Silent Heartbeats 17: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
By Maureen
Disclaimer: well, I decided I hadn't done one of these in a while, so I figured 'why not'? I've been busy so the chapters have been flowing much more slowly than I'd've liked, but oh well, that's life. Anyways, Jamie, Catie, Alex, Hank, Tyler, Val and Brooke are Disney's, Misha and everyone else (more or less) is mine, and…yeah, this story is mine too. I'm not making any money off of this, although I won't say 'no' to donations to the 'send Maureen to college fund'.
***
Jamie awoke before his alarm went off, bounding out of bed with uncharacteristic vigor. He shut the alarm off and pulled the curtains in his room open, letting the bright sunshine illuminate his room. It was a Monday. Monday. The worst day of the week, loathed by everyone except toddlers who haven't yet learned better. Monday, the day work and school resume again, the monotony of the week beginning its cycle yet again. It is the day that people begin to dream once again about the weekend.
And sixteen year old James Waite, the man-boy who had to be cajoled and blackmailed into leaving his slumber before noon on most days, was up greeting the birds. Alex was fond of saying 'the early bird gets the worm' and Jamie would reply 'eat worms'. So Alex sat at the kitchen table wondering if pod people had abducted his foster son during the night.
"Morning Alex!" Jamie said, as he headed towards the bathroom. Alex was not a morning person either, being unable to move or do anything more complex than glower until he had his first cup of coffee, but when usually compared to Jamie before noon he was bright and chipper.
"Grgeh?" Alex mumbled, his brain not quite registering what was going on around him. His coffee had not finished brewing yet.
Nearly ten minutes later Alex had his coffee half finished and was beginning to get moving for the day. That's when he noticed the shower running. He looked down. Blue terry cloth robe, black slippers attached to somewhat hairy legs. He was not in the shower. Looking around he realized he was in the kitchen. So who was in the shower?
Finally it occurred to him to check Jamie's room. He shuffled down the short hallway to the open door. Peering in he couldn't decide if the lump in the bed was his ward or if he needed to put his contacts in. Nah, he decided, it was Jamie, wrapped up in his little cocoon, a very dark cocoon in a very light room. The room was supposed to be dark too though, his brain told him insistently.
Shaking his head, he firmly told his brain to shut up and headed into his bedroom to begin getting dressed for the day.
***
Jamie, for his part, was unaware of the trouble his behavior was causing to Alex's sleep addled brain (that had not quite been jump started by the caffeine yet). He was in the shower, singing Enter Sandman, quite off key, by Metallica.
Twenty minutes later, Jamie had finished in the bathroom and was dressed for the day in his school uniform, his EMT uniform packed neatly in his bag so it would not wrinkle and a fresh notebook in his backpack along with several pens he stole from the station. For the first time in his life he was adequately prepared for the first day of school. He sat at the table munching on Lucky Charms, waiting for Alex to be finished. He had nearly twenty minutes before he had to get going, so Alex was not running late.
Alex joined Jamie in the kitchen, popping a bagel into the toaster and pulling out the condiments and utensils he needed to prepare the perfect bagel. Finally he stopped and stared at Jamie. *What are you doing?* he asked stupidly.
"Meating cereal," Jamie replied around a partially chewed mouthful. "Why?"
*Why are you awake?* Alex tried again. He really wasn't awake until his third cup of coffee.
"School starts today," Jamie said, giving his guardian a withering look. Alex had made a big deal about the first day of school coming up earlier that week and now he was questioning Jamie getting up early?
Alex shook his head not quite sure who Jamie was reminding him of, but knowing it was somebody important. Shaking the feeling off, he began to spread cream cheese over his bagel liberally, glancing over the daily newspaper.
*Ready?* Alex asked, picking his briefcase up.
Jamie just shook his head slowly, thinking pod people had abducted Alex. True, he was frequently in his own little reality early in the morning, but today the haze seemed to be thicker than usual.
Alex snapped his fingers suddenly, * Remember now! You remind me of Val this morning!* smiling proudly, Alex headed down to the parking lot to go to work.
Sighing, Jamie followed, his helmet under one arm. Definitely a pod person.
***
Jamie sat in class, diligently following the teacher's lecture and the course outline on the overhead. He began to daydream, wondering how it could take 50 minutes to explain what they would be studying in World History and the classroom procedures. However; it had taken 50 minutes in his preceding three classes too. As soon as the lights flashed, he had lunch. He stomach grumbled in anticipation, only 5 minutes left.
