SILENT MUSIC
AISLING MAGIC
Copyright © 2019 by Aisling Magic
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the publisher except for review purposes where brief passages may be quoted.
This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, names, places, and incidents are product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to these are entirely coincidental and not intended by the author. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products, brands, and/or restaurants referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners
E-Book License note
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Cover couple image: Dreamstime
Editor: Jennifer Halls Robert
Proofreader: Judy Proofreading
DEDICATION
To all those who made it back, and to all those who are still there waiting for someone to wake them up.
CONTENTS
SILENT MUSIC
PART I
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
PART II
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
ONE DAY
NOTE TO READER
This is more of an author reminder. Even though it was mentioned on the copyright page, I wanted to point it out here. It’s important for you to know that I’m no expert when it comes to coma. Everything related to coma mentioned in this book is the product of my research from the internet, from a neurologist, and a nurse.
This book is fiction, and does not intend to hurt or harm anyone’s feeling. With that said, I hope you enjoy Phoenix and Kai’s story.
Happy reading…
BLURB
Brought together by passion;
Separated by destiny
She’s his muse.
His love.
His inspiration.
And he refuses to let her go.
For nearly two years, Kai Eastwood has watched Phoenix Banks lost in a state of coma.
Singing the songs they wrote.
Remembering the moments they spent together.
Missing the kisses they shared.
Holding hope.
But how long can hope be held when, with each new day, Phoenix slips farther away?
Maybe this time
When the music fades,
And the silence invades,
Their song will begin.
PART I
CHAPTER 1
PHOENIX, 21 YEARS OLD
2 years ago
“I need to leave,” I whisper, grazing my fingers over Kai’s cheeks.
“Don’t.”
A smile touches my lips—the kind of smile which is soft and makes me close my eyes to shut the world out. I drop a light kiss on his lips and stay there, lingering in his breath. His hands continue to leave a warm trail on my body as I open my eyes and touch my nose to his.
“I need to go.”
Kai makes a sound at the back of his throat. He places a kiss on my nose, and I roll on the bed until I’m on my feet. Spotting my shirt on Kai’s light shade, I yank it from there and slip it on.
“I’ll dance for you. Stay,” Kai says. I chuckle but keep dressing.
Lying on the bed, and dressed in only his sweatpants, Kai looks devilishly handsome. While I’d argue that his chestnut brown hair needs a cut, I always need an extra breath when he swipes the messy strands shielding his haunting gray eyes—the same ones that are fixed on me right now as he scratches that light stubble on his square jaw. This man gives a new definition to sexiness. I bet if I take a picture of him and post it on my Instagram, it’ll hit a million hearts.
“As tempting as it is, I’m not going to stay.” I sit on the bed to tie my shoelaces. The sheets shuffle, and warm hands wrap around my waist as his scruffy chin drops on my shoulder.
“Why?” he asks, teasing the sensitive skin where my neck meets my shoulder. It tickles.
I ruffle his hair. “Get your own place first, and then I’ll stay.” One last knot and I finish with the laces.
Kai and I have been together for four years, and every day, every hour, every minute, and every second with him makes my life feel in bloom. However, Kai still lives with his parents, and I don’t like staying overnight when they are home—the walls are thin, which leads to awkward mornings.
He grazes his lips softly on my shoulder, and lets go of my waist. I stand, grabbing my bag and car keys.
“Wait. Let me walk you to the door.” He gets out of the bed and slips a T-shirt over his head.
We descend the stairs with Kai’s arms around my waist. “Goodnight, Mr. and Mrs. Eastwood,” I say as we pass Kai’s parents in the living room.
“Good night, Phoenix,” Kai’s father replies. His mother smiles. I don’t fall on her list of favorites. When she thinks I’m not watching, she looks at me under knitted brows with her lips pressed into a slight grimace, like I’m a bad influence on her son. Not that I have done anything wrong (as far as I remember).
I turn the doorknob and open the door. “Bye,” I whisper, placing a hand on Kai’s cheek, but he catches my hand before I have a chance to pull it back.
“I can’t let go.”
“This is not letting go. It’s just saying goodbye for a brief moment.”
“I can’t do that either.”
I chuckle. He pulls me by the wrist, his thumb brushing the tattoo I have there. “I’m a song ...” he whispers as he leans down.
“And you’re my lyrics,” I complete before touching his lips.
The world stops.
Before I get lost in the kiss, he breaks it, leaving me breathless. My eyes slowly open as he lays a parting kiss on my forehead. With his hand in mine, I step out and turn to close the door behind me. The lost puppy look on Kai’s face makes me giggle, but I push the door, slipping my hand from his and maintaining his stare until the door closes.
