Book 1: Lost In Translation (Another Reason To Cry) (Izzy Stradlin FanFic)

Epilogue

Her lips were moving, but I was too excited to read what they were saying. Instead, I was practically bouncing up and down in my chair, my eyes nervously darting between the blonde nurse and my grinning husband. His lips were also forming words aimed at me, but not even he could captivate me in this moment.

Instead, I glanced down at the little boy standing beside him. A tiny hand clasped his father's much larger one, and his wide eyes were gazing up at me from under a shock of curly red hair. The same sad eyes that currently rested on his father's face as well. He smiled and waved when he noticed me watching and I giggled down at him.

Bruce Andrew Isbel. Named after his father's two closest friends and band mates, Axl and Duff. He was the main reason I was in this hospital right now.

After my mother had passed away (bless her evil-but-still-my-mother heart), I had invested every penny that my mother had left behind for me in cochlear implants. I had been surprised she had even left me anything at all, but, after the court-ordered anger management classes, my mother really turned her life around. Luckily, she was able to be a large part of Bruce's life before she had passed, which tickled me pink. Even if she had been an over bearing mother, she had definitely redeemed herself as a grandmother.

And now, her money was being put to good use, especially for Bruce. I would finally be able to hear his voice. Thanks to modern medicine, I could be a better mother. I would be able to recognize the sound of my own child as well as be there to actually speak and physically listen to him as he grew older and faced more difficult life choices. And that was all I could have ever hoped for. To be closer to my son.

Izzy and I had been following the studies on cochlear implants for some time now, and it was finally in the right stage of experimenting where I would feel comfortable getting some. I had no doubt in my heart that they had finally perfected the technology to the point where I would know what it was like to hear. Where I could immerse myself in the world around me.

Tears filled my eyes as I looked back up at Izzy, finally staring at him long enough to see him mouth the words "I love you". I let out another laugh as I said it back, hoping that he would be able to understand me despite how emotional I was becoming. I could feel my throat tightening as the joy of the situation became overwhelming, and I knew that it would only exacerbate my annunciation. But of course, Izzy understood. Izzy always understood.

The nurse waved her hand at me to grab my attention, and I quickly turned to face her. With a huge grin on her face, she began to mouth words to me.

"I am going to turn on the device. Let me know if you hear anything."

She turned back to her computer and I watched her fiddle with some buttons on the screen before turning back to me with an expectant look on her face.

I waited patiently, staring right back at her, unsure of what it is I was supposed to be waiting for. I hadn't heard anything in my entire life, save for Izzy's music, which was really just me feeling the vibrations coming from himself and his guitar. I didn't know what to expect at all, and that made me a little uneasy.

Looking over, I knew Izzy could tell. I consistently put up a front of confidence and defiance, so Izzy always could tell when I was uncertain. Sometimes, I really hated how vulnerable he made me feel with how he could read me so well. It was a real pain in the ass sometimes. But for the most part, Izzy left me alone about it whenever he saw the dark cloud of worry cross my face. He knew that I didn't like help, and he had started to trust that I could take care of myself for the most part.

Rather than make a big scene of it, he at least gave me a reassuring smirk to show me that everything would be okay. And that's when it happened.

I jumped slightly when a beeping erupted around me. I leapt in my seat, causing Izzy and Bruce's eyes to widen in fright. At first, I was in total shock of the situation, and my mind couldn't register what had just happened. Was that normal? Was that supposed to happen?

"Do you hear the beeps?"

The voice was like a strange static sensation, like the feeling of when your foot falls asleep on you. I looked around the room, unsure of who was speaking and where from. The voice was everywhere, and it shook me to my core.

"Is mommy gonna' be okay?"

Another voice flashing through my skull, and I locked eyes with my son, who was staring after me with a worried look on his face.

"Bruce?" I gasped, my trembling hand coming over my mouth.

"Mommy."

He stumbled away from Izzy and over to me. His head landed in my lap as he hugged my legs. Tears of wonder and bliss began streaming down my face as he buried himself into me. All I could do as I cried was comb my fingers through the curls on his head, my entire body shaking from the violence of my cries.

And the crazy thing was, I heard those too! I could hear myself! The sound of my sobbing was booming in my head and I clutched my child to me for comfort. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that I would ever know what my own voice sounded like, let alone someone else's.

"She's going to need some audiological training as well as some speech therapy. Even when she is at home, you are going to want to encourage her to listen and to speak. You want her brain to be able to match sounds to words, as well as ensure that she can speak eloquently," the nurse informed Izzy. "Other than that, she is on the road to a speedy recovery. Congratulations to the both of you."

I wasn't quite sure what she was saying or what it all meant, but she was smiling as she looked between Izzy and myself. Knowing that this woman had aided in the long journey it took to allow me to finally hear, I beamed right back at her, tears still gushing down my face.

"She is going to be so happy," the nurse added.

Izzy hadn't spoken yet, and I gave him a curious look as he sauntered over to where I held Bruce in my arms. With a tiny smile, he kneeled down so that we were face to face. He took off his hat, as well as the sunglasses that he usually wore, and I grinned when I saw his eyes. Those beautiful eyes that he had passed down to our son.

"Even if you can't understand every word I say, I know you'll understand this, because I've been waiting so long for you to hear it."

I bit my lip, my gaze bouncing between his eyes and his lips, unsure of which were more captivating. Even more entrancing was his voice, so much deeper than the other ones that I had heard so far. So distinct.

"I love you, Melody Isbell," he murmured, slipping his hand into my free one.

For the first time in my entire life, I heard the word love. I recognized it immediately by the shape of his lips and the form of his tongue. I knew it by the way his eyes flashed as he spoke it, the same way that they had so many times before. But, most of all, I knew it by the warmth I felt in my chest as soon as the word was spoken. The same warmth that  always erupted through my veins the moment Izzy decided to tell me how much I meant to him. It was a familiar feeling, and one I knew all too well, ever since he had entered my life.

With a longing sigh and more tears, I smiled up at him. Finally, I could hear myself, and I could know how my own proclamation of love would sound. It was a sound that I hoped I would hear for the rest of my days, so long as I was with Izzy.

"I love you too."

A/N: Feeling lost as to what to read next? Head over to Book 2: She's Out to Please for more GNR: http://my.w.tt/UiNb/ctplvPOmMu