Jamie waited in line for lunch, choosing a piece of grease soaked pizza with sausage that he knew both Catie and Val would yell at him for eating. That was part of the fun of eating it, even though they were both at Kingsport High School. As he searched for a table, he wondered what their first day as seniors was like.
Lunch was uneventful; he sat with some kids from his sign classes last year. They were all talking at once, trying to tell everyone what their summer vacations were like. All had stories of going to the beach or to the local amusement park. Finally, Jamie jumped into the fray as well, explaining how he had worked all summer and had gotten into a fight, pointing out a few of the bruises at his hairline that hadn't quite faded from view yet.
*What's up doc?* Jeremy asked, standing over the table Jamie and his friends were sitting at.
*Go away Germy,* Jamie told him, wishing the bully had forgotten about him over the summer. *I'm sure there are better people to pick on.*
*But you're my special doctor!* Jeremy sighed, batting his eyelashes at Jamie.
*Go away,* Jamie repeated. He had actually been enjoying the school day until this point.
Before it could escalate, the lights flashed, signaling the end of lunch. *I'll see you later, doc,* Jeremy told him, sauntering away, his flunkies following slightly behind him.
Jamie stared after him, wondering why there was a bully at every school and why he had an invisible sign on his forehead reading 'please beat me up'.
***
Jamie jumped, his pager vibrating on his belt. Despite not being on the squad anymore, he still carried his pager out of habit. It also made getting in touch with him easier. Alex liked to use it when Jamie was out later than he said he would be.
132911 was the number staring up at him. At first Jamie thought it was a mistake, but if it wasn't and he didn't respond… without asking permission, he leapt out of his seat and barely remembered to call out 'I'll explain later' as he ran to his locker to get his uniform jacket and helmet.
He was unsurprised to get a second page as he ran out to his motorcycle, this time with the address. It was a street not too far off, in the same neighborhood that Hank lived in.
Jamie roared up five minutes later to see Hank, Tyler and Val, attempting to calm down hysteric parents and a small child on the backboard crying. "You rang?" he asked, jogging up to join them.
*They're deaf,* Val signed, indicating the parents. *We don't understand and they won't write.*
And a light bulb dawned. "Is the child okay?" he asked, wondering why they hadn't taken the kid to the hospital.
*Yes, broken leg. We will go in a minute. Talk to the parents.* Jamie nodded shortly and turned to the distraught parents.
*Sir? Ma'am?* he signed, getting their attention, *I'm Jamie, I'm an EMT. Can you talk to me please?*
*How is our baby?* the woman signed, her signs were fragmented and disjointed, her pain and confusion obvious.
*She broke her leg, but she's going to be fine, we are going to take her to the hospital to set the bone.* even as he worked to calm her parents down, the others were loading her into the ambulance and picking up their supplies. *What is her name?*
*Sarah. Sarah Carter,* the man told the younger EMT, *I'm Mike Carter, this is Liz.*
*Well, Mr. and Mrs. Carter, we're ready to go. Do you want to ride in the ambulance?*
*Yes, of course,* Mrs. Carter signed, instantly, *Are you coming to interpret?*
*I'm coming, but not as an interpreter. I'm deaf too. I'm an EMT.*
Ignoring their shocked faces, he herded them into the back of the ambulance, firmly closing the doors for Val. He mounted his motorcycle to follow.
***
"I rock!" Jamie crowed after they left the hospital. The Carters daughter was going to be fine and they had a translator on staff that was better able to help than Jamie. "I rule!"
Hank and Tyler both clapped Jamie on the back and began an intricate male-bonding handshake involving lots of spinning and spitting.
"Boys," Val said to herself, shaking her head with a smile. Jamie deserved to crow a little bit, but not too much. *Jamie, paperwork.*
"You had to go and ruin it for me, didn't you?" Jamie complained, "I expected that to be Brooke's line, not yours. She's the Queen of Paperwork in case you've forgotten."
*I know, but still. Go back to school.*
Jamie's face fell. "School. Right." He had forgotten that he had left without asking and he was not on active duty so there was no reason for him too. "Radio Alex and tell him to call the school in about 15 minutes or I'm going to be in some deep kaka."
A/n: I forgot whom suggested Jamie go on a call to interpret but thank you (I have a nagging suspicion it was Mad Cow)!!!! I wuv you!!
Also, it has come to my attention that people (or at least one person) want to make fanfics based on the Silent Lives series. I'm totally cool with that, however, I want to know who is writing them and have a copy sent to me to proof before it goes up on ff.net (if for no other reason than I want to read it first). I'm flattered that people want to do this ;)
Drink more kool-aid.
