Sound Mind And Sound Body
By Auburn Red
I do not own these characters. They are the products of Richard Curtis. I'm just borrowing them just to get my jollies and answer some provocative questions and while away a snowy Sunday. I however created Will and Emma Carton (and gave Charles and David their surnames) as well as my own little theories about their background.
Chapter One: Sound Of Silence
It was Charles who first noticed something...different about his baby brother.
He first noticed it when he was about to go outside to play football with his mates. He reached into the closet for his footer shoes, reaching for them lodged between two pairs of boots and a hat box. He pulled his shoes out when the contents of the lower half of the wardrobe fell down on top of the young boy.
"Bugger," he yelled underneath the large pile. He hid underneath for the pile to determine whether his napping brother or ill mother might have heard anything. He sighed relieved for a second before his mother's voice called, "Charles what is it that?"
The 10 year old winced. "Nothing mum," he called.
"Would you make me some tea then look in on your brother to see if he also heard 'nothing,'?" Mum called. That's strange, Charles thought, wouldn't David have heard that by now if Mum did? Charles sighed and nodded throwing his shoes back in the closet throwing the stuff back inside. They were currently between housekeepers after Mum fired the last one during one of her "moods," so she depended on her son a lot when he wasn't at school and Dad was at work. Charles shrugged as he walked into the kitchen and watched the tea kettle boil on top of the oven.
In his mind, Charles often thought of his mother as three separate people and there was no telling which one she would be. There was Mum, the fun loving mother who always was interested in one project after another; volunteer work, gardening, painting, right now Eastern meditation practice and yoga and often took her son on outings or returned from Selfridges or Harrods her arms full of bags, always talking a mile a minute. Then there was Mummy, the sad woman who would often lie in bed until noon still in her night things, reading her Jackie Collins novels and watching telly, her eyes filled with tears. Then there was Mother, the most frightening of the three, the woman who would shout and throw things. He remembered last week when Charles was dusting the antiques in the sitting room and accidentally broke one of her vases. His arms still hurt from the punishment Mother gave him.
The young boy let the tea seep as he prepared the sugar and honey that his mother loved so much to go with it. He then walked upstairs tip toeing and carrying the tea cup as though it were an offering, slowly and methodically. He knocked on the door, "Come in Charlie," Mum said. Mummy, Charles thought to himself with relief. He opened the door to see his mother lying in bed in her pink robe and night gown, her long curly hair askew over her body. "Thank you, darling," Mum said as she reached for two yellow pills and swallowed them with her tea. "Go and see how David is doing."
"He'd be awake by now, if he heard me wouldn't he?" Charles glanced over in the direction of David's bedroom.
"Don't be smart," Mum warned, her voice becoming scary low. Charles nodded and ran in the direction of David's room before she could become Mother.
Charles leaned on to his brother's bedroom door. He opened the door tripping over his unlaced shoes and knocked into a nearby dresser sending some stuffed animals and plastic toys flying to the ground. "What was that?" Mum asked annoyed, but her voice slurred. The tranquilizers were going into effect, Charles realized, she will be sleeping soon.
"Nothing again mum," Charles said. "I'll clean it up." He promised. He started picking up a few of David's toys at random and glanced over at him confused. "You must have heard it that time," he said. But sure enough his brother was fast asleep. Curiously, Charles put his fingers in his mouth and made a face, then he made a monster like growl right in front of David, but still his brother slept. The little boy shrugged and tried again giggling and feeling really goofy. He then picked up a musical toy and played up to David's ear and to no reaction. Charles was about to try again when he heard a voice speak in a soft but very firm voice, "Charles Arthur Carton, what am I going to do with you?"
Charles looked up to see his father standing at the doorway still dressed in his white coat and hospital I.D. tag. He had been working a split shift since Mum's moods had become more frequent and there was no one at home to watch the boys. He returned early and was about to go to his bedroom to catch a kip for a few hours, when he saw his older son leaning over his infant son's crib and making a nuisance of himself. "What in the world do you think that you are doing?" Dad asked walking over to David's bed. "Can you at least avoid causing trouble for once?"
