Tiny Voices (A Calum Hood fanfic)

chapter twenty-three

-- Calum's POV --

"Next up, we have Brooke's second son-" Reggie started. From the corner of the screen I saw a figure, which then ran out onto the stage to Reggie and whispered something in his ear.

"Oh," said Reggie. "We've just got news that Brooke won't..be signing? For the next while anyway....so I guess up next we go back to Team Will," he said.

I watched the screen in front of me in a confused daze, my eyebrows knitted together. Where was she? Why wasn't she singing? Was she out of the competition for good?

I glanced at my phone and contemplated calling her. I pictured myself dialling her number and hearing her voice again. If something bad has happened...I picked up my phone. I turned the phone over and over in my hands, feeling the familiar smooth, curved edges on the palms of my hands. I wished I was with her, but I didn't know if she wanted me.

I blew out my cheeks and listened to the next contestant half-heartedly, my mind never wavering from thoughts of Brooke.

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-- Brooke's POV--

I hated the smell of hospitals. It was too clean, cold and unemotional.

I was bouncing my leg up and down nervously in the small waiting room beside the reception of the hospital. The Voice final was playing on the small, grey TV in the top left hand corner of the room. Figures.

I clutched my phone in my hand and breathed deeply. I had been sitting here for at least 20 minutes. But I couldn't go back to the studio...I had to be here for her. The man who found Chloe was petrified, shaking like crazy. It was so hard to talk to him. I'm glad he found her and told me everything about it, but I was really glad he left. I couldn't bare to hear any more of the story.

I wanted to call someone, I didn't want to do this on my own. I knew that if I just sat here in this crappy white room by myself I would lose it. I also knew that the only person I would realistically call was Calum. And I didn't know if I was quite ready to do that, let alone probably cry down the phone to him.

I traced the outline of my phone that was sitting on my lap. I absent mindedly pressed the "7" key, the familiar speed dial key I used to press so often. He picked a random number, I was just going to use 2, but Calum wanted his number to be 7, not 2. The memory along with the slow, incessant dial tone made my cheeks flush.

"Hey," he said. I could hear the same background music on his end of the line to what I was hearing in the waiting room. My heart, as usual, fluttered at the sound of his voice.

"Are you watching?" I asked, my heart pounding. He laughed a bit; one of the "expelling of breath" laughs.

"Of course I'm watching, Brooke, I wouldn't miss it for the world. Is everything okay..?"

I knew I would cry, but I didn't expect it to be so fast or so early in the conversation. I shut my eyes and let the sobs roll out of me; they were coming from all over me, making my shoulders bounce up and down and my hands shake.

"Hey...it's gonna be okay...everything'll be alright, Brooke....listen to me okay, everything is going to be fine..." Calum was comforting me, his words words were so soft and full of sincerity it made me cry even harder.

"It was her boat," I managed after a good 2 minutes of solid crying. "She must have tipped or hit something and someone just found her near the edge of the river bank...I don't know anything else and I haven't seen her," I explained.

"Shit," he said under his breath. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to hear it or not, but he sounded just as scared as I was.

"I'm so scared, Cal," I admitted, another sob escaping my mouth.

"I know babe," he said. It was the first time I had heard him say that in months.

"I miss you," he said after a long pause. I bit my lip hard, not wanting to completely flood the entire hospital with my tears of every emotion under the sun. His words echoed my own thoughts.

"I miss you too," I choked. We sat in silence on the phone for a while.

"Brooke Henderson?" A nurse called into the waiting room.

"Shit, I gotta go," I whispered down the phone.

"It'll be fine, Brooke. I'm here if you need me again, okay? Let me know what's up," he said, before hanging up.

I followed the nurse to a small room at the end of what felt about the 400th corridor I walked along.

I opened the door to find Chloe laying in the hospital bed, with an oxygen mask covering the majority of her face. Her face was bruised and I had never seen anyone look so fragile in my life.

Fear gripped every part of me as I sat on the hard plastic chair beside my friend; I was scared to move, scared to talk, scared to breathe. The only noises filling my ears was that of the gentle persuation of the oxygen entering Chloe's lungs, a soft hum of the light above us, and my quiet tears.

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whaT the fLiP chloe???!

ay ay ay i nearly cried writing this i love chloe maN

so yeah this took ages im so sorry but i guess you all know how crap i am by now hah

anyways stay cool and i hope u still like this bc there is a few more things i have planned for this we are NOT done yet ayyy xx