My friend, Demise

Chapter 30

The white walls around me are rimmed with shades of purple and green, Demise is screaming at the nurse who's clearly just trying to settle him down. I quickly sat up, grabbing his arm before he could slap the man in front of him. "What're you doing?"

I flinched, snapping my fingers beside my left ear. I can't hear.

He turned to me and began running his mouth, gesturing to me and the nurse. The man held his hand out, making Demise stop as he signed to me. 'How is your hearing?'

I'd been through sign language classes at a young age due to having a few deaf people in my classes. Then I took another in the beginning of high school, so I kind of understood.

I shakily held up my hands to respond. 'Gone.'

He smiled sadly. 'Your friend is upset.'

I looked over at Demise, who was staring at us in an angry confusion. I spoke to him, not sure how my voice sounded now that I couldn't hear it. "I can't hear you no matter how loud you yell. Calm down."

He drew his brows close, his eyes glistening as they filled with tears and he began yelling again. I looked back at the nurse. 'He wants to know who hurt you."

"I did it myself."

I managed to read Demise's lips this time, mostly just because he grabbed my jaw and forced me to look at him. "Oh don't give me that shit!" Tears rolled down his cheeks, his grip tight enough to hurt me. "You wouldn't do that!"

The nurse pulled him away from me, still trying to calm him down a little.

I ignored them and reached up to touch the bandages wrapped around my head, covering my ears. This is itchy.

Deciding it would be best not to scratch at it, I looked around for my phone. Once I saw it in my boyfriend's pocket, I stood up and pulled it out.

Dad| have you seen your mom?

Azriel| No. I'm at the hospital.

Dad| for what?

Azriel| Long story. I can't hear anything.

Dad| which hospital?

Demise grabbed my wrist and pointed to his lips. "Can you still understand me?"

"Up close, yes."

"What happened?"

"I told you, I did it myself."

"Don't lie to me!" His change in expression as he grew angrier made me pull my hand from him.

A delicate hand tapped on my shoulder, turning my attention to the woman who had just entered the room. "Demise called-" she spoke too fast for me to understand.

"Amanda."

She kept talking, stopping once she saw how confused I was. She looked over at Demise and the nurse.

"I can't hear you." I laughed, nervous and absolutely terrified of what happened before I wound up here. "I can't hear any of you."

I liked the sound of silence, but not when Demise's voice was empty. He's all I want to hear right now, but I can't.

She turned back to me and held up her hands. 'You lost your hearing?'

The next few days were blurry for me, and Demise's dad acted like nothing had changed at all. He cooked dinner for us each night, helping change the bandages around my ears so they would heal faster. Days only began to seem different when Demise got up early on Monday.

"Where are you going?" I sat up and watched him grab his backpack. He pulled a notebook and pen out, scribbling down on a sheet of paper and then holding it out between us.

School.

"What for?"

To learn sign

"I'm coming too." I stood up and ran to his closet, finding a large hoodie that would probably fit me. He grabbed my wrist so I would look at him.

"Caine is driving us. Is that okay?"

"You two made up?"

He nodded.

"Okay. Sure."

Caine made me sit in front, the car ride all to quiet for my liking. I looked over at them, seeing they were having a full blown conversation. "....it's too quiet."

They both stopped and stared at me for a second, Demise frowning before he yelled at me. Since we were at a stoplight, Caine turned to me and signed his words. 'No shit, Sherlock.'

After a few more minutes, he stopped in front of the school and told Denise to get out. Before I could follow, he stopped me. 'I know what happened to you.'

I looked aside. "Don't tell him."

'For how long?'

"As long as you can."