The Sound of Music
Chapter Five
Outside a pair of birds chirped loudly. They seemed to be singing a duet. First one would sing, high notes trilling in the air. The other would pick up right after the first ended, his melody complimenting the other's. And then the two would overlap, their songs blending and harmonizing into one. It was beautiful.
And, Brady realized bitterly, it was something that Chloe would never be able to experience. His red eyes found their way back to where she lay in a deep sleep, surrounded by machines that monitored her condition.
He stared blankly at the machines. They seemed to be talking quietly to each other. "Beep, whirr, click click." "Whirr, click, beep." He stared at the clock on the wall. It had decided to join the conversation. "Tick tock, tick tock."
He glanced around the room. Everything around him was making a sound: his chair creaked when he moved, doctors talked with a patient in the next room, there was even his own soft rhythmic breathing. It all seemed to combine into one. "Hiss, tick, beep, whirr, creak, click click, hiss, tock, every two hours, creak, beep, whirr, any allergic reactions, hiss, creak." The entire room was a symphony of sound and Chloe couldn't hear any of it.
Brady felt like he was in shock. His brain refused to absorb the information he had just learned. Craig's words echoed endlessly in his head, 'Chloe is deaf,' but to no avail. He simply refused to believe it. It couldn't be, this couldn't be happening. Not now, not after everything he and Chloe had been through. He replayed the scene in his head, thinking that if he kept making himself see it, then he would finally begin to believe it.
It was like a horrible dream, seeing Chloe be hit by lightning. He had relived it a thousand times since it happened and each time felt unreal. He saw the bolt of electricity, heard her scream, watched as she was flung across the room like a rag doll and none of it seemed real. Not even the smell of scorched air and burnt flesh could pierce the haze clouding his mind. When he acted to save her, it had been on pure instinct; his brain had ceased to function on any higher levels.
And even later when he waited anxiously for news of her condition he felt detached, like he was watching someone else. Not even the arrival of their parents helped to convince him of the present reality.
Brady closed his eyes. {The Wesleys. God, what must they be going through.} He could still see Craig's pale gray face when he broke the news. He could still hear Nancy's choked sob. Craig had rushed to comfort his wife who was bordering on hysterical while John laid a strong hand on Brady's shoulder.
But Brady had barely been aware of his father's presence. He just stood there in a daze, struggling to comprehend what this meant for Chloe and her future. How would she get through this? How would he? He couldn't handle his father's attempts to comfort him, well meant though they were. So he asked if he could see her.
He moved to stand my Chloe's side. He'd been in the room for fifteen minutes and was only now able to really look at her. There were so many bandages covering her head that most of her face was covered. Only her eyes, nose and mouth were visible. In his mind he could see the blistering skin that lay beneath the bandages. It was hard to believe that as bad as the burns were, they still weren't the worst injury she had received. Her burns would eventually heal and she'd be every bit as beautiful as she was before.
But Brady would gladly trade all her beauty if it meant Chloe could hear again, if it meant she could have the thing she loved most in her life: music. Besides, her physical beauty wasn't what had attracted him to her in the first place; it was just a plus.
But it was pointless to even think about it, he realized with a sigh. He couldn't trade her injuries anymore than he could heal her. She was deaf, and if the doctors were right, than she would remain that way for the rest of her life.
Brady gently squeezed her hand as the magnitude of her injuries finally settled on him. She had lost her hearing. Music was her life; it was the one thing that had gotten her through the dark painful years of her childhood. And even when her life changed for the better, music was still a vital part of it.
For as long as he had known Chloe, she had had one dream, to be an opera star. That dream was one of the reasons Brady had fallen in love with her and it was that dream that had helped her through her difficult battle with leukemia. And as their friendship grew and they became close, her dream had become his dream. While his plans for the future weren't set in stone, they always seemed to come back to Chloe standing on a stage singing before a crowd of admiring fans, and he standing just off stage, watching her, living her dream with her. Her dream was the driving force behind his need to succeed at Basic Black. He was developing the business skills he would need to one day be her manager. Both of their futures were built on this one dream built on music.
Music. It seemed as if their entire relationship had revolved around it. Their very first meeting had them breaking into song as if it were the most normal thing to do when meeting someone for the first time. And after that first time had come many others. Duets in a lit gazebo at night. Summer days meant to "inspire" her. Even family evenings playing board games ended in song. Music had been their first and still their best way of communicating with each other. Only in song could they really fully express themselves.
And in one moment it had been taken away from them. Because of one freak accident Chloe's hopes and dreams, not to mention his, had been dashed. Her life had been completely changed and she would never be the same.
{Come on, Brady, snap out of it. At least she's alive and she's going to be okay. Her prognosis is better than it was last summer when you didn't know if she would survive the leukemia.} He thought of that summer, how close they had grown while battling her cancer, that wonderful day they found her father, the moment he realized he loved her.
"I should have told you then how I felt," he spoke aloud, forgetting for a moment that his words would not be heard. "But like a fool I didn't. I waited, thinking, 'There will always be later. Now is not the right time.' But the right time never came. Or at least, I was too afraid to act on it. I couldn't take the risk. Isn't that funny? Here I've always been the one to lecture you about taking chances, about how life is risk and to go for your dreams means you have to take a chance on yourself and all the other bullshit I've said. When all along I was the one who was afraid to take a chance on us. I should have told you I loved you when I had the chance. Because now there's this and it's still not the right time. Will it ever be the right time for us?"
He stopped talking when he realized he'd been rambling mindlessly. He gripped Chloe's hand and stared at her closed eyes. "I keep forgetting you can't hear me. Oh, Chloe, I don't know how we're going to get through this but we will get through it. I love you, Chloe, and I'm not leaving your side."
And at his words Chloe blinked her eyes open.