"I'm sorry," Charles said.
"You might have woken your brother up with that racket," Dr. Carton whispered as he smoothed David's hair.
"But I didn't," Charles objected. "Besides, he couldn't hear me anyway."
"Nonsense, of course he can hear you," Dad said barely paying attention as he observed the baby up and down.
"No he couldn't," Charles argued. "I went right in his face and he didn't hear a sound."
Will Carton stopped and looked squarely at his son. "Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yeah," Charles said. Will then turned to his son and snapped his fingers right into his ears.
"David," he spoke in his normal voice. Then tried raising his voice, Charles noticed he sounded more worried. He then did as his son did and turned on a few of his toys playing them right in the boy's ears but David gave no sound. He then reached down and tapped David on the shoulders and gently shook him awake. This time David awoke and let out a loud scream and wail obviously upset at being awakened, almost to Charlie like he was making up for all the crying that he should have done earlier.
Will picked up his infant son and held him close whispering words of comfort. "Is your mother in her room?" he asked. "Yeah, I gave her some tea and she took her medicine," Charles said.
"Of course she did," Will muttered annoyed more to himself than to his son. He then walked downstairs to take out his first aid kit. David continued to sob as his father put the baby into his high chair.
"Could you distract him please while I examine him?" Will asked. Charles took out a small pen light that he had been given in school and held it up to the baby, while his father took his temperature.
David stopped crying for a minute to look at the light following it up and down. "Here, Davey," Charles said. "Isn't it shiny?" Charles put the light next to the baby as David reached for it. Charles then closed his hand so David couldn't see it. Then he held it in front of the baby again. David reached for it and Charles closed his hand over the light again. "Ah, ah," David said smiling as Charles made it appear once more.
"Well he can see, that's a relief," Dad said as he inspected the infant's ears. First he took his temperature and found it to be normal. He then took out his otoscope and turned it on. "Charles did you see your brother put anything in his ears, even his fingers?" he asked.
"No, Dad," Charles answered. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know, my son," Will said as he looked inside the baby's ears. He couldn't find any blockage in his eardrums. He turned off the otoscope and placed it back in his first aid kit. "I have to make a phone call. I'll be right back."
He called the hospital where he worked reaching the office of his colleague, Dr. Patricia Givens. "Hi, Tricia, it's Will. I know it's a Sunday, but I need to see you right away. It's one of my sons. No not Charlie, David. Yes, the baby. As soon as possible please. I'll be there, Cheers." He hung up the phone and walked over to the two brothers. He took David out of his high chair. "Charlie, I need to take David to hospital. Do you want to come?" Charles was confused and nervous. What was going on with his brother? But he nodded.
Dr. Givens turned off the oto-acoustic test and faced the father and son. David wiggled on the hospital bed between the dividers.
"Well I have...news," she said. "He has congenital deafness. Specifically he has less than 10% hearing in his right ear and almost no hearing in his left."
Will lowered his head sadly. "I was afraid of that," he said. David shifted in the bed. Will leaned over and picked the infant up balancing him on his lap.
Charles looked at his brother. He felt like he was going to cry. "That means he can't hear right? Is he going to be that way forever?"
Dr. Givens nodded and she smiled what Charles liked to call "The Clangers smile" which many of his dad's co-workers, actually many adults, had when they spoke to him, wide, toothy, and raise their voices to a higher level, treating Charles as though he were a little kid who still watched shows like, The Clangers. "He will, but when he's older he can be fitted with hearing aids that will let him hear slightly better. You can also learn to speak with your hands. It's like learning a secret language, won't that be fun?"
"I know what sign language is," Charles answered. Dr. Givens blushed embarrassed. "I just don't know how to speak it."
"Well I guess we'll just have to learn then won't we," Will said determined in an almost forced cheerfulness. "Charlie, would you wait outside for a bit? I want to finish things up with Dr. Givens." Charles looked warily and somewhat nervous from his brother to his father. Dad nodded and motioned his head towards the outside, and then the boy left the room.
