After Forever Read Online Free PDF Page B

per se . You just had a really, really tiny wedding. At the last minute. Without Dad’s knowledge or approval.” She laughed. “That doesn’t sound any better, does it? Look, Cade. Ever’s relationship with Dad isn’t your problem. He doesn’t have to like the fact that you’re her husband—he just has to deal with it.”
    “Yeah, but all that…it’s not exactly the best footing for asking him to help me take a piss, or bring me to the hospital and back every day.”
    Ever ducked her head as we rounded the corner and approached Ever’s room. “We’ll figure it out, okay? I promise.” She thanked the orderly as he parked me beside Ever and set the brake. When he was gone, she pulled up a chair, setting the cello case in the corner. “Hey, Ev. I thought I’d play for you. I’ve been working on Beethoven’s sonata for cello and piano. I’ve got the first two movements down. Andy Minor is doing the piano pieces, and we’re gonna present it together in a few months for the entire department. Andy is fucking sick talented, Ev. For real. He can slay pretty much any piece he wants. He’s got the first four movements already. But you know how I am. I hate memorizing new pieces. Andy is kind of a freak, though. I mean, he’s one of those musical geniuses who can barely remember to tie his shoes or zip his pants most days.”
    I listened to Eden talk, envious of her ability to hold a one-sided conversation as if Ever was responding, as if she was really listening. I couldn’t do that. I never knew what to say, and I felt self-conscious talking to a silent room.
    Eden continued talking as she withdrew her cello from the case, sat down with it, and adjusted the tuning slightly. “Andy is nice, though. He’s polite, and he’s not trying to get in my pants. Although I’m not sure he’s batting for either team. He just doesn’t seem interested, you know? Like, the only thing he thinks of is music. Which is kind of nice after working with Kyle Pinelli for that duet. Remember that? He was such a pig. Thought he was the smoothest fucking thing since greased cake pans. I must have turned him down a million times, and he never quit. I mean, he had that going for him, I’ve gotta say. He was persistent, and no matter how many times I said no, he was always convinced I’d come to my senses and let him fuck me in the studio. I didn’t, I’ll have you know.” She shifted uncomfortably, as if remembering that I was there. “So yeah. I’m gonna play now. I’m not gonna play Beethoven, because it’s not very exciting by itself. I played a piece from the Philip Glass/Wendy Sutter album for Dad earlier. He came to see me. Finally. Only took…well, all of this, for it to happen, though. So, I played that, and now I’ve got another piece from that album in my head. ‘Song IV.’ This one is for you, sis.”
    She rolled her shoulders, touched the bow to the string, shook her hair away from her face, and then closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and started playing.  
    I’d never sat and listened to anyone play like that before. Classical music simply wasn’t a part of my world, not growing up, and not as an independent adult. I’d heard bits and pieces here and there, of course. I could recognize “Für Elise” and the Fifth Symphony part that everyone knows. But this…it was magical. Her fingers touched the strings gently, her arm drew the bow across in smooth strokes, and somehow, magic was created. The sound was like nothing I’d ever heard before, a deep, almost masculine voice, and the way she played it, the melody, the way the notes rose and fell, it created this rapturous spell over me. I couldn’t not watch her play, couldn’t take my eyes from her face, the way she seemed to be communing with her instrument, leaning into it, caressing sound from it, speaking to it, and it to her, her expression shifting and twisting and moving with the music.
    I didn’t dare even breathe, didn’t dare move for