Nakyra
“Are you sure you are okay?” Summer signed. Her eyes bounced around my face with concern written all on her face. While I appreciated the fact that she was worried about me, I hated that she felt the need to. Our whole lives she’d looked out for me, but there were times when I hated that she still saw me as the kid who felt alone, craving love and attention from her parents.
“I am. It is just an ear infection. I am used to it; stop worrying.”Every so often, when I got sick, it caused my ears to bother me more than normal. I was prone to ear infections and they typically passed within a few days with proper treatment. Since my ears were bothering me I chose to not wear my aids today, to give them some relief. “I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow. She will give me some drops to clear everything up.”
“Do you need me to come with you?”Rolling my eyes, I grabbed the lemon cupcake off the table. We were at Sugar Bliss; she had just gotten off from her morning shift. Bella was with me today since I wasn’t wearing my aids. We were ducked off in a corner at one of the tables near the large front window. I hated bringing her into food places, but I had no other choice today.
“No, I am a big girl.”
“I know that, but you know the last time you went to see your doctor what she said.”Tomorrow, I had an appointment with my otolaryngologist. She was good at her job and I had been a patient of hers for years. Last time I saw her she was worried about my right ear possibly growing worse. I had been swamped with commissions and let an earache go untreated for too long, not thinking of the consequences. That was over a year ago and I hadn’t had any more issues since that appointment.
“I will keep you updated, Summer. Do not worry.”
An apologetic smile formed on her face. “I’m sorry. I just hate that things cannot be easy for you.”
I shook my head.“No need to be sorry. I love you and I know that you worry because you care.”
She spoke. “I do.”
Between signing and lip reading, I was good at communication when my ears failed me. I did worry sometimes that my hearing could get worse, and my aids would no longer be effective, but that was something I didn’t like to think about too much.
“Okay… since we have that out the way. Update me on your life. What is going on? You went on a date, right?”She ended up connecting with one of the guys in Dylan’s crew when we went back to Bank Shot after the races. The two were ducked off for the majority of the night.
I read her lips. “It was nice. We went bowling, grabbed something to eat, and then hung out at one of the bars on The Shore.”
“Do you like him?”
She nodded. “I think so.”
I grinned. “Good.”
Since Summer was still fresh off a breakup, I knew she probably wasn’t looking for anything serious, but it didn’t hurtfor her to hang out here and there. Summer was a serial dater anyway, until she found someone she was genuinely into.
“What about you? How are you and C-R-E-E-D?”
My heart skipped at the mention of his name. He’d been gone for six days and told me he would have to be gone a couple days longer than expected. I had been anticipating him coming back. I hated being home alone all the time and sleeping alone wasn’t great either. Rome wasn’t a cuddler. I’d learned early to stay on my side because he claimed he got too hot overnight. Creed was the opposite; he didn’t care if I clung to him or about my neediness. I didn’t even mean to do it but after our first night, he pulled me into him, and following that, my body naturally fell in line. We talked on the phone every day and FaceTimed every night, but it wasn’t the same.
“Great. I am scared that I am moving too fast, but I cannot slow down.”
“And you should not. He seems to really like you.”
I sank my teeth into my bottom lip, biting back a smile. “I need to break things off with R-O-M-E. I have not even thought about him or the hospital recently. Does that make me a bad person?”
Summer shook her head. “No, of course not. You are human. Humans need affection and real love. C-R-E-E-D gives you what R-O-M-E did not. It is natural that you fell for it.”
I sighed and tapped my fingers along the table. Summer was right; I knew it. Rome neglected my emotions; he wasn’t huge on physical contact. The longer we were together, the more he made that known. When we first got together, he was completely different. He was caring, charismatic, charming, and loving. Looking back now, I realized the longer we were together, those qualities started to fade away. I didn’t see it then, but now I did. I felt foolish for ignoring it all.
It had been three months that Rome had been in a coma, and almost a month and half since I had last seen him. Maybe I needed to try the hospital again to get an update. The wedding was still in play, but after all that’d happened I knew I needed to cancel it sooner rather than later. I hadn’t seen Dedra since that day at her office and wasn’t in a hurry to either. So many things were happening all at once. It felt like my life was in a whirlwind and I had no idea where it would end up, but I was sure a life jacket would be thrown at me soon.
____
I was in bed, asleep with the covers over my head, head throbbing, ears ringing, and wishing my body would magically heal itself. The lights were off and I had gotten black out curtains because the pain in my ear had traveled to my full face. For the past three days I had been bedridden. My ear infections turned out to be worse than I thought. Four days ago I saw my doctor and she was concerned. It didn’t help that my sinuses were draining as well, which caused even more pressure in my ears. My right ear was also red, swollen, and tender to the touch. I had to follow up with my audiologist now since it seemed my hearing in my right ear was at risk.
My eyes fluttered open when a hand began stroking my hair.
Turning and glancing up I was shocked to see Creed sitting on the edge of my bed. He was talking, but I was still half asleep and my aids weren’t in. It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the darkened room.
“Light,” I whispered, or hoped I did.
