Chapter 253 - 253: An Epiphany

<🎧 Song Recommendation: sick & tired 3 by ilyTOMMY>

...

It took just twenty minutes for the Maybach to pull into the private underground bay of the Hospital for Sick Children

Olivia grabbed a guitar case they had purchased from the trunk while Dan Viking led them toward a private service elevator.

Dan Viking had the tension of a father walking into a place he visited far too often.

They rode the elevator up to the pediatric oncology wing.

The floor was quiet. Outside Room 414, Viking stopped, took a steadying breath, and pushed the door open with a gentle knock.

"Nora? You've got a visitor, sweetheart."

Sitting upright in the bed was a nine-year-old girl with pale skin and large, alert eyes, wearing a light yellow knitted beanie over her head.

An IV stand was at her left. On the small tray table in front of her were scattered crayons and half-finished drawings of cartoon animals.

When she looked past her father and saw Von standing in the doorway, her eyes widened.

"Daddy...?" she whispered, freezing with a yellow crayon held mid-air. "Is that..."

Von took off his sunglasses, hooked them into the collar of his turtleneck, and stepped into the room with a warm smile.

"Hey, Nora," Von said, pulling a light plastic chair over to the side of the bed. "I heard you were running this whole floor, so I figured I had to stop by and introduce myself."

Nora dropped the crayon and clapped both hands over her mouth, letting out a small, breathless gasp. "You're... you're really Von Varley!"

"In the flesh," Von said, taking a seat. "Though I look a little less shiny than on TV."

That pulled a genuine laugh out of her.

For the next ten minutes, Von asked about her drawings, learned that her favorite color was lavender, and joked with her about how bad hospital gelatin tasted.

Von knew a lot about being sick, he had lived through that before getting a second chance at life.

He pulled out his phone and showed her a few hilarious clips of Max falling over during dance rehearsals, which had her giggling so hard she had to hold her sides.

Olivia quietly unzipped the soft gig bag she was carrying and handed the acoustic guitar to Von.

Nora's eyes locked onto the instrument. "Are you going to sing?"

"If that's alright with the boss," Von smiled. He gently rested the guitar against his knee and adjusted the tuning pegs.

"I wrote this song for someone really special who was fighting a tough battle, just like you. Your father told me it's your favorite."

Nora pulled the blankets up to her chest, resting her chin on the edge and nodding eagerly.

Von set his fingers to the strings, plucking a soft, melodic progression that filled the quiet hospital room with deep, soothing warmth.

🎸♪

Why do bad things happen to the best of us

It seems like they should be blessed

They just might be angels here as guests

Teaching us to be our best...

🎸♪

Von made his voice really soft and genuine as he sang the lyrics, meanwhile, Nora watched him without blinking, a quiet tear was tracing a path down her cheek before a broad, bright smile broke across her face.

Dan Viking stood in the corner near the window with his arms folded across his chest, staring at the floor with glistening eyes.

When the last chord died out, Nora clapped her small hands together as hard as she could.

"That was pretty," she beamed softly. "It's also better than the radio."

"That's high praise," Von chuckled.

He stayed with her for another fifteen minutes, sketching a quick doodle on the back of her drawing pad, signing her notebook, and handing her over his bracelet. The bracelet was quite special because it contained his tour guitar pick, and telling Nora that made her really awed.

By the time they stood to leave, the medicine and exhaustion were catching up with her, and she was already drifting off under the covers.

Out in the corridor, the door clicked shut behind them.

Dan Viking stood still for a moment before turning around. He wiped the corner of his eyes with the back of his hand, clearing his throat as he reached out and took Von in a firm hug.

"Thank you," Viking said with genuine emotion. "You have no idea what that meant to her. She's been terrified of this upcoming procedure for weeks... and that's the first time I've seen her laugh like that in months."

"She's strong," Von said quietly. "She's going to get through it."

"If you ever need anything, any venue, any date, any terms, you just call me," Viking said firmly. "You have my word."

They said their goodbyes and headed down to the waiting Maybach.

As the car pulled out into the afternoon traffic toward Toronto Pearson Airport, the city's grey towers slid past the tinted windows. Von leaned his head back against the leather seat, staring out into the overcast sky.

The relief in Viking's face and the fragile courage in that hospital room was still heavy in his mind. Having wealth, fame, and millions of followers felt great on paper, but moments like that left a sobering weight in his chest.

And Nora was just one girl, in one room, on one floor, in one hospital, in one city.

Von thought about how many rooms there were out there, with various kinds of people suffering over problems they didn't deserve.

The bitter taste of it stayed at the back of his throat through the journey. But it was also then, just as they got to the airport, something dawned on him. He had an epiphany.

The first was the answer to the block he had been fighting for two days, the one he'd been circling since the flight, and it had been sitting in that hospital room the entire time.

The second was a lot bigger, bigger than anyone could imagine.

Von's eyes slowly widened.

'It could change everything.'