"Well, color me impressed. You are really good at your job," Patrick said to Winona once the soundcheck had finished. Winona shrugged, but still smiled at the compliment. She had been doing this for five years, but she still wasn't used to getting compliments like that from musicians. She still wasn't used to being on the stage and listening to the crowd cheer and sing along to whatever musician was playing at the time. She did sometimes feel bad that the deafies she interpreted for couldn't hear it, but she knew they could feel the electricity and excitement of the arena, and that was what really mattered.
Thank you. After a time or two doing it, you figure things out. Now, she still wasn't a big fan of having to use the tablet every time she wanted to speak, but she had to communicate somehow. Most people she spoke with didn't know sign language, so the tablet was their only way of speaking. So she had to use the damn tablet.
"I'll be honest, watching you sign over there is actually one of the coolest things I've ever seen," Pete said, and Winona smiled, making the sign for "thank you". She wondered if they'd pick up on that.
"Wait, wait, hold on, I know that sign! It means 'thank you', right?" Andy asked, and Winona nodded, giving him a thumbs up. Well, at least one of them possibly knew some basic signs. But, then again, pretty much everyone she came across knew the sign for "thank you", so maybe she shouldn't get too excited about it.
So, yeah, soundcheck was fun. But I'm sure you've got more pre-concert stuff you've got to do, and I have to go check on something, so I'll meet back up with you guys before the concert, yeah?
"Yeah, no, that sounds good! Just meet us backstage an hour or so before the show starts. We'll find you if we need anything before then," Patrick said, and Winona nodded. Each of the men said their see-you-laters to her, and she smiled at them, before walking off in search of somewhere that would be quiet. She needed a quiet place for what she needed to do. She pulled out her phone and saw she had about five minutes before she was expected. Unfortunately, she only looked at the time and didn't notice the text message waiting for her.
Finally, she saw what was usually a conference room, and noticed it was empty, so she snuck right in and locked the door. Winona really didn't want to get interrupted while she was doing her thing. That would almost be worse than being late. She folded the tablet's cover into a stand and sat the device down on the table. She couldn't be holding the thing because she needed both hands. She clicked into the FaceTime app, looked at the clock, and waited for two more minutes. And, just like clockwork, the call came in, and Winona accepted the video chat.
"Hi, sweetheart."
"Hi, Mommy." Winona smiled at the little girl on the other end, at her daughter, but then she noticed something that made her smile drop.
"Caroline, why are your eyes all red? Have you been crying?" Winona asked, but Caroline didn't answer. Instead, she just looked down at the table she was sitting at. Winona raised an eyebrow, but Caroline didn't see her questioning look. Winona was going to wait for her to answer, but when Caroline started scratching, she knew she couldn't wait. Winona tapped the table she was sitting at, the noise drawing her little girl's attention away from the scratching and back towards her. "Have you been crying?"
"I had meltdown." Winona sighed and looked at her daughter, saddened that Caroline felt ashamed of something she oftentimes had no control over.
Right from the get-go Winona had known there was something- well, she hated the word, but for lack of a better one- different about her daughter. She didn't cry like other children, and she didn't really care for being held. She was much more content laying on her back and looking up at something that would keep her attention, her favorite being a space-themed mobile. And as she got older, it became much more apparent how much different she was than other kids of the same age.
YOU ARE READING
The Interpreter {ON HOLD}
Fanfiction{Pete Wentz} "Who would have thought that the interpreter from the arena would become a permanent part of our crew?" "Um, you? You were the one that made the suggestion." "Oh. Right." Pete Wentz thought he knew everything that was going to go down w...
