Silent Beauty Chapter 6: Shattering the Dream, a hannah montana fanfic

I'm stuck with a load of intangible ideas for my stories, but not enough time to put them in writing. It's actually very hard to think when you've only a half-thought-through plot in your head. Deciding not to give up on this story, I made a little addition to the story to make things a little bit more interesting. Read on.

And sorry about being factually inaccurate at the medical parts. I never had any experience regarding surgery and its after-effects, so I'm going to assume it is this way. I did do some minor research beforehand, however, so I'm not completely clueless. Also, in the headache part, I have indeed experienced such a headache of such a magnitude. It's a severe migraine that comes with a burning fever. Have you ever experienced such an ailment?

Disclaimer: I don't own Hannah Montana.

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A lot happened in five days.

It's all for the better, right? I mean, Dad regained his career, I regained my Hannah career, and what's more, I got way more publicity than last time. People respected me instead of just idolized me, and I found it difficult to stop myself blushing red as beetroot in front of the crowd now. And that's just my Hannah life. Being a child of Robbie Ray the Howling Dog, I as Miley was cast into the secondary spotlight along with him and Jackson, who seemed to enjoy the publicity very much. (Surprise surprise.)

I needn't sing to stay popular as Hannah. I can act too. Hannah had signed a contract for Zombie High to play a role in the main cast, Zerronda the undead princess. Jake's return to Malibu would be in two months time, after which we can get on with the show.

Actually I was more worried about my obvious failure to keep the handicap of mine a secret. I couldn't fake a sore throat for two months, and so I had to confess. Now the whole school knew. I mean, at least those who knew me knew I was handicapped. But I'm more worried about Jake. What if he came back to see me? What if he discovered the fact that I was mute, and made the connection to Hannah as well? Wouldn't that be awkward? I couldn't be faking a perpetual sore throat!

But apart from that, my life as Miley was not bad at all. Hannah just garnered more attention. Everybody seems to be happy.

Life's happy? You would think so.

Life nearly ended for me.

Here's how.

It all started with a little fever on Monday. I felt a little ticklish in the throat. Dismissing it as just the beginning of a cold or something, I had a rest and woke up feeling absolutely nothing.

It worsened by Tuesday, however. The fever returned at thirty-nine degrees Celsius, and I began to feel a burning sensation in my throat, almost as if it was inflamed. I tried to use cold-killing pills to cure the fever and the sore throat. Unfortunately, no amount of rest cured the problems.

By Wednesday, the fever reached forty-degrees Celsius, and I began to suffer such severe headaches I spent the entire morning and noon sitting on the couch, resting my head on the cushion as I tried to forget about the pain. The drilling headaches were so agonizing and head-splitting I began to experience hallucinations. My vision was blurry, and I was radiating intense heat all over my body. All the while the anti-migraine medicine proved to be useless, and by the time Jackson returned home from school (Dad had made me stay home for a rest before I went back), I was lying on my back on the couch, my hands massaging my head desperately as I tried to ease the pain. The pounding pain was so intense tears flowed freely down my cheeks, almost as if they had been squeezed out.

My throat also had problems. You'd think that I would never have a sore throat ever again in my life, right? I'm having one right now, the magnitude being ten times worse when compared to a regular sore throat. My throat felt like it was on fire, and when I last looked into a mirror to check on the back of my mouth like doctors always did, I could see that it was red and inflamed. Swallowing anything, even water, was enough to bring me to tears. The sharp pain could be likened to a sharp knife stuck in the middle of the neck.

"Miley! Are you alright?" Jackson asked hastily upon noticing me on the couch, concerned about his sister's health.

If I weren't in so much pain, I would have given him a nasty look that said, "You think?!". Instead I ignored him completely, hardly even hearing him; there was a little ringing sound harbored around my ears all the time.

"Dad! Dad! Something's up with Miley!"

"What'up with her?"

"She's burning up! And I think something's wrong with her head and all..."

Vaguely, I felt a hand press my head.

"Yow! Dang'flammit! I could fry an egg on this forehead over here! Hey, Jackson, could you get a thermometer?"

Dad helped me sit up on the couch. My mind was fuzzy and confused; the room constantly bounced around my eyes, and above all, the headache was killing me.

You know what the worst part is? I can't tell them what's wrong with me! Because I can't talk! How ever will Daddy discover what's going on?

I felt the thermometer enter my mouth just after Daddy said, "Don't move, now."

