(no subject)
On Sunday afternoon, Bekki gets her mom to drive her and Carley over to the hospital - again - and they make their way up to Gemma's room. Bekki and her mom are lugging her trusty electric keyboard. They spent most of yesterday reading to Gemma, who's still drugged up enough that it's hard for her to focus on that sort of thing; today, they've got it in their minds to sing.
Gemma laughs a tired, hazy laugh as Bekki plugs in her keyboard, smiles lazily as she and Carley break into renditions of all of Gemma's favorite songs, all of the slightly girly, adorable things she loves: "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles, "Birds" by Kate Nash, "The Fear" by Lily Allen, "Fidelity" by Regina Spektor. They sing her old Beatles songs, songs from Wicked and Rent in perfect harmony, pop hits from the 1980s, anything they can think of.
They even break out singing the piece they've been working on for the school talent show, "My Junk" from Spring Awakening; as they do when not everyone from the group is present, Bekki takes on Martha's line in addition to Ilse's harmonies, and Carley sings Thea's lines and Wendla's, too. Gemma blearily interrupts, meaning to sing Anna's part like she always does - her voice comes out broken, cracked, soft; Bekki jumps in to help, but it doesn't seem to be any use.
Gemma frowns, a tear falling down her slightly bruised cheek, and Bekki and Carley stop singing immediately.
"You should... keep singin' without me," Gemma murmurs. "S'not gonna sound good f'I try..."
"Gems, no," Carley says. "You've just, you haven't been singing, it's fine, it's probably just the drugs."
"Keep singin' without me," Gemma repeats. "I was stupid to try. I'm all broken."
"It's never stupid to hope," Bekki says quietly. "And you won't be broken forever. You'll be better soon."
"Maybe," Gemma sighs, her eyes drifting. "Maybe not."
They don't sing anymore that day, though.
Gemma laughs a tired, hazy laugh as Bekki plugs in her keyboard, smiles lazily as she and Carley break into renditions of all of Gemma's favorite songs, all of the slightly girly, adorable things she loves: "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles, "Birds" by Kate Nash, "The Fear" by Lily Allen, "Fidelity" by Regina Spektor. They sing her old Beatles songs, songs from Wicked and Rent in perfect harmony, pop hits from the 1980s, anything they can think of.
They even break out singing the piece they've been working on for the school talent show, "My Junk" from Spring Awakening; as they do when not everyone from the group is present, Bekki takes on Martha's line in addition to Ilse's harmonies, and Carley sings Thea's lines and Wendla's, too. Gemma blearily interrupts, meaning to sing Anna's part like she always does - her voice comes out broken, cracked, soft; Bekki jumps in to help, but it doesn't seem to be any use.
Gemma frowns, a tear falling down her slightly bruised cheek, and Bekki and Carley stop singing immediately.
"You should... keep singin' without me," Gemma murmurs. "S'not gonna sound good f'I try..."
"Gems, no," Carley says. "You've just, you haven't been singing, it's fine, it's probably just the drugs."
"Keep singin' without me," Gemma repeats. "I was stupid to try. I'm all broken."
"It's never stupid to hope," Bekki says quietly. "And you won't be broken forever. You'll be better soon."
"Maybe," Gemma sighs, her eyes drifting. "Maybe not."
They don't sing anymore that day, though.