Without a Sound

Mikey ran his fingers up and down my side for hours. I tried not to breathe, not to move. I wouldn’t have minded if he’d gone on for hours more, but Celia interrupted us. I heard her light footsteps. It was all I had to tell me who it was.

“How is she?” Celia asked Mikey. “I felt her moving a few hours ago.”

I was about to open my mouth to answer her, but he carefully laid his hand over my lips. “She’s getting better,” he informed Celia. “She talked to me a little, but it hurts her. She said everything hurts.”

“That’s to be expected. I brought up some medicine,” she said cheerfully. “I also brought food. That’s for both of you. No more skipping meals, Mikey.”

I smiled and nodded in agreement.

Mikey mumbled something unintelligible and sat up. Celia helped him bring me to a sitting position in the most comfortable way possible. “Thank you,” I whispered to Celia.

I heard a frown of disapproval in Mikey’s voice at my talking when he told Celia, “She can’t see you smile. She can only feel and hear, nothing else.”

“Ah, sorry,” she said awkwardly. “Well, you’re welcome, Charlotte. We’re happy to help with anything. Just ask, or have Mikey ask for you.”

I smiled and nodded, and I heard Celia’s footsteps leave the room and go down the stairs. She’d left something on the nightstand by the bed. It must’ve been the food, but I couldn’t smell any of it.

“Do you want me to help you eat?” Mikey asked.

I shook my head apologetically.

“Come on, Charlotte,” he persisted. “You’ve got to be hungry for something.”

“I’ll throw it up,” I grumbled.

“I can’t give you the pain medicine if you don’t eat anything. Just… have a piece of toast.”

Reluctantly, I took the toast he put between my fingers and nibbled at it. Then he made me drink what he called orange juice. In my mouth, I only felt the texture of the food and liquid. It was unappetizing, but at least he let me swallow a couple of pills.

“You eat now,” I urged shortly. Almost as reluctantly as me, he ate a little bit. Then he kissed me again and told me to get some more rest. I didn’t argue and fell asleep right away.

When I woke up, three things happened at once. I gasped, inhaling sharply and painfully, I put my hand over my mouth to keep myself from biting Mikey, and Mikey woke up abruptly.

“What’s wrong?” he asked urgently.

I shook my head and pressed my hand tighter to my mouth. I could sense blood now. It was nearly impossible to keep from drinking the blood that was night next to me, regardless of who it belonged to. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on some other source of blood. Celia and Gerard were both downstairs.

With them was Adam. I groaned in longing for his blood. He wasn’t really that far away. I was disgusted by the thought and shook it from my mind immediately.

“Charlotte, what is it?” Mikey sounded so concerned I knew I had to answer him.

I took a few seconds, trying to compose myself before I loosened the grip on my mouth and said quickly, “I’m thirsty. For blood.”

Instead of being understanding, he moved closer to me. I leaned my head back away from him in response. “Drink, then,” he offered persuasively. “I don’t mind.”

I shook my head roughly. There was no way I was going to drink from him. I felt Gerard coming up the stairs with a container of blood. He must’ve analyzed our situation.

Mikey sighed. “Okay. Gerard brought you a little blood from their hunt yesterday.”

I waited impatiently for Gerard to cross the room with that thermos that I used to dread. To my horror, I snatched it impolitely from his hands and drank everything that was in it, even licking the lid when I was done. When I finally finished, I know I blushed. “Sorry, Gerard,” I said apologetically. “I mean… Please and thank you so much.”

He laughed. “It’s okay. I understand. Let me know if there’s anything else you two need,” he said before leaving.

I clutched onto Mikey, but I was a little angry with him. “Please don’t ever try to make me bite you again,” I begged desperately.

He smoothed my hair and kissed me, forcing me to relax. “Alright,” he finally agreed. “As long as you lie back down and relax.”

I listened to him, but I started crying. All of it was just too overwhelming. My chest didn’t hurt nearly as bad, but it wasn’t the pain I was worried about. It was my senses.

Even though the blood had quenched my thirst, it had only felt thick in my mouth. I still couldn’t taste it, and I hadn’t smelled it either. I couldn’t smell Mikey.

He kissed my tears away, but I couldn’t open my eyes and see the worry on his face. I just saw black. What if I could never see him again?

“Everything’s okay now,” he whispered to me comfortingly.

“No it’s not,” I whimpered, wrapping my arms around him. “I can’t… Why can’t I see? Or smell or taste?”

He pressed his lips to each of my eyelids, my nose, and my lips in turn before replying firmly, “You will. I promise. You’re getting your other senses back, right? It’ll be the same. Just have patience.”

“You’re making a promise you can’t keep,” I told him. “Please, don’t do that.”

He laughed like what I’d said was the funniest thing in the world. “Charlotte, I make promises I can’t be sure to keep to you constantly. I mean, I promised you I would keep you alive, even after I thought there was a stake in your heart and all evidence showed that you were dying. But here you are. It seems to be working out well for me.”

I curled into his chest and breathed, “As long as your promises come true, you can promise me anything in the world.”

The next time I woke up, a plate of food was waiting for me, and I appreciated the rich taste of each and every bit of food on it. The following morning I awoke to the fragrance of fresh roses, brought by Celia at Mikey’s request. However, the third morning was the most beautiful of all.