Chapter 16

~Racetrack's POV~

"Racer!" Albert yelled. "You gonna marry Cass?"

"We'll see!" I laughed, flicking the cigar out of my mouth. JoJo was going to say something when an unrecognizable sound erupted from down the street. My heart dropped when I saw a blonde girl in a purple flannel and gray skirt standing outside of a building. That building let out a powerful gust of air, fire, and smoke. The blonde girl was thrown back, basket leaving her grip. 

"Cass!" I shouted, taking off to the Laundry Mat. I didn't hear the others follow suit, but I know they were right on my heels. The sun was glaring off the shattered windows. Cass hadn't gotten up from where she landed. Unwilling tears flooded my eyes when I entered the massive plume of smoke and dust. I could barely see her, a splotch of dark purple in the gray, red and black. 

~Clara's POV~

I couldn't hear anything after that. I barely felt my body crash to the floor. The instant my head thudded to the floor, I blacked out. Well, I didn't pass out. I kind of stopped being aware of everything. I couldn't hear anything, rather a very high-pitched squeal in both my ears. I saw a foggy Racetrack lean over me, shouting in my face. His eyes were watery. I thought I said something in response, like 'I'm okay' or 'help Dolly'. He didn't seem to hear me, instead he lifted me up and scrambled out of the plume. The scream in my ear still hadn't ceased, and the sun was absolutely blinding. He put me down on the sidewalk.

He appeared to be yelling; I couldn't hear it. I tried to voice it, and his face fell. He mouthed something like:

 Can you hear me? I tried again at saying that I couldn't. More of the boys crowded around me with panicked expressions. 

~Racetrack's POV~

"Cass!" I prodded her, terror flushing my cheeks. "Are you okay?"

"Ican'thearyou." She mumbled, blue eyes searching my face.

"Can you hear me?" I asked slowly, trying not to convey any fear. The boys joined me, asking what was going on.

"I can't hear you." Cass repeated, words slurred and voice thick. I fell on my bum as a man shoved through us.

"What happened?" He demanded, prying open a first aid kit. He stuck a tool into her ear and peered into it. 

"I don't know!" I snapped.

"Yeah, we gotta get her to a hospital." He decided, making a move to pick her up. I pushed him aside and picked her up. The hospital was very close, so I ran.

"Racetrack!" Dawn's brown eyes widened. "And... Clara. What happened?"

Doctors rushed out and I laid her on a stretcher. Panic was painted all over her face as they wheeled her away. I tried to follow, but was met with a doctor.

"You can't go with her!" He told me, stopping my path. I tried to shove past him, but he put his hands on my shoulders and sat me down. The others sat down around me, biting their nails and rubbing their necks nervously.

~Clara's POV~

I saw Race try to fight his way past a doctor, who sat him down at the same lobby chair I was in when he got shot. I was surrounded by doctors as they did totally random tests on me. More things were shoved into my ears. They looked to be shouting things at each other, but I couldn't hear them over the ringing.

Eventually, they all sat back and started speaking. And I couldn't hear them.

~Dr. Larren's POV~

We looked for any injuries, anywhere, but couldn't find anything bigger than a scratch. Her eyes flicked between us the entire time. 

"There's nothing wrong with you." I told her, ordering all the other doctors to step back. 

"Can she hear us?" Dr. Greene in the corner asked suddenly. Heads turned towards him. I took the tool back out to have another look at her ears.

"Damnit." I breathed, retracting the tool. "Her ear drum is collapsed." Then I handed the tool off to Dr. Kraw, who was on the other side of her head. Her blue eyes were still searching the room wildly. Kraw had a look at her other ear and shook his head.

"So she can't hear us." Greene concluded.

"Well, not all these cases end the way you guys are thinking." Dr. Quinn reasoned.

"Just mostly." I said bitterly. 

"Let's just wait a few days and see." Quinn decided. We all nodded in agreement.

"Does anyone know her name?" Kraw asked, looking around.

"Her name is Clara, but her friends call her Cass." Greene piped up. "I had to deal with her when that kid got shot a couple months ago."

Clara was wheeled away to a room, me on her tail with a notepad and pen.

~Clara's POV~ 

They parked the stretcher in a room, where I was assisted in carefully getting off and sitting in a bed. One of the doctors sat in front of me, notepad at hand. He scrawled out some words and showed me.

My name is Dr. Larren. Your friends brought you from a situation. We've had a look, and it looks like both your eardrums have collapsed. You can write on the paper or talk

I read over it hastily and held my hand out for the paper. He gave it to me and I wrote.

What does that mean?

This was his response:

It means that you can't hear anything. But you knew that. The thing is, we aren't sure if it's permanent or just temporary. We plan on keeping you here for a few days to see.

Me:

So you're telling me that I might be deaf?

Instead of writing a response, Larren nodded sadly. I wrote another thing on the paper.

Can my friends come in?

He nodded again and left. When he came back, he had my friends in tow. Crutchie and Jack had joined them. Horror was frozen on my brother's face as Dr. Larren explained it to them. 

~Crutchie's POV~

"She's suffering from a retracted eardrum." The doctor said simply.

"What's that mean?" Jack demanded.

"She can't hear." He elaborated. "We plan on keeping her here to ensure that it's not permanent."

"How d'ya stop it from bein' permanent?" I asked, eyes on my sister. She was staring at the floor.

"We don't." The doctor sighed. Words of shock sounded from the Newsies. Not all of us were here, just me, Jack, Racetrack, JoJo, Albert, and Finch. "We just need to monitor her."

"So..." I trailed off.

"You'se sayin' Cass might be deaf?" Jack asked the doctor.

"We don't know."

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