I don’t think his kisses will ever have a lesser effect on me.
Once my ass is on the seat, I throw my bag in the backseat and my phone on the seat next to me. With a last look at Kai’s house, I speed home.
“Last Kiss” by Pearl Jam fills the car as I switch on the radio. I sing along, the lyrics rousing images of the kiss I had just shared with Kai. It was too short a kiss, but it still left me dazed.
One minute into the song and my phone chimes with a message. It’s from Kai. My eyes take a last look at the road before I unlock the screen to read the message.
Kai: U left ur guitar @ my place.
Damn! There’s no way I’m going back now, so I’ll need to pick it up tomorrow at college. I’m about to type a response when I hear a loud horn, accompanied by bright lights coming toward me. The hairs on my arms stand on end, and fear smears my tongue. Everything moves at once—fast.
No!
Fear courses through my body as the whirlwind around me slows down. Too slow … I know I need to move. I need to shield myself. I need to turn the car. But I freeze. And everything stops.
CHAPTER 2
KAI
Present
It’s Saturday.
Saturday means Phoenix.
I’m hurrying to get dressed when my phone buzzes. I groan, contemplating ignoring the call, but I know I can’t do that because, unlike other twenty-four-year-olds, I have a manager, Stewart, who’s a pain in my celebrity ass, and ignoring his call is never a good idea. I take a calm breath and answer, putting the call on speaker.
“Good morning,” he greets.
“It was a good morning before you called,” I joke.
Stewart chuckles. “I called to let you know that the money is in your account now. Jackson is thrilled with the tour.”
Stewart has said these same words hundreds of times, and each time it feels good. During high school, Greg, my stepbrother, decided to create a band. Brian, Virginia, and I jumped in, excited by the idea, and now, six years later, we’re like celebrities—idols for people who love music. We are on T-shirts, on coffee mugs, on the news, on the billboards, on people’s lips and in their hearts.
“Thanks, man,” I reply.
“Anytime.”
“Listen, I don’t want to sound like an ass, but I really need to go,” I say, rubbing the tattoo on my wrist—I’m a song. You’re my lyrics. It’s like I’m touching her memory.
“Yeah, cool. Later.” The call disconnects.
I remove the towel from my waist and slip on my usual jeans and T-shirt. After a quick check in the mirror, I grab my bag—it’s old and faded now, but what it contains is more precious than any other thing in this room—Phoenix’s diary. I sling the guitar on my shoulder and run my fingers over the bag before I leave.
•••
Kelly greets me as I open the door. “Hello, Kai, how are you this morning?”
“I’m fine,” I reply, hugging her. Even though Kelly is staff, she’s been a good friend these past two years. She’s been there whenever I’ve needed a shoulder to cry on, and I’ll always be thankful for that. After the hellos and telling me about the progress report, she leaves the room, closing the door behind her.
“Hi, babes,” I whisper softly, even though I know Phoenix can’t hear me. She doesn’t move, speak, or open her eyes. What she does is breathe—that’s all.
She has been in a coma for nearly two years now.
Phoenix was about 150 pounds before the accident. She had rounded cheeks with a slight double chin, but now she’s half that size with high cheekbones. In addition to the weight loss, there are white and pink marks scattered over her upper cheeks, her forehead, her neck, and her jaw—nasty scars caused by the shattered glass during her accident.
I hope when she wakes up, this is the only thing that’s changed.
I remove my shoes and socks and get in the bed with her, taking my place carefully so as not to disturb any tubes or wires connected to her. “Missed me?” A smile touches my lips as I notice Phoenix’s scarlet-colored nails with golden stars on them—Madison, Phoenix’s sister, was here. I bring her hand to my lips and drop a kiss there. Phoenix used to tell me that she could feel each kiss, no matter how soft, to her very core.
“Well, I’ve missed you. Always do.” I caress the scars on her cheek. “So first, let me tell you that the tour was amazing. It was a hit, and if you had been there, you’d have loved it.” I smile at my own words and open the tattered bag I brought.
With the diary in hand, I close my eyes and flip the pages. I never read the events in order. I always close my eyes and flip the pages randomly, and whichever page it opens to is the bit I read because I like to think that Phoenix is choosing it for me.
I open my eyes. “So today we’re re-living the day I made cookies for you.” An immediate smile graces my lips. “I loved that day.”
COOKIES AND A KISS
PHOENIX, 17 years old
26 April 2014
As much as I loved classic novels, our English teacher had this way of making me hate it. The man did everything in slow motion—even blinking his eyes. And reading a classic novel slowly in a monotonous voice was torture.
