October 2005

Matty was in bed. He looked at the clock it was 3AM. He had to wake up at 5AM to go to the hospital for his surgery anyway. He turned on his light and just started reading a book.

Around 4AM his mother came into the room. "Have you been up all night?"

Matty signed, "I couldn't sleep. I was too nervous. Everything is going to change today. The only thing is not being able to talk has nothing to do with my hearing."

His mother smiled, "Well, maybe if you get partial hearing back. It will help. Doctor Pfaff and Doctor Parker think it will make it easier for you to break through your psychological barriers even if it is just one ear you can hear out of. But sweet boy, even if this does not work and if you never hear or speak. It won't change how much we all love you. You are wonderful just the way you are."

Matty hugged her "Thanks mom. I love you."

They got ready and his parents took him to the hospital. They checked him in. His parents stayed with him until he got wheeled into surgery. The nurses put Matty on the table and the doctor knocked him out.

Alex was at the skate park with his brother Phillip. Alex was around 3 years old and was getting bored. Phillip was talking to a girl and had forgotten all about Alex. Phillip had left his skateboard next to the bench where Alex was sitting. Alex looked at the skateboard and decided he wanted to try the wooden ramp.

He grabbed the skateboard and went for it. He wiped out and cut the back of his leg on a nail. His leg started bleeding like crazy. Alex started crying.

Phillip ran over to him, "Oh my god. You're bleeding. C'mon, I'll take you home. Mom and Lee are going to kill me. I am sorry I left you alone for so long, little dude."

Phillip picked him up and they walked home. They got in the house. Alex was crying softly into Phillip's shoulder. His leg hurt.

"Mom! Are you home?" Phillip yelled as he walked into the house. Their mother came to them. "Oh my gosh. What happened?"
Phillip looked really guilty. "Joanne Thompson was at the park. I started talking to her. I stopped paying attention to him. I guess Alex got bored and took my skateboard and tried the wooden ramp at the park. He wiped out mom. I am not sure what he cut his leg on but he's bleeding like crazy. I am so sorry, Mom."

His mother sighed, "We will talk about this later. Let's check out the leg first. See if he needs stitches."

His mother took him to the bathroom and bandaged and cleaned his wound. "I think you are going to need stitches, sweet boy."

The scene changed, he was in the basement with Phillip and Jamie. He was playing video games with Phillip. Phillip and Alex were being really loud. Jamie was studying in the chair next to them. "Can you two keep it down a little? I am trying to study.'

Phillip looked at Jamie "You are so lame. The semester does not even start for a month. Just wait until the week before to do your summer reading like everyone else. Take a break or just go upstairs and read. You don't have to read down here."

Jamie gave Phillip a dirty look. "Just because you are a worm brain does not mean I have to be. I'm comfortable here. It's a nice day. Why don't you two just go outside and play basketball or something? You only came down here to annoy me."

Phillip looked annoyed. "You are such a lame geek. At least one of my brothers is cool."

Jamie looked hurt, "You are so annoying. please just go outside. Leave me alone."

Phillip said, "Fine, c'mon little dude. Let's leave the lamebrain alone. You are so much like dad sometimes. Always so focused on your schoolwork. Never wanting to have any fun. You are going to be just like him."

Jamie looked hurt, "I hate you. You are such a jerk."

Phillip looked at him, "I hate you, too. Let's just go, little dude."

Phillip and Alex went outside. They started playing basketball. Phillip just let him bounce the ball. Then he would pick Alex up so that he could put the ball in the basket. It was so much fun. They were both laughing. Phillip had seemed to have shaken off his fight with Jamie.
Alex knew they would be friends again by the end of the day. Except what Phillip had said to Jamie was a little harsh.

All of the sudden a white van pulled up and a man grabbed him. Phillip started screaming, "Get your hands off my brother!" And Phillip tackled the man that had grabbed Alex. The man dropped Alex but then he felt another man pick him up. They threw him in the back of the van. He could hear Phillip yelling and saw him wrestling with the original man that had grabbed him. But then another man came up behind Phillip and stabbed him with a knife a couple of times.

Phillip stopped fighting and just was laying there as the other men in his driveway came back in the van. Phillip was not moving. They killed his brother. Alex was terrified and started crying. Then one of the men injected him with something and everything went black.

Matty woke up to a beeping noise. He could actually hear a beeping noise. The surgery must have worked. It was not loud, but he could hear it. He opened his eyes and then he felt the pain in his left ear. It hurt a lot.

His mom was holding his hand. Matty saw his dad pacing the room nervously.

Matty heard his mom say, "I think he is waking up, Lee."

He could hear his mom's voice. It was not loud, and it was a little muffled, but he could hear her. She had a nice voice. His dad walked over to him.

His dad looked at him worriedly, "How are you doing, kiddo?"

He was hearing his parent's voices for the first time in eleven years. It was awesome. It almost made him forget about the throbbing burning pain in his ear.

Matty signed, "I can hear you both. Not loud but I heard both of your voices."

Both his parents smiled. His mom started tearing up a little. "Oh, that's wonderful, sweet boy."

Doctor Parker came in a few minutes later. "How are you doing, Matty? What is your pain level from 1-10?"
Matty ear was on fire, and it was throbbing. It really hurt. But Matty put up five fingers. It was probably really at a 9 or 10 level. But Matty figured if he admitted that. They probably would keep him in the hospital longer. He hated being in the hospital. He wanted to go home. He could handle the pain.

The doctor smiled, "That's good. Can you hear anything?"

Matty nodded yes. Then he signed and his mother translated for him, "I can hear the beeping and your voices. It is not loud and a little muffled."

Doctor Parker smiled, "That's wonderful. We will test your hearing and fit you with a hearing aid when your ear heals up a little more from the surgery. Now we will need you to stay a couple of more hours in recovery. But from your readings and your pain level. We can release you to go home."

His parents took him home. He felt awful. His ear was throbbing and he just felt dizzy and nauseous. His parents tucked him into bed. His mom made him a cup of tea. Matty just fell asleep as soon as he got home. Matty woke up in intense pain, and he heard someone screaming. Then he realized it was him.

His parents were in his bedroom. Everything happened so fast. This was the worst pain he ever felt in his life. It was even worse than when Gregor used to beat him and put the cigarette out in his ear. He heard his dad say, "Amanda, call 911." He was all of the sudden in an ambulance. He was not even sure how he got there. His dad was with him. Petting his hair telling him everything was going to be alright and to hang on. Then everything went black.

Notes:

Even though I think he is in all 6 of the previous chapters at 32 years old. I am giving this reassurance. Phillip is ok. He is very happily married to Irene and has 3 kids and a fourth on the way.

The next Prodigal Son companion story I do is going to be the actual kidnapping and the quest to find Matty from Lee's perspective. Also when I do Alternate Perspectives. I might do the kidnapping from Phillip's perspective and the kidnapping from Jamie's perspective. Both boys felt horrible about the fight they had and blamed themselves for Matty's kidnapping and that the last thing that they said to each other before Phillip got hurt was that they both hated each other.

Also the random skateboard park dream. In Prodigal Son I chapter 2. That is the scar that Amanda was looking for to identify Matty. And she might be about to do that again when Matty tells the warehouse story in the upcoming prequel chapters.

Next chapter: The hospital gives Matty some really good drugs for the pain and Matty officially gets his voice back.