Joni’s eyelids slowly fluttered open, and she became aware of the intense pressure in her head. It put her worst headache to shame. She brought her hand to her side and felt the bandages that covered her ear. Then she moaned in pain as Nadirah approached the bedside.
“Hey, sweetie,” Nadirah said, smiling down at her.
“It hurts. Oh, my God, everything sounds so loud in a distorted kind of way, and it’s windy. I hear lots of wind.”
“Shh-shh,” Nadirah cooed. “You’re okay. This is all to be expected.”
“If they operated on my ear, then why does my jaw hurt like hell? I can barely open my mouth to talk,” Joni said, slurring like a drunk. “Did they get the canal made?”
“They sure did, hun. They sure did.”
A nurse said something to Nadirah that Joni couldn’t make out except for what might have been the word “mother.”
“Oh, no. No way. I’m not staying with that woman. She’s a crab, and it’s no wonder you are too, at times,” Joni said.
The nurse, whom she still couldn’t see from her viewpoint, laughed in a way that echoed loudly and seemed to reverberate throughout Joni’s entire skull. “They’re not usually very nice after surgery. So don’t take anything she says personally,” the nurse said.
“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t. I never do when she’s not having surgery, so why start now?” Nadirah replied, also with a laugh. Then she turned to Joni and said, “Don’t worry, troublemaker. You’re staying with me. You know I have today and tomorrow off.”
“In a few days, she should be able to get around much easier on her own,” said the nurse. “The first few days will be the roughest. She’s going to be dizzy a lot, but for the most part, all she’ll want to do is sleep.”
“Anything in particular I need to do for her?”
“Why am I wet?” Joni asked.
“You had an accident,” the nurse told her.
“Yeah, they ran into some complications,” Nadirah said. “You were under for five hours instead of three.”
“Five hours?” Joni asked, surprised. “What happened?”
“They had trouble stopping the bleeding. The doctor said something about vaporizing capillaries and veins with a laser, and things I can’t really explain as well as he could.”
“Were you scared?”
“A little bit.”
“If I weren’t in so much pain, I’d laugh at the thought of scaring you without even trying.”
Nadirah smiled and kissed Joni on the nose.
“Did I nearly bleed to death, boss?” Joni asked in a slurred voice.
The nurse chuckled as Nadirah said, “Well, they almost had to give you a blood transfusion.”
“Okay,” said the nurse, stepping up to the bed, “let’s get you up and dressed.”
“Are you kidding? There’s no way I can lift my head, let alone stand up,” Joni protested.
“You’ll be a little groggy and dizzy at first, but you don’t have to walk far. As soon as you’re dressed, we’ll get you into a wheelchair and wheel you on out of here so you won’t have to stand for long.”
The nurse and Nadirah both pulled a moaning Joni upright.
“You’re going to have to support her head for a bit at first. Just like with a baby, she’s not going to have the strength to support it very well on her own just yet.”
“Okay,” Nadirah said as they both got Joni out of the hospital gown. The nurse cleaned her up in the bathroom and then helped get her into her jeans and T-shirt.
Then another nurse appeared, and the two nurses guided her into the wheelchair where Joni sat slumped over toward the side.
“How ya feeling?” asked the second nurse in a cheery voice.
“Like someone took a baseball bat to my head,” was Joni’s answer.
The others laughed, though they weren’t without empathy.
They spoke with the doctor briefly on the way out, who recommended Joni remain in quiet surroundings for the first week and not do anything strenuous.
“Fortunately, we live out in the country with five acres all to ourselves,” Nadirah said.
“Oh, good for you,” said the doctor. “Okay, Joni. I’ll see you at my office soon enough. Don’t hesitate to call if you have any questions or problems in between.”
The nurse then wheeled Joni out to the car, which Nadirah had driven around to the entryway. As she re-entered the hospital to get Joni, she overheard a young man nearby bragging to his friend about how good he was at chess, kicking ass, and just about everything else under the sun.
“I suppose you think you’re handsome, too,” Joni said.
“Joni!” Nadirah said, though she and the nurse both couldn’t help but laugh.
After they got a still moaning Joni into the car and her seatbelt securely in place, they left for home.
“Doing okay, babe?” Nadirah asked, patting her leg a few minutes later.
“No, I’m not. The sounds of the traffic are roaring thunderously through my head.”
“We’ll be home soon.”
“No, we won’t.”
Joni was gazing out the window on her side, so she didn’t see Nadirah grin in amusement.
Once they finally did pull up to the house, Nadirah told Joni to stay put while she went and unlocked the door. When she returned, she asked Joni if she’d prefer to be carried.
“No, that’s okay. I don’t think I’m that unsteady on my feet. It’s more that my head hurts like hell than that I’m off balance.”
Nadirah guided Joni inside.
“I want to take a quick bath and get changed into something more comfortable before I get into bed,” Joni said.
“Okay,” said Nadirah. “Just wait right here, and I’ll get the tub filled for you.”
“Thanks, and please don’t forget the chocolate bubble bath,” Joni said.
“One chocolate bubble bath coming right up.”
Joni sat on the edge of the bed and let herself flop back onto it. Even though Nadirah had been gone just a few minutes, she had fallen asleep by the time she returned to help her into the tub.
A short while later, she was freshly bathed and clad in a little pink string bikini that Nadirah had always liked on Joni, and a matching tank top. She helped get the whiny writer and language guru into bed.
