Sickness can’t stop the fear.

Christmas came and went, and before long, New Year’s Eve had shown up. But while everyone else was celebrating, Milo and Nora were on the couch wrapped up in blankets, fighting off a bad cold. Kaya smiled as she watched Milo and Nora sign back and forth, bickering at each other. Nora's face was scrunched up while she ate her soup and watched the sounds of music on the TV. Milo was being loud from being sick, and Kaya assumed that Nora could hear it, for the look she gave him was that of not being impressed.

“Are you dying, Milo?” Nora signed, questioning the loud noise he made. He looked at her with watery eyes and a red nose; his hair was a mess and scattered all over his face; she now got up going into the kitchen to get some more soup that Kaya had just made; she came back out and put it down grabbed milo by the face then shoved the soup into his mouth and closed his mouth as he choked down the soup. He gave her a shocked look, and Nora stuck out her tongue.

“Now you can get better with some of your mother's wonderful soup,” she signed, giving him an irritated look.

He grunted at her, then looked at his mother. “You are just going to let her abuse me like that, Mom?” he signed, questioning. Kaya smiled as she grabbed her keys and headed out the door. She turned around and smiled at Milo.

“Milo, you do know that Nora isn’t totally deaf, and you are loud, which might actually be hurting her ears more than you think; she isn’t used to a lot of loud noises, and you whining like a big child might be irritating her no wonder she shoved soup down your throat.” Milo's mom signed, smiling as she walked out the door. Nora got up and walked into Milo’s room, where she grabbed a hoodie of his and came back to put on her shoes and looked at him with anger; he got to the door before she could get out and had a sincere look on his face as he grabbed her hands to look at her in the eyes seeing how tired and stressed she looked and he wasn’t helping any.

“I am extremely sorry, Nora,” he signed, then stopped to collect his thoughts. She scooted past him to open the door, but when she did, he closed it. Looking at her with a genuine look, she saw his chest rise up and down like he was struggling to breathe from the cold but needed to get his thoughts across to her.

“Look, Nora, I am truly sorry for being loud. I am not used to being sick with someone who is hard of hearing; it is either one or the other in my house, so when I am sick, Mom doesn’t mind me being loud and dramatic, but I have seen that I have upset you and frustrated you. I apologize. I don’t want you to hate me or be mad at me. That is the last thing I want, but I need to understand your feelings, too, and I need to respect them.” He signed, hoping she understood. He now brushed her hair behind her ear; as he does, she closed her eyes and felt their foreheads touch; she then felt him kiss hers and take her hand; as she opened her eyes, she saw he was leading her back to the couch where their blanket fort was at, she crawled into the warmth as he grabbed the remote and turned-on howls moving castle.

Nora woke up. It was dark out, and the house was lit; she was alone on the couch, and as she looked around, she wondered where Milo had gone. She went into his room and saw that it was empty. She then saw the bathroom door ajar. She pushed the door a little to see Milo-soaked legs hanging over the bathtub; she freaked out, not knowing what to do. She took her phone and things out of her pockets and climbed into the tub beside him. She checked his breathing and realized that he was still raspy but okay. Besides, he felt warm under the cold water; he opened his eyes to see her worried face and tears; guilt clawed at his heart; he didn’t think about her feelings; how stupid could he keep being first with the loud noises and hurting her ears now sitting in the tub with the water running, she probably thought the worst, he grabbed her wrapping her into a hug hoping it would relieve her fears she had.

When Milo woke up, he saw she was sleeping on his shoulder, but he was burning up, so he did the smart thing; he laid her down and started a cold shower, not thinking anything about it; in the past, he did it a lot to break the fever he didn’t think she would wake up and he would be back on the couch under the covers before she woke up. But that wasn’t what happened. He couldn’t get the fever to break, and he had been trying for what seemed like hours.

He breathed in her scent of jasmine and rain from the shower. He felt her body shaking, either from the fear in her heart or the cold from the water. He wasn’t sure which one, but as he helped her, all he kept feeling was regret; he was trying so hard to be there for her and to understand her fears, but he felt like he was messing everything up and not understanding her, why was it hard for him to understand she was fragile, and he couldn’t just assume things.

“I’m,” he started to sign but stopped. He kept apologizing for mistakes over and over again like a broken record. He took her shaking hand and placed it on his heart. He looked down at how it wouldn’t stop shaking and knew it was his fault.

“I need you to know how much you mean to me, Nora. I need you to see how hard I am trying to be good enough for you; I need you to understand this friendship. I wish it could be more, but I know I'm not right for you.” He whispered, looking at her now with desperation in his eyes; he took her hand that was on his chest and kissed it gently, wiping her tears away. “I'm okay; I swear I am okay. I just was hot and needed to cool off,” he signed. She strikes him on the chest, and though it slightly hurts, he takes it because he knows that he has caused this pain and fear and he deserves this pain he caused, and he would take it without complaining, for it was the least he could do to help her through these emotions. She stopped now and looked at him with so much sorrow that his whole world was crumbling underneath him, and he felt he couldn’t breathe. He had never felt this way before. He had never lost his breath and struggled to breathe; nobody ever did this to him. Yet here she was, crying and shaking from the fear he had caused her, and it killed him inside; all he wanted to do was hold her in his arms and promise her the world, but she wasn’t his, and she would never be his for he was undatable and that is for the best.

