He's mute, not deaf

Chapter 12

Tw for this chapter: past death, dying, panic attack

"6 months, that's a lot less than we thought isn't it? Like a lot less?" Nancy asked and Dr. Eret nodded. He pulled up one of the rolling stools and took a seat.

"We originally thought Ranboo would have anywhere from a year to six years, but the rapid deterioration is shorter than the time frame on top of the medication not working as well." Dr. Eret explained. Tubbo suddenly hopped off the examination table that he and Ranboo were sitting on.

"I don't want to listen to this." Tubbo said, vomit rising in the back of his throat.

"Bo." Ranboo said softly but Tubbo made a b-line for the door.

"Tubbo." His mother called and Tubbo stopped with his hand on his handle.

"Please, don't make me listen to this." He said, his voice shaky as he tried to blink away tears. No one protested when he continued to leave the room.

Tubbo found himself in the empty waiting room down the hall from where the office was. There was no one else in there, the only noise coming from the room was an empty fish tank in the corner, only water and fake rocks in the tank.

Tubbo didn't know what to do, most of the time with upsetting things he would talk to Ranboo about it, but he just left Ranboo behind in the room. Who was he supposed to talk to now?

Tubbo then thought for half a moment before pulling out his phone and doing his best to wipe the tears off of his face. He found Tommy's google classroom profile and hit call, doing his best to not sound like he was just crying.

The phone picked up and for a moment Tubbo stared at it, stared at the little clock beginning its count of how long they had been on the phone. Where there was no noise from the other end Tubbo realized he called a mute person on the phone. For a second it mattered, but in the next it didn't.

"Tommy!" Tubbo said and he realized how he sounded like he had been sobbing. This made him want to break out into tears again, so he did. And while he was sobbing he was also speaking into the phone. "I know you can't really talk and I know I am so stupid for calling you on the phone but please can you just listen to what I have to say?" Tubbo sobbed. For a moment there was silence, and then a message popped up at the top of his screen.

What

"I know you don't know Ranboo and I that well, and I know I have been stubborn and I know I'm annoying and I know that I'm just some dumb classmate but I need to talk to someone and I can't talk to Ranboo because it's about Ranboo and I don't have anyone else to talk to! I don't have any other friends!" Tubbo continued to sob.

What's with Ranboo

"He's fucking dying and it's worse than they thought and the medicine isn't working and he's fucking dying Tommy! I can't fucking loose him, I can't do it, I can't loose my only friend in this world!" Tubbo sobbed, bringing his knees up to his chest, doing his best to try to wipe the tears away.

Oh, I'm sorry

"I just can't lose him! The doctors said he has six months and what if he dies sooner than that? What am I supposed to do without him? I fucking told him I wasn't going to die after he did but I feel like that might be my only option at this point! I can't live without him Tommy!" Tubbo said before putting down the phone.

Tubbo fully put the phone down on the ground beside him so that he could bring his head fully into his knees. He held onto himself tightly as he continued to cry his heart out. He couldn't live without Ranboo, he just couldn't.

"Tubbo!" A voice said and Tubbo whipped his head up, expecting to see Ranboo or his mom standing there. Instead when he looked up, no one was there. "Tubbo!" The voice said again and he realized it was Tommy.

Tommy, down on the phone still on the ground, was yelling into the phone. Tubbo then realized that Tommy had texted him about 10 times, but Tubbo hadn't seen any of it.

Hey, just take a deep breath

Six months is a good bit of time, and it might be longer

There might be another medicine

Tubbo, take a deep breath man

Tubbo breathe

Tubbo breathe

Tubbo you need to breathe man

Breathe Tubbo!

Dumbass fucking breathe!

Tubbo!

"Tubbo!" Tommy yelled again and Tubbo grabbed his phone off the ground.

"Shit, sorry, I'm still here. Sorry man." Tubbo apologized quickly, using his sleeve to wipe the tears off again. It was Ranboo's hoodie, but Tubbo was sure he couldn't mind.

"Jesus man, you scared me. I only heard you fuckin' hyperventilating and shit and I didn't know if you fucking passed out or not." Tommy sighed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Tubbo apologized, doing his best to finally be done crying.

For a few minutes it was just the sound of Tubbo sniffling, and Tommy being silent again.

"It'll be alright you know that right? No matter what happens with Ranboo it'll be alright." Tommy said after a bit.

"How do you know?" Tubbo asked, sniffling again slightly. Tommy was silent for a long moment and Tubbo thought he had said the wrong thing before he started to talk again.

"I mentioned to you guys that my mom died, and that was part of the reason why I went mute. While that is true, it isn't the full truth. When I was three I watched her die, and when she didn't wake up, I begged her for hours. That fucked me up for a long time, it's part of the reason why I'm fucked up today. I was three and I didn't know what I was seeing or what it meant. You aren't three, you know what you are seeing and what it means." Tommy explained. Tubbo was the one who sat there silent for a moment this time. Finally when he spoke it was just one word.

"Oh." And they sat in silence for a bit longer. Tubbo looked down the hall and saw Ranboo with their mom. "I have to go."

"Are you going to be alright?" Tommy asked and Tubbo nodded, before realizing that he couldn't be seen.

"Yeah. Thanks Tommy." Tubbo said.

"Anytime Tubbo." And the call ended. Ranboo spotted Tubbo on the floor in the corner when he entered the room and ran over to him. Ranboo hugged Tubbo tightly.

"It'll be okay." Ranboo started and Tubbo nodded as he hugged Ranboo back tightly. "We're going to be okay and things will be fine."

"Isn't saying that it'll be okay and things will be fine just saying the same thing in different ways?" Tubbo asked.

"Shut up and just fucking hug me I'm dying."

Word count: 1200