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Then again, his life had been full of surprises since he’d first met Madison.
‘Hey, there. Finished clinic?’ Her voice cut into his reverie.
He smiled at her. ‘Yes.’
There was a flash of heat in her eyes that triggered corresponding heat all the way down his spine. Oh, lord. How was he going to be able to sort this out logically when his judgement was clouded by his desire for her? Even so, he couldn’t stop himself asking, ‘Ready for lunch?’
‘I have one mum left to see.’
‘Fine. Come and fetch me when you’re free—I’ll be in my office, wrestling with paperwork.’ And wrestling with his need for her. Because his head knew this situation really wasn’t fair to her.
And even though he lost himself in the paperwork, he was aware the second before Madison rapped on his open door.
‘Do you need a couple of minutes to finish that?’ she asked.
‘I’m ready now,’ he said, grabbing his jacket from the hook behind the door and shrugging it on. They bought sandwiches and a coffee to take out, then headed for the park. To Theo’s surprise and pleasure, there was actually a bench free. ‘Looks like we’re in luck,’ he said as they sat down. And even though he knew they ought to be discussing the situation between them, he didn’t want the sunshine to go away just yet. He wanted just a couple of minutes when he could chat to her and pretend everything was fine, before they faced the tough questions. ‘I noticed you were using sign language earlier. I had no idea anyone in the department knew it.’
‘It can be useful if we have someone in who’s deaf—a mum or their partner.’
‘Like your mum today.’
She nodded.
‘What made you learn sign language?’ he asked.
‘Guilt,’ she said, surprising him.
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Katrina has problems hearing—and it’s my fault.’ She toyed with her wrap. ‘I gave her mumps when we were little.’
‘Hey, that’s not your fault at all. You know how quickly childhood illnesses sweep through schools and playgroups. She could have caught it from any other infected child, not just you.’ He looked quizzically at her. ‘So that was it? She had mumps and then afterwards everyone realised she couldn’t hear properly?’
‘Not quite. Kat was always a bit of a dreamer so if you called her and she didn’t answer, you just assumed she’d gone into her own little world.’ Madison shrugged. ‘None of our family were medics. Our dads own a garage specialising in restoring ancient sports cars, Kat’s mum’s a PA and mine’s a French teacher, so nobody gave it another thought—not until we were at university and I was doing a module on hearing loss.’
‘And Kat fitted the profile?’
She nodded. ‘You know how it is when you’re a student. You spot symptoms everywhere—medical students have to be the worst hypochondriacs in the world! But eventually I convinced Kat to see her GP, who referred her to audiology and it seems she’d been unable to hear properly for years.’ She shrugged. ‘Kat couldn’t really remember it being any different and just assumed that everyone else was like her. The hearing aid’s made a huge difference and although she doesn’t actually need to sign, she wanted to learn to do it in case any of her patients or their parents were deaf.’
‘And you joined her in the classes.’
Madison smiled. ‘I’m glad I did. We don’t have many deaf mums but it’s good to know I can help if they need me.’ She looked straight at him. ‘Kat can hear, but not brilliantly. She lip-reads quite a lot—and if you meet her and you patronise her, I’ll murder you myself.’
He frowned. ‘Why would I patronise her?’
‘For being deaf.’
He stared at her, seeing the protectiveness on her face and appreciating that she looked out for her cousin, but completely mystified at the same time. ‘I think I’m missing the point here.’
‘If you’re deaf,’ Madison explained, ‘and people know that, they do one of two things—either they shout, which isn’t helpful, or they treat you as if you’re slow and can’t understand. That’s absolutely not the case, but I guess you do miss things in a conversation—punchlines and banter and what have you—especially if people speak softly or cover their mouths when they talk or look away so you can’t see their face, and…’ She broke off with a grimace.
‘What?’
‘I was just thinking about Kat’s ex. He was a complete and utter swine. I think he had low self-esteem, and the only way he could feel good about himself was to make her feel small. He used to make her feel useless, and treated her as if she was stupid—I mean, I know speaking slowly is helpful when someone’s lip-reading you, but he took it to extremes. And she’s not stupid. She’s bright and funny and she doesn’t expect special treatment. Her hearing is just part of her and he should’ve accepted that, not made a big thing about it.’