By Maureen
Disclaimer: well, I decided I hadn't done one of these in a while, so I figured 'why not'? I've been busy so the chapters have been flowing much more slowly than I'd've liked, but oh well, that's life. Anyways, Jamie, Catie, Alex, Hank, Tyler, Val and Brooke are Disney's, Misha and everyone else (more or less) is mine, and…yeah, this story is mine too. I'm not making any money off of this, although I won't say 'no' to donations to the 'send Maureen to college fund'.
***
Jamie awoke before his alarm went off, bounding out of bed with uncharacteristic vigor. He shut the alarm off and pulled the curtains in his room open, letting the bright sunshine illuminate his room. It was a Monday. Monday. The worst day of the week, loathed by everyone except toddlers who haven't yet learned better. Monday, the day work and school resume again, the monotony of the week beginning its cycle yet again. It is the day that people begin to dream once again about the weekend.
And sixteen year old James Waite, the man-boy who had to be cajoled and blackmailed into leaving his slumber before noon on most days, was up greeting the birds. Alex was fond of saying 'the early bird gets the worm' and Jamie would reply 'eat worms'. So Alex sat at the kitchen table wondering if pod people had abducted his foster son during the night.
"Morning Alex!" Jamie said, as he headed towards the bathroom. Alex was not a morning person either, being unable to move or do anything more complex than glower until he had his first cup of coffee, but when usually compared to Jamie before noon he was bright and chipper.
"Grgeh?" Alex mumbled, his brain not quite registering what was going on around him. His coffee had not finished brewing yet.
Nearly ten minutes later Alex had his coffee half finished and was beginning to get moving for the day. That's when he noticed the shower running. He looked down. Blue terry cloth robe, black slippers attached to somewhat hairy legs. He was not in the shower. Looking around he realized he was in the kitchen. So who was in the shower?
Finally it occurred to him to check Jamie's room. He shuffled down the short hallway to the open door. Peering in he couldn't decide if the lump in the bed was his ward or if he needed to put his contacts in. Nah, he decided, it was Jamie, wrapped up in his little cocoon, a very dark cocoon in a very light room. The room was supposed to be dark too though, his brain told him insistently.
Shaking his head, he firmly told his brain to shut up and headed into his bedroom to begin getting dressed for the day.
***
Jamie, for his part, was unaware of the trouble his behavior was causing to Alex's sleep addled brain (that had not quite been jump started by the caffeine yet). He was in the shower, singing Enter Sandman, quite off key, by Metallica.
Twenty minutes later, Jamie had finished in the bathroom and was dressed for the day in his school uniform, his EMT uniform packed neatly in his bag so it would not wrinkle and a fresh notebook in his backpack along with several pens he stole from the station. For the first time in his life he was adequately prepared for the first day of school. He sat at the table munching on Lucky Charms, waiting for Alex to be finished. He had nearly twenty minutes before he had to get going, so Alex was not running late.
Alex joined Jamie in the kitchen, popping a bagel into the toaster and pulling out the condiments and utensils he needed to prepare the perfect bagel. Finally he stopped and stared at Jamie. *What are you doing?* he asked stupidly.
"Meating cereal," Jamie replied around a partially chewed mouthful. "Why?"
*Why are you awake?* Alex tried again. He really wasn't awake until his third cup of coffee.
"School starts today," Jamie said, giving his guardian a withering look. Alex had made a big deal about the first day of school coming up earlier that week and now he was questioning Jamie getting up early?
Alex shook his head not quite sure who Jamie was reminding him of, but knowing it was somebody important. Shaking the feeling off, he began to spread cream cheese over his bagel liberally, glancing over the daily newspaper.
*Ready?* Alex asked, picking his briefcase up.
Jamie just shook his head slowly, thinking pod people had abducted Alex. True, he was frequently in his own little reality early in the morning, but today the haze seemed to be thicker than usual.
Alex snapped his fingers suddenly, * Remember now! You remind me of Val this morning!* smiling proudly, Alex headed down to the parking lot to go to work.
Sighing, Jamie followed, his helmet under one arm. Definitely a pod person.
***
Jamie sat in class, diligently following the teacher's lecture and the course outline on the overhead. He began to daydream, wondering how it could take 50 minutes to explain what they would be studying in World History and the classroom procedures. However; it had taken 50 minutes in his preceding three classes too. As soon as the lights flashed, he had lunch. He stomach grumbled in anticipation, only 5 minutes left.
