See What I Hear

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

After our short meal, I guided Alex over to the wall he had come in from and released him. He automatically shifted into the protective stance I'd taught him and began exploring without me saying a word.

I watched him go about the kitchen, naming everything as he went. I smiled as he did. He named the fridge, coffeemaker, toaster, and oven.

"Wait, what if the oven was on? How would I not burn myself, genius?" he asked. I rolled my eyes and began to explain the way to go about exploring the dangers of the kitchen safely.

He listened intently. For a moment, it was easy to forget that he had been in such a terrible mood for the whole week. I had to remind myself that, although he seemed to be in a fantastic mood today, he was still an asshole.

"Alright well, how the hell am I supposed to know what anything in the cupboards are?" he hissed. And there was the asshole I know...

"Well, there's a simple remedy to that," I leaned against the countertop and watched him take a couple cautious steps towards me. He used the countertop to lead him and stopped about a step away from me.

"Which is?" He looked in my general direction expectantly. I smiled mischievously.

"Braille."

The second I said the word, he rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in the air in frustration. I laughed and pressed my hand against the back of his. He immediately trailed his hand up to my elbow and followed right behind me.

"Where are you taking me?" he asked. I laughed and walked over to my room. I'd kept a spare cane for Alex to use in my room. I knew there wasn't a chance he'd carry around his own.

Once we'd entered my room, Alex slowly let go of my elbow and felt the doorway. Instead of beginning his search around the room, he paused in the doorway with his nose up in the air.

"Is this your room?" he asked. I balked. He hadn't even begun his journey around my room and he already knew what room we were in. How?

"Yeah...how did you know?" I asked, voicing my thoughts.

"It...it smells like you..." he trailed off. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked everywhere but my direction. His embarrassment caught me a bit off guard, but I smiled.

It was a strange response but nonetheless it made me happy. He was beginning to hone in his other senses and he didn't even realize it. His progress made me smile, even if it was a bit weird.

"So I have a certain smell?" I asked. His cheeks flushed a deeper shade of crimson; I felt I had to milk this a bit more.

He continued to avoid my direction and instead, looked down.

"I'm just teasing you. I'm kinda glad you're able to tell that just from smell. It means you're getting better at using your other senses to tell you where you are."

He slowly looked up and I was able to see his face. He had a weird look. It wasn't angry or frustrated like it had been for most the time I've known him, but it wasn't really a happy expression either. It was like he was happy about finally making some progress, but also annoyed that he had to be making progress in the first place.

After a couple seconds of awkward silence, he began going around the room, naming the objects he found.

"Nightstand...lamp...bed...dresser..." he trailed off. I kept a close eye on him. My room wasn't exactly a mess but it wasn't as tidy as the living room or kitchen. Still, the floor was clear so he was fine.