Chapter Five
Outside a pair of birds chirped loudly. They seemed to be singing a duet. First one would sing, high notes trilling in the air. The other would pick up right after the first ended, his melody complimenting the other's. And then the two would overlap, their songs blending and harmonizing into one. It was beautiful.
And, Brady realized bitterly, it was something that Chloe would never be able to experience. His red eyes found their way back to where she lay in a deep sleep, surrounded by machines that monitored her condition.
He stared blankly at the machines. They seemed to be talking quietly to each other. "Beep, whirr, click click." "Whirr, click, beep." He stared at the clock on the wall. It had decided to join the conversation. "Tick tock, tick tock."
He glanced around the room. Everything around him was making a sound: his chair creaked when he moved, doctors talked with a patient in the next room, there was even his own soft rhythmic breathing. It all seemed to combine into one. "Hiss, tick, beep, whirr, creak, click click, hiss, tock, every two hours, creak, beep, whirr, any allergic reactions, hiss, creak." The entire room was a symphony of sound and Chloe couldn't hear any of it.
Brady felt like he was in shock. His brain refused to absorb the information he had just learned. Craig's words echoed endlessly in his head, 'Chloe is deaf,' but to no avail. He simply refused to believe it. It couldn't be, this couldn't be happening. Not now, not after everything he and Chloe had been through. He replayed the scene in his head, thinking that if he kept making himself see it, then he would finally begin to believe it.
It was like a horrible dream, seeing Chloe be hit by lightning. He had relived it a thousand times since it happened and each time felt unreal. He saw the bolt of electricity, heard her scream, watched as she was flung across the room like a rag doll and none of it seemed real. Not even the smell of scorched air and burnt flesh could pierce the haze clouding his mind. When he acted to save her, it had been on pure instinct; his brain had ceased to function on any higher levels.
And even later when he waited anxiously for news of her condition he felt detached, like he was watching someone else. Not even the arrival of their parents helped to convince him of the present reality.
Brady closed his eyes. {The Wesleys. God, what must they be going through.} He could still see Craig's pale gray face when he broke the news. He could still hear Nancy's choked sob. Craig had rushed to comfort his wife who was bordering on hysterical while John laid a strong hand on Brady's shoulder.
But Brady had barely been aware of his father's presence. He just stood there in a daze, struggling to comprehend what this meant for Chloe and her future. How would she get through this? How would he? He couldn't handle his father's attempts to comfort him, well meant though they were. So he asked if he could see her.
He moved to stand my Chloe's side. He'd been in the room for fifteen minutes and was only now able to really look at her. There were so many bandages covering her head that most of her face was covered. Only her eyes, nose and mouth were visible. In his mind he could see the blistering skin that lay beneath the bandages. It was hard to believe that as bad as the burns were, they still weren't the worst injury she had received. Her burns would eventually heal and she'd be every bit as beautiful as she was before.
But Brady would gladly trade all her beauty if it meant Chloe could hear again, if it meant she could have the thing she loved most in her life: music. Besides, her physical beauty wasn't what had attracted him to her in the first place; it was just a plus.
But it was pointless to even think about it, he realized with a sigh. He couldn't trade her injuries anymore than he could heal her. She was deaf, and if the doctors were right, than she would remain that way for the rest of her life.
Brady gently squeezed her hand as the magnitude of her injuries finally settled on him. She had lost her hearing. Music was her life; it was the one thing that had gotten her through the dark painful years of her childhood. And even when her life changed for the better, music was still a vital part of it.
For as long as he had known Chloe, she had had one dream, to be an opera star. That dream was one of the reasons Brady had fallen in love with her and it was that dream that had helped her through her difficult battle with leukemia. And as their friendship grew and they became close, her dream had become his dream. While his plans for the future weren't set in stone, they always seemed to come back to Chloe standing on a stage singing before a crowd of admiring fans, and he standing just off stage, watching her, living her dream with her. Her dream was the driving force behind his need to succeed at Basic Black. He was developing the business skills he would need to one day be her manager. Both of their futures were built on this one dream built on music.
Music. It seemed as if their entire relationship had revolved around it. Their very first meeting had them breaking into song as if it were the most normal thing to do when meeting someone for the first time. And after that first time had come many others. Duets in a lit gazebo at night. Summer days meant to "inspire" her. Even family evenings playing board games ended in song. Music had been their first and still their best way of communicating with each other. Only in song could they really fully express themselves.
And in one moment it had been taken away from them. Because of one freak accident Chloe's hopes and dreams, not to mention his, had been dashed. Her life had been completely changed and she would never be the same.
{Come on, Brady, snap out of it. At least she's alive and she's going to be okay. Her prognosis is better than it was last summer when you didn't know if she would survive the leukemia.} He thought of that summer, how close they had grown while battling her cancer, that wonderful day they found her father, the moment he realized he loved her.
"I should have told you then how I felt," he spoke aloud, forgetting for a moment that his words would not be heard. "But like a fool I didn't. I waited, thinking, 'There will always be later. Now is not the right time.' But the right time never came. Or at least, I was too afraid to act on it. I couldn't take the risk. Isn't that funny? Here I've always been the one to lecture you about taking chances, about how life is risk and to go for your dreams means you have to take a chance on yourself and all the other bullshit I've said. When all along I was the one who was afraid to take a chance on us. I should have told you I loved you when I had the chance. Because now there's this and it's still not the right time. Will it ever be the right time for us?"
He stopped talking when he realized he'd been rambling mindlessly. He gripped Chloe's hand and stared at her closed eyes. "I keep forgetting you can't hear me. Oh, Chloe, I don't know how we're going to get through this but we will get through it. I love you, Chloe, and I'm not leaving your side."
And at his words Chloe blinked her eyes open.