I think I may have fallen asleep at some point then, or it could have been that I passed out, because when I regained consciousness, I heard hurried voices speaking in odd tongues. How could I have fallen asleep? This pain would guarantee I had NO sleep at all, in fact.

"Sweet niblets! Fourty-two degrees! Jackson, call the hospital!"

"Right on it Dad!"

"Mile! Miley! How're you feelin', bud?"

I hadn't the strength to write to him anyway...

"Mile! Stay with us!"

I head rolled to the side of my neck, and I felt my heavy sack of a body collapse into the couch, completely exhausted. Unfortunately, I had my consciousness with me the whole time.

"Jackson, what's taking so long?"

Soon I felt myself being carried a distance in someone's arms.

"No problem, Robbie Ray. You let Roxy handle this, and I'll make sure she gets to the hospital faster than you can say "snap"!"

"Just hurry it, Roxy! You drive! C'mon, Jackson!"

I so desperately wanted to tell someone about the pain! It's killing me! HELP!

Perhaps it was the desperation I felt that gave me the strength to whisper, "Daddy..."

I was lying horizontally at the back of Daddy's car, the driver being Roxy. My head rested in his lap; I could feel my tears drenching his pair of jeans.

Daddy might have noticed it, or heard the whisper, for he suddenly bent down to me and asked tenderly, "What is it, bud?"

"Head hurts...bad."

"Hang in there, bud! We're going to the hospital!"

"I feel like I'm dying..."

The headache was a pulsating pain, increasing in intensity every time my heart pumped. I couldn't take it anymore.

Dad seemed to be constantly trying to comfort me; however, I rarely heard what he said.

"Five minutes, Mile...five minutes."

"Two minutes, hang on..."

"We're here! There's the hospital!"

I felt myself be lifted up into arms and carried into wherever he went to. I was too woozy to think...

Robbie Ray's POV:

Miley looked like she could die any moment now. She was flushing deeply, due to the fever. Her whole body felt like a heat generator on full boil. Her eyes were unfocused and misty, always having a stream of tears descending from them, and the rest of her body was limp and boneless. She looked in the right state, to be frank.

The sight of such suffering was enough to bring tears to my eyes too. What happened to Miley that made her suffer like this?

I would find out in a matter of minutes, I told myself. The hospital people had prepared for our arrival, Jackson having called them up previously. Miley was handed to the hospital staff, whom promptly put her down on a wheel-bed and carted her off into a room.

All we could do was wait outside. Jackson called Lilly and Oliver up to inform them about Miley, Roxy started pacing up and down, and I planted myself on one of the benches, trying to remember how did Miley look like for the past few days when the symptoms developed.

The fever started yesterday, so it seemed. She began to feel a sore throat, and a raging fever at thirty-nine degrees kept her from school. What happened to her that made her so ill?

We found out the truth when the Dr Meyer emerged from the room.

"You've got a severe case on this one. Actually it's our fault. Miley wasn't suffering from any old cold. We found out that..."

His voice trailed away hopelessly, almost shamefully. He looked away, ashamed about something. I didn't want it be left hanging though. Quickly, I yelled at him, "Well? What happened to Miley?"

"Infection. Post-surgical infection. It's our fault she got into this mess."

Surgical infection? No wonder she had the sore throat!

"I hope it's not dangerous?" I asked hopefully.

Doc didn't agree so. 'I'm afraid the bacteria is widespread in her bloodstream. We're gonna have to fight a hard battle to cure her, hopefully overnight. If we win, she'll live and we can discharge her in a few days. If we fail, and we probably might, she will die tomorrow."

We were stunned. Appalled. Speechless.

Miley now hung on the delicate balance of life and death.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'LL DIE?!"

Lilly was horrified at the sound of the news. Her best friend was closer to death than they had imagined. While they were at it, they never expected something like this to happen in the first place.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S GONNA DIE?! SHE CAN'T DIE! IT'S JUST A FEVER!"

"Calm down, Lilly! We must pray and hope for the best!" I frantically tried to silence her; the patients from nearby wards were starting to complain.

"NO! IT'S NOT TRUE! SHE WAS ALRIGHT TWO DAYS AGO!" Lilly screamed herself hoarse.

"Lilly, she had an infection after the surgery! There's nothing we can do!"

"AND WHY DID THAT HAPPEN? WHAT ARE THE ODDS THAT - "

"IT'S NOT OUR FAULT! DANG'NAMMIT!" I bellowed over her. Lilly fell silent and sat down on the bench, staring at the floor. One would be able to tell the obvious look of shock on her face.

