By Helene Ryles
Honorable Mention, Prose, Create | Encounter 2024
Since my twin sister Minerva went into a coma and my life had taken on a nightmarish quality. At first a young dark haired youth came to visit regularly. He played Minerva classical music on his flute to no avail. I think they met at this orchestra but I couldn't remember anything about it. I had no idea how the youth had got to know my sister. I think he must be her boyfriend.
All I could assume was their had been a terrible accident but I couldn't remember anything about it. I had no recollection about what had happened at all. Obviously their must have been an accident since people didn't just die like mother and grandma or go into coma's did they? Or break their arm as I had. However I could not remember how that had happened either. Even though the healers soon mended my arm. If only my sister was so easy to repair.
The youth handed me a metal box. When I plugged the rubbery like substance into my ears I could hear much better without needing to lipread so much.
"They are called speech amplifiers and were based on a similar machine called a hearing aid. Only they ran on these little metal discs called batteries which don't exist on this world. Since you are human un-magical you will have to get a magic user to regularly recharge your speech amplifier for you," the youth explained.
Some of the healers also donated a number of flowery dresses. As well as telling me that I needed to eat and wash more since I was getting scrawny and quite smelly. I wasn't used to people being so personal but faeries were not known for their tact. Since the accident, which I couldn't even remember, everything felt so hellish. Life felt like wading through treacle. If Minerva died, I wanted to die too.
Unfortunately, after six months with no improvement the youth lost interest. He paid for the next three months. After which Minerva was still in a coma.
A bossy silver haired faerie came to tell me that Minerva had had it. She felt it would be 'kinder to let go' . She was going to stop the treatment which would end Minerva's life.
I threw myself on my unconscious sister, sobbing uncontrollably.
"There there, my Mam will be able to treat you." a beautiful golden haired young woman told me. I cannot remember seeing her before but I was too depressed to notice much, "I survived a coma. I married a prince so I am doing really well for myself so it's possible. I'm going to have to get someone to teleport you pair to the Faerie community in Faron . This will be very scary but I doubt Minerva would survive the long journey in a bumpy wagon."
***********
Despite her deafness Henna Mead was a very skilled healer. So I was glad Henna was seeing to Minerva. I stayed with the family after we were transferred to the Faerie community in Faron. Henna's husband refused to recharge my speech amplifier until I learned sign language. I found it very difficult but being hard of hearing myself I guessed it would come useful for me too.
We were living on the top floor of a maternity hospital. Henna was a prisoner. Most prisoners came, had their babies, and went. However Henna was allowed to stay since she made herself indispensable with her talents as a healer and midwife. She was given the whole of the top floor to accommodate her and her family.
As well as being expected to learn sign language I was also expected to help them with babysitting. I don't mind children. I actually liked them. But that didn't stop my almost constant anxiety. In addition to being anxious about Minerva I worried about doing anything that might harm the baby. My baby sister died when I was eight. Mother accused me of being responsible for her death. As a result I was so very careful with the little ones that Henna and her husband started to give me the youngest most delicate babies for me to do kangaroo care with whilst homes were found.
They weren't Henna's babies. Some of the babies were from her husband’s brother who was something of a Don Juan and Henna’s mother in law insisted any babies that came of his affairs would be kept alive. He didn’t look after them himself since he was already married.
Other babies were from the prisoners that came to have their babies but were considered unfit.
**************
It was still a very scary and depressing time for me. Even after forming a relationship with Henna's daughter, Ella Mead. She was golden haired with two identical sisters called Amy and Mia. Like most of her sisters and numerous step siblings she was CODA (child of a deaf adult) She had three adult Deaf sisters called Sara who I met at the hospital, Alberta, and Sasha. Only Sasha was still at home. She helped with all the younger children. There was another older step brother who turned out to be the dark haired youth who had played the flute at Minerva’s bedside. Only his visits tended to end with arguments with his father.
“How dare you insult your own mother, calling her an interfering sanctimonious old bird. I owe my life to grandma’s interfering ways. She persuaded mother to keep me alive and took me under her wing until mother had finished her studies. At least she lives her beliefs and doesn’t just use them for leverage in the way you do.” The youth yelled. Giving Minerva a brief kiss before storming off. He avoided coming when his father was around after that.
When Ella and I weren't courting Ella helped Sasha, Mia, Amy and their twin step brothers babysit their younger siblings and step cousins. Our relationship had started after Ella taught me a few simple signs and the deafblind alphabet.
