Page 11 of Perfect Composition

But not right away. I still have a little more time to avoid composing the truth and having it sound as perfect. Even if it means leaving my heart somewhere beneath a piano underneath a burning Texas sky.

For the second time.

PAIGE

CHAPTER FOUR

The Brendan Blake show is tonight at Madison Square Garden. And I’m at home with a double ear infection. I blame this on my mother for not getting me tubes as a kid. I’m arranging for my tickets to be transferred to @PRyanPOfficial. Sniff. Sniff. It just isn’t the same. I need love, people.

—@CuTEandRich3

“Now that didn’t hurt at all, did it, Rosa?” I smooth my hand over the perfectly plaited hair of the little girl whose ears I’m evaluating to make certain weren’t damaged after multiple ear infections.

Her braids whip around my wrist, binding my heart to her little one firmly. She giggles. “No, Dr. K. It was just like you said—I sat in the room which was really quiet.”

Because the Espositos are so anxious behind me, I encourage her to go on. “Tell your Mama and Papa what else you did.”

“Nurse Dawn put these big puffy earphones on my head. They were enormous!”

I laugh, delighting in the little girl’s oversized gestures. “Perhaps not that big?” I reach over and grab a pair and hold them up.

“That’s them! Papa, you know your earbuds? These are a million times larger!”

Mr. Esposito chuckles, relaxing slightly. “What happened next, Rosa?”

“Then, I had to raise my hand when I heard sounds. Sometimes they were on the left, sometimes the right.”

“And from what I’m seeing here, you did very well.”

“But not perfect?” Mrs. Esposito asks worriedly.

“Few do, Mrs. Esposito. I think your primary care provider had every right to be concerned with the fact Rosa’s had three ear infections in six months this year. If she gets another one, I will be advocating putting in tubes, more so to assist with infection prevention, but her hearing is well within acceptable ranges. I think…”

“I don’t want tubes hanging out of my ears!” Rosa screeches.

I grin at the charming young girl. Walking over to the cabinet, I throw Dawn a quick wink before I reach for a few pieces of tubing I use just for this purpose and tuck them beneath the arms of my glasses. “You mean like this?” I whirl around and bounce them up and down.

Everyone laughs, except Rosa.

“What are you all laughing at? I mean, we’re just talking about…” I deliberately let one of the tubes hit me in the face. “Oh, sugar. Did that fall out of my ear again?”

Rosa’s eyes narrow on me. “You’re making fun,” she accuses.

I yank the tubes out. “No, honey, I’m not. I’m trying to get you to relax. First, because you don’t need to have the procedure done. And second, because the real ear tubes go inside your ear and are this size.” I pull out a vial to show her the actual size of an ear tube, the blue tubes barely a speck when compared to the long strands of tubing still attached to my glasses.

“That’s like a chunk of my crayon!” she exclaims.

“What color blue?” I prompt her.

“Hmm.” Her face scrunches as she runs through the colors in her mind. “It’s Bluetiful!”

“And so are you, little Rosa. And you’re healthy. So let’s keep you that way, okay?” I give the Espositos information about signs to look out for to avoid ear infections before the grateful family leaves my appointment.

Dawn provides a small gift for Rosa and an information package for her parents while I make some notes in the tablet about her condition. “Since Rosa was my last patient for the day, I’m going to head out.”

“Any big plans tonight, Paige?” Dawn asks.

I lean against the counter where she and our receptionist, Amie, have been chatting. “Does a command performance around my father’s dinner table before I go out of town count?” I ask dryly.