Then There Was You

Prologue

"Alright, Theo. You know the drill," Dr. Swayer's voice echoed around the room.

Soon, the silence died as the familiar clicking of the machine grew louder around him.

"Nobody ever gets used to it. If you do, then it's safe to bet you're a lost cause."

   Laying in the MRI, Theo recalled those words said by a guy he wasn't ready to call a friend, but who'd told him the blatant truth his doctors and parents refused to speak out loud. He should've been worried that both Dr. Sawyer's and Tobi's words rang true, but he simply couldn't bring himself to care. He simply waited in calm, relishing in the all too familiar sound, now having no issues with keeping his heartbeat at a steady pace, rather than beating to the rhythm of the scanner.

When the noise stopped, he waited patiently to be let out.

   Dr. Sawyer was a black man with a salt and pepper gotty. Short in stature, he always stood upright with his bulky, muscled body, his physic a direct byproduct of his time in the navy. While Theo sat up, the man rolled the wheelchair closer before stepping around to help him off. Theo raised his hands dismissively, mumbling, "I got it," before sliding off the platform into his awaiting chair. The transition wasn't without a struggle, but the young man was adamant about doing it himself, tired of being scooped up like a child.

He didn't care enough to glance back at his physician before wheeling away as was the usual procedure.

The familiar faces of the hospital staff sent him pitiful smiles and he could just then roll his eyes at their fake empathy. His story had become an example, a living proof of how easily one bad decision could ruin a promising future. When he arrived back in the consultation room, he ignored his mother's eyes, heading straight to the bathroom where his clothes waited.

"No improvements," he heard the words spoken in the other room, making him pause as he shrugged on his shirt.

It should've come as no surprise, but hearing the words he knew to be still had the expected impact.

He gazed down at his feet, limp and useless. He'd stopped feeling sorry for himself a while ago, however, seeing a part of his body that no longer felt like his own always ripped out a new piece of his soul.

   Securing the breaks, he began the tedious process of putting his jeans back on. The task was a chore, but he was done sharing the humiliating dilemma. Using his elbow to raise him off the seat, he struggled to tug them up his hips. When a knock sounded, his muscles gave out and he slammed back down at an awkward angle, causing a rattling sound in the small bathroom. He now regretted not having locked that damned door. Not even five seconds later, his mother peaked in.

Kristen Robenson tried but failed to contain her horrified reaction at the sight of her son.

"Theo, oh my gosh," she spoke before stepping in to help him.

"It's okay, Mom. I got it," he protested arranging himself as best he could while ending up slipping his pants down even lower down his legs.

"No, you don't. How many times do I have to tell you not to strain yourself?" she spoke in that kind, but no-nonsense tone that was so effortlessly her.

He groaned as she reached for the ham of his pants, "Come on, raise yourself and I'll pull," she said, giving it a small tug upward.

As humiliating as it was to have his mother help him dress, he needed this visit to end. So without a word, he did as he was told.

   Dr. Sawyer's voice sounded monotone buried beneath the various thoughts flying around his head. He knew what the man was most definitely saying. Suggesting the physical therapy that only served to remind him how incapable his body now was. He went anyway, only because it was a chance to be out of the house, and somewhere his mother wasn't watching his every action. The physical therapy center also provided that small dose of hope that just maybe, by some miracle, he'd be out of that chair one day, although, with every visit, that candle dimmed, and would eventually be snuffed out by a breeze of despair.

On his way home, he had his headset on for the entirety of the ride. Watching from the window the all too familiar street, alive with dog walkers and kids playing around, dread filled him at the prospect that in just a few days, he'd have to be back out in public.

    A few minutes later, Kristen pulled into the driveway of their two-story bungalow. His father, already waiting by the garage door didn't wait for the car to park before making his way over. The trunk was opened to retrieve his chair.

"How was it," Patrick Robenson asked as his wife stepped out of the vehicle to greet him with a kiss.

Their voices were muffled but he could make out "Get him inside," before his door was yanked open and his father greeted him with a smile.

"How you holding up, kid?" his father asked, his tone strong but laced with interest.

Theo flashed him a tight smile, but one not forced.

   Out of all the people in his life, his father had the smoothest transition to his newfound mobility issues. The man was never one to cradle any of his boys, but even when the pain in his back had him screaming awake in the middle of the night, his father remained calm and collected, a beacon of stability in the tornado that was his life.

"I'm all good," he said as he took off his seat belt.

Almost expecting to be scooped out of his seat, he did a double take when his father secured the wheels and then simply held on to the handles, waiting patiently.

For a second, he wanted to question the action but decided against it when his old man gave him a wink. Once Theo'd successfully adjusted himself, Patrick leaned over and whispered with a chuckle, "You got a super fan watching."

   Theo instantly raised his head to the house next door. As expected, he noticed her silhouette stepping away from the window. A smirk attempted to make an appearance on his face but just as quickly, it was replaced with a faint frown as his father wheeled him to the side of the house, going up the newly installed ramp at the back door.

   When at last he was alone in the confines of his room, he threw his headset and phone on the bed before going to the bathroom to wash his face. The cold water felt surprisingly relaxing against his skin, so he relished in the sensation for a few more seconds before shutting off the water. The moment he did, he wished he hadn't. In his house, the wall may be thicker, but he couldn't help the paranoia, justified as it may be, at the sound of muffled conversations going on when he left the room.

His parents spent countless nights discussing the ways their lives needed to change all because of him, and whenever he'd show his face, they'd put up a great front, as if he hadn't single-handedly ruined their lives with his poor choices.

He got out of the bathroom, hesitantly wheeling himself closer to his bedroom door. Theo knew what they had to be discussing yet somehow his curiosity had peeked, as if needed to torture him by confirming his inclination.

As he was just about to give in and scratch that itch, the melodious sound he'd grown to appreciate these last seven months began to drown out their sounds.

   Like the chant of a siren, he was pulled toward the source of the sound. He got out of his room and went in the direction of the back door. The sound still echoed through the house as he went, and once outside, it was even louder. Moving around their small backyard, he got as close as he could to the fence and just a bit, Theo pulled the gate open.

   There she was, entranced as she moved her fingers over the strings. Her head cocked, and jaw pressed against the instrument, she ignored the music sheet propped in front of her, letting the pages be flipped by the wind as the notes she played carried on, soothing his spirit. Theo didn't want to know how pathetic he looked right now. Creeping on his neighbor every chance he got, needing her music like a junky craving his next fix.

   Serenaded by her performance, he almost didn't register the moment she stopped playing, the vibrations still echoing in his mind when the shuffling of papers in the wind caught his attention. Just then, her head snapped towards him and he froze, for she possessed the ability to soothe his heart and in the same breath make him struggle for air.

~Thank you for reading this first chapter.~

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~I hope you're all doing well and staying safe.~

~Love you!~