"Mam said.. Oi stop that.." Ella started to tell me. She broke off what she was about to say to deal with a fist fight between a couple of her little step cousins.
After proposing to me I let Ella kiss and cuddle . It felt nice and it helped take my mind off how worried I was about Minerva still being in a coma.
"I don't approve of you fornicating with my step daughter, if it was left to me you would have to go like Alberta did," Henna's husband barked at me after Ella’s younger siblings had left for school, "However my wife feels that we should make concessions due to your background. So any kissing or fornicating will just have to be done in that room we soundproofed for you girls. Such shameful behaviour must be kept hidden if you want to stay here. My younger children aren't to know about your sinful relationship. I hope you girls have got that. Sara, my step daughter got her majesty to pay my wife to treat your sister so we don't want to put her off with less desirable family traits. Honestly! I don't care if it runs in the family! At least my wife’s sister had the decency to stay in the closet,"
After that Ella insisted we go in a dark little room so nobody would see us.
"I am sorry love but we have to do it in the dark and use this sound proof room. My step father wants us to keep our activities secret," Ella Finger spelt apologetically.
"They made this room just for us?" I asked.
"Not really, Alberta started it. My step father wanted her gone even though Mam didn’t want Alberta to leave but he insisted on keeping what he claimed were moral standards. Which is rich coming from him. Our step uncle isn’t who has affairs. Our step father is just as bad. It makes mother cry a lot. Anyway mama insisted on sound proofing this room until my aunt Hazel took her in,”Ella told me.
“Why does your mama put up with the brute?"
"I don't know. I don't want to talk about him anymore.”
**************
A notorious witch called Myra arrived almost a year after I did. She was down in the basement. Where there were a row of cells for pregnant prisoners. They were next to the guard's apartment. Myra soon made herself at home. Legally she had worked as a midwife and a healer (although she was infamous for being more of a quack).
She was also an abortionist and an assassin who used dark magic to stop people's heart. She also used magic to control people and stole their magic. She stole other things too. Both for herself and to sell on the black market. She also specialised in blackmail among other things. The guard insisted Myra had glamoured him into looking the other way while she committed abortions from her cell.
Many people wanted Myra to be executed as soon as possible. However queen Lily had requested that Myra should be allowed to have her babies first. After all the babies hadn't committed a crime. Myra became pregnant again not long after giving birth. Nobody could figure out how.
Just in case there was any further hanky-panky the male guard was replaced by a large female biracial quarter faerie called Panther Blake who was one of the queen's blood sworn warriors. She engaged in vigilante activities. Such as evacuating a corrupt orphanage whose staff had allowed men to molested the girls in their care.
Panther also visited female prisons to help pregnant prisoners by delivering their babies or petitioning queen Lily to send them to the maternity hospital in Faron to have their babies there, depending how pregnant they were. Panther also taught some of the women literacy skills and healed them of various other conditions they had.
*******
Panther was to be my sister Minerva's next healer. Since Henna Mead became pregnant again. Eighteen months after we arrived.
After Henna needed bed rest I was expected to move to the basement. To share Panther's bedroom. It had a very large adult sized bunk bed. Panther had the top bunk and Minerva and I shared the bottom. Despite her coma Minerva seemed to know I was there. It was such a relief to find Minerva was getting more responsive at long last. It was certainly a very good sign.
"Remember we talked about raising a family together?" Ella prompted during her first and last visit.
"Yes?" I replied using sign language.
"Well I now have a contact and she has found us a willing donor." Ella told me .
"I meant in the future. I don't feel ready yet," I protested, switching to speech.
"We might not have the opportunity in the future. This is a one off opportunity. We need to grab it with both hands. You are really good with children. I think you would make a really lovely mama," Ella insisted.
"What about adoption?" I suggested.
"No, I want YOU to be their mother. I need to prove to my bloody step father that we're not so useless after all and you aren't helping matters," Ella argued.
"Later, I need more time. Especially with Minerva...."
"Don't worry about your sister. She'll either snuff it or be cured after her recovery. " Ella told me in a somewhat off handed manner. It hurt me to find how little she cared about my sister.
"Again I need more time...I also thought about how many children needed homes. Wouldn't adoption be better. I mean why make more children when..."I argued.
"We've been going out for over a year. That's plenty of time!" Ella retorted. Starting to get angry. We argued and Ella grabbed me in a vice like grip and shook me .
On trembling legs I excused myself to go to the bathroom. I pulled off my speech amplifier and stayed there in mute terror.
