And We're All Falling

Leave Some Blind

 Everything was too bright and too loud. Shouts echoed through the bar that the college students had somehow made their way in to. There were six of them, and among them, there was one that they gave a nickname to.

"York, hey, you alright?" one asked.

"Yeah," the guy in question replied. "But I don't like the feeling of this place. Let's split before it gets too nasty."

"Good point. I saw some...weapons in holsters if you know what I mean."

"So you mean guns."

"Yes."

"Are you drunk?"

"Noooooo."

"Alright, let's go," York muttered, grabbing his friend and searching for others.

"HEY, YOU!"

"Oh no," York said under his breath.

 Across the bar, two of his friends were staring down some biker guys. The "weapon holsters" his "not drunk" friend had mentioned caught his eye. In a few seconds, he was across the bar and trying to settle the two parties.

"I think if we let everyone just calm down," York started.

 Problem was, he never finished. One of his friends threw a bottle at the guy in front of York's face. A shot rang out and the glass shattered, but so did York's vision. When he woke up, a woman with blonde hair, tattoos and gray eyes was shaking his shoulders. He couldn't see fully and that scared him.

"What?" he mumbled, not quite fully awake.

"Sorry I shot you," she muttered. "Ambulance is on its way. Good luck."

 He later woke back up in a hospital. The bullet didn't penetrate into his skull, mainly because it wasn't one intended for hunting. It only blinded him. But they couldn't figure out how his face had gotten slashed up until they found the glass. Broken bottles. So not only was he half-blind, but he had scars to remind him. 

 For a while, anything that sounded like a gunshot scared him. Fireworks, cars backfiring and even gunshots on TV had him panicked. He'd also wake up and panic from not being able to see fully. With time (and therapy) he'd gotten over it. Mostly. Women with tattoos, blonde hair and gray eyes set him off still.

Women like Tex.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Nick, can you hear me?!"

To be honest, York couldn't hear much of anything besides his racing heartbeat. He hardly knew where he was and he could hardly breathe. He also hardly knew what was happening.

"Nick?! Please, can you hear me?!"

His vision (well, what was left of it) was blurred. Something was hyperventilating. It took him a few seconds to realize it was him. Panicking. He was having a panic attack and Carolina didn't know what to do about it.

"I-I'm calling Sadie and Nathan, okay?"

He heard Carolina that time. Feeling around, he found her hand and grabbed it. Good. She could keep him slightly grounded.

"North?! Please, help me! York's on the floor and he can't hear me and he's hyperventilating and what do I do?!" Carolina practically shouted into the phone, squeezing York's hand as hard as he was squeezing hers.

"Okay, I-I-I think I can do that," she agreed shakily, hanging up soon after.

Suddenly, a blurred human form entered his vision.

"Hey, I need you to look at me, please?" she said softly, cupping his face with her hands carefully.

He tried to focus on her face and eventually made out the details. Green eyes. Red hair. Pale skin. Carolina.

"Lina," he coughed, wincing at the pain in his chest and grasping at her arms.

"Shh, breathe with me, Nick. In and out, okay? Just focus on that," she soothed.

"Hurts," he coughed.

"I know," she said softly, trying to keep herself calm. "Try and breathe with me, okay?"

After a few minutes, he was able to start taking a few breaths that were less rushed. Carolina kept encouraging him to keep breathing. After about ten more minutes, he was breathing more normally and his good eye was trained on her green ones.

"Good," Carolina said softly, smiling weakly. "You doing better now?"

York nodded weakly and kept breathing as Carolina had told him to.

"You can see me, right?"

"I can half-see."

"I didn't expect you to suddenly gain your sight back."

Well, neither did he.

__________________________________________________________________

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