The Ivory Keys

He sat back straight, head bowed, his hands on the ivory piano keys. Motionless.
Forever motionless now. Forever voiceless.
A single tear fell onto the keys as he withdrew his hands, no notes played.
Bandaged as they were he'd only create noise instead of music.
Unbandaged....it would be the same.

He exhaled in a shaky breath. With time, the doctors said he'd regain some use of his hands.
Some.
Not all.
It had already been too long, with too little progress.
Reluctantly, he slid from the piano bench, standing.
Shattered dreams. That's what he had left.

"Do you hate him?"
He whirled around, eyes searching the darkened piano hall. "Who's there?" He called out. Why would anyone be here at night? Let alone a woman?
"Do you hate him?" she repeated, her voice coming from a different direction. "The one who broke your hands?" She continued as he turned again to the source of her voice.
"It...was an accident." he said slowly, holding his injured hands close to his chest. "My own fault...." He couldn't just let the boy die. If he'd been faster....they both could have gotten out uninjured.
"You have yet to answer my question though, Jack. Do you hate him?"
Again, the voice from a different direction. He frowned. "No, alright. I don't hate the boy. Why do you want to know so badly?"
"Because I don't help people with hatred in their hearts. It never ends well."
"I don't need help." He retorted under his breath. "I can do just fine on my own."
"You give up on your dreams that quickly, Jack? What if I was offering to fix your hands? So you could play once more."
Jack frowned. "The doctors said."
"I'm not a doctor, I work....differently."
"I'm not a fool to trust in mystic cures--"
Her laughter echoed unnaturally through the hall. "Not desperate for help are you?"
"I'm aware of my circumstances, that's all." He said looking down at his hands. "Of course I'd love to play again, piano has been my life. But if I have to give it up in order to save another. I'd call it a fair trade."

-Inspiration from watching an Episode of Detective Conan, where a talented pianist ends up getting his hands injured.