Disclaimer: All I own are my ideas.
Author's Note: I'm not quite sure if she is, but I am very sorry if Jeanette seems a bit OOC.
Chapter 4: Simon's Lullaby
There were several news vans parked outside of the Seville residence. Dave and Ms. Miller had called a press conference in hopes of spreading the search for each of their middle children. On the sidewalk, Alvin and Theodore stood respectfully to Dave's right, and Brittany and Eleanor stood to Ms. Miller's left. Dave stood tall, but had a weary look to his face and his eyes had black circles underneath them. Ms. Miller looked no better. Both parents held pictures of their children to face the camera.
"On April 17th, two days ago, my son, Simon Seville, and Ms. Miller's daughter, Jeanette Miller, were kidnapped right where we are standing. My sons saw it with their very eyes. The van they were taken in was black and unmarked, with no license plates. The men wore all black, and were heading towards the Interstate 101 Highway. If you have any information, we are begging you to come forward. Your name will be protected, we swear it. Just please, please help us bring our kids home," Dave finished, choking on his last words.
After a few moments of holding their pictures for the camera to see, Dave escorted all four solemn chipmunks into his house, and Ms. Miller followed. The girls had been staying at Dave's home, so they could all learn together if any news of Simon or Jeanette came to their house.
Dave cooked dinner in silence. Only two days had passed since Alvin and Theodore had called him at a business meeting that had run late, yelling frantically that Simon and Jeanette had just been kidnapped. The van was gone before Alvin even had the chance to run outside. Theodore had tear streaks running down his face when Dave finally got home, and even Alvin was misty-eyed. Brittany and Eleanor had run into their counterparts' embrace, but only for promises of little comfort.
There was no more Simon to stop Alvin's antics, although he hadn't uttered a single sarcastic remark since that night. There was no more Jeanette to politely correct Brittany's statements, although Brittany would give anything to hear her sister correct her grammar again.
There was no more Simon to help Theodore with his trigonometry homework, or encourage him with kind words to finally ask Eleanor out on a date. There was no more Jeanette to help Eleanor with breakfast in the morning, no matter how much of a mess Jeanette's clumsiness created.
Dave almost missed Simon's snide remarks to Alvin when he'd done something stupid, and Ms. Miller truly missed Jeanette's eagerness to help set the table for dinner, or help folding laundry. But most of all, everyone missed both Simon and Jeanette's simplistic natures, their kindness, and their selflessness to help others in need. Those were the traits that everyone truly, sorely missed about Simon and Jeanette.
At dinner, everyone ate in silence. At one point, Theodore spoke up.
"At least they have each other," he practically whispered, and Eleanor placed her hand on top of his. The two incomplete families nodded their heads in agreement, thankful for the one scrap of solace Theodore had given them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The sun rose and set, Simon's confrontation over and done with. The men were rougher with him, if that's even believable. They had even stepped on Simon's tibia, breaking his leg with a sickening crunch. Even strong Simon, who had not made a single noise the entire time save for his explanation that he as well did not know the bank codes, couldn't hold in the cry of agonizing pain.
He was thrown down the cellar stairs, just as unceremoniously as Jeanette. She tended to his wounds, her own feeling better after a day's rest; but nothing could cure her aching heart as she had heard the familiar noises. Simon hadn't bled as much as Jeanette, but had a broken nose and leg.
"This is going to hurt," Jeanette said softly, and kissed his cheek tenderly.
She bent her second and third fingers, holding his crooked nose between the two. Jeanette looked for Simon's approval, and he gave it with a slight nod of his throbbing head. She quickly and skillfully snapped it back into place, catching the blood that began pouring out with a remnant of Simon's emaciated shirt. He held the cloth to his nose as Jeanette began building a make-shift splint for his leg out of the piles of wood from the corner and the rope their hands had been bound with. It looked as if someone had torn a wooden chair apart and merely thrown all of the pieces into a corner of the basement. It was unnatural luck, but it was luck all the same.
After Simon's leg was splinted and his wounds cleaned, Jeanette sat against the hard, stone wall and spread her legs, sitting a weak Simon between them with his back facing her. Jeanette leaned him back slowly onto her chest, so that his head would be elevated. She hoped that her fur would be a better pillow than the unforgiving cement she was leaning on. Jeanette winced slightly as the slash on her shoulder began to ache painfully while she placed Simon's sweatshirt over him as a make-shift blanket.
The two chipmunks sat in silence. Jeanette smoothed her fingers through the fur on Simon's head, and he ran his thumb over the knuckles of Jeanette's other hand that he was holding; each counterpart soothing the other.
"I'm glad I took that first aid class with you last summer," Jeanette finally said after a long silence, her chin resting against his ear.
"Neither of us should have had to use what we learned," Simon whispered grimly into the darkness.
"If there's anything I've learned from you, it's to always be prepared for anything," Jeanette argued softly.
"But Jeanette, I was talking about Alvin and his schemes! Nothing could have prepared us for this!" Simon hissed angrily.
"I know, love, I know. But we're here, and there's nothing we can do to change that right now. When you're feeling better in the morning, I'd like to share some ideas on how we can get out of here. I'm sure you have your own ideas too," she said.
Simon opened his mouth to speak, but closed it just as quickly when Jeanette kissed his ear from behind and shushed him.
"Hush. Sleep, and dream happy dreams. Dreams where you and I are together, away from this dreadful place," she crooned. Simon began to protest, but Jeanette's angelic singing voice stopped him dead in his tracks.
It's the way that you blush when you're nervous
It's your ability to make me earn this
I know that you're tired, just let me sing you to sleep
It's about how you laugh out of pity,
'Cause lets be honest I'm not really that funny
I know that you're shot, just let me sing you to sleep
Right on cue, Simon felt his eyelids grow heavy, her voice leading him into dreamland.
If you need anything, just the say the word
I mean anything
Rest assured, if you start to doze, then I'll tuck you in,
Plant my lips where your necklaces close
As if to prove her point, Jeanette gently kissed the clasp of Simon's cross on the side of his neck. Then she began to sing again.
It's those pills that you don't need to take,
medicating perfection, now that's a mistake
I know that you're spent, just let me sing you to sleep
It's your finger and how I'm wrapped around it
It's your grace and how it keeps me grounded
I know that you're weak, just let me sing you to sleep
If you need anything, just the say the word
I mean anything
Rest assured, if you start to doze, then I'll tuck you in,
Plant my lips where your necklaces close
Jeanette felt Simon's head move to the side ever so slightly and his breathing deepened, telling Jeanette that her love was at long last asleep.
While you were sleeping I figured out everything,
I was constructed for you, and you were molded for me
Now I feel your name, coursing through my veins
You shine so bright it's insane, you put the sun to shame
(Oh)
If you need anything, just the say the word
I mean anything (I really do)
Rest assured, if you start to doze, then I'll tuck you in,
Plant my lips where your necklaces...
Jeanette felt her tiredness tugging at her, sleep longing to claim her. As she drifted off to follow Simon into dreamland, she softly breathed the last verse across her lips.
If you need anything, just the say the word
I mean anything
Rest assured, if you start to doze, then I'll tuck you in,
Plant my lips where your necklaces close
