Chapter 9: Epilogue

Tino's eyes flew open as he breathe raggedly and quickly. His head turned swiftly in all directions as if looking for something, though he quickly remembed he was blind. The small man laid back and felt around himself. There were wires and various tubes connecting him to different machines and it dawned on him. "I'm in a hospital."

He racked his brain, trying to remember why he was there and his mind srung to Ivan. He shuddered at the thought and tried to shift his thoughts else where and ended up going to Berwald. A small smiled graced his lips as his mind went to his new lover, but it slowly disappeared when he remembered what had happened. His blind eyes held an expression of horror and fear. He began to unhook himself from the many machines, vaguely hearing the sound of a heart monitor flatline. The blonde jumped from the bed and tried to steady himself with little luck. A wave of dizziness came over him as doctors and nurses rushed in, thinking him dead.

"Sir, calm down!" One of the doctors yelled, a hint of surprise in his voice.

Tino stopped moving at the sound of his voice, but ended up collapsing as a result. His hands shot out to stop his fall, but strong arms wrapped themselves around him instead.

"T'no, are ya okay?"

"Berwald?" Tino almost couldn't believe his ears.

"Ja, it's me." Berwald assured him.

"Mr. Oxensterna! You are still not well enough to be rushing to anyone's aid!" A doctor said strictly, repremanding the tall blonde.

" 'm sorry..." Berwald let Tino be taken away from him and led back to the bed.

"Berwald, you won't leave, will you?" Tino's voice was tinged lightly with fear and anxiety.

"No, I won't leave." He said calmly, though he glared at the doctor who was was about to protest. The man immediately backed off, a terrified look on his face, and left the room. Berwald sat beside the bed and took tino's hand, bringing it to his face. He teared up as he brought the small hand to his cheek. " 'm sorry, T'no..."

"Berwald?" Tino frowned and carassed the others face. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

"I couldn't protect ya."

"Couldn't protect me? What are you talking about? If I'm in the hospital, then you obviosly did." Tino smiled in the others direction before giving a small frown. His eyes filled with tears as he spoke. "You're so beautiful..."

Berwald blushedand looked at his hands. "How do ya know? I scare everyone."

"Berwald, we already went through this. Besides, when Ivan threw me backwards and I hit the back of my head..." Tino took a deep breath, tearing up more. "I got a brief glimpse of your face. I don't know how, but I could see again, thought only temporarily, and when I saw your face, I was content to never see again."

The tall man stared at him, confused. "How could ya 've seen me?"

"I told you, I don't know how, but to prove it, you have beautiful blonde hair, though it is a little unkempt, striking blue eyes and a gaze... that was deep and meaningful. If I didn't know you better, I might've been frightened by it." He smiled as he finished, tears still in his eyes.

"How did ya get all that fr'm only a couple ah seconds?"

"Being blind has made me observant and all I needed was a couple of seconds, especially if sight was involved." Tino explained softly, extending his hands, hoping Berwald would come closer. He seemed to have gotten farther away from him as he was explaining.

Berwald's gaze softened and he took the others hands, kissing both of them softly. "As long as yer happy."

"I could never be happier." Tino smiled as a blush warmed his cheeks.

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Done! I know it's been forever and I'm only giving you this much... But my brain died... and it's the end of the story. :( But on the bright side, I'm still working on all my other stories, but I'm looking for a job atm so it still might be a while. Don't fret and don't forget to leave a review~!