"I blame myself," Will said when he and his colleague were alone. "I should have seen this sooner. David was always so quiet, nothing seemed to bother him. Emma and I were grateful for that. You see, Charles was born prematurely and he was often ill, rather fussy.I don't believe either of us got a lick of sleep for the first six months." Dr. Givens smiled giving a slight chuckle. Will's voice dropped. "When David was born we were quite relieved that he turned out so quiet. He would never react unless he had to. He was...no trouble at all." In an unguarded moment, Will kissed his son on the top of his head. David shifted in reaction. "I feel like such a fool to have not recognized it sooner."
"You can't blame yourself, Will," she said. "Not all children react to sound the same way. I've had parents come with children all the way to their first year in nursery school before they realized that they were deaf."
"How could this have happened?" Dr. Carton said wearily. "There's no history of deafness in my family, or Emma's at least none that I'm aware."
Dr. Givens shrugged. "It could have been pre-natal causes. Was Emma ill during her pregnancy?"
"What you mean apart from the morning sickness, the constant food cravings, and hormonal imbalances," Will asked dryly. "Well besides that," Tricia said. "I meant did she have rubella, meningitis or any other disease during her pregnancy?"
Will shook his head as Tricia continued. "Had she ingested any sort of drugs, alcohol?"
"You have met my wife," the doctor said dryly. "I have tried time and again to get her to quit. She was perscribed tranquilizers before we... before she found out. She stopped or rather claimed that she did during her pregnancy, but occasionally..."
"...A smell of creme de menthe or a glazed look in her eye would convince you otherwise," Tricia said. Will shrugged and nodded.
"Doctors should know better how to treat their family shouldn't they?", he said sarcastically. He looked down at his hospital I.D. as if it could give him the answer. David was preoccupied with the I.D. playing with it and holding it in his hands.
" This is going to crush her. What am I going to tell her?" Will asked rubbing his eyes and suddenly feeling very exhausted. Dr. Givens shook her head, wishing that she could give her colleague some answers but knowing that they would be meaningless.
Charles, his father, and brother drove towards home in Dad's car, silent. Charles looked from the passenger seat to his brother in the back. David was sucking his thumb and glancing out the window blissfully unaware of what was going on around him.
Will stopped at a red light and pounded at the steering wheel in frustration. He pounded again. "Are you alright Dad?" "I'm fine Charles," Will said angrily. Charles winced. It was seldom that his dad got angry, but usually when he did, his voice became deathly quiet like it was now. Charles backed away from him. His dad sighed. "I'm sorry, Charles, I'm just very knackered right now." He moved as the light turned green. Will turned to face his older son smiling.
"You know I was around your age when your grandfather received the call to minister in Kenya," Will began. Charles straightened up. He liked when his father told him of his boyhood in various countries in Africa, where his father worked as a missionary doctor. "Of course your Aunt Mary and I were completely confused and terrified. What is this going to be like? What if no one understands us? How were we going to get by without listening to The Goon Show? So, our father told us that while many people will speak English there, it may make them more comfortable and welcoming if we took the effort to learn their native tongue, Swahili. Well we drilled ourselves almost making it a competition to see who could learn Swahili faster. Ironically, I suppose we got better than your grandparents. However, learning it and speaking it in conversation are two different things as I found out.
When we were over there, I had made a few friends so I thought that I would show off to my new found knowledge. I thought that I said 'Hello, would you like to come over and play with me?' Unfortunately, what I really said was something to the effect of 'Hey there would you like to come over to the backroom and get yout leg over with me and my sister?' " Charles giggled at his father's embarrassment. Will smiled and chuckled. "Wait it gets better. Before I found out what I really said, Aunt Mary repeated it to everyone she knew not only that but telling them where she learned it." Charles laughed louder. "Needless to say I was persona non grata at the mission for about two weeks. They probably thought the Great Beast 666 walked amongst them." Will winked at his son in nostalgic delight as Charles tried to picture in his head the memory. It seemed like another world to him, particularly since Dad lost his entire family and all Charles had to know of his grandparents and aunt were a few old photographs and his father's stories. Will's mother and little sister died in a cholera epidemic in Botswana, then Bechuanaland, when he was thirteen. Afterwards, the father and son settled in South Africa for many years where Will's father eventually died in prison protesting apartheid, the year before Will returned to London and began medical school. In fact every once in awhile Charles could still hear traces of the South African accent in his father's voice, especially when he talked about his past as he was doing now.
