Rehab, Actors & Love

Results and A Confession

"Della. . . Della. . . Adeline. . ."

I hummed when I heard someone mumble my name over and over. I jumped when I felt someone kiss my nose. I opened my eyes to see Dylan resting his chin on the side of my bed.

"What?" I mumbled, still sleepy. He laughed as he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to my lips, making me smile. I sat up and ran my hands through my hair as Dylan sat next to me, wrapping his arm around me.

"How was your nap?" He asked teasingly.

"Not long enough," I mumbled as I leaned my head on his chest. We sat like that for a few minutes as Dylan gently rubbed my arm.

"Well, I might have some news that will perk you up." He said, breaking the silence. I hummed still a little sleepy.

"I won."

I sat up and looked at him like he was crazy. "You won what?" I asked, almost skeptically.

"The bet we made yesterday." He laughed when he saw the confusion on my face. "Remember? I bet you that your test results would come back strong and healthy. Then, if I won, I got to take you out on a real date away from this center."

My cheeks burned as he smiled at me. "Technically, I haven't gotten my results back yet," I teased. He sent me a knowing look before leaning forward and pressing a small kiss to my nose.

"Either way," he sighed, pulling me back into his chest as he laid us against the headboard. "I'm taking you out on a real, out-of-this-center date. The kind I would've taken you on for our first date if we had met under different circumstances."

"If Eric lets us," I mumbled.

"He will." I could practically hear the smirk on his face.

"Oh yeah?" I teased. "And how do you know that?"

"Because I already asked him," he said simply. I playfully hit his chest causing him to laugh.

We spent the next couple of hours watching Netflix. In between episodes, there was a knock at the door. We looked over to see Eric peeking his head in.

"Hey you two," he smirked as he walked in. When he did, I saw a folder in his hands.

My results.

My eyes widened when I made that connection. He must have seen the look on my face as I sat up because he laughed.

"So?" Dylan asked, breaking my staring contest with the folder of results.

"Great news, Della," Eric started. "You're even better than we anticipated."

"Really?" I asked, my voice getting stuck in my throat and not because of my vocal cords. Eric smiled as he nodded. Happy tears started to build up as I felt Dylan tighten his arm around my waist.

"Your vocal cords are still scared, they always will be but they're healing. They'll always be a little damaged but the tests we ran yesterday have proven that you have about 85% of your usage back."

"85," I said under my breath. "Does that mean. . ."

The smile on his face fell when I didn't finish my question.

"Unfortunately," he cleared his throat, "the 15% you're missing is keeping you from being able to sing. I'm sorry, Della, but your vocal cords aren't strong enough for you to be able to sing and they may never be."

I nodded, trying to hide my disappointment as Dylan and Eric shared a knowing look. I took a shaky breath, trying to look on the bright side.

"At least I'm better," I said, looking back up at them. I smiled, even though it didn't reach my eyes.