Gone and Mute

Chapter 2

Lance awoke quite suddenly by trying to take in a large mouthful of air. He didn't exactly remember passing out, but he knew he needed air. He sat up and looked around the room, trying to blink away the fuzziness in his vision. All he could tell was that it was really bright, wherever he was. He reached up and rubbed his eyes, trying to rub away the grogginess, and looked around again. He could make out a couple shapes, and immediately recognized Keith's red armor, and Coran's red hair. Why did he notice the color red first? Coran seemed to step closer and, as he did, he became more visible. "...ance? Lance, can you hear me?"

He could. He opened his mouth, but all that came out was pain. Excruciating pain. His hand flew to his throat to make sure it was still fucking there, because it honestly felt like someone had torn it out. His fingers pressed into the hard spot where his larynx was, and dots flashed in his vision. He retreated his fingers quickly and a hoarse noise came out of his throat. Pain, he tried to say. But oh god it hurt.

He almost hadn't realized that Coran was grabbing his wrists and telling him to stop, to stop pressing against his neck. His fingers twitched and he looked at Coran, eyes wide with terror.

"Your throat is... damaged, Lance. And your voice box. You're gonna have trouble talking for a while, until I can figure out how to fix it."

Lance's eyes flickered to where his hands were being held against the bedsheets, before flickering back up to Coran's face. His hands shifted, pulled on Coran's grip. He needed to figure out a way to communicate. He had things to say.

Someone stepped forward. "Alright, Coran." Lance looked up from his lap at Shiro, who was standing a little behind Coran with his arms folded. "Will you tell us your treatment plan, now that Lance is awake?"

"Of course, Shiro." Coran nodded, stepping back from Lance's bed slightly, and Shiro moved to sit down on the end of the bed. Lance watched him, his gaze following Shiro, and then his hand as the leader set one on Lance's knee comfortingly. It didn't help calm Lance's thudding heart, but he didn't move away from the touch. "As you know, he's spent as much time as he could in the healing pod, but since they're malfunctioning, it couldn't do much."

Lance hadn't known this. He listened with one ear as he looked around the room. Keith was leaning up near the doorframe, watching Coran with an annoyed frown, but that wasn't new. Shiro was sitting on the edge of Lance's bed, near his feet, and PIdge had her computer hooked up to one of the healing pods- running diagnostics, he presumed.

"Since we don't have the Atlean technology on our side, I'll have to resort to more primitive tactics to repair the damage." Coran's tone sent a shiver down Lance's spine, and he jerked his gaze from where Pidge was sitting to Coran, feeling his eyes widen in terror.

"What exactly does that entail?" Keith asked as Shiro opened his mouth. Keith's words sent several emotions slamming into Lance's chest, one being confusion. Keith sounded concerned, if not protective over Lance's state, which not only sent Lance into a spiral of intrigued thoughts, but a feeling of warmth came over his cold body for a few moments. Keith was worried about him. He hadn't thought that could happen.

The urge to tease came up Lance's throat, and he had to clench the sheet under him in a fist to keep from trying to say anything. Just remember the pain, he told himself. Remember the pain and hope it doesn't happen again.

"Well, in the beginning, it'll really just be a lot of testing to assess all the damage." Coran fiddled with the fingertips of his gloves for a few moments. "But, ah... Once I've figured it out, it'll mostly be surgeries from there until Lance can talk again."

The room got cold, and Lance almost thought his heart stopped. Surgery? On his throat? Wasn't that dangerous?

He opened his mouth without thinking, and a flare of pain shot from his tonsils down his neck to his sternum, and all that came out was a high pitched whistle from the air escaping his throat. Shiro squeezed Lance's leg reassuringly, but the Blue Paladin could tell from the look in Shiro's eyes that he wasn't too happy about the decision either.

Fortunately for Lance, Pidge was thinking the same thing. "Uh, Coran, if I may." She looked up from her laptop and pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. "Not that I think your medical skills are poor, or anything, but a human's neck is a very fragile part of their body. Doing surgery on it is a really bad idea, no matter how many millennia of training someone's had."

Coran held up a hand. "I understand your concern, Pidge, but for the first while I'll just be doing tests and analyzing the problem. I'll be doing everything in my power to make sure Lance stays safe through the surgeries and that they do what they need to do. I promise."

The sincerity in Coran's voice soothed Lance a bit, and he let his shoulders relax. His body language seemed to provide the others in the room comfort as well, and the tense atmosphere lost its electricity as another silence befell them. Shiro rubbed Lance's leg softly and Lance smiled faintly at the contact. His smile faded after a moment, morphing into a frown. How was he supposed to communicate with his team?

He reached out and grabbed Shiro's wrist with his long fingers and Shiro turned to look at him. Lance faltered, tightening his grip on his arm and thinking over how to do this before mouthing 'communication', hoping his facial expression would convey the whole message.

He looked like something had occurred to him, the way Pidge's face lights up when she has a breakthrough, and he turned to look at Coran. "How will Lance communicate with us until his vocal cords are working again?"

Coran furrowed his brows, tapping his chin with a finger. "Oh dear. I hadn't thought about that..."

"I can help him," Keith piped up, and everyone- Pidge included- turned to look at him, almost incredulously. He blinked at the group. "What? I had a lot of free time as a kid," he explained, voice wavering slightly. "Enough time to teach myself sign language."

"Impressive," Pidge chirped.

"That could've been useful information," Shiro scolded slightly.

"What's sign language?" Coran asked.

"It's a form of non-verbal communication using one's hands," Pidge explained after looking back at her laptop.

"Ah," Coran murmured.

"I can teach Lance. Just until his vocal cords are working again." Keith pushed himself up from where he was leaning against the doorframe.

"It would be beneficial if we all could learn," Shiro said softly.

"It'd be beneficial if we could all learn Altean too, but I don't see us doing that," Pidge retorted, which earned a glare from Shiro and an almost chuckle from Lance, but it quickly turned into a series of coughs.

"That settles it." Coran clapped his hands together suddenly. "Keith can teach Lance how to communicate until I figure out how to repair the problem."