Granted Wish

„It's going to be okay.", Nathan's hand grabs a hold of mine, a comfortable tingle crawling underneath my skin as his thumb rubs over mine. I nod, forcing myself to smile at him before adverting my gaze back at the clock. Time isn't working with me at the moment, every second feels like an eternity, every minute passing by with another wave of nausea, making me feel sick to the stomach. We've been waiting for the doctor to call us up for over an hour now, the waiting room getting emptier and emptier as most of these people were already there when we arrived. Since his call last week I've been extremely anxious about this day, he didn't enclose anything over the phone, the only thing he did say was that there's something he wants to check inside my ear. No idea what he's checking for. My mom and Alex are sitting across from me, my dad next to Nathan, my whole family wanted to be come with me to find out what Dr Sheppard could have been talking about. Another minute passes and the clock handle starts new round. I'm so scared of what's going to happen in the next few hours, of what he's going to tell me. Is there something wrong with me? Are there complications he just now found out about? I don't know! I don't know what I should or should not be thinking about. How long have we been waiting now? How much time has already passed since the last time I checked the time? Sweat seems to be dropping out of every pore of my body, my hands beyond just being a little moist which makes me feel kinda bad for Nathan since he's still holding on to it. A sudden gentle tab on my shoulder makes me jolt in surprise, looking into my boyfriends worried eyes. "Can I get you something? Water or a snack?", he offers with a soft smile on his lips. "Water?", it's more a question than an actual answer but he still nods, placing a light kiss on the tip of my nose before getting up from his seat and heading outside of the room to the vending machines in the hallway. I rub my throbbing temples, glancing over at my sister who returns it with a sincere grin. "Are you okay?", she mouths, placing her phone on her lap to look at me more closely. I simply nod, not wanting to engage in any kind of conversation with anyone except for my boyfriend whom I'm still waiting for. In the past week I may have gotten a little too attached to him but ever time he wasn't with me I felt vulnerable and exposed to the outside. This used to be the case with Claire, still kinda is just not as persistent. I spend most of my time with him, either at my place or at his, it's like he's my last piece of sanity, the last string that's capable of holding me together and preventing me from shattering. Hopefully, he won't get tired of me being so clingy, of needing him more than I could ever describe. I stare intensely at the door, watching Nathan reenter the room with a bottle of water and a bag of Doritos, grinning at me as he takes his seat next to me and holds the bottle towards me. "Thank you.", I didn't realize how sore my throat is but as I see the cold liquid there's a sudden longing for it. I open the cap and take a tiny sip which immediately cooled it a little. Nathan takes my hand in his, intertwining our fingers while eating chips with the other. He reaches one piece towards me, smiling like an i***t even as I absently shake my head. Instead, I take another sip of my water, bigger this time and continue to stare at the clock on the grayish walls. The handles have barely even moved since I last checked. Although my staring session wasn't for long when suddenly every one of my family members get up and look at me with anticipation written all over their faces. Nathan rises from his seat as well, pulling me to my feet with him and pointing at the brunette doctor standing at the door with a warm and welcoming smile. So this is actually it, after almost three years I get to see him again, let alone walked into this building. "Skylar, it’s good to see you.", he's the only person I couldn't convince of my ability to read lips since he keeps on signing everything his saying but actually voicing too, for the people with me. "Uhm, hey Dr Sheppard.", I cling to my boyfriends hand, more than before, and almost squeezing it to death. It's not like he's unfriendly or anything, in fact it's the opposite, even though he's still such a young doctor there's this aura around him which makes him appear older, more mature and definitely wiser. He's one of the nicest people I know but he was the one to tell me about my hearing loss and although it wasn't even his fault I kinda blamed him for it, like it was his fault I couldn't care less to seek medical attention. His warm dark brown eyes drop down to the hand holding mine, coming right back up to my face. "I see you brought your boyfriend. I'm Dr Sheppard, it's nice to meet you.", he reaches out his left hand, since Nathans right was occupied with mine as they both shook hands. „Oh, my brothers son is called Nathan as well.", he continues, I didn't even bother to look back and forth, I'm too anxious right now anyway. "Then let's get you checked, I may or may not have some important news for you, Skylar.", he focuses back to me before leading my whole squad and myself to his patient room after saying hello to the rest of them. "So, I'm just going to look in both of your eyes and we'll see how the remains are doing, okay?", this time he's signing again since it's directed to me even though I simply read his lips. He puts on a pair of rubber gloves, the one without latex since apparently I'm allergic to the other ones. How come he still knows that? My parents and Alex are just kinda standing near the door, watching us closely from afar, unlike Nathan, who's sitting next to me on those disgusting beds. „And why exactly are you doing that?", I ask, my throat still kinda hurting. "How's your voice doing, you sound a little husky? Does your throat hurt or has it been hurting the last few weeks?