Chapter Text
“Sebastian?!”
“This is awfully romantic for you, Bas.”
“Stay with us, Mr. Smythe.”
“They call me the master of romance, B.”
“Sebastian? Sebastian, hey, it’s mom.”
A laugh. “So does this have any purpose?”
“Come on, Sebby, stay with me.”
“Actually, yes. B, I know I don’t show it a lot, but you mean a lot to me and I just wanted to say-”
“Damn it, we’re losing him.”
“Sebastian, watch out!”
“Sebastian!”
-
Light was the first thing to penetrate the darkness that seemed to have engulfed Sebastian’s entire body as he lay in bed, the black gradually becoming lighter. The next was sound, the occasionally beep from a heart monitor next to him. With a rush, the rest of his senses came back to him. He could hear cars on the highway, the sound of birds chirping, his mother speaking softly with another voice he didn’t recognize. He flexed his fingers, which felt tired and lifeless next to his sides and, with a large gulp of air that resembled a gasp, blinked open his eyes.
The first thing he noticed was that he was in a hospital bed. Wires stuck to his chest, leading to the heart monitor that was slowly beeping. There was a wire in his arm that led to another bag filled with some kind of clear fluid. A wire under his nose was supplying him with oxygen. He tilted his head and saw his mother standing in the doorway, her left hand anxiously grabbing at her right elbow through a sweater as she talked softly to a man in a lab coat with a clipboard: a doctor.
Sebastian’s mother turned with a soft gasp to look at her son. “Sebby,” she said softly, crossing the room to be at his bedside. She kneeled beside him and grasped one of his hands in between both of her own. Her hands were cold, but Sebastian took comfort in the contact. “Seb, are you alright? How are you feeling?”
“I’m alright,” Sebastian answered after a second. There was a pounding in his head, a whooshing like the sound of the ocean. He looked towards the window at the highway next to the hospital, watched as cars drove through it and as planes flew above. He looked back at his mother, worry evident on her face. He put a hand weakly to her cheek and smiled at her. “Really, maman . I’m alright.”
The doctor walked towards the two of them. He checked the monitors above Sebastian’s head and wrote things down on his clipboard before sitting on the end of Sebastian’s bed. “So,” he started, putting a hand just underneath Sebastian’s knee. “Do you remember anything about the accident, Mr Smythe?”
Sebastian closed his eyes and tried to remember. “I was on a beach,” he started. In his mind, the sea was making soft sounds, the birds were chirping above his head. He was smiling. “I was happy.” In his mind’s eye, a hand reached out towards his. “I was with-” he paused, his eyes scrunching shut as he tried to remember who he was with. “I was with-” In a rush, it came back to him. Hair slicked back, bright brown eye staring back into his, a wrist with a watch pulled carefully over his button-up, a blue bowtie that only he could pull off. “Blaine,” he said softly.
Sebastian opened his eyes again and between his mother and the doctor. His mother seemed heartbroken and the doctor looked over at his mother with the same kind of sympathy in his eyes as she had given Sebastian just moments before. “Where’s Blaine? Is he okay?” Sebastian asked quickly.
“Oh Sebby,” Sebastian’s mother whispered softly. She took Sebastian’s hands in her own again and held them close to her chest. “Mon bébé.” She closed her eyes and brought Sebastian’s hands to her lips. “I had hoped that maybe you wouldn’t remember either.”
“Remember what?” Sebastian asked, dumbfounded. He looked back at the doctor, who looked at him with a look of pity that Sebastian hated. Pity was for when he first came to the states and told teachers his English wasn’t very good. Pity was for when people found out that he didn’t have a father because the asshole walked out on them. Pity was not something Sebastian wanted to associate with news of Blaine. “Where’s Blaine?”
Almost as if on cue, Blaine walked through the door. He was a little beat up, but in a better shape than Sebastian. He had on a Dalton sweatshirt, no bowtie in sight. He smiled politely when he caught Sebastian’s eye. “Oh, good, you’re awake.” He walked into the room and took a seat by Sebastian’s bed. “Listen, I just wanted to say thank you,” he smiled towards the doctor with more familiarity in his eye than when he looked at Sebastian. “Dr. Matthews said that you saved my life and,” he laughed nervously, something Sebastian knew Blaine did when he was in an unfamiliar situation. “Dunno. I like being alive. Thank you, I guess.”
“Blaine,” Sebastian said softly. He reached out for Blaine’s hand, only to watch Blaine reflexively pull back. He looked Blaine over, confused, eyebrows knit together.
“ Ange ,” Sebastian’s mother said quickly, grabbing both of Sebastian’s hands. “Blaine hit his head really hard on the rock, Sebby. He’s-” she paused and looked towards the doctor.
The doctor looked between Blaine and Sebastian before giving Sebastian a look of that god awful pity. “We’re afraid the accident has given Mr. Anderson retrograde amnesia.”
Sebastian tried to process the words, but it seemed that a year of advanced placement biology had escaped him in a minute. “Well what the fuck does that mean?”
Sebastian saw his mother flinch in the corner of his eye. The doctor sighed and looked at Sebastian’s mother before replying. “Blaine can’t remember anything before the accident. Including you.”
Sebastian felt like he had been pulled under the ocean. Everything was blurry in that moment and his head was spinning. In a panic, he whipped his head to look at Blaine. He prayed that it wasn't true, that maybe there was some way that he was the only thing that Blaine remembered. Instead, Blaine was smiling at him, that stupid polite smile. Through his rushing head,, Sebastian could hear Blaine ask, “I’m sorry, did we know each other?”
Sebastian looked between his mother and the doctor, both of whom were looking at him with looks of sympathy and pity that Sebastian hated so much. He felt his mother squeeze his hand gently. Sebastian took a deep breath. “No,” he answered Blaine. “No. I just-” he gestured towards Blaine’s sweatshirt. “I go to Dalton too.” From up close, Sebastian could see how big the sweatshirt was on Blaine. Tears welled in his eyes as he realized it was his. He blinked the tears away before Blaine could notice.
“Oh, okay!” Blaine nodded quickly. He stood and smiled at Sebastian. “I’ll see you at school on Monday?” he asked hopefully. Sebastian shot him a fake smile back and nodded. “Cool. Thank you, Dr. Matthews. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Smythe.” With that, Blaine turned on his heels and left the room.