When I came round I was lying on the floor. Panther had thoughtfully placed me on my side with a pillow under my head. After handing me my fully charged speech amplifier she told me that Ella had gone. Panther had broken the bathroom door down after I had an epileptic seizures. Why now? I hadn't had a seizure for years.
After that a pregnant young woman called Lacy joined us. She was very small which was lucky since she had to use a mattress meant for a child in the cupboard room which was only in use when Panther's twin sister came with her children.
Lacy stayed until after she had her baby. Lacy was a deafblind amputee. She used a speech amplifier just like me. (Panther was happy to recharge both our speech amplifiers when her magic wasn't spent on her various other patients). Lacy had to peer at my face to read my lips and kept having to ask me to repeat myself when I spoke. In the end we switched to using the deafblind manual which we both found easier.
Lacy was hiding from her boyfriend. She wouldn't explain why.
"He was a definite hottie and he could be so kind to me when he wanted to be. I still love him but we aren't compatible. It would be best if I never see him again. He crossed a line when he took me to have Myra kill our child without even telling me. Claiming it was just a check up. So now I have dumped him. It's all over..." and she wiped away a few tears at this point.
Lacy might not have wanted to see her boyfriend but it seemed that her ex definitely wanted to see Lacy . Some faeries came to the door. Angrily demanding to know where Lacy was. After Panther refused to say, Panther was accused of keeping Lacy prisoner. When her supervisor demanded to know where Lacy was Panther reluctantly brought Lacy out of hiding. Lacy simply confirmed she wasn't being kept prisoner. That she just didn't want to see her bloke anymore because they were 'not compatible'. She promised she would explain this to him after her baby was born. And she burst into tears. Panther patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. Panther was no good at comforting people.
"Why would they think Lacy was kept prisoner?" I asked.
"History," Panther finger-spelt, "I told Myra last client that she wasn't open for business but I offered to remove the baby early via c section and it would be safer than a procedure done by the quacks round here. I just didn't specify when. Or that I would be keeping her in hibernation for about thirteen weeks to bring the baby to full term before placing the baby for adoption with someone who didn't want her dead. I guess that's the bit Myra's client was pissy about but it's what grandma would have wanted."
"Oh..." I answered not at all sure what to say to this, "Aren't you a healer. I thought the queen hired you as her blood sworn warrior."
"It's possible to be both. I am a healer and I am gifted at armed combat too but your sister is not the only non paying patient I have. Charity is all very well but I also need to earn a living," Panther explained.
At least Panther could heal better than she could comfort. After many more months with Panther, Minerva recovered from her coma but she was still totally paralysed.
***********
I was overjoyed and keen to break the news to Ella. I was even willing to have a baby... It should have been nice to meet her again. However Ella was very angry after I went up to pay her a visit.
"Why did you do it? We put you up and everything! How could you be so beeping ungrateful!" Ella yelled. Her beautiful face distorted with fury.
"Do what? What am I supposed to have done?" I asked.
"You tell me! You could at least have been more discreet about it... You were seen together," Ella yelled.
"What are you talking about?" I asked in utter confusion.
"Don't you dare deny it. Since I don't share my girlfriends it's over!" Ella yelled and kicked me.
When I came round there was a plaster caste on my leg and it hurt but I just couldn't remember what had happened to my leg. Whenever I thought of Ella it hurt even worse but I couldn't remember what had happened between me and Ella either. I tried hard to block out the memory of Ella’s angry face whilst I dealt with my totally paralysed sister.
After Lacy had her baby her boyfriend came to tell her he would take her back if she pretended that she had been kidnapped.
"What makes you think I would want that, you arrogant twit," Lacy loudly retorted.
"After all I have done for you, you ungrateful bitch," he yelled. After that their voices were drowned out by Lacy's baby Chelle crying.
I was heartbroken over the false accusations of being seen having sex with Lacy. Unfortunately faeries were just as keen to hear and spread gossip as humans were.
If only someone could intervene and get Ella to understand that I hadn't been unfaithful. That Lacy's ex boyfriend had been lying.
"I am really sorry," Lacy apologised, "It wasn't meant for you. My ex had a problem with us being history! He doesn't like being rejected so he lied to save face and give himself a reason to claim he had dumped me. I am so sorry you got caught in crossfire. The twit should have made sure the person he claimed I was bonking was single..."
I never got an apology from Ella but at least Minerva was doing better. Minerva had even squeezed my hand.
Comments