Author's Note: Greetings readers, here is the latest chapter for this story. I'm trying to update all my stories, but quite frankly, since there isn't a lot of reviews or response on any of my stories, I'm considering stopping my uploads altogether. I started writing and sharing Covert Affairs fanfiction to keep Annie and Auggie alive for its fans, but I don't seem to be very good at it. I don't know if its just me that lacks reviews in this fandom or if the whole fandom has dried up (I suspect its just me because I know other CA writers are getting reviewed). I crave that discussion between my readers that I'm just not getting, for reasons that are unknown to me.

So my task for you, dear reader, if you want me to continue writing, I'm going to need more from you. If I am to continue, I need to know your thoughts on all my stories that you want more of. If you really could care less if I continue writing or not, remain silent. If you think I should stop or continue one way or another, please let me know via PM or review. I don't write fanfiction for reviews, but I do post it here for fans. If fans aren't interested anymore, then I will keep it to myself.

Chapter 7

"Almost able to forget"

Days passed and Annie improved slightly. The fever was gone, even though the meningitis still affecting her and would continue to for years to come. She felt like a child again. Everything she did was difficult. She felt like a toddler having to learn how to feed herself, walk, and how navigate a silent world. Annie made progress, every day she was just a little stronger than she was the day before, but it was painfully slow for someone who was used to being at the top of her game at all times.

Auggie was there for her the whole time. He helped in any and all ways he could. She was in the ICU for a week after waking up from the coma. Afterwards, she went to a private room.

Her mind felt like it was in a constant fog. Since the diagnosis, she was able to slowly remember some things, while other things were still a mystery to her. Everything was improving in small, measurable increments, everything, that is, except her hearing. Her ears felt like they were constantly full of water, as if she were swimming underwater. The audiologist's tests performed every few days all consistently showed the same results, Annie was profoundly deaf. This meant that if someone shot a gun off near Annie, she might be able to hear it as a soft bang. If she was standing near a jet as it took off, it would seem to Annie like a distant echo. Dr. McCabe had told her that it might not be permanent when she was first diagnosed, but as the weeks passed, it became less likely that recovery would happen. Now Dr. McCabe was gone and Annie was left in the care of another doctor.

After leaving the ICU, Annie began seeing a speech therapist. The therapist worked with Annie on how to know how loudly she was speaking, but Annie always mistrusted herself. The therapist took notes and filled out charts as she worked with her. Annie felt like she was in the first grade again while the therapist had her recite letter sounds and read off words from stacks of flash cards session after session. Annie was never sure if she got the words right or not. It seemed so basic, but at times she felt like she was even struggling to read. Her confidence was completely shot. Every now and then, the therapist would give her information about a local school for the deaf or a pamphlet about learning sign language. This only helped to degrade her confidence more. The school was apparently where Annie could also learn coping strategies and daily living techniques. Annie loathed the idea.

During their fourth week of working together, the speech pathologist seemed to be very adamant about Annie needing to learn sign language. She went as far as to give Annie books, flash cards, and videos on how to learn. Annie knew she would be leaving the hospital soon, but she didn't want to accept that this was permanent. She knew that the first month after diagnosis was when her hearing was most likely to improve. She knew that if there was no improvement by then that it would almost certainly be permanent. Dr. McCabe had been clear about that.

Annie was in the ICU for a week after waking from the coma and then finally moved into a private room once she was more stable. Auggie was there for Annie every step of the way. He rarely left her side. Joan had hesitated at first to agree to him taking the time off. She needed him at work, but she knew his mind wouldn't be on the work if he was there. He would constantly be thinking of Annie. So she'd let him take time off for as long as Annie needed him.

The new operative, Kyle, was home from Rome now and Joan had decided to keep him stateside for now. He didn't have the raw talent that Annie had; he was proving to be more of a challenge for Auggie than she had. Now that Auggie couldn't be his handler, Joan wanted him to stay in the states until Auggie could be available again.

Joan was in daily contact with Auggie about Annie's condition. She was concerned as the weeks passed without any improvement in Annie's hearing. Not only was she concerned for Annie, but she was also concerned for Auggie. Auggie had told her about Annie going silent a few days after waking from the coma. Joan knew how important sound was to Auggie since he went blind. She understood that this would particularly be hard on him.

Eric was there for Auggie as much as he could be. He'd gone to Auggie and Annie's apartment for them. He'd brought them each clothes, personal items, their computers, and toiletries. Eric was concerned for his boss, but said nothing to discourage his vigil over Annie.

"Boss, if you need anything, anything at all, just let me know." Eric had told him the day after Annie had been diagnosed when he had come by with items Auggie had requested.

"Thanks Barber. This has been a pretty rough couple days. We are still waiting for her to wake up. We won't know the prognosis until then." He'd told his friend as they sat outside Annie's room.

"Auggie, she'll be fine. Annie's a fighter. You know how strong she is." Barber tried to lift his spirits.

Looking back on the conversation now, Auggie had truly believed that Annie was next to invincible. No matter what the CIA had thrown at her since he'd known her, she had passed it all with flying colors. She'd survived bullets, fights, poisoning, chases, bombs, and so much more. He didn't believe then that something as basic as an illness would keep Annie Walker down. Now, he knew better. Now he knew she was no more invincible than he was. It was a hard lesson for a solider to learn, a lesson he should have already known from his own experiences.

Annie worried about Auggie, but week after week, he was her rock. Her constant exhaustion kept her from being able to express her concern. If she were being honest with herself, she was grateful for his consistent presence more than she was worried for him. She knew it was selfish, but she didn't want him to leave, not for a moment. Constant tests, therapies, and lab work kept her busy during the day. But nights belonged to her and Auggie.

