Soothing Voice

And that’s how we met. At the moment I had no idea who he was. After all, I didn’t listen to music and couldn’t have known. After we ate ice cream, he invited me to go to his flat and meet his friends. It was there I learned who they were. I remember that moment. Zayn, Niall, Liam and Louis were all at his flat, chattering, when Harry and I entered the room. They stop talking and looked at us. Harry greeted them and I just stayed there, looking. Then, Louis and Liam came up to me introducing themselves. They spoke so fast and at the same time I didn’t understand what they were trying to say. That was, of course, until Harry stopped them and told them I was deaf. Again, I braced myself for rejection but the opposite happen. Louis came up to me and hugged me. And so did the other member of One Direction. That was the happiest moment of my life. I had finally found friends who understood me and I knew I could count with.

It’s been two years since that day and Harry and I are happily together. We began dating about three months after we met. I was stunned when he took me to dinner at a fancy restaurant and asked me to be his girlfriend. To which, of course, I said yes. Then we had our first kiss and it was just perfect. The moment was magical.

Right now we are in Harry’s car going somewhere. He didn’t tell me where, claiming it was a surprise. That’s when I felt a hand touch my right leg. I looked up and saw him looking at me while we waited for the light to turn green.

“I love you.” He said, taking my hand and kissing it.

“I love you more.” I replied, looking at him lovingly while we leaned forward and shared a sweet kiss.

“We’re here.” Harry said looking at me so I could understand. I got out of the car and saw that we were in a parking lot of a hospital. I furrowed. What were we doing at a hospital? I wondered in my mind.

“Why are we here?” I asked him. He didn’t reply. Instead, he just took my hand and led me inside the building.

“Mr. Styles, you are here.” A nurse said as we approached the front desk. “Everything is ready for you. Now if you follow me this way –” was all I could get because the nurse was walking in front of us and I couldn’t see her face.

She led us to a little room where a doctor sat. She look about thirty-something. She smiled at me before she used sign language to communicate with me which was better than lip-reading; much easier. She told me her name, Dr. di Rossi; and she also explained why I was here. Apparently, Harry had arranged a meeting with her because he had heard of this new treatment called Cochlear Implant (CI), which is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is, well, deaf. She said it was up to me if I wanted to go ahead with the whole treatment.

I looked over at Harry. “It is up to you, love.” He said smiling and taking my hand. “If you don’t want to do it, then that’s okay. I don’t want to force you into anything you don’t want. I just thought it would be good for you.”

I thought for a moment before making my decision. “I want to do it.”

It’s been three weeks since the day Harry took me to see Dr. di Rossi. I went through the surgery and thank God everything went all right. Today I’m going back to the hospital to get my CI activated. I’m a little nervous because I’m worried that it might not work. But I am excited as well. Because I will hear my voice for the first time. But most importantly, I’ll get to hear Harry’s voice.

We reached Dr. di Rossi’s room and she was there waiting for us. She asks me how I was feeling and if everything was okay. Then she proceeds on activating the device by connecting an external sound processor to the internal device via a magnet. I waited.

“Marianne, can you hear me?” Dr. di Rossi was saying. I couldn’t believe it. I had actually heard her talking. “Is it working, Marianne?” She asked again.

“Yes.” I said. There, I heard it. My voice. After twenty years of being unable to hear I was now hearing myself talk. I started crying, I couldn’t help it. I was beyond happy. And I could also hear myself cry. “Yeah, I can hear you.” I replied, tears of happiness streaming down my face. I couldn’t stop.

“Here, sweetheart, get some tissues.” She said handing me a Kleenex box.

“How do you feel, love? Is it like you expected it to be?” I smile when I heard that. It was his voice. Harry’s voice was beautiful, a little husky and deep. The way he spoke, so relaxed and easygoing. I don’t know how much I had dreamed about this moment. I had try to imagine how his voice sounded like. But nothing I had came up with could compare with how his voice was like. Really soothing and just so beautiful, it made my heart melt.

I looked up at him. He was sitting right next to me. I took his hand in mine. “It is better than I expected it to be.”

He smiled and leaned forward. I mirrored him and we share a sweet yet passionate kiss. “I love you” he said. “I’ll always will. No matter what happens, I will always be by your side.”
“I love you, too.” I said, tears of happiness streaming down my face as I kissed him once again. At that moment I knew. I knew I had found the love of my life and I knew that we were going to be together for as long as we lived.