Perhaps I shouldn't have yelled at her, for she began to tear up. Oh sweet niblets! Why is everything happening to me? This is AWKWARD!

Trying to use a tender apologetic voice, I put an arm around her shoulders and softened up, "Oh, Lilly, don't cry. Nobody's sure if Miley will be fine but we must hope she comes out safe. Things can change."

Jackson and Oliver, both standing on either sides of the door, looked on with similar feelings of awkwardness. Oliver looked just as aghast as Lilly did, but instead of bursting, he fell into a brooding silence.

"Group hug!" I declared. Lilly stood up, Oliver and Jackson came over. The three kids gathered themselves in my open arms. I turned us around to face the window. Tilting my head a little towards Heaven, I began to recite a prayer to the Lord, my eyes closed as I tried to make a connection with the Holy Father.

"Father who art in Heaven, for the sake of the world, and for those who deem it worthy to call themselves loved ones, come us to ask mercy from thy glory. May the Lord spare the life of the innocent soul behind the doors, and provide salvation for us all. For the devil now threatens the one we love dearly, and even if be it Your will, we find it difficult to let her go so easily like this. Please spare us some mercy, O Lord. Let not the evil Satan defeat us when news come, be it good or bad. Help Miley, O Lord, and with all of thy grace, help thy children, us all, through these troubled times. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen."

"Amen." The kids said after me.

We waited till night. While sitting there staring at the door, occasionally a bunch of nurses will enter and exit the room with medical supplies. Antibiotics, I shouldn't wonder. Around seven O'clock, Doc emerged from the room to report on their progress.

"We're losing her. She's flat-lined a few times, and all the antibiotics fail to work. We performed another surgery to remove the gangrenous tissue around the throat, but the blood seemed to have been poisoned. There is very little hope now."

Dr Meyer's voice was heavy and low, apparently hesitant to disclose the grim news. Nevertheless, all of us knew in a few hours, Miley would be gone forever.

It would seem that the first operation on her throat seemed to have done more damage than good.

"So, you guys got any plans?" Dr Meyer asked tentatively. His words suggested it was time to go home and leave it to the doctors, but we all knew what it meant; what be our plans after Miley's death?

I daren't think about it yet, remembering the prayer I recited a while ago.

But Dr Meyer was right. It was getting late, and Lilly and Oliver probably had to go home, not having obtained permission from their parents to stay and wait.

"We'll be going home, then, I guess." Oliver muttered flatly.

"You kids go. I'll just be waiting here all night." I was determined to find out till the end what will happen to Miley.

To my surprise, so was Jackson. "Lilly and Oliver will go. I'm staying here too, Dad."

I opened my mouth to argue, but faltered when I saw the blazing look on his determined face.

"But you have school tomorrow." I managed to blurt out.

"I will definitely have school tomorrow, but I may never know if I still have a little sister next morning. I'm going to sit here and wait it out." With that, he ingrained his bottom on the bench, arms crossed.

"Good man Jackson." I patted him on the shoulder. Turning to Lilly and Oliver, I added, "But as for you two, I won't dream of chasing you away from here, but I won't let you stay either without your parent's consent. I have no right to ask you to stay."

"My dad is out of town. He's an accountant, and he told me he'd gone out for five days to some conference. Mom will never mind me staying here either." Lilly summarised her situation for us. Nevertheless, she gave her mother a call and informed her about what was happening. In the end, however, her mother had insisted that school was more important, and that Miley would probably be alright; it was just the doctors exaggeration everything again. Lilly had a shouting match with her mother via the phone which lasted ten minutes before giving in.

"See y'all tomorrow, then." She groaned grudgingly and turned to leave, on a verge of tears.

Oliver departed after her, saying his mother would probably say the same things Lilly's mother did. Don't parents at all understand anything a teenager says? No wonder Miley's always complaining about how parents never listen and understand their kids; a generation gap.

Well, I'll be staying right here with Jackson, till news come.

Whispering that same prayer again and again, I watched the hours fly by. Every now and then nurses would rush in with supplies and rush out for more. The ominousness grew as the sky became darker.

During this time I reminisced on the times when Miley was the jumping bouncing one in the family. All the good and bad times we had flashed before my eyes like a slide show. How unfortunate of us to never be able to experience those again...

"Daddy, look! It's a field hamster!"