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She now got out, grabbed a towel, and stormed into his room; he figured to change, so he turned off the water and grabbed the towel hanging up, then headed to the other bedroom to get dressed; he put on some Flannel Pajamas and let his long hair fall to his back. He then went to see where Nora was; she was sitting with flannels on as well; her hair was wet but curly, and you could see each drop of water in each curl; he thought it was beautiful.

When he went to sit on the couch next to her, she got up to move; it was a punch to the gut to him. He sighed he knew he deserved it. Milo gets up to go into the kitchen. He took out a vanilla cake mix and some Oreos and turned on the water, combining all the ingredients. He heard the ice cream machine going; he looked over and saw that Nora had started making homemade ice cream. From the look of it, he determined she was making mint chocolate chips. He smiled. He knew that was her favorite.

Milo placed the cake in the oven, and Nora placed the ice cream into the freezer; she then went over to him and let him wrap her into a hug as they slowly danced in the kitchen, waiting for the dessert to be done. They laughed together; they were so horrible at dancing. Nora wore slippers, and Milo was barefoot. But that didn’t stop the laughter; he now let her go and looked at her, “I will try to be more understanding, I promise,” he signed. Nora nodded.

“ I don’t need you to change, Milo, but know that sometimes things that you are used to doing I don’t understand; when I saw you in the tub with the water on,” she signed but stopped, he saw that her hands were in fists and he thought she would cry again, he lifted her head to look at him.

“I am not going anywhere, Nora. I swear this to you: Whatever happened in your past, I wish I could fix that, but we can't fix the past, and in the end, I don’t think you want me to, for you are stronger because of it. She went to sign something but put her hands down and sadly smiled. He felt like he had said something to offend her and didn’t know how to fix it. Could he fix it?

She unraveled herself from him and went to walk away, but he grabbed her hand before she could, forcing her to turn around to look at her. Shocked by his actions, she looked at him stunned.

“Nora, I didn’t mean what I said in a bad way. He signed but stopped letting go of her hand as she walked away. He had fucked up badly, and he knew there was no way to fix what he had said.

The following day, Milo woke up to see his mother sitting in a chair next to him. Look of sadness on her face. He quickly sat up, looking around for Nora, but doesn’t see her.

“Milo, I need you to understand that what I’m about to tell you is something I need you to promise you won’t react and do something crazy,” she said, looking at him with worry and concern.

“Where is she, Mom? Where is Nora? “

“In the hospital, she was complaining about pain, and she was struggling to breathe; when I took her, they found a clot and some broken bones that she had ignored, so they had to do surgery to remove the clot in her lungs, and they carefully wrapped her ribcage to protect her. She will be in the hospital for a while.” Milo scurried to get dressed, grabbed his keys, and kissed his mom. On the way out, he heard her yell, “She’s at St Mary’s Hospital. It’s about fifteen minutes away. Drive safe.” Milo got into his car and sped off, thoughts running through his head that he had heard rumors that her father beat her, but he never asked her.

That night on Christmas Eve, when she came home and fainted in his mother's arms, he knew what had happened.

He just never asked her, for he didn’t want to pry. But he should have. He thought, stopping at a red light. How could he be so stupid? He should have kept a closer eye on her. He should have seen the signs, but he didn’t, and now she is in a hospital bed suffering. The light turned green, and Milo sped down the street, taking a right and a left. He parked his car and then rushed into the hospital. “Hello, where is Nora Amana?” he demanded. The nurse was an older nurse with salt-and-pepper hair. She was tan in her mid to late 60s, wearing a nice flourish shirt and some pants.

“Room 218, dear, be mindful she is sleeping”. He nodded, racing to the elevator to go up to her room. Once there, he saw her, Nora. She was pale and hooked up to all sorts of IVs. She looked peaceful, and that was the part that wounded his heart even more.

“She is quite the fighter. Even after all he has done to her and the pain she has endured, she still won't give up. She keeps fighting, but sooner or later, the body will stop fighting and give in to death.” Milo sees a small, Petite older woman sitting in the chair by Nora's bedside. Her long grey hair was tied up in a braided bun, and her outfit was casual and cozy. Her eyes were slightly clouded over, and she had a cane by her; she was going blind, Milo realized, but she still could sense him even though he was quiet when he entered; she now faced his way and smiled. “Hello, Milo; people call me Nona. I have heard so much about you. Come in, sit. She won't be awake for a while, and that is good because what I am going to tell you will force you away or strengthen the bond; only you can decide that,” she said as he sat down in the other chair facing her.

Where to begin? “She questioned, a kind of Skepticism clearly on her face, one he figured was because of him and not knowing if she could trust him enough with everything.

Authors note.

This is edited to the best of my abilities. Please don't leave negative comments; if you don't like my story, move along. If you have advice, you are always welcome to advise.