AN: This is my first time writing a fanfiction about Red VS. Blue. I love the characters and the story line. Enjoy!
David Washington slowly opened his eyes to find himself staring up at a sterile white ceiling. From what he could see, the rest of the walls were white as well. The sound of a heart monitor beeped steadily next to him. His throat hurt. He tried to swallow but found it difficult. His hand reached up to take the plastic face mask off his nose and mouth but a hand stopped him.
"Don't do that," a familiar voice said and slapped his hand away. "You're still healing. And don't say anything either." He looked over at the voice to find Carolina out of her cyan armor, her red hair tied up in a ponytail and her green eyes stared down at him.
Wash opened his mouth but Carolina cut him off.
"You don't listen, do you?" she said, a bit of bite to her words. Wash snapped his mouth shut and she let out a breath. "You're in the hospital on Chorus. Do you remember being shot?"
He nodded slightly.
"You got hurt pretty badly," she continued. "You're getting O2 through the face mask. Doctor Gray said that the surgery to repair your larynx went well, though your voice might be lower." He noticed her lips quirked up a bit. "I kept the Reds and Blues back so you weren't overwhelmed."
He used his hand to sign 'thank you' to her.
"You're welcome," she replied with a smile.
He pointed with the hand that didn't have an IV in his arm at her then pointed at the ground a few times. He hoped she understood what he was trying to say. He didn't know enough sign language to get his message across.
"Have I been here the entire time?" she asked.
He nodded.
"I wasn't able to be here when you were brought in by Locus, but I've been here for the last two days. You've been here for four."
Four days, he thought. That explains the burning in my throat.
The door opened and the two looked to see Dr. Emily Gray pushed Tucker away from the door and he heard some argument between Tucker, Sarge, Simmons, and Grif while Caboose made a random comment before it shut.
"Well," she began in her cheerful voice. "I'm glad to see you're awake. How are you feeling?"
Wash put his thumb up.
"Splendid," Dr. Gray continued in her usual perky voice. "Are you feeling up to discuss your situation?"
He gave another nod.
"You were shot in the neck and suffered a pharynx hemorrhage. You lost a bunch of oxygen and also suffered a cerebral hematoma." Both Carolina and Wash gave her a blank expression. "The bullet hit your throat and caused a loss of oxygen in your brain for far too long. You're getting oxygen through the mask, which will help. We'll keep you a few days for observation. I'll have a speech therapist come in to help with your speech production tomorrow. Do you have any questions?"
Wash stoically shook his head no. He had brain damage. He had brain damage. How much had been damaged? Could he still fight?
Carolina could see the unanswered questions in his eyes. "Dr. Gray, can you give us a few minutes?" Dr. Gray nodded and left the room. "Don't do that, David." He eyed her and quirked up a brow. "I can tell when you're worried but acting like everything is fine. I'm sure you have a million questions running through your brain. I'm not going anywhere and I will help you with this." She reached for his hand and held it tight.
Tucker, Sarge, Simmons, Grif, and Caboose burst into Wash's room, all out of their armor. "Hey Wash," Tucker said. "How are you feeling?"
Wash held his thumb up again.
"Agent Washingtub," Caboose said, concerned. "Why are you not talking? Are you being silent?" He dropped his voice into a whisper. "Are you pretending to be a mime?"
Simmons sighed. "Come on Caboose, I'll explain it to you again in the hall." The two went out of the room followed swiftly by Grif.
"Where are you going, Dirtbag?" Sarge said.
The blond looked at his commanding officer. "Simmons has explained this three times already to Caboose. I'm pretty certain he's going to lose his shit and I don't want to miss that. Glad to see you're okay, Wash" Grif rushed out the door.
"So," Sarge continued. "Do you remember why you decided to walk through the bullet exchange?"
"He was loopy from the lack of oxygen because Temple had trapped us in our armour for days," Carolina interrupted. "We had just been released by Locus."
Wash remembered Locus but had no idea what Temple was.
"I'm glad that dirty blue is gone. I never liked him."
"Didn't you work for him for a while when he was making that huge bomb-thing?" Tucker asked.
Sarge blanched, his skin almost matching his white hair. "Uh, what's that Simmons? You need help explaining to Caboose? Sorry Tucker, I have to help the troops." He disappeared out the door.
Both Tucker and Carolina shook their heads. "Well," Tucker said. "I'm gonna go deal with them but can I come by and visit you again, Wash?"
Wash gave him another thumb up.
He smiled. "Thanks, I'll see you guys tomorrow." He nodded and walked out of the hospital room.