Fantasia

LXXIV

"Eddy...", Eric managed after what felt like an eternity.
"You realize that what you've just told us sounds crazier than anything I've ever heard?"
Eddy bobbed his head. "I'm aware", he tried to sound confident.
"And yet...", Brett's mum cut in, choosing her words slowly, carefully, "this is the most plausible explanation I've gotten concerning our son's state."
Brett's dad glanced at her and there wasn't surprise in his expression.
"You mean it", Eddy stated.
"After you told me you started looking for him two weeks ago, I already thought it couldn't be a coincidence. And when you said to us that it was because you dreamt of him around the same time when he started saying your name... It's meant to be like this, Eddy. You were meant to find him. Maybe you're the only one who can help him find his heart."
Find his heart... The same words that mysterious girl had used when Eddy had received his violin.

Eddy looked down at Brett's perfect, pale, slender fingers.
"I told Brett that I wasn't sure whether I should tell you all of this. He wasn't sure either, but if I would, he asked me to tell you that he misses you dearly. He can't wait to see you again."
He didn't have to check to know that they were crying. In fact, his own eyes were getting watery real fast. So he stuttered a quick, very unclear "I'll leave you alone for a bit" and exited Brett's room the first time since he'd entered it with Mrs. Yang the day before.

"Shit" he breathed shakily, tears running down fast now as he staggered to the end of the hallway, where a floor to ceiling window showed an amazing view of Sydney, or at least the part neighboring the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. He leant his forehead against the cool window and blinked down on all the moving cars colouring countless streets and hundreds of people walking around busily, not bigger than ants.
Had he really just done that? Had he really told his best friend's parents about seeing their son in his dreams, being able to talk to him and being convinced that this Brett wasn't just a product of his brain in a state of deep sleep?

And did they really believe his crazy story?

A half chuckle, half sob escaped Eddy's throat while he haphazardly wiped some of the tears away.

I told them, Brett. I think, they very much needed to hear about you missing them and thinking of them. They'll be fine, and so will you! I'll do everything I can to make sure of it.

They called Brett's brother after Eddy returned. Alan came by around lunch time, skipping any polite gestures and enveloped Eddy in a fierce bro hug the second he saw him. Then, Brett's parent's recapped Eddy's story about him meeting Brett in his dreams and it was astonishing for Eddy to see, how easily Alan seemed to take all of this in and believe his older brother's old highschool friend without second guessing any of it.
Did hope make them blind? Incautious? Eddy for sure didn't hope so, but he couldn't deny being incredibly grateful that they trusted him and that he didn't have to hide anything from them anymore. They once again asked him to play. First Brett's piece, and then the Adagio Brett and he had composed together and Eddy was more than happy to oblige. As the sweet tone of his violin filled the room, the corner of Brett's lips lifted themselves again. Alan's eyes were almost comically big when he noticed his big brother's expression and then, Brett suddenly wasn't the only one who smiled. The hug Eddy received after the piece was played was even tighter than the one before.
"I'm so glad you're here", Alan whispered next to his ear, his voice thick.
Eddy patted the other's back with his violin-free hand. "Me too, mate. Me too!"

They ate dinner together in Brett's room, ordering extra portions for all those people mingling around the patient's bed. Eddy felt like he was thrown right into a family party, only a bit more calm and civilized than if they wouldn't have been, well, in a hospital with a comatose body amongst them. And this time, Eddy did leave Brett's room with the Yangs around 10 p.m., not without squeezing the other's shoulder and whispering a "I'll be back here as soon as I wake up. I promise."
And yet, when he closed the door behind him as the last one leaving, he had to swallow hard and take a deep breath in order to tell himself, that Brett would still be here the next day and that it was okay to leave him alone for the night.
"It's hard, right?", Mrs. Yang meant, mirroring Eddy's inner turmoil. He nodded once, readjusting the violin case on his back.
"Yeah. I really don't want him to be alone."
"He won't be, right? When you'll see him in your dreams?"
"I guess", Eddy managed a small smile.

As much as he hated to admit, it was very nice to step out of that huge red brick building for a bit, breathing in fresh air and hearing other noises than the beeps of the machines which surrounded Brett.
"Which hotel are you staying in, Eddy?", Alan asked, his car keys already dangling from his fingers.
"I can walk. I'd actually like some exercise, to be honest. Didn't move around much these days."
"Figures", Alan replied with a smile.
"We'll see you tomorrow?", Brett's mum asked with her friendly, open features.
"Of course. I'll come in as early as I can. Am I on the visitor's list now?"
"Self-evidently! You're family now, Eddy."
He tried. He really tried to hide how much this sentence now just moved him, but apparently, Brett's folks saw right through him. He got shoulder pats, gentle squeezes of his hands and encouraging looks.
"For what it's worth", Eddy croaked, "thank you for not throwing me out of the hospital after everything I told you. I know it sounds totally crazy and I for sure would have called security if I would have been you, so..."
"Maybe we're just desperate?", Brett's dad suggested with a wink. Alan snorted loudly and gave his father's back a hard slap.
"Don't drive him away, old man! We need him."
"That actually sums it up nicely", Mrs. Yang interfered, throwing a warning glance at both men in the process, "We do feel like we need you. Or more precisely, that Brett needs you."
"It's kind of hard to explain", Mr. Yang added with a thoughtful expression, "It's not on a rational, but rather on an emotional level. We know it in our hearts, if you want."
Alan and Mrs. Yang both nodded along with these words, which in turn warmed Eddy's insides.
"No pressure though, bro!", Alan added, drawing out laughs from everyone.
"I do feel the same way", Eddy said after, thinking back to how he'd told his sister about what was going on and how convinced he had been that he hadn't been just going crazy. He should call her on his way home. Give her a quick update.
"I know you do", Mrs. Yang commented, "I can hear it in your playing."

With this, they bid their goodbyes and Eddy waved for an almost embarassingly long time when the Yangs walked to Alan's car and drove away. He withstood the immense urge to march back to the hospital and make his way to Brett's room. Instead, Eddy turned around, let his eyes roam the already darkening sky with the first stars blinking here and there, before he started to walk back to his hotel.