"Maybe we could jam a little when I get back home."
"Yeah, I'd like that."
Brandon sat at the piano in the music room at Anchor Beach, lazily playing with his uninjured, left hand. He was having a hard time playing as he was one hand short. His dream had been killed all in a moment of payback. When he was emitted into the hospital the night of the attack, he learned the severity of his injury.
"How bad is it," Brandon asked apprehensively as he sat up on the hospital bed?
"Well, the good news is no broken bones…but there could be nerve damage," Lena tried easing into it.
"So does that mean that I won't be able to play again," Brandon panicked?
"That is definitely a possibility," Stef told him honestly, "but the doctors don't know the extent of the injury yet."
"You will have to go through physical therapy," Lena jumped in.
"And you will have to drop out of the symphony," Stef said.
The news punched him in the gut. He'd been offered the chance of a lifetime being able to play in the symphony; it'd look great on college applications and he'd have been one of the lucky thousands to participate.
He was quickly taken out of his thoughts when he turned to notice a certain brunette walk in.
"Um…Mariana wanted to know if you're going straight home."
"No, I think I'm gonna work on…this some more," Brandon glanced awkwardly at the piano, not knowing exactly what it was he was working on with his only available hand.
"How's your hand," she asked him?
"It's alright," he answered hesitantly.
"Does it hurt," Callie asked mentally face palming?
"Of course it hurt," she thought.
The realization written on her face went unnoticed by Brandon. "Only when I move it."
Callie nodded profusely. "I can't believe Vico would do that to you," she uttered.
"That's the thing: one minute you're crusin along, the next someone swoops in and kills your dreams," Brandon said recalling Vico's words.
Callie saw the sadness on his face…the pain…the hurt.
"This is all my fault. If I hadn't gotten involved…"
"Woah, Callie! This isn't your fault. I got myself into this and once I did, it was hard to get myself out. Don't think for one second that you had anything to do with this," Brandon tried to reassure her.
"Okay," she said hesitantly.
Brandon turned back to his keyboard.
"So…are you working on a new piece," Callie changed the subject?
"No, no, I'm just messing around."
Callie nodded. "Can I help," she asked shocking even herself?
She knew he said not to, but she felt guilty for what happened. Vico had been holding a huge grudge since Brandon backed out of their deal. Maybe if she hadn't inserted herself into the situation…maybe if she hadn't approached Vico…or confronted Brandon, maybe Vico wouldn't have beaten him up and injured his hand. Maybe he wouldn't be in this funk.
"Yeah, yeah, you can help. I need some help playing the minor keys, actually."
Callie sat next to him on the bench and Brandon began teaching her the keys, which she often had trouble remembering. They laughed and messed around tapping keys sounding out of tune and got back to a place of friendship, they had fallen out of for weeks.