I was dying of boredom.
I adjusted my glasses on the bridge of my nose and bent my neck to let the glasses slip down. I was bored. I looked up and placed the glasses back. Still bored. I let them slip down and adjusted them again.
My eyes followed the minute hand of my watch as it ticked.
Tick …
Tock.
Tick …
Tock.
The bell finally rang, and everyone barged out of the class. By the time the bell stopped, the class was already half empty. I stuffed my things into the bag and got out of there.
I heard Sydney’s whiny voice as I rounded the corner of the hallway. “Oh c’mon …” I did a full 180 eye roll as I stopped behind the blonde-haired girl. She was wearing the shortest skirt, and she was using her index finger to probably draw her missing brain on Kai’s chest.
Kai combed his fingers through his hair and lifted his head to see me behind Sydney, slit-eyed and throwing daggers at her back—in other words, murder was written on my face. He cleared his throat.
“Eh … I don’t think that’ll be possible. I have plans tonight with the band.” He gently removed Sydney’s hand from his chest and acknowledged my presence, “Hi, babe.”
“Hi.” I walked next to Kai, pasting the brightest smile on my face until I came face-to-face with Sydney. As expected, and to my utmost pleasure, Sydney was now sporting the same constipated look Edward had throughout the Twilight movie. She slowly scrolled her eyes over my body, then flipped her straightened hair back, and walked away.
“I can’t believe you still talk to her,” I huffed.
“You know I can’t be rude to her. One day Sydney is going to be a changed person, and she’ll regret her behavior.”
Honestly, I didn’t think that Sydney was the kind who was going to change—I had a feeling she’d just grow worse.
“Let’s forget about her. You want to come to my place?” Kai asked. He took my hand in his, and we walked toward the parking lot.
“I’m not sure. I’m damn tired,” I said, giving him an apologetic smile. All I wanted to do was throw my body on the bed and just lie there.
Kai stopped to face me. “I promise I’ll make it worth your time.”
My lips tugged upwards. “What’s on your mind?” I asked but kept on walking.
This time he threw his arm over my shoulders. “I’ll make you cookies. From scratch.”
I stopped, and my gaze slowly moved toward him. “You? You’re going to bake cookies? From scratch?”
“Well, it’s the least I can do for my girlfriend.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Will you be naked?” If you asked me what was more tempting, the bed or Kai in the kitchen making me those cookies in nothing but an apron while his cute ass hung out, I’d be crazy to say bed.
He laughed and fixed those gray eyes on me. “My parents will be home soon, so I can’t let them find me in my birthday suit.”
“Meh,” I pouted, “then I’m not interested.” I continued to walk toward his car.
Kai came in front of me and started walking backward. “Oh, come on,” he persisted.
I made a show of blowing at my manicured nails and purred, “Sweeten the deal.”
His shirt? Not what I had in mind, but it’ll do. “Deal.”
Once at his place, I tossed my bag on his couch and sauntered to the kitchen with Kai behind me.
“When’s your mom coming home?” Kai’s mom wasn’t my greatest fan, and I always felt uncomfortable around her.
“We’ve got a few hours.”
I spun around to face him. “You promised me some nakedness, mister.” I pointed a finger at Kai’s T-shirt.
“Come and take it off,” he said, leaning his back on the wall.
As tempting as that may have sounded, I wasn’t doing it. If I touched him, I’d seriously jump on him, and let’s say that the end result wouldn’t have been cookies in the oven.
I shook my head. “Not touching you.”
“Scared you might not be able to resist what lies underneath?” Kai asked.
It’s been seven months since Kai and I started dating, and last month we talked about having sex. Since we’re both virgins, we decided not to rush things and gave ourselves three more months before actually doing the deed, but ever since we talked about it, the sexual tension had increased, and the waiting was all the more difficult.
“Don’t tempt me,” I cautioned, pulling out a chair and gluing my ass there so that I didn’t jump on Kai and rip his T-shirt off.
He chuckled and took the edges of his shirt between his fingers. His biceps curved as his hands moved the T-shirt higher up his abdomen. My gaze melted over the exposed skin as he peeled the T-shirt off. Enticing me further, the collar of the T-shirt got stuck behind his left ear, and he yanked it off, messing up his hair—my poor jaw met the floor. I released a long breath I wasn’t aware I was holding and relaxed my grip on the table.
“Enjoy the show?” he asked but didn’t wait for my response before turning around to preheat the oven.
Hell yeah, I enjoyed the show. “Uh-huh …” I tried to mumble with my dry throat and jaw still on the floor.
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