Fantasia

XCVI

"Shit!", Brett hissed, teeth clenched together, pearls of sweat running down his temple.
"You're doing really great, Mr. Yang. You think you can do one more step?"
Instead of answering, Brett's frown deepened and he howled his left leg forward with one swing.
Eddy's knuckles whitened because of how tight his fists got.  
"Yes! Good job!"
It looked super unsafe with how much Brett's legs and arms were shaking and Eddy hoped the physio knew what he was doing. He couldn't ensure that he wouldn't punch that guy in the face if Brett were to fall. He gulped.

"You think you can do another one?"
And Eddy wanted to scream no. That he should leave Brett rest after that hero had tortured himself to get to the middle of the parallel bars, but he knew Brett wouldn't want to. This was his fight to fight, so Eddy simply bit his tongue and remained silent. 
Another deep breath. Brett closed his eyes, grit his teeth and this time, got his right leg to move forward.
"Wonderful! Do you need a quick rest?"
Yes, Eddy prayed. Please say yes! 
Brett shook his head. "Just give me a minute."
Eddy reckoned he'd never been as stressed in his life as in this half an hour of physio therapy, in which he didn't even participate.

It was the fourth day after Brett had woken up. His family was busy with  catching up on work, Brett's father having gone back to Brisbane after months of being absent in his architecture firm. They left Brett in Eddy's care during the day, a task Eddy was more than happy to fulfill. Brett and him had gotten into an easy-going routine of check-ups, physio, exercises Eddy was now able to help Brett with, long, deep conversations and Eddy playing the violin for Brett here and there. The nights remained uneventful and after overcoming his initial fear of his best friend falling into a coma again, Eddy actually caught up on a lot of sleep and entered a state of relaxation and fun he'd never thought he'd find at a hospital.

"Dude! I can't belive how far you got!", he exclaimed when his belly had finally settled down after all the tension.
"That was nothing! Why are my legs like pudding though?"
"Nothing?", Eddy called incredulously and carefully cleaned the sweat off Brett's forhead with a wet cloth, "That was freaking amazing! I was so afraid you'd fall and injure yourself."
"I was like a freakin' old man after his tenth hip operation", Brett stated, took that cloth out of Eddy's hand and wiped his neck with it. 
"Brett. Have patience! You can't force your legs to work after six months of total bed rest."
"I know, I know!", he huffed, throwing the used towel to the side, "I know! It's just so fucking frustrating."
Eddy glanced at Brett, trying to keep out any pity from his look. 
"You're hands and arms are stronger, right?"
Brett moved his shoulders up and down. "I guess, why?"
The taller walked over to his violin case, opened it and took out his instrument. He held it out towards Brett. "You wanna try playing it?"
The silence was loaded while Eddy waited for a wide eyed Brett to respond. 
"Wha... you serious?"
"Of course! Why not?"
"You trust my chicken wing-arms with your violin?"
Eddy laughed. "Bro! It's not an expensive instrument anyway. And I'll be close by. I'll catch it if it slips out your hands."
Brett exhaled. "Uhm... If you're sure... alright."
Eddy smiled, walked over and slowly handed Brett the violin. "I can't wait to hear you play."
"You heard me play plenty of times", Brett mumbled, fingers closing around the neck of the instrument. 

Eddy held his breath as Brett also took his bow, tightened it and drew the horse hair over the strings to start tuning the violin. His fingers worked sure, his wrist was stable and his hand not shaking. Brett got this, Eddy could see it in every little movement.
Then, Brett closed his eyes, inhaled and started to play the very melody that had drawn Eddy to the mirror in the first place, there, in his dream.
And it sounded breathtakingly beautiful. The tone was sweet, the vibrato just giving the right sort of tension and the glisses, oh, Brett's glisses. Eddy was immediately back in his dream again, practically seeing the notes floating through the vast corridors while Brett let them come to life. It was weird, how familiar and yet new it was for Eddy to see Brett play the violin in the "real" world. 

"So, what do you think?", Brett asked when the piece was over.
Eddy blinked at him, barely holding back tears.
"Oh, mate..."
"No, sorry", Eddy shook his head to gather his wits. It was getting ridiculous how much he was crying lately. "It was... it's just so wonderful to see you play. Here I mean. It's..."
Brett bobbed his head, his expression quickly matching Eddy's. "Yeah..."
Yeah. Brett playing the violin whilst still being on that hospital bed, this whole scene held so much fragility and yet, an air of new beginning, of strength too, because who was able to showcase a playing this controlled after not having used their limbs for months?

Had Brett's time on the other side helped after all? The doctors were astonished about how quickly he was recovering and it wouldn't surprise Eddy one bit, if Brett would be able to walk again in a weeks time. Something, that took people after a coma years, if ever, to achieve.

"Uhm", Eddy cleared his throat, "You wanna play another one? Some Bach or something?"
"God, you really wanna hear me butcher Bach? This is technical stuff. I don't think my fingers can do that yet."
"Why not try?", Eddy shrugged, "Only way to find out, no?"

Luckily, Brett didn't need more convcincing. He pursed his lips, before he propped up Eddy's violin again and launched into the Bach Preludio from the third Partita. Fast notes, techinical bowing, never ending phrases. And Brett nailed all of them. The melody was connecting beautifully while his fingers moved in lightning speed and once again, Eddy could only marvel over Brett's playing ability with his mouth half open.

"Wow...", Brett breathed, when he ended the piece on a triumphant high E.
"Yeah", Eddy simply made. Had his violin ever sounded so epic? He seriously doubted it.
"How is this possible?"
"I mean, you did practice a lot while you were in a coma, you know."
"Good to know that all the violin playing over there wasn't for nothing."
Eddy chuckled. "For real though. You sound amazing, Brett! Very obviously, you can nail very difficult pieces too! That's amazing!"

The smaller seemed moved as he laid down Eddy's violin and brushed his right hand over the fingers of his left. "It is, isn't it?"