The doctor was looking strangely at her…again. Kintra tried not to let his stares bother her, but he was really starting to freak her out. Her parents had called him in when they had feared that Kintra had started hearing things, and he had been there for almost an hour, trying to convince Kintra that she wasn't hearing anything, it was the effect of the anesthesia, blah blah blah. He would tell her that she couldn't hear anything, and she would write, "I hear it all around this hospital." He would give her another reason, and she would write the same thing. After a while, the doctor stopped talking to her. She had a feeling that he thought that she was just trying to be argumentative since she had nothing better to do with her time while she was stuck in his facility, and Kintra began to wonder if he was right. But then, there would be some melody that would float in to her from outside her room, and her determination was renewed.

The doctor finished talking with her parents and turned to leave, but he suddenly stopped at the door. Turning around, he asked, "You're not, by any chance, autistic, are you?"

Kintra tilted her head to the side, confused as to how that had anything to do with the conversation, and then shook her head 'no.'

Her curious gaze told him without words that she wanted to know why he had asked, so the doctor explained. "It almost sounds like you're a savant, a person who can hear the music inside their head from everyday objects making noise. Very talented savants can play and instrument after having toyed around with it for a while. But savants are autistic." He shook his head and smiled. "Never mind."

Once he had left the room, Kintra turned to her sister and lifted her arms, moving her right arm like she was playing her violin. Emma understood and giggled. "You wish," she teased her sister.

Kintra made a motion like she was writing, and then held her hands out. Her dad placed the tablet into her hands and she wrote, "When does Emma get her cast off? Was mom hurt? When do I get out of here?"

She passed it back to her dad and he read her questions, smiling. "Five weeks, a little, tomorrow," he said, answering each of her questions. "You have a teacher close to the house who's going to teach you sign language starting the day after tomorrow," he said. "Her name's Mrs. Grey."

Kintra immediately thought of the Connect 3 Mrs. Grey, but then shook her head. That was silly. There were plenty of Greys out there in the world. Kintra smiled, thinking of the Connect 3 boys. Her favorite, personally, was Nick. Because of her leukemia, she felt connected to him in a way. It was like he understood the feeling of trying to act normally, knowing that you're not normal, knowing any minute, that you could die. Kintra rolled her eyes at her own thoughts. No one thought that deeply unless they were seriously bored, like she was right now. Nick probably didn't have the time to think about diseases that could kill. She motioned for the tablet back and wrote, "How many times will I go to this Mrs. Grey's house?"

Her mom read over her dad's shoulder and answered, "As many times as you need to until you learn how to sign. I'm going to go with you so that I can learn as well, and then we can talk to each other."

Kintra nodded and motioned once again for the tablet. She wrote, "When will I have my next treatment?"

Her mom read her question and responded, "The doctor was hoping to do something about your treatments at the end of this week. You can't get off of those for any reason." She squeezed her daughter's hand affectionately. "Just think, four more months and you should be leukemia-free."

Kintra smiled, but her mind told her that once she had fought the debilitating disease, she would have to work on something equally as debilitating. Sign language was not a universal language. She would have to take someone with her everywhere she went so that she could communicate with a world that, last week, had been so easy to communicate with.

There was a knock on the door and a nurse hesitantly walked in. "I'm sorry," she said, "but visiting hours are over." She bit her lip, hating to have to kick the family out.

Kintra's father made it easy on the nurse. "Come on Emma, Charlotte, we should be getting home anyway. You have school tomorrow and you," he said, kissing his wife's cheek, "have school to teach." He smiled at the nurse. "You see, we were just waiting for someone to come and get us so that it wouldn't appear that we were leaving on our own accord. You have saved us from having to spend more time here." If sound could've come out of Kintra's mouth, she would have been laughing so hard. Instead, she threw back her head and her body shook with silent peals of laughter. Her dad winked at her and the nurse to show both that he was teasing, and everyone said good night to Kintra, giving her a hug and a kiss.

Emma was the last to leave. She looked worriedly at her sister, hesitant to leave. "Are you sure you'll be okay?" she asked. The sisters went through this every night. Kintra put a hand over her heart, promising to take care of herself.

"Good," her sister responded and hugged Kintra again. "I love you Kinny," she whispered. "Good night."

When her family had left, Kintra suddenly felt a wave of homesickness sweep over her. No matter how many nights she was in the hospital, the surge of longing to go home never went away. She lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to close her eyes without the memories of the accident blazing their way into her thinking. Every time her body began to relax, it would play back the accident, complete with the sound effects that made Kintra shudder and squirm as she tried to get away from the memories that were inside of her. Three nights ago, she had realized the reason that she hated the accident. It wasn't the accident itself that caused her distress, it was the consequences. It was the thought that because of the accident, she could no longer speak. It was because of the accident that she had a scar along the front of her neck now that would not be easy to hide. It was because of the accident that her sweet sister's arm was in a cast. Tears trickled down Kintra's cheeks as she tossed and turned, fighting off the images that clung to her like lint. Not even the music helped to sooth her tonight.

Kintra was still waiting for sleep to claim her.