Chapter Three
Never the Same
Kevin was sitting in the waiting room with Nick on his lap doing his best to keep the six year old busy. He had tried reading to him but after the he stumbled over the same word for the sixth time he gave up and started playing the travel version of connect four with Nick.
"Connect four!" Nick said happily as he connected four for the fourth time in a row.
"Great Nicky," Kevin said with a forced smile as his eyes moved to the clock on the wall, four hours, how much longer were they going to have to wait.
Kevin sighed as he watched Nick yawn, move the game and lay down in his lap, he wasn't old enough to really understand what was going on. Kevin looked over at his parents with worry in is eyes, his parents managed smiles but Kevin saw right through it, they were just as scared as he was maybe more.
Noise down the hallway made Kevin's head shoot in the opposite direction. The doctor was walking towards them rubbing the back of his neck. Luckily the doctor was their family doctor so they didn't have to go through the formalities of meeting.
"Paul," the doctor said as he walked up the family.
Paul stood up followed by Denise, "Jim-how's Joe?"
Jim sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "I'm afraid he has pneumonia Paul, that's why he was having trouble breathing."
"He's going to be okay isn't he?" Kevin asked his voice sounding small.
The doctor turned to Kevin and managed a small smile at the sight of Nick sleeping in Kevin's lap, he reached out of put his hands on Kevin's shoulder, "Kevin, right now Joe is very sick, but after a few days with the medicine we're giving him through his IV, he should be fine."
Kevin bit his lip and nodded as the doctor stood up and turned back to Paul and Denise, "Joe also has an infection in his left ear."
"But that's not a big problem, is it?" Paul asked not knowing why it would be, Joe had had ear infections before.
Jim sighed, "It's a really bad infection Paul, one of the worse I've ever seen."
"Meaning what?" Denise asked gripping Paul's arm.
The doctor sighed, "I'm not going to know anything for sure for a few days, we'll have to see what happens, but there's chance that he may loose his hearing in his left ear."
"Can-can we see him?" Kevin asked quietly running his fingers through Nick's curly hair.
"Sure, though do you really want to wake up Nick?" Jim asked looking down at the sleeping six year old.
"We don't have to," Paul said as he reached down and gently picked Nick up out of Kevin's lap, he just sighed and rolled into his father's arms.
"Wow, I wish my kids could be moved like that when they are sleeping," Jim said with a smile.
Paul smiled and moved Nick so that his head was on his shoulder.
"Joe's room is right down this way," the doctor said as he led the family done the hall.
JONASJONASJONASJONASJONASJONASJONASJONASJONAS
Four days went by and little by little Joe improved, he was finally off oxygen and was coughing less. Though one thing that Kevin noticed was that when ever someone talked to him that he would turn to his right ear more as if his left wasn't working the way it should.
Nick was showing Joe how good he had gotten at connect four when the doctor walked into the room.
"Well, it's good to see you awake Joe how are you feeling?" the doctor asked looking at Joe with a small smile.
Joe looked up at him, "What?"
"How are you feeling?" the doctor said again a little louder.
"Oh, I'm okay, my head hurts a little, and my throat hurts when I cough, but I feel a lot better," Joe said with a smile.
The doctor frowned, "Joe, are you having trouble hearing out of your left ear?"
Joe nodded, "Yeah, I can't seem to hear anything out of it."
Denise gasped and Paul looked over at Kevin and Nick, Kevin looked scared and Nick looked confused.
The doctor sighed and took out what looked like a small probe, "Joe, I'm going to put this in your ear, its going to set off some small sounds, if you hear anything, I want you to raise your hand okay?"
Joe nodded that he understood, and the doctor placed the probe into Joe's left ear, it only took a few moments and the doctor had clicked the sounds over ten times-Joe never raised his hand once.
When the doctor took the probe out of Joe's ear, Kevin's heart sank, he had heard the doctor ask Joe to raise his hand when he heard something, he hadn't, Kevin knew that it only meant one thing, Joe was part deaf and would never be the same again.
