Lia bit her lip and frowned as she tried to manoeuvre her car into a space that was just large enough to take it. Some idiot had parked two large SUVs over the line, and Lia's rather smaller car just fit in between them, with not a lot of room on either side. Blowing the blonde tendrils of hair that had escaped her ponytail off her face, she put the car in park and turned around. Smiling at the little girl strapped into a car seat in the back, she signed with her hands, saying the words as she formed them.
"We're here."
She was rewarded with a gorgeous smile, the same smile that had melted Lia's heart for the last four years, and an excited look in the eyes. Shaking her head slightly in disbelief over how lucky she still felt, she squeezed her way out of the car and got the back seat open. Fumbling with the catches, she managed to get her daughter out in one piece – thankful that she was so small – and set her on the ground next to the car. Warning her with a look and a quick sign to stay back between the cars, she found her various bags, and locked up. Taking the small hand in hers, and looking both ways for cars, she made her way to the lift, her heart beat stepping just a beat faster as they passed the same sign they passed month in and month out: St. John's Children's Hospital.
They emerged on the eighth floor, and Lia felt Elly tug on her hand, pulling her along the corridor. For her daughter, this was a fun place, full of toys and kind people. For Lia, this was a place of mixed emotions: a place where they were told how sick their daughter was; a place where they were told there was a chance to make her better; and a place where she'd held her infant daughter in her arms and cried, pouring her heart out with thanks that she was going to be all right. All of that had been two years ago, but Lia could feel every emotion tucked away neatly inside her. Taking a deep breath, she let Elly pull her along.
They got to the ward in plenty of time, Elly jumping out of her skin with excitement. The playroom in the children's ward was enormous, and the kids almost universally friendly. Not that Elly didn't have enough toys at home, but, being an only child, she got lonely. When they got to the half-doors separating the play room from the corridor, the young girl stopped in her tracks, and Lia peered in to see what had made her so suddenly uncertain. Instead of being filled with laughing, screaming, crying, paint-covered, playing children, the inhabitants of the ward were all seated neatly and, amazingly, sedately on the ground, surrounding a young woman on chair.
She was about Lia's height, or so she estimated. Brown locks hung on her head, loosely pulled back, but with enough loose to create gorgeous tendrils down the sides. She was strumming a guitar lightly and singing along, the children's voices gently joining in. From the angle Lia was standing at, she couldn't see her face, but her voice was sending shivers down the blonde woman's spine.
She felt Elly take a step back into the shelter of her legs, gripping Lia's hand tighter and looking unsure. Lia reached out and put a hand gently on her shoulder, and looked down into her daughter's face, encouraging her to step forward. She heard a voice, as beautiful in speech as it was in song, murmur at them from across the room.
"It's okay, come on in." The sentence was said in the most inviting tone possible, and without the speaker missing a strum on the guitar. Changing keys, she went on with the song, smiling at Lia and Elly as they came in and sat down. Lia looked at the musician's face and tried to put her thoughts back into some coherent order.
God, she's beautiful, she thought.
Elly, still scared, held a tight hold on her mother's hand. They sat down, and Lia crossed her legs, pulling her daughter into the shelter of them on her lap. Hugging her arms around the little girl, she swayed slightly, torn between watching her daughter and watching the girl on the guitar. Elly had a look of wonder on her face. She couldn't take her eyes off the lady at the front of the room, her head moving slightly to the up and down motion of the strumming hand. Lia was taken aback by her daughter's fascination, but had to secretly admit her own. There was something very beguiling about this woman.
In a few short songs it was over and the children scattered to all edges of the playroom. Lia stood up, a slight blush tingeing her cheeks for no obvious reason, as Elly drifted off with the other children. The brunette carefully put her guitar back in its case and walked slowly over to the blonde, who was standing carefully, hands in pockets.
"Hi," the musician offered a hand, "I'm Yeji"
"Lia," Lia replied, shaking the hand. It was a good handshake, firm but not too firm, gripping but not squeezing, and no sweaty palms. She liked it. "You do this a lot?"
"Yeah," grinned the guitarist. "I'm a music therapist here. We do this once a week. It's great for the kids, and," she smiled and Lia watched it run all the way to her eyes, "I love it, too."
"You're really good," she murmured in reply.
"Aw, thanks. Your daughter seemed to like it." Yeji nodded at Elly who was now patiently building a tower out of blocks. The precarious nature of the construction was an omen of a collapse shortly to follow. "You should bring her more often."
"Yeah," said Lia softly. "Actually I don't understand why she liked it so much." Yeji looked surprised and a little insulted. Lia hurried to explain, "No, no, it's great, it's good. It's just that she can't hear it. Elly's deaf."
"Oh." The brunette understood. "That's okay, there are ways around that."
Now it was Lia's turn to look at the other girl like she was crazy.
