Chapter 1 - The Friday RitualDr. Calvin Hale’s hands were steady, as they had been for decades. He carried his leather medical case into the private study adjacent to Dominic’s bedroom with the easy familiarity of a man who belonged there.
Grant Bell stood by the double doors, arms folded, watching with the quiet vigilance that never quite turned off.
Dominic sat in his leather armchair.
For three years, this Friday ritual had been as unchangeable as the tides. Dr. Hale would take his seat, hand Dominic a clipboard with typed questions, review the answers, and then reach into his black case for the small amber bottle of medicated ear drops designed to soothe the chronic pressure and phantom ringing that allegedly haunted the remnants of Dominic’s auditory nerves.
Have you experienced any dizziness this week? Dr. Hale wrote on the fresh sheet of paper.
Dominic picked up the silver pen and wrote: No.
Good. Let’s check the progress.
Dr. Hale motioned for Dominic to tilt his head.
Dominic complied. He felt the cold touch of the doctor’s fingers near his left ear, followed by the familiar, slight sting of the liquid drops being administered. It always brought a dull, numbing ache, but Dominic had long since accepted it as part of the price of survival.
When the doctor finished, he patted Dominic’s shoulder reassuringly, packed his case, and smiled.
“See you next week, Dominic,” Dr. Hale said aloud, knowing Dominic would read his lips.
Dominic nodded, watching the doctor exit the study.
May you like
He didn't notice the tiny, silver-capped bottle slip from the doctor’s coat pocket and roll silently beneath the heavy velvet fringe of the armchair.
He certainly didn’t notice four-year-old Lily peeking in through the slightly ajar door just three minutes later, holding her stuffed rabbit, Captain, with one hand and a shiny metallic object in the other.
