Noel
I couldn't understand or fully process the situation at hand. A red coat was my father...it just wasn't clicking yet. It was starting to all come back to me now what had happened last week. I could picture it perfectly. Eric spilling the truth; I lost my temper and ran; I fell down the stairs. When I imagined myself hitting the floor I got a slight pinch in my head. What had come over me? Something else that I didn't understand.
Eric was coming to visit me everyday. I still could not speak as whatever happened to me-call it shock if one must-it had caused me to lose my voice. Today, Eric sat by my side and relayed to me what he had learned from...father?...a couple of days ago. It was an interesting story to hear...it was actually quite romantic. I think today was the first time since my accident that I cracked a smile. According to my brother, father was not ready to see me yet as he was trying to give me some time to really calm down and breath and let everything sink in. However, he has servants bring in freshly cut roses every other day for me so that I will not be stuck staring at sad withering ones. Eric admitted to me when I gave him a look that he had blurted about my absolute fetish for roses. That was the second time I smiled.
"Noel," he said to me," I have told father that I will not trust him until I see that you trust him. I know that what you have learned is still sinking in...but won't you try to get to know him?"
I wrinkled my nose at him.
"Please," he said with the dreaded puppy eyes that I despise so much," Didn't mother always say not to judge and hold no grudge?"
That was the third time I smiled and I laughed a little too. He knew that the look in my eyes meant that I would try. He smiled and gave me a hug.
"Maybe this was meant to happen," he whispered to me," Remember what mother always said about how God lays a path for us and we must follow?"
I nodded to him.
"Maybe this is a new path. Won't you follow it with me? That way we can get through anything...and gang up on Cornwallis if he displeases us."
My fourth smile and second laugh of the day. I nodded again. He ran a hand down my cheek," And try to get your voice back. I miss it already."
He stood up and left. As I thought about my brother and the accident I gained the motivation to try to talk.
"ha...mmm..uuuh," is all that came out. How pathetic. I thought of a sentence to try and took another whack at it.
"Mmmmmmy..bro...brooooootheeeer i-iii-is called Eric."
I smiled with satisfaction. I repeated the sentence over and over again for about an hour. I took a break for a while. I felt like I was a child learning to speak for the first time. Was it really shock that caused me to not be able to speak? That is pretty intense...and interesting how much that has affected me, but I wasn't going to let that keep me down. I was starting to feel some pain from my broken limbs, but was in too much of a good mood to pay much attention to it. I was also quite focused on the subject of Lord Cornwallis. It upset me to think that my mother had lied to me all these years, but at this point I have to try to be accepting that it happened. That's life right? Giving Cornwallis a chance didn't seem so bad and it was rather exciting to be able to get in on the red coats side and see their view point on everything. I like to see/get both sides of every story.