"Um, it's music, doesn't hearing come into it somewhere?"
"Not always," grinned the other girl, sending Lia's heart into a whirl. "Come back next week, I'll show you."
"I'd like that." The blonde checked her watch. "Oh, crap, we have to go or we'll miss Elle's appointment. Hey, it was nice to meet you."
"You, too," said Yeji, smiling to herself and appreciating, with slight guilt, the ass in the jeans as it walked out the door.
Wow. Definite yummy mummy.
* * * * *
Lia pulled into the underground carpark, her heart already speeding up with expectation. This was crazy. She was crazy. No, no, she was doing this for Elly.
Then, why are your palms sweating?
Lia swore lightly when someone stole her space, grateful that her daughter couldn't hear. In a way, it was a blessing, because some of the language the girl would have picked up from Soobin by now, well... Lia told him off all the time, arguing that she could see and would eventually learn. She tried not to do it herself, although traffic sometimes got the better of her. Soobin didn't listen. Soobin never did.
Finding another space further from the door, Lia glanced at her watch for the millionth time in an hour. Early. Still. She hustled them out of the car and into the lift, smiling along with her daughter in anticipation, accepting that it was almost certainly over different things. They hit the eighth floor and were at the playroom, Lia feeling light-headed.
To her disappointment, there were only children, making a God Almighty mess. She let Elly join them, warmed by the sight of her daughter enjoying herself. She was leaning against the door frame, watching the fun, when she heard a soft, nerve-stimulating voice behind her.
"You came back."
Lia turned to find Yeji standing behind her, a large sack in one hand and a crooked smile on her face. Lia moved to let her pass through. "Yeah, you said we should."
"I'm glad." The musician moved over to a small table and put the sack down. "I've got something good today, and I think your daughter will get something out of it."
Lia's curiousity was duly piqued.
Yeji emptied out the sack one-by-one. There were big drums, little drums, a metronome, and a bunch of other things Lia recognised and didn't recognise. The guitarist clapped her hands, to the notice of all the kids except Elly, and the noise in the room died down. Lia tensed, but Yeji put her at ease, walking over amongst the children and, while calling them to attention, gently drew that of Elly by placing a hand on her shoulder. It was considerate, easy and made Lia's insides melt. Very few people bothered to treat Elly with such kindness. If they didn't ignore her, they tended to either raise their voice, which was pointless because the girl was completely deaf, or treat her like she was some kind of retarded invalid, which made Lia fume. Her daughter was a beautiful, wonderful child with an incredible mind and the overactive imagination of every other four-year-old on the planet. Even still, she knew her daughter noticed the change in other people. She had begun to see her isolation, and the gross lack of acceptance by some people around her. Lia couldn't help but warm to Yeji who, with one gesture, had done exactly the right thing.
As Yeji gathered the children around, Lia sat back on the floor. Her daughter, once again enthralled by the long-haired brunette, didn't crowd close to her mother this time, but tiptoed up with the other children. Yeji smiled.
"Today we're going to talk about rhythm -" And so she went on. Pulling over a xylophone, she neatly ran a hammer across the notes, gaining "oohs" and "aahs" from her adoring pupils.
Lia watched as she involved everyone in the music, letting them play the drums or feel the beat of the metronome. She watched as each and every time, she involved Elly, letting the girl feel the beat where the others could hear. Each time a different vibration ran through her little hands, her face lit up like a Christmas tree, and Lia's heart nearly broke.
By the end of the class, she was holding back tears. She knelt down to greet Elly who flew at her, so excited that her hands were a flurry of activity as she signed her incredible experiences to Lia, in child-like ignorance of the fact that her mother had been standing there the whole time. Lia, grinning from ear to ear, watched and listened intently, signing back appropriately until her daughter got so caught up she lost her words and just dissolved into excited four-year-old giggles. Lia wrapped her in a huge hug, and sent her off to clean up the toys before they went.
Turning to face the musician, she caught the grin on the other girl's face.
"Thank you so much," Lia said, voice overflowing with gratitude. "That meant more to her than anything has in a long time." She choked up on the last word.
"It's nothing." Yeji looked down, blushing. "No-one needs to miss out on anything just because they're a little short in some areas. You should see me dance. Doesn't stop me. Does stop traffic sometimes," she mused. Lia laughed prettily, and missed the glint that shone momentarily in the musician's eye. "Have you been down to the community centre?" she asked.
"No," said Lia, looking interested. "Why?"
"They have some neat classes down there. I teach music to kids on a Wednesday afternoon after school. There's a great art class down the hall. You should check it out."
"I might do that." Lia glanced at her watch, and gave a sad sigh. "We gotta shoot. Maybe we'll see you around." She glanced at the brunette hopefully.
"Yeah, that would be nice." The softness in Yeji's voice made Lia quiver. Gathering Elly, she left before she could melt into a puddle on the playroom floor.