Jamie waited in line for lunch, choosing a piece of grease soaked pizza with sausage that he knew both Catie and Val would yell at him for eating. That was part of the fun of eating it, even though they were both at Kingsport High School. As he searched for a table, he wondered what their first day as seniors was like.
Lunch was uneventful; he sat with some kids from his sign classes last year. They were all talking at once, trying to tell everyone what their summer vacations were like. All had stories of going to the beach or to the local amusement park. Finally, Jamie jumped into the fray as well, explaining how he had worked all summer and had gotten into a fight, pointing out a few of the bruises at his hairline that hadn't quite faded from view yet.
*What's up doc?* Jeremy asked, standing over the table Jamie and his friends were sitting at.
*Go away Germy,* Jamie told him, wishing the bully had forgotten about him over the summer. *I'm sure there are better people to pick on.*
*But you're my special doctor!* Jeremy sighed, batting his eyelashes at Jamie.
*Go away,* Jamie repeated. He had actually been enjoying the school day until this point.
Before it could escalate, the lights flashed, signaling the end of lunch. *I'll see you later, doc,* Jeremy told him, sauntering away, his flunkies following slightly behind him.
Jamie stared after him, wondering why there was a bully at every school and why he had an invisible sign on his forehead reading 'please beat me up'.
***
Jamie jumped, his pager vibrating on his belt. Despite not being on the squad anymore, he still carried his pager out of habit. It also made getting in touch with him easier. Alex liked to use it when Jamie was out later than he said he would be.
132911 was the number staring up at him. At first Jamie thought it was a mistake, but if it wasn't and he didn't respond… without asking permission, he leapt out of his seat and barely remembered to call out 'I'll explain later' as he ran to his locker to get his uniform jacket and helmet.
He was unsurprised to get a second page as he ran out to his motorcycle, this time with the address. It was a street not too far off, in the same neighborhood that Hank lived in.
Jamie roared up five minutes later to see Hank, Tyler and Val, attempting to calm down hysteric parents and a small child on the backboard crying. "You rang?" he asked, jogging up to join them.
*They're deaf,* Val signed, indicating the parents. *We don't understand and they won't write.*
And a light bulb dawned. "Is the child okay?" he asked, wondering why they hadn't taken the kid to the hospital.
*Yes, broken leg. We will go in a minute. Talk to the parents.* Jamie nodded shortly and turned to the distraught parents.
*Sir? Ma'am?* he signed, getting their attention, *I'm Jamie, I'm an EMT. Can you talk to me please?*
*How is our baby?* the woman signed, her signs were fragmented and disjointed, her pain and confusion obvious.
*She broke her leg, but she's going to be fine, we are going to take her to the hospital to set the bone.* even as he worked to calm her parents down, the others were loading her into the ambulance and picking up their supplies. *What is her name?*
*Sarah. Sarah Carter,* the man told the younger EMT, *I'm Mike Carter, this is Liz.*
*Well, Mr. and Mrs. Carter, we're ready to go. Do you want to ride in the ambulance?*
*Yes, of course,* Mrs. Carter signed, instantly, *Are you coming to interpret?*
*I'm coming, but not as an interpreter. I'm deaf too. I'm an EMT.*
Ignoring their shocked faces, he herded them into the back of the ambulance, firmly closing the doors for Val. He mounted his motorcycle to follow.
***
"I rock!" Jamie crowed after they left the hospital. The Carters daughter was going to be fine and they had a translator on staff that was better able to help than Jamie. "I rule!"
Hank and Tyler both clapped Jamie on the back and began an intricate male-bonding handshake involving lots of spinning and spitting.
"Boys," Val said to herself, shaking her head with a smile. Jamie deserved to crow a little bit, but not too much. *Jamie, paperwork.*
"You had to go and ruin it for me, didn't you?" Jamie complained, "I expected that to be Brooke's line, not yours. She's the Queen of Paperwork in case you've forgotten."
*I know, but still. Go back to school.*
Jamie's face fell. "School. Right." He had forgotten that he had left without asking and he was not on active duty so there was no reason for him too. "Radio Alex and tell him to call the school in about 15 minutes or I'm going to be in some deep kaka."
A/n: I forgot whom suggested Jamie go on a call to interpret but thank you (I have a nagging suspicion it was Mad Cow)!!!! I wuv you!!
Also, it has come to my attention that people (or at least one person) want to make fanfics based on the Silent Lives series. I'm totally cool with that, however, I want to know who is writing them and have a copy sent to me to proof before it goes up on ff.net (if for no other reason than I want to read it first). I'm flattered that people want to do this ;)
Drink more kool-aid.