“It’s just about time for a new round of pain pills. I’ll go get them for you.”
Joni was already drifting off to sleep again when Nadirah returned with the pills and a glass of water. She helped Joni to sit up long enough to take the pills, then she set the glass of water on the nightstand. The sound of the glass being set down on the polished wood sounded much louder than usual to Joni, who started to moan again.
“It’s okay,” said Nadirah. “I’ll be real quiet. I won’t even turn on the TV.”
And again, Joni was almost asleep when she felt Nadirah gently take hold of her wrist a few minutes later to snip off the hospital band that had been placed on her prior to surgery.
“I still can’t hear the wall clock ticking,” Joni said, voice still slurred.
“Well, not with the bandages and packing, you can’t, silly,” Nadirah said.
“But am I in stereo or not? Because if I went through all this hell just to stay in mono, I’m going to be really pissed.”
Nadirah chuckled and said, “There’s a good chance you’re officially in stereo now. The most important thing is that there weren’t any tumors or anything bad like the doctor once feared.”
“No more evil frame?” asked Joni.
“No more evil frame. The doctor thinks that may’ve been your problem all along.”
“Then what did I get my head drilled for?”
Again, Nadirah smiled. She couldn’t deny Joni was kind of funny when she was in one of her feisty moods. “Well, you still want to hear stereo, don’t you? Besides, it was the only way to rule out tumors.”
Joni nodded.
Nadirah sat beside her.
“We might never have met up again,” Joni suddenly said. “It could’ve been serious, and I could’ve never caught it in time, and I could’ve been dead. Wouldn’t your life have been a lot easier then?”
Nadirah’s expression turned thoughtful and serious. “Yes, Joni. My life would certainly be easier in some ways if you hadn’t re-entered it. But I’m not sure I’d have been nearly as happy.”
Joni smiled, and a tear was suddenly visible in the corner of her eye. Nadirah had to turn away to keep from shedding her own tears.
The day wore on, and Joni slept while Nadirah read more of her blog, not just to learn more about her, but to make sure she wasn’t saying anything she shouldn’t be saying online, and that no one was bothering her that she might not have told her about.
Joni recovered from her ear surgery, and life slowly returned to normal. She had been hoping to have at least some hearing after the bandages were removed, but nothing had changed as of yet. As the doctor said, there was no way to know if she had any hearing to begin with unless she actually heard something.
Then one day, she came awake a few days after having her bandages taken off. She was lying on her good ear as her eyes slowly opened to find Nadirah working on her computer.
But something was different.
Nadirah saw that she was awake but didn’t say anything. Instead, she just eyed her with hopeful curiosity as she saw Joni lift her head off the pillow and glance up at the wall clock. Then she laid back down again and closed her eyes.
They snapped open again a second later, and again, she looked up at the wall clock.
Nadirah continued to study her intently as Joni sat upright, eyes fixed upon the clock. With a shaky hand, she blocked her good ear. Her eyes bulged with wondrous delight, and her eyes began to water.
Nadirah felt her own eyes sting as well.
“I guess you’re officially in stereo now,” Nadirah said, causing Joni’s eyes to bulge even wider at the shock of hearing a human voice out of two ears for the first time ever.
“You sound so weird,” Joni said, voice full of emotion. “And so do I.”
They laughed, and then Nadirah got up, sat next to Joni, and gathered her in her arms for a warm hug.
“I’m so sorry I complained so much and wasn’t much fun to be around for a while,” Joni said.
“Oh, it’s okay. I understand. And since I’m such a crab most of the time, I guess I deserved it.”
“Yeah, but I still love you anyway,” Joni said with a grin before dashing around the room, one hand blocking her good ear while she sampled new sounds in her other ear. She rustled papers, clanked mugs, and rattled a box of macaroni.
“Be careful not to spill the coffee,” Nadirah said with a laugh.
Next, Joni ran for her laptop and began to play some music. A few minutes later, they both had tears streaming down their cheeks.
When the song ended, Joni ran through the kitchen and out the back door to shake the wind chimes.
“Hey, sweetie,” Nadirah chuckled with amusement. “I know we’ve got a lot of privacy back here, but you’re not dressed, and it’s mighty nippy out. Come on back inside, sweet stuff.”
Laughing, Joni followed Nadirah back inside and threw her arms around her. Nadirah returned the embrace, hands roaming up and down her naked wife’s body. They kissed passionately, then Joni said, “It’s not nearly like the good ear, but it’s definitely evident enough.”
“I’m glad,” Nadirah said affectionately.
Joni loved Nadirah’s touch. She was surprisingly gentle for someone who could be so quick-tempered at times.
“I just wish I could repay more of what you’ve given me between all the rides, a place to live, food in my tummy… whatever I’ve needed.”
“Oh, honey, you don’t owe me anything. You’ve paid me back just by being your sweet little self and by being here for me.” She leaned close to Joni’s left ear. “And by staying out of trouble.”
Joni laughed and said, “I was a cutter.”
“What?” Nadirah said, unprepared for the sudden change of subject, although she knew she should be used to it by now.
“I used to cut my wrists; that’s how miserable I was in the past.”
“Oh,” Nadirah said, now understanding what a “cutter” was. “Well, I’m glad you’re happier now and that you’ve learned how to handle your anger and depression better.”
“Yeah, instead of turning inward, I just lash out at the source.”
Nadirah looked at Joni, not sure what to say.
“Just kidding, boss,” Joni said, kissing her on the lips.
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