Damn, I started reading cuz I heard something about the ending (maybe abrupt, maybe sad, maybe both)— but I’ve gotta say, this is really well written so far.
My only nitpick being that, realistically speaking I doubt he wouldn’t produce a screeching mess out of his mouth, not because he can’t have a great voice, but because if his whole deal is not speaking at all, his throat is really out of practice...so from experience I can say that suddenly speaking after around 12 hours without a single peep leads to really weird sounds.