Brady wasn’t sure how long he’d been at work when Harper shuffled over to the table and slid into the chair next to him. When had she woken up? Not that it actually mattered. She rested her chin on her fists and leaned over so she could see his face.
“Okay, I have to know what you’re working on.” Her blue eyes blinked at him with a combination of curiosity and sleepiness, and she offered a playful, coaxing smile.
Brady hesitated, then moved his arm so she could see the drawing, and Harper gave a little gasp and clapped her hands to her heart.
“Oh, it’s so cute! I love it so much! Dash, come look at this! Isn’t it adorable?”
Brady tried not to wince as Dash came up on his other side and inspected the drawing, then shot a look across at Harper.
“Seriously, isn’t it?” She gave him a puppy dog face, and Dash offered a slight eye roll.
“If by adorable you mean serious overkill, then sure. It’s absolutely that.”
“You know what?” Brady squared his shoulders as he picked up the crayon and made a few last strokes, then scooted his chair back from the table. “My rain check, my design.”
Without waiting for their reaction, he took the one quick step to Rachelle’s recliner and dropped on his knee to offer the paper to Grace, who tipped her head curiously at it, then up at her sister.
“What’s it say?” she whispered, and Rachelle covered her mouth with trembling fingers for a second before she answered.
“It says ‘Rain Check. To: Grace. From: Brady. For: One day of carrying you up to carpool, as soon as I’m feeling better.’” Her voice caught on the last words, and Brady looked up, suddenly afraid that in his attempt to make things right he’d somehow gone too far. Rachelle’s eyes were full of tears, but the corners of her lips fluttered upward, and she mouthed “thank you” before resting her head against her sister’s curls.
“Oh!” Grace lifted her gaze from the picture suddenly, her whole face alight. “It’s like rainy days and we can’t go to the park, but we can go later when it’s sunny! Except the rain”—she pointed to the crying raincloud filling the top left corner—“is sad when you’re sick, and the sun”—waving at the smiling sun opposite—“is happy when you’re better!”
“You’re right, Gracie-girl; it’s exactly like that.” Brady had to swallow hard against a lump in his throat. “So as soon as the rain in my head stops, I’ll carry you up one day. Okay?”
“Does it rain in your head for real?” Grace’s eyes flew wide, and Brady choked on a laugh as Rachelle gave a little watery chuckle. Harper didn’t even try to hide her giggle, and Dash huffed.
“Walked yourself right into that one. She’s nothing if not literal.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Brady sat back but kept his focus on Grace. “Although that probably wouldn’t be the weirdest thing you’ve seen around here, would it? My head just hurts really, really bad, and that’s what makes me sick. Kind of feels like a thunderstorm in there sometimes.”
As if on cue, a deafening clatter shook the room, as though a whole mess of marbles, silverware, and broken glass had been thrown on a tile floor. Brady clapped his hands to his ears, shaking in agony as the sound tore through his eardrums and clawed at his brain.
“Brady. Brady! It’s okay. Shh.” Rachelle’s voice struggled through the noise, trying to reach him, but it was someone else’s hand that awkwardly patted his shoulder. “Dash—no, Harper, can you get him some water? Brady, breathe. You’re okay. Just breathe.”
The hand pulled away, and a deeper shudder ran through Brady at the loss of even that weak crumb of comfort. After a few seconds, an even more hesitant hand barely rested against his back, the tremor that ran through it evident even in that lightest of touches.
“Here.” Warm fingers pried his arm away from his knees and pressed a cold glass into his hand, then helped him lift it to his mouth. Brady managed a sip, and the seizing pressure lessened its grip on his head. He gulped in a ragged breath and looked up to find Harper kneeling at his side, watching him worriedly, while Rachelle leaned over the arm of the recliner as though she had attempted to reach him even through her current imprisonment. When his eyes met hers, she let out a relieved breath and sank back, and Grace burrowed into her side, her thumb in her mouth again.
“What on earth, dude?” Dash’s voice stayed low, but it held a hint of worry, even as his hand jerked away from Brady’s back.
“What—was that?” Brady sucked in another breath through lungs that ached as he slowly straightened.
“What was what?” Dash still sounded entirely mystified, but Rachelle shook her head sympathetically.
“Trash bag dropping on the floor upstairs. We’ve all gotten used to it, but none of us has to deal with your hearing. That had to be excruciating.”
“Are you serious?” Brady took another drink of the water before resting his head in his hand with a sigh. “That’s all? I could have sworn it was at least two full cabinets worth of metal and glass that fell.”
“Wow. No wonder you reacted.” Harper offered something between a smile and a wince. “Guess you’ve found your occupational hazard, huh? Mine’s getting accidentally bumped into or stepped on, mostly. Dash’s is usually not paying attention to what’s around him before he reacts to something.”
“Meaning…” Brady’s brain was still struggling to catch up, but the conversation was definitely helping to ground him again.
“Meaning if you startle me into running into a wall, you will regret it. Capiche?”
“Got it.” Brady huffed out a breath of a laugh. “What’s yours, Rachelle?”
“If you knew how many things around here we’ve had to replace—or that now have permanent dents in them—you wouldn’t ask.” Rachelle’s smile deepened. “It’s way too easy to forget my own strength when I have it.”
Grace mumbled something incomprehensible behind her thumb, and Rachelle bent down to hear better.
“What was that, baby?”
“You throw things into the ceiling sometimes,” the little girl murmured, and Rachelle chuckled.
“Yes. Yes, I do. And listen, you don’t have to worry about Brady, okay? He hears sounds a lot louder than they are. That’s all that happened. He can also smell things and see things and feel things and taste things a lot better than everybody else too.”
“Can he hear me now?” Grace whispered at a volume he could probably have heard without any help, and Brady grinned.
“Sure can, Gracie-girl.” He chuckled as her eyes rounded. “I don’t know how it’s going to help anything yet, but yeah, that’s what I can do.” Brady finished the last of the water and let out a long breath. “Man. I almost—” He shook his head and swallowed hard. “No. That’s not true. I don’t—honestly think I’d rather have a migraine today. It’s just—really hard to get used to.”
“You are so not alone in that.” Harper took the empty glass and set it back on the table, then slipped into her chair again. “Don’t get me wrong; I love the invisible thing. But it was incredibly freaky the first couple of times. Give yourself a chance to get used to it. Don’t expect to fully love it overnight.”
“Yeah, same.” Dash’s voice sounded more subdued than Brady had ever heard it. “It’s the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time, but I’d still give just about anything for an actual normal day sometimes.”
“I think you all know how I feel.” Rachelle’s soft, gentle voice soaked into his heart like a soothing balm. “This was never what I wanted, but it’s what I’ve been given, and I do my best to be content. I’ll never tell anyone it’s not hard. But we’re here for you. Every one of us. As much as we can be for as long as we can be.” She gently stroked Grace’s hair as the little girl relaxed against her. “I still can’t help but think we’ve been brought here for a reason. And we’ll find it. All of us. Together.”
Aww, I just love these stories! I read last week's and this week's tonight, and it was so fun to get to read a bigger portion. :) The team is coming together so sweetly - so beautiful to watch!
Such a fun chapter! I love how Dash is showing he can have a more compassionate side!