"Inca, could we please have a word with you?"
Had he expected a verbal response he was surely disappointed when the young healer barely nodded, coming to stand at his side, waiting for him to lead the way to his office. Nodding at the silent acknowledgement, the archangel curled a hand over his shoulder, guiding him forward, away from the patients he'd been caring for. Other healers quickly replaced his presence, some turned to watch as he was guided from where he'd been completing his duties, in the direction of the archangel's office. Inca ducked his head, avoiding their eyes, trying to drown out their whispers.
He heard them, all their insults, their accusations, their assumptions. He knew that none of them liked him, they thought he was too haughty to respond to them and their calls, and every time he turned away from them, as to not see the ridicule in their eyes at his lack of verbal acknowledgement. It hurt him to hear their whispers, how much they disliked him, and he always seemed to disappear for a short time after such altercations. He'd clench his fists, bite back the tears that threatened to fall, and bury himself back into his work.
Even after being released from his captivity he was still in isolation.
He looked at the others nervously as they entered the Healer's office, there was only two, he recognized the Captain of the Virtues immediately. They all knew him, like they knew the back of their hands, he never whispered things under his breath when he called to him and never responded, he would just look at him strangely and move on. Beside him was his direct Head, he knew him too, Akriel was kind. He always spoke so kindly to him, never seeming to mind that he never spoke kindly back in return, he just ruffled his hair and continued on through his tasks and assigning their patients.
Inca recognizes Orion. She talks to him softly, he knows a lot about her, almost all of her secrets. She glances at him nervously and shakes her head.
It wasn't her who told.
The Healer gestures to the chair before his desk. "Have a seat." Inca nods silently, timidly lowering himself down into the chair, its comfortable, there's a cushion on it. The Healer nods to those behind him and he feels them draw nearer, they come to stand behind him, he knows it. He fidgets nervously, wringing his hands together. Raphael steps around the edge of his desk, sitting in the large leather chair behind it, leaning back, resting his arms on the armrests.
"Inca, I'm not sure how to put this, there have been some complaints." He rubs his thumb and index finger together. "You are a nice boy, and I would not think you would, but do you think you are better than them?"
Someone had told on him, told the Healer, that he was merely ignoring them all. That he thought he was above them in station. They had told him about what the whispered about him, when his back was turned, when they thought he couldn't hear them.
He could.
He always heard them.
Inca shakes his head, looking down to his hands, shrugging his shoulders tightly. Someone hums over his head, he recognizes the hum, he knows the pitch and the tone, he knows who hummed. A hand comes to rest on his head lightly, pulling it back gently, and he comes to stare up at the Captain standing behind him.
Oren smiles down at him, lifting his hands, so he can see them. "Inca?" He tilts his head at the question, looking at his hands as they begin to move. 'You can't speak, can you?'
He can't help it, he stares at his hands, as they rest in his line of sight. He knows they're waiting for him to respond, now that someone has asked such a question, they all wait on bated breath for the answer. But tears prick at his eyes, there's someone here that he can talk to, someone who knows how to talk to him, who knows what he'll say when he tries to tell them. Someone there to keep him company in his imposed isolation. The Captain smiles sadly, reaching forward to rub a tear away when it escapes, Akriel looks surprised, as though the thought had never crossed his mind, and there was no blame that could be placed for that fact. Orion's buried her face in her hands.
She knows.
The oldest Virtue comes around from behind him, and he watches him silently, tears trailing from his eyes, watching as he comes to kneel at his side. 'You can't talk.'
Inca shakes his head, his hands shaking as he lifts them. 'You know…You know how to silent speak?'
The elder smiles, nodding in response. 'I do. We all do. Why didn't you ever say anything?'
'I didn't want you to think I wasn't fit.'
He shakes his head and Inca inhales deeply. 'Never. You're are a wonderful healer.'
"Inca, is it true?" The young healer spins at the archangel's voice, his eyes wide at the realization that more know the silent speak then he thought they did, nodding cautiously. "Well, that explains that." He leans forward against his desk in curiosity. "If you don't mind me asking, were you created that way?"
He shakes his head again. 'No. Naomi did it.'
"How so?"
