the day i lost you | ronance

THREE

woke up in the ambulance...
you pieced it all together on the drive...

-

ROBIN RETURNED THE next morning, entering the house to see nancy on the living room couch. she had a mug in her hand, drinking coffee as she watched a crime documentary on the television. when the door opened, her attention immediately snapped towards it. she looked robin up and down as robin entered the living room, passing through to get to the kitchen.

"fun night?" nancy asked unexpectedly, causing robin to slightly jump. robin's gaze trailed over to the brunette, looking at her for a moment before replying.

"yeah, it was great," robin lied with a smile on her face. inside, she wanted to throw up at the thought of the previous night.

not much had happened the previous night. her and aidan had done nothing more than kissing. he had attempted to escalate it further, but robin had shut it down instantly. it caused awkwardness between the two, and robin ended up sleeping on his couch that night, as she had consumed a bit too much alcohol to drive.

nancy's face went blank at robin's reply.

"that's great," she replied through gritted teeth. she was trying to contain her jealousy, but it was fighting back as she thought about robin and aidan together.

robin nodded and grabbed a snack from the pantry before retreating upstairs, closing herself in her room.

nancy, on the otherhand, sank back into the couch. she almost shattered the mug in her hand due to how hard she was gripping the ceramic object. she hated how robin couldn't remember anything, but she knew it wasn't her fault.

she hated seeing her move on.

she thought back to memories with robin to ground herself. the tactic normally worked, but today, her mind seemed to only want to focus on memories from robin's accident.

-

"what do you mean robin's in the hospital?" nancy asked over the phone, trying not to break down sobbing.

"the doctors said she got into a car accident. i'm here with her right now. they called me to let her know since i was the last person she had called. is there any way you can get here?" steve's shaky voice was heard on the other side of the phone.

"yeah, yeah i'm on my way," nancy replied, wasting no time to hang up the phone. she hesitated for a short second after, staring at her phone screen in disbelief.

as tears streamed down her face, she changed out of her pajamas. it was one of the rare days she didn't work, but robin was supposed to. she was supposed to have a shift at family video with steve that day.

nancy waited until she could stop crying to get in her car and begin her drive to the hospital. on the way there, all she could think of was the worst possible things. robin was dead, robin was in a coma, robin had several broken bones.

but none of those "worst things" could prepare her for what she was about to find out.

she arrived at the hospital at 11:34. the normal 20 minute drive to the hospital was cut in half from nancy's speeding on the way. she talked to the lady at the front desk before half-jogging her way to robin's room.

when she entered the room, both steve and robin's eyes looked towards her. nancy was relieved to see robin alive in the hospital bed.

"you made it," steve said, half-sighing out of relief. he had been holding his breath since nancy had ended the call, hoping she arrived safely. she nodded, and the two of them turned to robin.

"hey, how are you feeling?" nancy asked robin in a concerned voice, walking over to the side of the bed to speak to her.

robin remained silent for a second, searching nancy's face with a look of confusion. "i'm sorry, who are you?"

"that joke isn't very funny. i was worried ever since steve called"

"joke?" robin asked, looking even more confused than before. "i don't know who you are, i'm sorry"

nancy glanced over at steve before looking at robin, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. "w-what do you mean? i'm nancy. we've known each other for eight years. we've been dating for seven months"

robin stared at her for a moment in silence before glancing over at steve. he looked at her with a concerned look, causing her to return her gaze back to nancy. "you must be confused. we've never met before, we definitely aren't dating. i'm not even into girls"

nancy could hear her own heart shatter into a million pieces in her chest. she didn't want to believe it. there was no way her best friend and the love of her life didn't remember her at all.

she stood straighter, trying to ignore the couple tears streaming down her cheeks. she walked straight out of the room, ignoring steve's calls to her telling her to come back.

she didn't stop until she reached the inside of her car, slamming the door behind her and letting the tears stream down her face once again.

she had never felt so heartbroken and defeated in her life.

-

nancy shook the thoughts away and went up to steve's room. the three of them- robin, nancy, and steve- had been sharing their own place for around four months now.

she didn't say a word when she entered, she only sat on his bed in front of him. he could tell something was bothering her- he had gotten pretty good at reading her emotions since robin's accident.

"you okay?" he asked in a gentle voice.

"robin went to a guy's house last night," she told him, trying to keep her voice steady.

he looked at her for a moment with a look of pity. "i'm sorry, nance"

"i just wish she never had to work that day. i would still have my girlfriend here with me. she'd still know who i am. she wouldn't be going off to some other guy's house"

"call me crazy, but i still think you have a chance. she can't forget you forever, right?"