Page 41 of A Good Book

I jumped when Jason touched my arm. Then he turned on the light.

I squinted against the light. His lips moved, but his words were distant and muffled.

“W-what?” I shook my head, tugging and rubbing my ears.

Again, Jason’s lips moved, but the words were nothing more than faint, undecipherable noise.

“I can’t hear,” I said.

He squatted in front of me. I caught remnants of letter sounds, but not full words, and I felt nauseous.

“I can’t hear.” I plugged my nose and blew, like popping my ears at a high elevation, but it didn’t work. Again, I stood and wobbled a little.

He grabbed my arm, and his lips moved.

“What?”

He pressed a finger to his lips. Was I being loud?

Panic set in. What was happening to me?

“Something’s wrong. It’s... I’m…”

Jason helped me sit back on my bed. Then he left the room. A few minutes later, he returned with Chris, our resident assistant.

Chris bent down so our faces were close. He spoke, and maybe he said hospital. I couldn’t tell.

“Hospital. Yes. Get Gabby,” I said. “Get Gabby!” I repeated because I didn’t know if they heard me.

Jason nodded, pulling on a pair of jeans.

My heart pounded. Something was wrong, and I didn’t know if it was my illness, my balance issues, or the panic, but I knew I was on the verge of vomiting, so I dropped to my knees and crawled to the wastepaper basket, expelling what little was in my stomach as a cold sweat covered my brow.

Chris helped me get dressed and looped my arm over his shoulder to assist me to the elevator. By the time we reached the main floor, Gabby and Olivia were waiting by the door with Jason.

Olivia ran up to me, but I pushed past her, reaching for Gabby.

“I can’t hear. I can’t hear. I can’t hear.” I broke down crying in a panic.

Gabby wrapped her arms around me, somehow holding me up with her tiny body. They helped me to Chris’s car, and Gabby sat in the back with me while Olivia jumped into the front passenger seat.

I leaned toward the middle, and Gabby guided my head to her lap, running her fingers through my hair in slow, comforting strokes. Several tears escaped, running along the side of my face to her jean-clad leg.

What the hell was happening?

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

KATE BUSH, “THIS WOMAN’S WORK”

Gabby

As soon asBen was admitted to the hospital, I called his parents. It was a little after two in the morning, and they were both on the line and panicked that I had no more information other than he’d been sick for a week with a sore throat and fever, and he suddenly couldn’t hear.

“Are they on their way?” Olivia asked after I hung up the phone in the waiting room.

“Yeah.” I ran my fingers through my hair with a long sigh. “This is my fault. I should have made him go to the doctor, but …”

“Stop blaming yourself. I checked on him every day. If anyone is to blame, it’s me.”

---