Inca presses a hand to his throat, tilting his head back, and they can see the scar when he does. 'She cut my vocal cords. She called me a secret keeper.' He rubs a hand over the incision area. 'She said I was good for gathering intel and never betraying the knowledge.' He averts his eyes. 'She did it after the Eldest was taken. I saw her. I knew everything she had done. She wanted to make sure I couldn't say anything.'
They all sit for a tense moment of silence.
"That cruel bitch." They all turn to the Healer in shock, having never heard him use that kind of language before, to see his temper turn so suddenly. He clenches his hands into fists, banging them once on the top of his oak desk, shaking his head in disgust. "I despise her with the very core of my being. The harm and suffering she has caused so many people." He shakes his head, turning to like back at his young healer before him. "You know you didn't deserve that treatment, yes?"
'I guess…'
Oren takes his hand, shaking his head firmly. "You didn't, Inca. I can't begin to imagine how you must feel. Being so isolated in your own little world because no one can hear you screaming. Well, no more, I hear you, little Inca." He shakes his head. "Do you hear me loud and clear? I hear you. We will talk every day. You will never know that isolation again."
Inca stares at him, his eyes watering once more, tears gathering. No one's been this nice to him since he came here, no one's understood, no one's heard him. Oren smiles at him, wiping a tear away as it falls again, and guides him to his feet. "I hear you, Inca." He pulls him into a warm embrace, to offer comfort and privacy for his breaking down like this. Inca breaths a sob, curling around the Virtue Captain, clutching at his tunic as tight as he can manage. He's the one that threw him a line, that tried to understand, who has been turning his mind over the silent mystery that was the little healer; Inca.
Akriel's eyes were wide, he knew they were, surprise having taken hold of him. There would be shame next, shame that he had not known that one of his healers was suffering a silence that had been cruelly reigned down on him.
"I'm sorry." They turned, Inca felt Oren move as he did, his arms tightening around him, to look at the other young healer. Orion looked truly troubled, and Akriel turned, leaning to the side as he pressed a hand to the small of her back. She was shivering in shame. "I knew. I knew and I never told. Inca asked me not to and I agreed. I shouldn't have. It was wrong. I'm sorry."
"You knew?"
Orion nods slowly. "That's why we pass files so often. We write notes to each other. I don't know how to speak the silent speak. So we write."
Inca calms after a long moment, pressing his ear to the Virtue's chest, listening to his heart beat under him. He feels his elder press his hand to the back of his head, and he pulls away, Oren smiles down at him. "Feel better?" He nods shyly, feeling a faint warmth come over his cheeks, he's blushing. "You must be bursting at the seams, having so much you want to say, share a secret. Give us something."
He looks between them all, eyes landing on the Healer, and he raises an eyebrow at the attention. 'The beds in the dorms are uncomfortable.'
The two Virtues laugh at his admission, his archangel chuckles in amusement, nodding at his admission. "Thank you for the notice. I will look into it immediately." Inca smiles, nodding silently, a drastic change from the quiet timid thing they had seen when he'd first joined them. Oh, the change that can be made when being able to communicate with someone. Oren pets the back of his head, letting him press his ear back to his chest, his voice rumbles as he speaks. "Do you have any dorm mates?"
Inca shakes his head. He doesn't see it, but they're frowning, no one should be along, isolated, because of something they cannot control.
"You come stay with me, then." He looks up immediately, his eyes wide, and the older healer nods in affirmation. "I'll take you, then, they clearly don't know who they're losing. They don't deserve you if they're going to shun you."
'Come stay…Come stay with you?'
He nods. "I could use a companion myself, and you'd be perfect, if you'd want to."
The younger healer nods quickly, pressing himself back against the Virtue, the only one who truly reached out. The one that took the time to come to the conclusion and test his theory. The only one that thought to try. "I'll take that as a 'yes', then." He scratches at the back of his head. "We'll get you a bed immediately, something much more comfortable then your dorm bed, I promise." He smiles, a silent giggle coming from him, it rumbles in his chest. "Come, let's go get your things, we'll get you comfortable." Oren turns, curling his arm around his shoulders, pulling him close against his side. Inca smiles widely, happier then they've seen him since his arrival, and it warms their hearts.
Raphael smiles as they depart.
His Captain will take good care of the silent healer.