“, he dodges my question and just keeps on signing his. "More like the last week when my doctor suddenly called and wanted to see me as soon as possible, why do you ask?", I didn't want it to come out this bitchy but what even is this question? Of course I'm not going to feel like the happiest flower in the valley after the stunt he pulled. "Well, I guess your right but for real, did you have problems with your voice and pronunciation?", he asks, more to the other people present than tome, which makes sense since I can't hear myself talking. I turn to look at Nathan who took it upon himself to answer this question. "-as long as I've known him he never had problems with pronouncing words or stuttering. If you didn't know about it he seems like he can actually hear.", his expression is serious but as soon as he completely faces me there's this smile I've identified as mine. My personal loving smile. "That's great since a lot of my patience have trouble with talking and or completely rely on sign language which you still are no big fan of, I see.", he smiles as I sign a quick no. "Anyway, let's get this checked." I don't know how I should describe it but there was uncertainty, maybe even fear in his eyes as he grabs the things he needs and sits down on the other free side of the bed. I look at the hand holding mine, both of them rested on my lap as the coldness of metal touches my ear and slowly enters. It's one of these little cameras on a string like thing they always shove up any opening of your body. My body reluctantly starts to shiver the deeper he enters until it even hurt. I give Nathans hand a little squeeze, not daring to move my head though. The camera nub moves around a little before slowly retreating back outside, leaving an uncomfortable pressure. Dr Sheppard pulls the little machine and the screen around me and asks Nathan to switch sides with him. After he did the same thing on my other ear and I'm left with a slight headache he smiles at me widely, not saying anything though as he and one of his assistance put away the weird machine and transfer two clear shots of inside my ear on the big Screen of the PC standing on top of the glass desk. "I'm going to ask you to leave for a second, I want to tell him this without any influence from family members.", he's starting to really creep me out now, why would he send away my parents, shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't he be talking to them first? "What about Nathan?", I ask, the trembling is starting to kick in again. "It's only for a few minuets, I promise and it's not like I'm announcing your death or anything.", he smiles, his eyes shimmering in a calming way. Something is really off with him, before the check up he seemed sad and uncertain and now he's all happy. I don't understand. Turning to face Nathan, I immediately have his soft lips on mine, even though it's only for two seconds. "I'll be waiting for you outside, if you need me just call me and I'll come check on you, okay?", he reassures me, grinning widely. I nod, slowly letting go off his hand and allowing him to get up and head out of the room with all of the others. "So?", I ask with a certain sense of anticipation. "So, how's everything going for you at the moment? How's summer break?", did he want to tell me something or does he just want to have some small talk? "Uhm, it's good, I guess.", I answer with multiple shrugs. "Tell me about Nathan, he seems really nice. How did you guys meet?", he sits down on his chair so he can face me directly. "He moved here and we met at the bus stop. Can you please tell me why you called me here in the first place?", this little mind game of his is starting to drive me nuts. "I know, I'm sorry, I was just wondering since you changed so much since the last time I saw you. I don't know how to put this but you seem insecure, scared even. You don't want to be in the same room with me without your boyfriend. I never intended to hurt you with the news I had to deliver to you.", he smiles gently with so much kindness on his face that my fears seems foolish. That's right, he doesn't know about the incident since it happened after my meetings with him. „Let’s just say things happened.", he may be nice but he's not in the position to know about that. "I take this as a 'I don't want to talk about it'?" I sign a quick yes, hoping he'll just tell me what he wanted to tell me from the very beginning. "Okay, Skylar, please don't pass out on me.", he pulls his eyebrows up before continuing, "One of my best friends in university specialized in a surgery to insert prosthesis that are more on the miniature size chart. He can help you gain your hearing back." Does this mean...