the day i lost you | ronance

FOUR

and i know you don't remember calling me...
but i told you even then you looked so pretty..

-

NANCY STILL WISHED every day that robin would somehow miraculously remember her, but she knew that would never happen. people that suffer memory loss don't get every single memory back in one day. it's impossible.

but it didn't stop the hope from crossing her mind. maybe, just maybe, robin could remember her someday. they could have their happy ending once again, just like in nancy's dreams.

she'd dream of their wedding, something she knew would never happen. she'd dream of just one more night of holding robin close to her- they didn't have to be kissing or having sex. just the mere thought of having robin in her arms again was good enough for her.

or even the thought of having robin closer than six feet away- how robin always was.

robin treated her like she has covid. she would maintain the distance of six feet or more in between them. she acted like nancy had some deadly virus and she couldn't go close to her. and nancy hated it.

"i just hate how distant she is," nancy complained to steve. it was a rainy monday morning, which fit in with how nancy was feeling. tired, lost, and overall depressed. and on top of that, it was monday- the worst day of the week. nancy had always hated mondays, but especially hated them more once it started holding the traumatic memories of robin's accident.

"i know, but you have to give her time"

"it's been a month. a month today, steve. it happened exactly a month ago today"

steve reached his hand out and placed it delicately on nancy's. he meant it as a friendly gesture- a way of support- and absolutely nothing more.

"a month isn't going to give her every memory back, nance"

"she hasn't gotten any back"

"the doctors said it will take time," he reminded, his voice getting a bit more stern. still gentle, but stern.

"the doctors said she isn't going to remember anything. she's never going to remember me. she's going to marry some guy- probably that guy that she was with before- and forget all about me. then i'm going to be alone for the rest of my life"

"that's not going to happen. they told us it was a low chance of her remembering, but it's robin. robin's a fighter, nance. you know this"

"you can't fight amnesia"

"a part of her deep down remembers you. remember what the doctor said? about her asking for you?"

"asking for me? what are you talking about?" nancy asked, looking at him with a puzzled look.

"did they not tell you?"

"tell me what? she asked for me?"

"let me go through the story....."

-

the paramedics loaded a conscious robin onto a stretcher. she had stayed conscious throughout the entire crash, and called 911 once she could. she had remained on the phone with the operator the whole time, answering their dumb questions to stay awake.

when they were loading her on, she was sobbing. tears were streaming down her face like a waterfall. from the pain, from the thought of what was going to happen to her. was she going to be okay? was anything broken? was she going to be in a coma? what was nancy going to think?

"nancy....." robin managed to mumble out. her brain was slowly shutting down- she could tell she was going to fall unconscious soon.

"what?" the paramedic asked, looking her in the eyes.

"call........call nancy. a-and steve...........please" she pleaded, weakly trying to find her phone. it wasn't in any pockets.

"i have it. i'll call them. just focus on your breathing, okay?" the paramedic spoke, but robin couldn't make out in of the words.

robin could feel herself passing out. she was slowly losing oxygen. she thought she was dying- swearing to herself that she could feel the life slipping away from her.

"oxygen mask!" the paramedic yelled once she was securely in the ambulance. but robin couldn't make out the words, and the world slowly faded to black.

-

"they never told me she mentioned me," nancy said, mouth hanging wide open from shock.

"she did. i figured they told you"

"no.....i didn't know anything about the crash. just everything from after she woke up"

"see? she knows you, even if it's deep down inside. that means there's still hope. she can remember you. it's possible"

nancy nodded slowly, not knowing what to say. she was slowly starting to believe steve now, thinking maybe there was in fact a chance.

nancy hung out with steve for a short time, before deciding to go downstairs and make lunch. she stopped when she saw robin at the bottom of the stairs, putting her shoes on.

"where are you going?" nancy asked, not being able to stop the words from coming out of her mouth.

"aiden's," robin replied flatly, not caring to talk with nancy.

"are you driving?"

"yeah, why wouldn't i?"

"right, right. sorry. just um.....be careful"

"yeah, wouldn't want another car accident to happen, would we?" robin joked, laughing to herself. nancy remained silent, not finding her attempt at humor very funny. "well, i'm leaving now. bye wheeler"

robin didn't wait for nancy to reply and instead stepped out the door and got into her car. nancy watched from the window as she drove away.

she didn't understand how robin could drive again so soon after what had happened. and she also didn't understand how robin could joke about it either, especially on the one month anniversary of the accident.

nancy figured she would never understand or like the new robin, so she did her best at shrugging it off as she headed into the kitchen for lunch.

-

hey y'all. sorry it took me so long for this. i've been home sick from school since two wednesdays ago and i have not been having a good time, so i didn't write