"What my point is, Charlie, it's never easy to learn a new language but when you get it right it's worth it and makes not only you but the other person feel more comfortable like somehow they belong," Will said. He glanced at his infant son through the rear view mirror. "Especially when that's the only way they can be understood."
"But how are we going to learn it?" Charles asked. He was worried about that, but also about his little brother. Why did this have to happen? But he knew, full well, why this happened and whose fault it really was. He had tears in his eyes once more. "It's not fair."
"No it isn't," Will agreed. He pulled the car to another lane as he saw the library. "I suppose we shall find out what we can then."
When Charles, Will, and David returned from the library their arms were full of books; including basic books to learn British Sign Language, The BSL Dictionary, a book for Will on What To Do When Your Child Is Deaf and for Charles a few books such as I Have A Sister, My Sister is Deaf, and The Story of My Life by Helen Keller. The reference librarian also provided them with the name and number of classes which taught BSL twice a week. Will smiled as he strapped David in his seat and Charles leaped in the passenger side. The search for books and other information provided enough of a distraction for Charles that he was actually having fun. Of course Will wasn't surprised, Charles loved to read and enjoyed visiting anywhere he could find new books to satisfy his curiosity. In fact he looked through the books smiling widely for the first time all day.
Mum was gone by the time that Charles, his dad, and brother returned. His dad looked inside her bedroom and saw it empty. He sighed clearly annoyed. "Well, I suppose we'll have to talk to her later." David had yawned in his arms and he returned the infant to his bedroom, so he could sleep. "Are you hungry?" he asked Charles.
"Sure Dad," Charles said. "Can we order take-away?"
"I don't see why not, Curry?" Will asked. Charles nodded as he picked up the menu and made their eating selections. The two glanced through the Dictionary and other books as Will began to mime the signs that he saw in the pictures. "Why are you doing that now?" Charles asked. "David's asleep."
"True and it will be some time before he starts talk- uh communicating with us," Will said. "If we start now, we will be more comfortable communicating with him when the time comes."
Charles looked over his curry as the two began to practice the signs for the alphabet. "Look," Charles showed his father. He then made the signs for "D.A.D."
"Very good my boy," Will said with pride. "Now try your name."
Charles looked through the book and managed to spell, "C.H.E.R.L.A.S." He looked and realized that he did it wrong,"Bugger," he cursed.
Will laughed. "Not bad for a first try. Let's try again." They worked together managing to spell both Charles and David's names perfectly. They also practiced finger spelling, "Hello," "Good-bye," and "Hungry," and other words. "My hands are getting tired," Charles complained. "Are we going to do this all the time?"
"I suppose so," Will said wistfully. "I imagine after awhile we'll get used to it." The door burst open and a joyful slightly slurred voice cooed, "Afternoon all." Charles ran up to greet his mum. "Hi mum," he finger spelt and said excitedly.
Emma Carton looked down at her son, her arms were filled with shopping bags. She laughed. "Now what's this all about?" She asked as she lay her bags down and began to remove her scarf and jacket.
Will frowned at his wife and looked through the bags. "How much did these cost?" he asked.
Emma rolled her eyes. "I used my Barclaycard," she pouted.
"That card already has a large debt amount on it," Will reminded her. He rolled his eyes. Of course, he would pay for it later. He always did. He changed the subject. "Emma, we need to talk about 's something wrong with him."