We were visiting a field of sunflowers on the farmland belonging to Earl, whom Miley and I now called "Uncle Earl". The tall masses of sunflowers glowing like gold in the joyful warm rays of the sun were a sight Miley had never seen. Naturally, upon laying eyes on the beautiful scenery, she was ecstatic.

The breeze was gentle and cooling. The sun was warm, but not boiling hot as it usually was around noon. Miley jumped into the massive sunflower patch and began to run around chasing butterflies and bees, digging through the large thick but flexible sunflower stalks to look for other wildlife, and occasionally stumbling over something before jumping right up and scooting around again. It was a true joy to watch her play; the positive energy radiated from her whenever she's happy, and when she is the joyfulness was infectious. Soon everybody in the area would be smiling and laughing with her, or at her cute little antics. Everyone except Luanne of course. Otherwise, everyone loved Miley. Her constant undying smile on her face was the reason we rechristened her "Miley" in the first place, for "Smiley" did not sound much like a name. "Miley" was perfect for an innocent soul like her.

On my face, I wore a sunny smile as I called out at her, "Hey bud! Don't pick any of the flowers! Just play in them, it'll be fine!"

"LOOK DADDY! A field hamster! It's so cute and it wants to be my friend!" With that, she charged right back at me.

The field hamster has been infected with the "smiley Miley" virus, which means it must have fallen in love with Miley's positive energy.

"It's so cute Dad! Can I keep it? Pretty pretty pretty please?" Her innocent imploring shining grey eyes bore right into mine.

How could I resist? She was just so cute! With a laugh, I replied, "Alright, Mile. You can keep him. Let's go down to the pet store to get the hamster supplies then, how'about?"

"YAY! THANKS DADDY!" She jumped up high and tackled me around the waist, her brown straight hair being blown gently by the cool wind. Miley closed her eyes as she stretched her arms out to their full extend, trying to feel the wind around her body as much as possible. The hamster was standing on her shoulder.

I followed her actions as well, embracing the beautiful smells of sunflower field, the cool winds, and the warm but gentle rays of sunlight. One would think that they were in an ethereal paradise, almost as if it were Heaven.

"Embrace the wind, darlin'. Let the atmosphere take your breath away." I advised her as we both stared into the beautiful distances of Tennessee's country zones. Truth be told, such a sight is rare in the world of today.

Miley smiled further, and began to take deep breaths, as if trying to implant this wonderful moment in her memory.

An afternoon of paradise.

The clock struck twelve. Jackson fell asleep against the wall, standing firmly on his feet. I never had the chance to fathom just how much Jackson loved Miley. Usually they would be seen trying to get at each other's throats.

It was here that I realised just how fragile and short life can be. One day you're fine, and the next, you're dying.

Is this to be Miley's destiny? Hannah's destiny? To die here behind the doors?

Around one O'clock in the morning, Doc reappeared from the room. Jackson awoke with a jerk and stared at him.

"It's hopeless. We're losing her fast." Doc seemed to have given up on Miley.

I hung my head low in defeat. The Lord had to take Miley from us after all.

"Aye, so this is how it is to end." I lamented morosely.

"Do you want to come in and see her before it's all over?" Doc suggested half-heartedly.

Jackson and I marched in after Doc into the operating room. The room had a lingering smell of herbs and medicine. Every doctor in the room was dressed in the doctor's gown, each of them looking exhausted and unmotivated. In the middle of the room, on the operating table, was Miley. She was lying on her back unconscious, breathing through an oxygen mask, with dozens of tubes and needles sticking into her body, arms, practically everywhere. The heart monitor emitted a sound that indicated slow heartbeat, almost as if the pacemaker was giving up.

I trudged beside her with Jackson, watching the dying angel's chest rise and fall slowly as she inhaled her could-be-final shallow breaths.

It's up to YOU to guess what happens after this! Haha, how's THAT for a plot twist? I must say, even though it took me a long enough time to churn this up, it was essentially enough to impress me. I will definitely get on with chapter 7 pronto to relieve the cliffhanger in this chapter. Chapter 7 will be directly linked to this, and the only reason I had cut this part of the story into two is for dramatic effect. And then, of course, there are only 24 hours a day. Please hold out for a few days at most. In the meantime, feel free to drop a comment or two. Please have the courtesy to state which is your favourite part in this chapter. I don't know about you, but my favourite part is the part when Robbie was thinking about the time he and Miley had together in the sunflower field. You can really feel the happiness.

Thank you.

Terrorking Tragedian