During the day, he stayed in the chair next to her bed and was always in contact with her. If she was out of the room, he waited for her, reading or working on his laptop until she returned. Later, after dinner, he would slip beside her and sit in the bed next to her. She would lay her head against his chest, feeling his chest rise and fall with each breath. Feeling him against her body centered her. He almost made her feel normal, as if she were not sick. She was almost able to forget her memory problems, her inability to move properly, or her hearing deficiency.

She did not speak to him anymore. Now she only spoke during the speech therapy sessions and even then, it took some work for her to get started. Never hearing her own voice, never sure if what was coming out of her mouth was what she meant to say and never knowing if her words were clear to him. She knew her silence was hard on him. The first few days, she'd tried to talk to him, but as the silence consumed her, she completely lost her confidence in words.

If a doctor or nurse needed Annie to know something, they wrote it down and verbalized the same information for Auggie. After she stopped speaking, they used touch to communicate. It wasn't a perfect system, but it worked for them. Rarely, if something was really important that Auggie needed Annie to know, he would text the information to her so she could read it and then responded back to him in the same way.

Annie thought Auggie understood why she had gone silent. He never asked about it or complained. She never saw his mouth moving as if he were trying to talk to her. He simply held her.

Auggie tried to be as supportive as he could of Annie as the weeks passed. But still, this was new to him. Auggie had been here, not exactly here-not exactly where Annie was. But he had an idea of what Annie was experiencing. He'd lost his vision just as suddenly as Annie had lost her hearing. Of course, hearing and vision were different. It was like comparing apples and oranges to compare the loss of them. But nonetheless, it was just as much a loss for Annie to lose her hearing as it had been for Auggie to lose his vision. He could not deny that. He knew this was all hard on Annie, especially considering the illness, balance, confusion, strength, and memory problems on top of the complete hearing loss.

He tried not to tip toe around Annie, but he always wanted to give her what she needed. It was difficult for him to know exactly what that was. She'd gone silent on him a few days after Dr. McCabe gave her the news about her hearing loss and now all he had was her touch. Touch that he never knew with certainty is meaning.

He understood her reasoning for going silent, he never asked her about it, but it made everything harder for him. He couldn't see her and now he couldn't hear her. All he had was cryptic tactile messages, for this reason he stayed in constant contact with her, willing himself to understand her every movement, graze, and touch she passed his way. Annie seemed to understand his need for this, but he needed more.

He feared miscommunication with her now. He was in constant worry that she would be trying to tell him something and he not be able to understand her. He had thought he knew her nonverbal cues well before all this happened, but now, much like she doubted her voice, he doubted his ability to "read" her. He didn't know how to tell her that he needed so much more. He hoped that together they could figure out a solution that worked for both of them.

On the day before Annie was to be released from the hospital, Auggie was bombarded with information about her care and treatment plan. They gave Annie the information to read over and verbally told Auggie much of the same information.

Dr. Sarah Leonard had taken over Annie's case after Dr. McCade had left with his team to investigate other medical mysteries around the world. "I promise I'll keep in touch." He had told them after making sure they both had all of his contact information.

In her final check of Annie before she went home in the morning, Dr. Leonard spoke with Auggie as Annie was falling asleep after the exam.

"She will have physical and speech therapies three times a week for at least a few months. She'll be on medication until further notice for many of the symptoms and side effects of the disease; we will email you a copy of everything we will need her to take so that you can access the information. And she will need to see a neurologist about her memory and concentration problems about once a week. She isn't cleared to go to work or to drive for at least six months. Will you both manage that?"

"Yes, doctor. We can manage without either of us driving. It's DC after all, not everyone has a car." Auggie told the doctor, a bit annoyed that she seemed to doubt his ability to take care of Annie. He felt her breathing steady and knew she was asleep now.

"Also, I strongly suggest you two both visit a School for the Deaf to see about learning sign language. I know she's been a bit hesitant during her speech therapies to accept that this really happening to her, but it is. She's profoundly deaf and there's absolutely no sign of improvement. She's a candidate for a cochlear implant, but not until her immune system is a lot stronger than it is right now. It's something you'd both want to research to see if it's right for Annie. There's a good bit of controversy surrounding the topic, but many adults that go deaf later in like go that route. It wouldn't be the same type of hearing she used to have, but it's something." The doctor informed Auggie as he sat next to Annie's bed, holding her hand.

"Doctor, what good will sign language do me? I can't see her reply and besides, how will I learn it if I can't watch someone as they try to teach me?" Auggie asked curiously. He already knew a few basic signs from his days in Boy Scouts and the Army, but he didn't know nearly enough for everyday conversations.

"You two will figure out a way. She can finger-spell into your hand, someone can explain how signs are performed so that you can do them, Annie can learn to answer you verbally when you sign to her since you can't see her signing to you, or if sign language doesn't work for you guys, there's technology out there that could help. I think you two will figure out a way to make it work." The doctor said obviously smiling.

Auggie knew that most of the hospital staff was routing for them, but he also knew some of the staff doubted he would stay by her side. He didn't understand why it was him that they thought would desert the relationship, but he wanted to prove them wrong. He knew he wanted to stay by Annie, no matter what. He knew this was hard on her-it was hard on him as well. As he held a presumably sleeping Annie's hand for the final night in the hospital, he hoped that they could make it work. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with Annie Walker, but doubt crept in his head as he remembered that he had not heard her voice in over two weeks. He didn't know if he could live in both darkness and silence in his relationship. He didn't know if touch alone could be enough for him in a relationship.