Chapter Three
After Christine had been home from the hospital for a week, Booth and Brennan realized that they couldn't put off the inevitable for much longer; they had to make an appointment with the audiologist. Brennan and Booth returned to the hospital with Christine to meet with Dr. Jasper a few days after Max had first met Christine. They rode the elevator up to the fifth floor and entered the waiting room of Dr. Jasper's office. While Booth filled out the paperwork, Brennan watched Christine sleeping in her car seat. Cam had been right; it seemed like the only thing Christine did was sleep. She barely cried at all. When Michael was first born, Angela and Hodgins complained of countless sleepless nights and how difficult it was to have a newborn. Brennan and Booth didn't have any problems with Christine. She was the easiest baby anyone could have. Booth felt very lucky, as did Brennan. But at the same time, Brennan was worried that this was just another way that Christine wasn't normal and if it was a sign that something else was wrong with her.
"Mr. and Mrs. Booth?" a nurse said from the door leading to the exam rooms.
"That's us," Booth said as he and Brennan stood up and walked back into the office, carrying Christine with them. The nurse brought them into an office. Dr. Jasper was sitting behind a large mahogany desk.
"It's nice to see you again, Mr. and Mrs. Booth. Please, have a seat," she greeted them.
"Why does everyone always assume we're married?" Brennan asked as they sat down in the two chairs on the other side of Dr. Jasper's desk.
"Maybe because we have a child together, Bones. Now shh."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make an assumption," Dr. Jasper said. "What is your title?"
"Dr. Brennan," Brennan informed her.
"Oh, you're a doctor. What's your specialty?"
"PhD, not MD," Brennan said. "Why does everyone always assume that I'm a medical doctor?"
"It's okay, Bones," Booth said gently. He knew that she was being so sensitive because she was worried about Christine. Her fear and anxiety presented itself as irritation. He didn't want to make her feel worse by snapping at her. He slipped his hand into Brennan's and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"Sorry, Dr. Jasper. Bones is just worrying about Christine," Booth said.
"Bones?" Dr. Jasper said questioningly, her eyebrows raised.
"It's obviously a nickname," Brennan said rather curtly.
"She doesn't know that, Bones, and it's an undeniably strange nickname," Booth said. "Sorry, again. I call her Bones because she's a forensic anthropologist. She works with skeletons and stuff like that."
"The term 'stuff' is inaccurate," Brennan muttered.
"Anyway, Bones tends to get a little irritable when she's anxious," Booth said, trying to put their discussion back on track. "She'll be good, won't you, Bones?"
"I just need to know what our first step is," Brennan said. She suddenly looked quite weary. Booth knew that Christine's deafness had been weighing on her. It was a rare occasion when Brennan didn't have even the slightest clue what to do about something, but whenever she was in one of those situations, it drained her energy.
"Hopefully I can help you with that," Dr. Jasper said, seeing how much Brennan had been thinking about this for the past week. "The first step when an infant is born deaf is trying to uncover possible causes. The most probable cause is genetic factors. Has there been any history of hearing loss on either side of your family?"
"My parents hear perfectly. Always have," Booth said.
"What about you, Dr. Brennan?"
"My father hears just fine. My mother is dead, so I don't know about her," Brennan said. "What are the nongenetic factors?"
"Things that could have gone wrong during the pregnancy can cause hearing loss," Dr. Jasper said. "Did you have any sort of infection while you were pregnant, such as measles or herpes?"
"What? No, none of those," Brennan said.
"She was really healthy while she was pregnant," Booth confirmed.
"Was Christine born premature?"
"No, she was right on time," Booth said.
"Another very probable cause is toxins. Did you happen to consume alcohol or take drugs while you were pregnant?" Dr. Jasper asked.
"Absolutely not," Brennan said firmly.
"Are you diabetic?"
"No," Brennan said with a sigh. She was getting tired of the questions.
"Was there a low birth weight?" Dr. Jasper asked.
"Nope. Nurse said she was healthy as ever," Booth said.
Dr. Jasper shrugged. "Well, there are times when these things just happen."
"But things happen for a reason," Brennan argued. "Every effect has a cause. I want to know the cause of this effect."
"Sometimes there isn't one, Bones," Booth said.
"I've never found an effect that didn't have a cause," Brennan said.
"And I never had a blueberry bagel until I first had one," Booth said. "There are firsts for everything."
"It's not rational," Brennan said. "It doesn't make sense."
"There are some things in this world that can't be explained by science, Bones," Booth said, soothingly running his thumb against the palm of her hand. He turned back to Dr. Jasper. "So, there's no known cause for her deafness. I'm curious, but that doesn't matter so much to me. I just want to know how we can help her."
"Based on the two possible problems with her ears—either the bones or her cochlea—she has sensorineural hearing loss, which is a good thing. We know more about it, so more things can be done," Dr. Jasper told them.
"Our friend, Cam, she's a medical doctor," Booth said. "She mentioned something called a cochlear implant. Would that be an option for Christine?"
Dr. Jasper nodded. "That is one way you could go. It's a difficult route, but if it works, it usually produces good results."
"What would we have to do?" Booth asked.
