Perspectives

Hospital symphony

Arabella & Smith

When she plays the whole world goes silent. That's how she likes it.

The whole hospital seems like a distant echo in her mind. Only the tunes dance around her ears. Nothing bothers her and nothing crosses her mind. This is what it's been like ever since she was eleven.

On her eleventh year she was in a car accident with her parents. At the hospital while they were being resuscitated a nurse kept her wandering mind at ease by teaching her to play the piano in the next room. She got off well and after her parents didn't make it she was allowed to come to the hospital once a week for lessons.

After some time patients started gathering around weekly to listen to her playing.

She glows every time she plays and people are drawn to her.

Although six years have passed nurse Dory always keeps close.

"Arabella?" nurse Dory had just put down her muffin.

"huh?" Arabella hadn't taken a sip of her warm coco.

Nurse Dory didn't have to say anything for Arabella to know what she was asking, she simply had to give her the look.

"what do you think about it?" Arabella's eyes got bigger because she hadn't heard what nurse Dory had suggested, she was too lost in spinning her spoon around in her dull coco to even notice nurse Dory's constant speaking.

Oh boy.

"uhm, sorry" Nurse Dory knew Arabella went off sometimes and she didn't care much, she was used to it. She'd been like this ever since she had come to the hospital when she was eleven. She'd trail off playing the piano, stopped listening to her advice and gone off playing.

Nurse Dory just chuckled.

"that twitch" Arabella looked at her left hand, laying on the coffee table. It constantly twitched a little ever since the accident, which caused her to not be able to play the piano with both hands properly. "I know a young boy in the hospital, he won't leave the piano. But you see, he's an army man. He came here from Iraq, he lost a limb in the war."

Arabella looked up curios.

"I-"

"You two might want to play together sometime" Nurse Dory pushed. Although Nurse Dory was pushy she always meant well and Arabella trusted her judgment perfectly. Arabella just looked ahead, and nodded slowly, watching the snowflakes fall down. Arabella had never been much for eye contact and Arabella's eyes rarely took part in conversations.

A week later Arabella's boots were in the hospitals parking lot. She watched her breathing form in front of her eyes in the cold. She walked in, past the desk. They all knew her there and if someone new started they were informed of her.

The piano was on the first floor, next to the emergency room and burn unit. She walked straight over there but someone was there first, Nurse Dory and a young man. She walked towards them, unfond of strangers but remembering what had been asked of her, to be nice. They turned around and their eyes met.

His hazel met her coffee brown.

She also noticed as her eyes scanned him, his hand was missing just above the wrist and down. It was bandaged in white.

He threw his left hand out. Arabella was unsure of which hand to use but went with the left one too for the sake of "being nice"

"Arabella, Smith, Smith, Arabella" Nurse Dory said as she opened the piano and walked away.

They took their seats beside each other. First Arabella placed both hands but then removed the left one as he put up his only hand.

They started off synchronized.

Smith's eyes would dart up and sneak a look at Arabella's blonde, long hair she always put up in a ponytail before bed and never took out. Her hair would always be in her way.

Smith had been kept out for a long time after the accident so his hair was roughly half the same length, he always put it in a bun to keep from his eyes.

The Hazel constantly stole the Coffee browns attention.

They played as a whole,

and now the twitch in the hand was as good as gone for it had been replaced by another.

/p~K;