you're the only thing that's keeping me alive

chapter 7

As soon as we're finished eating I make my way back to the kitchen, motioning Danielle to follow me.

"What's up?" she asks.

"Remember in my dream I said I'd seen the eyes of the person I'm here to save. It's him. Tony" I whisper. "As soon as I heard his voice I had a feeling. Then when I looked into his eyes, I knew. I thought it was rubbish that I'd know but I just did."

She looks at me.

"It makes sense. He has been through so much lately and I know the guys have been worried about him. His mom has been really ill but is getting better. He dumped his girlfriend because she couldn't cope with him spending time with his mom while she was ill and that devastated him. He thought they would be together forever and she turned into a psycho whenever he went to visit. He's had a rough time, poor guy. It's so sad because he's one of the nicest guys around."

I look towards the lounge and sigh.

"What do I do now though? How will I know what to do?"

"Instinct I guess" says Danielle.

I help her tidy up, marvelling at the 'dishwasher' that cleans the plates. We go back through to the lounge and I see the only seat is next to Tony.

"Hi, I'm Annie" I find myself saying, smiling at him. He smiles shyly back.

"Tony" he quietly says.

I don't really know what else to say, so I sit back and listen to the guys talking about their 'album'.

"Do you play any instruments Annie?" asks Mike.

"Piano and harp" I say.

"What's a harp?" asks Jaime.

"A traditional Welsh instrument" answers Tony. I look at him, shocked.

"How did you know that?" I ask.

"I read a lot" he says, shrugging his shoulders slightly.

I smile at him and explain to them that my maternal grandmother was Welsh and when she married an Irishman and moved to Belfast, she took her harp and taught both my mum and later on, me. It was my grandmother who taught me piano too.

"We have a small piano in the basement" Danielle tells me. My eyes light up, so Vic carries me down, closely followed by everyone else. I get comfortable then realise I won't be able to use the pedals so it might not sound as good. I start playing the first thing that comes to mind - the waltz from swan lake. My eyes close as the music takes me away. I finish and play the blue Danube waltz then the Entertainer. I've gotten myself lost in the music, as usual and when I stop, all eyes are on me.

"It would have sounded better if I'd been able to use the pedals" I say, thinking they thought I wasn't very good, but Jaime is the first to speak.

"Could you actually make it sound any better?" I nod. Tony looks stunned. I don't know why.

I get up off the little stool and go to the narrow staircase to go back up when a pair of arms picks me up. I look up into Tony's eyes. He carries me back to the sofa and places me down, sitting next to me.

The guys continue chatting about the album and all of a sudden a wave of exhaustion rolls over me and I feel myself slumping onto Tony's shoulder.