"What about him?" Emma asked taking out two blouses and holding them up to her body glancing through the mirror. "I couldn't decide which of these looked better so I bought them both," she said. "One's salmon the other is passion, what do you think?"
"They're both pink and pink," Will countered dryly. "Emma, did you hear me about David? "
"Yes something about him," Emma said putting her new clothes away. "What about him? Where is he?"
"He's upstairs asleep," Will replied. "He can't hear."
Emma dropped her bags as the fell on the floor. At first she was stunned, but then she started laughing. "What? Of course he can hear. Really, Will, you always did have an odd sense of humor but-"
"-Emma, our son is deaf," Will said. Emma tried to laugh again, but she stopped as though she realized he was telling the truth. "Charles and I both tried to talk to him and he didn't react so I took him to the hospital this morning and well- he is."
Emma's lip shook and her eyes filled. "No, that's just not true. Will, tell me!" She started sobbing and crying. Her husband held her and comforted her.
"It's alright, these things just happen," he said. "There's not much we can do now is there. I already spoke to Tricia Givens, you remember her, she said that within a year or two we can fit him with hearing aids. Charles and I already borrowed many books on the library on the subject and we have been practicing sign language. Also, there is a class at the local library that teaches BSL twice a week."
Emma had been silent but she interrupted. "When?"
"Wednesday evenings from 7:00-8:00 and Saturday afternoons from 12:00-2:00," Will encouraged.
Emma wrung her hands and looked at her husband, her eyes darting wildly. "I can't make them," she said. "I have pottery on Wednesdays and my yoga classes are changing times! I -uh I can't." She started crying again.
Will held his wife closely. "Em, it will be alright. We can do this. We can find another yoga class for you, There are others arouund London. We're just going to have to adjust. I know it's going to hard but-"
"-No Will, you don't understand," Emma said sharply. "I don't want to."
Charles had been quiet since his father told his mother about David being deaf. When they began arguing he took the book, The Story of My Life, and walked upstairs. Their fighting escalated as angry words were said.
"Why do I feel like I have three children in the house and the eldest is the one that causes the most problems," Will countered sharply.
"So I suppose you think it's my fault that he's this way isn't it?" Emma shouted.
"I never said that," Will said.
"You don't have to, I can see it in your eyes," Emma yelled. "It's a problem and you want to fix it, so you can feel oh so superior to me! Dr. William Carton, Mr. Perfect and his wife, The Failure, is that it? What are you just a Saffie who got successful because you married a posh tart, is that what you're thinking?" From upstairs, Charles could hear a lot of loud noises, crashes and bangs, as though his mum were throwing things.
"You weren't so perfect a year ago with that nurse now were you?" Emma snapped.
"I told you before that was a mistake," Will snapped. "It only happened once and I regretted it and came back! Who knows what would have happened to you if I hadn't?"
Emma laughed bitterly and continued to throw things. "Happened to me? Don't flatter yourself. Maybe you're the reason I'm like this!"
Charles could hear his mother's voice being muffled as though his father had held onto her. "Emma stop this before you hurt yourself!"
Charles couldn't listen to anymore of this. His eyes filled as he walked into his brother's bedroom. He sat on the rocking chair and picked up the Helen Keller book. His parents were like this all the time. They were always so unhappy together. They often accused each other of the most awful things. Charles could tell even when one entered the room, the other rolled their eyes in annoyance as though they were the last person that they wanted to see. Was that what being married was all about? People married for love or friendship and then over time they grew to hate the very sight of each other and only vows that they took years ago or children kept them together? Charles knew many mates whose parents were divorced or arguing all the time. If this was what being married was all about then as far as he was concerned, Charles was never going to let it happen to him. He would never get married, ever.
The young boy glanced over at his little brother. David was fast asleep, unaware of the arguing downstairs. In a way, Charles envied him for it. Charles leaned closer to his brother's crib. "You are so lucky," he said to David as tears filled his eyes. "You can't hear any of this." He sat back down and began to read blocking out the noises downstairs in his heart if he couldn't in his ears.