Ross’s POV
Riker met up with Sky, Dylan, and Charlie about an hour ago. When he walked in the door he said, “Ross, I’m gonna stay with Renee tonight, just in case.” I said, “Before your meeting you said that you were going to make sure they were all safe, how do you plan on doing that?” Riker sat down on the living room couch next to me, he said, “You’re not going to like it. I don’t like it either, but it’s what we gotta do.” He said, “Just, we won’t ever see Renee, Dylan, Charlie, or Skylar ever again.” I said, “Why Renee? Please don’t send her away.” He said, “Ross, do you want her here or alive?” I said, “I can’t see or keep in contact Renee ever again?” He said, “I thought you like Sky.”
I said, “What?” He said, “I mean, I know Renee likes you, but I thought you like Sky.” I said, “What does this have to do with not seeing them again?” He said, “You said Renee, not the rest of them. I said, “Because Renee was fine being her own person, but when we showed up, she got hurt.” Riker was about to say something but then mom came downstairs.
She saw us and smiled, “Hi boys, it’s late, won’t you be tired tomorrow?” Riker said, “Yeah, we’re just going to finish our conversation then head up to bed.” She said, “Ok, have you seen your friend Renee lately?” I said, “Yeah, why?” She said, “Well, I was supposed to give her, her paycheck last week, but I haven’t seen her around.”
I said, “Paycheck?” She handed me an envelope and said, “Yeah, after your concerts and you go to dinner you guys drive her home, then I pick her up and we go back to where you had your concert and she cleans up.” Riker said, “Why?” She said, “She needs the money for a surgery, I think that’s what she said.” I said, “Right, so what do you do there? Isn’t it late by then?”
She said, “Well, sometimes I fall asleep or read a book, but when she’s not looking I’ll help a bit to get it done faster. She’s such a good worker.” I said, “And she does it every show?” Mom nodded, “Yup Rossy, she needs the money. I don’t think she asked her parents for the money. I think she wants to earn it herself.”
Riker said, “Her dad died while stationed overseas and her mom is still looking for a job. That’s probably is why she won’t ask.” I said, “How do you know that?” He said, “I hung out with her brother a few times to find out a bit more about her.” Mom said, “Oh my stars, I had no idea they had a financial issue. Maybe I should bump her pay.” I said, “But she’s uh, moving.” She said, “Somewhere close by?” I said, “No, not quite.”
She said, “Ok, you boys go to bed now. I need to run out for a while.” I said, “Mom, it’s late remember?” She said, “I know honey, I’m up later than this everyday with Renee while she’s cleaning.” She grabbed her purse and said, “Goodnight boys.” She blew us kisses and we smiled. Then she left.
I said, “Where do you think she’s going?” Riker said, “Do you think she knows where Renee is?” I said, “I don’t think so, we never brought it up.” I said, “Let’s just go to bed, we’ll check on her tomorrow, she’ll be fine tonight.” We went upstairs and went to bed. I had trouble sleeping though.
Ross’s POV
The next morning when I went downstairs, Ratliff was sitting on the couch in his pajamas. He was holding a maraca. I said, “What are you doing here?” He said, “Your mom called me, I don’t know why.” Mom walked into the kitchen, she poured a cup of orange juice and handed it to Ratliff he said, thank you and she said, “Rossy, can you go wake up the boys and Rydel?”
I said, “What’s going on?” She said, “We’re going to go visit Renee, tell everyone to grab their instruments, I already have Rydel’s keyboard in the car.” I said, “Mom, I have something to tell you. Renee’s deaf, she won’t be able to hear us play. I know you think it’d make her feel better, but she can’t.” She said, “I think she’ll still enjoy it.” I got everyone downstairs, still in their pj’s with their instruments.
We drove to the hospital and we were just about to walk in when mom told us to be quiet. Even though she couldn’t hear us, we silently walked in. I said, “Mom, what are we doing here?” Renee lay in her hospital bed, asleep.
Mom said, “What’s the song she least heard before she lost her hearing?” I said, “Let her go.” She said, “I want you guys to play that.” Ryland stood over to the side with mom and we started to play. Renee’s eyes opened, she seemed surprised. We stopped playing, Riker said, “Did we just wake her up? She can’t hear us?” Renee sat up and tucked her hair behind her ears, revealing bandages.
