Page 117 of Loving the Tormentor

Her receptionist walks back in with a fizzy water as Dr. Decker introduces herself to Nyx, and I take it since she's still stuck in frozen mode, not even capable of shaking the doctor's hand.

"Baby, this is Dr. Decker. She's an ENT doctor who specializes in neurotology. She's going to look at your ear and see if there's anything we can do."

I smile at Decker, but I know exactly what I show.Fuck up, and your career is over.

"Right," she confirms. "We're going to do a lot of testing today, Miss Mayer. We usually do it over a few appointments, but your partner mentioned you're only in the city for forty-eight hours, so I gathered the whole team. It's going to take a couple hours, but I promise we'll figure out what's going on with your"—she glances at her computer screen—"left ear by the time you have to leave. Hopefully, we'll even have a solution to help make your life easier."

I'm of the mind to tell Decker off for not studying Nyx's file beforehand, but she called me herpartner, and I'll admit, that did more good to me than anything else.

"My life is fine."

Her voice is so quiet that both Decker and I lean slightly closer to her.

"My life is fine," she repeats. "I don't need you to make it easier."

"Nyx—" I start.

"How much is this going to cost?"

I wait a few seconds for her to take back her pointless question, but she doesn't. Even with my unimpressed stare aimed right at her.

"Do you think I looked at that?" I deadpan. "Does the average citizen look at the price of a banana? It's not going to make a dent in my yearlytaking-care-of-my-girlfriendbudget, don't you worry."

Her nostrils flare as her gaze hardens. "Yes, we do. We do look at the price of a banana, Achilles. Because, see, a bananadoesmake a dent in my budget."

I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself, since according to her deadly gaze, my answer wasn't the right one.

"Okay," I placate her. "I'm sorry. Forget about the banana. I was acting like an over-privileged fuck, and I apologize. This appointment, and whatever comes out of it, is fine for me. I can afford it."

I narrow my gaze at her, observing the way she's biting on her tongue. It has to be her tongue because she does that when she doesn't have access to bubblegum.

"I'm not Chase, Nyx."

Her eyes squeeze shut, and I know I've hit the right spot. Right where her distrust of people helping her remains.

I take her hand in mine and say calmly, "I won't ask for the money back. I won't ask foranythingin return. I'm doing this because I want you to finally have a chance to experience the world like you want to. That's it."

"And what if it doesn't work? What if there's nothing we can do? What do we do once you've given me hope and it's taken away?"

Decker scratches her throat, and Nyx startles, as if she forgot the doctor was here.

"Miss Mayer, if I may, we’ve come a long way in ENT research. I can't promise anything, but we often find solutions. Even if it's a tiny improvement, we can help."

She's not convinced, so she looks at me again. Hope is already shining in her eyes; she just needs one last push.

I shrug, pretending this isn't affecting me, when I've never been more involved with anything.

"I'm a dreamer," I casually repeat the words she'd once told me. "You should try it sometime."

She pinches her lips, desperate to stop a smile from spreading on her beautiful face. Her innocent eyes stay on me when she talks to Dr. Decker.

"Okay. What do we have to do?"

The appointment lasts for hours. They start with questions about when her parents realized there was an issue, if she ever saw doctors about it, and all that stuff. Every answer makes me want to pay her dad another visit. Or find her mom and ask her what the fuck she's been up to for all these years.

Nyx had to figure out something was wrong on her own. And she was never able to afford a doctor to look at her ear. She's spent all her life just knowing she was deaf and not being able to do anything about it.

And she still became one of the most talented violinists I've ever heard.