Shhh..

Post-lingually Acquired?

Doctor Scobey, his assistant Miss Peters, Matthew, an his mother were all in a different room than the first and the test taking room.

They were in a lilac painted room, with ear-informational posters stuck to the wall.

"Take a seat, Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins." Dr. Scobey instructed. They found chairs and sat in them as Dr. Scobey and Miss Peters sat down as well.

Matthew put his own headphones on to mute them out more than they already were.

"What your son has here is hereditary hearing loss, and in this situation it's called 'Post-lingually Acquired'." began Dr. Scobey.

"What's that mean?"

"It's fancy talk for 'A hereditary disability that happens after a person has learned to talk'." Finished Miss Peters.

"Is it common?" Mrs. Hawkins asked.

"Well, lets start at the beginning. 1 in 500 babies are born deaf. Sometimes it's genetic, sometimes non-genetic, or even a combination of the two. When it's non-genetic it can be infection that started when in the womb. But other than those two explanations, the cause is completely unknown." he answered.

"Scientists are still researching the topic. But they have found that while some babies are born deaf, others become deaf later in life, most of the time they already know how to speak English. When they are born deaf it's called 'pre-lingual' but when they lose their hearing later on, its called 'post-lingual'. But either way, becoming deaf at all is called 'Acquired' or even 'Congenital." Miss Peters informed.

"Hence the name 'Post-lingually Acquired'?" she asked.

"Yes." the doctor and his assistant assured.

"So... what should we do?" she said anxiously looking at Matthew. Miss Peters handed her a thick magazine.

"Here, this should answer most of you questions. But don't hesitate to call us if your question isn't stated or the answer isn't understood." She said, and then handed her a card with the clinic's number and address on it.

"Thank you."

Later Matthew and his mom were in that car, driving home.

"Matt, hunny. You should read the magazine, I'll bet you're just as confused and dumbfounded as I am."

She tried to speak to him in a louder tone so he could hear, but it felt strange. Like he was yelling at him for doing something wrong, when he wasn't.

Matt scoffed.

Silence.

...

...

"Why did this have to happen to me?" Matt said.

"I don't know, Matt." his mom sighed

"My life was perfect. Was. Everything's gonna change now." He huffed.

"We'll do whatever it takes, Matt."

"By 'we' you mean 'you and me'."

".... Yes." she finally answered. "But, why don't you read the magazine?"

"It's more like a novel than a magazine." he said picking it up.

"Yes, it is a lot. But we do have a bit of a drive until we get home. So I want you to read it."

He scoffed and tossed the it aside, which landed at his feet.

He lowered the back of the chair, put his headphones on, and closed his eyes.

A million thoughts went through his head.

"What am I gonna do?"

"How can I explain this to my friends?"

"What about school?"

"What about Football?"

He scared himself at his next thought.

"What about Clara?"

Clara was his girlfriend. He was stubborn when it came to other people. But when it came to her, he was wrapped around her thin, little finger.

They had been together for a whole year.

She asked him out after homeroom one day via paper note. All it said was. "Hey, Matt. Wanna go out?" and then there was two check boxes, yes and no.

He thought about it, and then 'asked' his team by bragging to them how he had gotten asked out by Clara Thompson.

"No way! THE Clara?!"

"Dude!"

"Take her, she's hot!"

"If you don't want her, I'll have her!"

"I wanna piece of that action!"

After hearing all the praise, he finally said "No way, guys. She's mine now."

They all slapped him on the back or gave him a high five that evolved into a hug.

The next day in homeroom he sent her the note back, with the 'yes' box X'ed out. After class they walked out they were holding hands.

He found it difficult to have a balance of robust manly-ness around the guys and then his more delicate side with her, but he eventually found it.

The reason he was worried about it was because she likes the fact that her boyfriend is the star football player.

With his deafness coming into play in his life, she would drop him right on the spot.

If people could hear the relationship between him and his girlfriend, him being a sap and her being the tough one, people would be telling him that it' all backwards.

"She sounds selfish and heartless." he could hear them say.

"She isn't always that way." he would've responded to them. "I love her."

"Maybe I should read the magazine." He thought to himself. "But when moms not looking, I would look weak if I did what she told me to do. As for all the questions, I'll just keep it all quite for now." He closed his eyes and drifted into a silent sleep.