God!
"Robin?" Regina asks, not being able to keep her fear out of her voice, "Tell me what it is. I love you and we'll get through it, I promise you."
Robin's hand finds hers and he squeezes it. Regina squeezes back immediately, encouraging him to tell her what is wrong. It seems that the unknown is going to kill her.
He clears his throat and finally admits, "When I hit my head on the road, it did more damage to my hearing nerves. I'm no longer fit for the surgery."
For a moment, Regina's breathing stops. Her hand freezes on his cheek, the other on his hand. Her heart stops beating.
He lost his chance to have a full life. The surgery meant the world to him. The possibility of regaining a lost sense was the best thing that could ever happen to him. And now it's gone.
Tears fill her eyes immediately, but Regina fights through it. It's not her who just lost her chance to have a normal life again, she has no right to cry, so she sucks it up and swallows hard over the lump in her throat.
A hot tear collides with her thumb on his cheek, and Regina cannot help but let a tear of her own roll down her cheek. Collecting all the strength she has, she squeezes his hand and says, "I'm so sorry, Robin. I know how much it meant to you but it is not the end of the world. Medicine is a progressive field and maybe in a few years they will be able to restore your nerves. Until then, though, we're going to keep fighting, right?" Her voice trails off, and she wonders if Robin still has the phone in his hands, if he heard what she's said.
"Regina, I don't-"
"No, Robin, listen to me," she says in a voice full of determination, "We are not giving up, do you hear me? It's horrible what happened to you, but you're still alive. So we're going to keep living, alright? We'll keep playing the cello and exploring the world together and you're not going to give up. I won't let you."
Robin lets out a quiet sob before pulling Regina into his arms and the machines start beeping again but he doesn't let her go. Her own arms find their way around him and hold him while he tries to find his strength again.
"I love you so much," he whispers into her hair when he's finally calmed down.
"I love you, too," she returns before leaning over to kiss him. She misses his lips and ends up kissing his cheeks and it makes Robin chuckle quietly.
"Come here," he turns her face a bit and lands a kiss on her lips before shifting a bit on the bed until he's laying down. Regina lies down as well, rolls on her side and wraps one arm around his waist, rests her head on his uninjured shoulder and sighs.
When the quiet snores start echoing in the room, she finally lets the tears run down freely.