And We're All Falling

You Were Torn Up In Pain

South's mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air.

"What?" she finally got out, shaking her head.

"His vocal cords will never heal properly," Free explained, staring down at the floor. "I'm sorry."

"No...you're lying! Free, you have to be lying to me," she pleaded, her once-happy tears now turning into devastated ones.

"Meg can show you his room whenever you are ready. Just be careful not to hurt him," he sighed tiredly, standing up.

As Free left, North sat next to his twin, cautiously rubbing circles onto her back.

"He's alive," North said softly but cheerfully.

"I'll never hear him talk to me again. He won't scold me or tease me or tell me his joke that I've heard a thousand times but nonetheless, it still makes me smile," she sniffled, wiping water away from her eyes. "I'll never hear him tell me that he loves me."

"That doesn't mean he ever stopped," he corrected lightly.

"What if we get married? He can't say his vows...he can't say anything!" she cried, burying her face in her hands.

"South, hey, look at me, please?" he coaxed, touching her arm three times like their mother would. "It's going to be okay. He's alive. You two will figure something out, I'm sure of it. You always have. Remember when Gamma was stuck on top of the bookshelves and Maine had to get him down? You came up with the idea to go buy fish and get him down that way."

South laughed once at the memory.

"There, see? Things aren't so bad. Now come on. Let's go find Meg and see if we can visit the patient, hm?"

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"Okay, you win. I got lost."

Della's eyes shot up from the table. Wash was watching her, embarrassed.

"How did you end up back here?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I can read signs, you know," he muttered, sitting across from her.

"Okay," she agreed slowly. "Not like I was doing much anyway."

"Likely story Miss-I'm-Always-Getting-Phone-Calls-From-People-Who-Want-To-Spend-Money."

"Not the same thing."

"Yes, the same thing."

"They aren't giving me the money."

"No, but you make money off of every stallion you book."

"No. I make money off of every stallion I book correctly."

"And when have you made a mistake ever in your life? From what I've seen, you're Miss Perfect."

Della's eyes flickered down to her reflection again.

"Contrary to popular belief, Wash, many, many times. And I wish I could take every one of them back."

"What? Did you book a stallion wrong? Cause a foal to come out with the wrong color? Got a 99% on a paper instead of a 100?!"

Eyes averted, she bit her lip.

"Or what? Did you freak out North with your horse talk? Give South a heart attack because you passed out? Caused CT to wonder about your sanity?"

"I let people down!"

Wash sat back slightly, coaxing her to continue.

"I let people down again and again and I hate it. You don't get it. You really, really don't get how hard it is to do what I do. People have to lie in this industry to get what they want. And you know what? I'm so tired of letting people down because of a higher power that was telling me not to do the right thing. A pretty face gets you so far in this business, Wash. To the point where some of these barn managers would believe me if I told them the sky was green. I'm a screen, a front, a deceptive being that is worthless because I'm untrustworthy to my co-workers. You have no idea how hard it is to be nothing. To be worthless," she snapped, trying not to let angry tears slip out of her eyes and failing. "And to be honest, I don't know where that Della ends and I begin."

Wash said nothing, only gave a sympathetic and horrified face.

"I do not like playing nice, Wash."

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"Carolina! I have a surprise for you!"

York's call was music to Carolina's ears. York meant food. Food meant energy. Energy meant she could get up and not feel dizzy or lightheaded. Within the ten minutes it'd taken York to get the food, she'd tried to walk around twice; the first time ended with her collapsing on the bed, the second ended with Wyoming catching her when she lost her vision.

As York entered the room, he held a dark brown drink in one hand and a small paper bag in the other. Her eyes lit up and a smile formed on her lips. York almost laughed.

"I take it you're happy?" he asked, stifling a laugh as he handed her the drink.

"Mm, chocolate peanut butter?" she asked, taking a sip.

"Of course. How could I forget last Halloween when you practically lived on any candy that had chocolate and peanut butter in it?" he teased, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"What kind of cookies did you get?" she mumbled, tongue caught on the straw.

"Plain ole chocolate chip," he answered, pulling out one that was easily as large as her hand.

"You're the best. Literally, I owe you so much," she said happily, eyes sparkling with joy.

"Lina. It's just a cookie," he teased, bravely tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"But it's a cookie. I don't get cookies often," she corrected, taking it from his fingers and trying not to blush.

"Okay. You eat up and we'll get the cards party started!" he declared, walking over to Wyoming.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah the card party," Wyoming agreed in a mumbled tone.

"Okay, I need a little more enthusiasm please!"

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"Just...be kind of quiet, okay? Good luck."

South swallowed hard and faced the room in front of her. Meg had brought her to room 379. A seemingly innocent room. But the occupant....it made her nervous. Why should she be nervous around Maine?

"Hey babe," she started, walking toward the side of his bed.

Tubes and wires stuck out at every angle, but she managed to find his hand.

"I'm glad you're alive. I really, really needed you to be. Free says you won't speak again. Guess what? I don't care. I'm going to stick with you, thick and thin, as long as you put up with me, okay? It's going to be....different. But I don't mind different. As long as you're here....I'll run to the ends of the world for you."

Of course, she got no response.

Well, she got no verbal response.

A light, hardly felt squeeze let her know that someone was listening to her.

Despite all the pain, maybe it'd be enough to keep them going.

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(Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Red VS Blue, they are owned by the lovely people at RoosterTeeth :))