Page 123 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

The click of a door latch is a bone snap that makes him gasp.

Every sound hurts him, feels personal.

He can’t tune it out. He can’t make it stop.

For the first time, Troy is affected by Riley’s suffering enough that he brings in a doctor. An old man who potters around Riley, snaps at him to keep still. He smells of stale air, germy paper and sterile water.

‘Lemme see,’ he insists when Riley flinches away because he hates anyone touching his ears.

‘Riley,’ Troy warns. ‘Let him look.’

He does what he’s told, enduring the pain of metal intrusion in his ears. When it’s done, he’s shaking all over, sweaty and dizzy.

The doctor looks at Troy. ‘Maybe we should talk alone.’

‘It’s his body,’ Troy says.

‘There’s a growth on both sides. Something that looks like a…’ The old doctor sighs roughly. ‘A tuning fork growing right out of the cochlea.’

‘Is it a tumour?’

‘No. It’s…’ The doctor makes a face. ‘Moving. Reacting to sound. I’ve never seen anything like it before. It’s heightening his hearing.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘Positive.’

Troy crosses his thick, tattooed arms. ‘Remove it.’

‘I can’t.’

‘You’re a doctor.’

‘If it’s moving, it has nerves. Do you know how many nerves are in the ear? They’re connected to everything.’

Troy looks at Riley. ‘You want this to stop?’

Riley blinks tears down his face. ‘Please.’

‘You cannot cut it,’ the doctor warns. ‘He’ll bleed to death!’

‘Who said anything about cutting?’

✴

Troy ties Riley to a chair that’s screwed into the ground.

The room is dark and damp, smells awful but it’s quieter at least.

They’re in the basement of their home.

Riley has never been allowed down here, and he’s never wanted to either. It feels wrong, smells of rotten blood and death that stings his nose and curdles his guts. Troy asks him a final time if he’s sure about this.

Riley has to be brave because this thing in his ears might actually kill him, split his skull, shred his brain, it’s so bad.

‘Y-yes.’

‘Bite down, then,’ Troy instructs, placing a leather bit between his teeth, holding Riley’s gaze. ‘This is gonna hurt.’