"First, Christine would have to go through surgery to have the device implanted in her skull," Dr. Jasper began. "After a few weeks, the implants will be activated and she'll be able to hear. But it doesn't stop there. She'll have to go through aural rehabilitation, speech therapy, countless doctor visits. And it's very expensive. The cost can reach up to one hundred thousand dollars after surgery, necessary equipment, and therapy."
"What are our other options?" Booth asked.
"The other option is to learn sign language and raise a child who is unable to hear," Dr. Jasper said. "When she gets older, with lots of practice, Christine can learn to read lips so she'll be able to understand what people are saying to her. It will be an abnormal life. But some people, especially those who are born deaf, like it. They're proud of it. They enjoy being able to be a part of their own community. Hearing people always assume that deaf people are miserable. But a lot of people really like it. A lot of people would never give up being deaf for anything. Christine could be one of those people."
"You've got that look on your face, Bones," Booth said. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking…what she's saying makes sense," Brennan said. "I don't want to put Christine through surgery and hours of therapy afterwards. I want her to fit in somewhere, and she would be able to assimilate into the deaf community. What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking the same thing you're thinking," Booth said. "I think we should go with the sign language route. It won't be easy, but since when have you and I ever backed down from anything because it's going to be hard?"
"Exactly," Brennan agreed.
Booth looked at Dr. Jasper. "Christine could be part of the deaf community, but what about us? Would they accept us even though we're not deaf?"
"The deaf community is very welcoming. I'm sure they would accept you," Dr. Jasper said.
"Do you think we'll be able to raise Christine well even if she's not able to hear?" Brennan asked shyly. Booth was surprised; she was always so confident. But not then.
"I think you two seem like a strong couple that never backs away from a challenge. You'll do just fine," Dr. Jasper assured them. "I can recommend a few sign language classes for you two to take, and when Christine is six months old, you can start teaching her."
"So you think we should start learning sign language now?" Brennan asked.
"Definitely," Dr. Jasper confirmed. "It takes awhile to become proficient in sign language, just like any other language, so you should start as soon as possible."
"I have another question," Brennan said. "Christine doesn't really do anything other than sleep. She barely even cries. Is that abnormal?"
"Not at all, especially for a deaf infant," Dr. Jasper said. "She can sleep a lot because she can't hear any noise to wake her up. As for the lack of crying, you were just lucky enough to have an easy baby."
"I just wanted to make sure," Brennan said. "Is there anything else we could be doing for her right now?"
"Just start learning sign language," Dr. Jasper said. "Learning ASL is going to be one of the most important things you do for her. When she's a little older, you can start thinking about other things like school. For now, you just need to learn to communicate with her. I'll write down the names of a few good organizations who offer classes."
After Dr. Jasper gave them a list of names, Brennan and Booth took Christine home. Booth made a few phone calls to the places Dr. Jasper had recommended while Brennan put Christine in her crib. When Brennan came back downstairs, Booth was just getting off the phone.
"I think I just found a good one, Bones," he said. "We'll have to leave work a little early on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but I think this is the best one." When Brennan didn't respond, Booth became concerned. "Bones? You okay?"
"What if we're making the wrong decision?" she asked quietly. "What if the cochlear implant would be better for her?"
Booth walked over to Brennan. "Bones, let me tell you something I've learned from my experience with Parker."
"What's that?"
"We are going to screw up," Booth said. "We're going to make mistakes. It's in the nature of parenting. We just have to learn from them and do better next time."
"But this isn't like we're giving her bad advice or something," Brennan said. "This is a life-altering decision that she has no input in. What if we're making the wrong choice?"
"Do you think we're doing what's best for Christine?" Booth asked.
"I think, but I don't know."
"I know you don't like this, Bones, but sometimes you just have to go with your gut feeling on things," Booth said.
"But that's not rational," Brennan protested.
"Not everything is rational, Bones. I thought you knew that by now," Booth said.
"I do know that. It's just…hard for me to accept," Brennan said. "The idea that something like this happened for no reason…The Law of Cause and Effect is a basic principle of classical physics. This is almost breaking the laws of physics. I find that…very unsettling."
"Is that all it is, Bones? You're just freaked out about the scientific aspect of this?" Booth asked. Brennan's eyes shifted to the floor. "I know you, Bones. Whenever you get this cool and rational and scientific, that's when I know something's really bothering you."
"Why isn't this bothering you?" Brennan asked. "You don't seem perturbed at all by the fact that our daughter is deaf. Why is that?"
"I don't know if 'bothers' is the right word," Booth said. "It makes me nervous for the future. But I'm also really looking forward to this future. It's not the…ideal situation. But it definitely isn't the worst one."
"I'm not saying that."
"I know you're not. I'm just saying that if you look for them, there are almost as many pros to this situation as there are cons," Booth said. "We're going to get to learn a whole new language. We're going to get to experience a whole different culture. The anthropologist in you must be excited about that."
"My anthropologic side is rather stimulated by that idea," Brennan admitted.
"It'll all work out, Bones. No matter what we decide, Christine is going to make the best of it and live her life to the fullest."
"What makes you think that?" Brennan asked.
"Because that's what you would do."
