The minutes seemed like hours as the silence built. The urge to drum her fingers on the table was as hard to ignore as an itch and Peyton deliberately tucked her hands in her lap.
‘Buon,’ he murmured after a while. ‘Good. The nerve is responding perfectly so we know the implant’s working.’
A rush of adrenaline kicked in at Valentino’s confirmation and Peyton gripped the table as she gave him a tight smile. She’d been having nightmares that they’d get to this point only to find the implant was a dud.
The first hurdle had been passed!
To her surprise, he reached out and gave her shoulder a quick squeeze before returning his hand to the keyboard. ‘Okay, I’ll switch it on now. Yes?’
Peyton nodded, her stomach bottoming out. This was it. This was the moment. One or two clicks of the mouse and her daughtershouldbe able to hear sound.
‘It’s important not to expect miracles,’ he said gently. ‘A lot of kids don’t react?—’
‘I know,’ Peyton interrupted, her nerves at screaming point. ‘Just do it!’
‘I know you know,’ he said gently, obviously unperturbed by her abruptness. ‘But I’m going to go through it anyway. It’s different when it’s your own child.’
Peyton nodded even as she ground her teeth. She understood and appreciated – or would anyway – what he was doing. That he was taking the time to go through all the info, even if she did know it because in her current state of mind, she could pretty much recall nothing.
‘McKenzie may not do anything at all once it’s switched on. That’s common. It’s hard to know with little ones what they’re hearing, particularly if they’re pre-verbal or have been deaf all their lives like McKenzie. They don’t even know what sound is.’
He stopped and checked that Peyton was with him and she nodded so he’d justhurry up already. ‘I have it on very low so sudden noise doesn’t frighten her, but she could cry. That’s quite a common reaction.’
Peyton nodded again, pleased, actually, for that reminder. The fantasy in her head was very different. McKenzie smiled in the fantasy; she laughed. So it was good to be forewarned about the range of possible reactions. ‘Yep. Okay. Thank you.’
‘This is just the first step. It’s going to need several mapping sessions as well as intensive speech therapy to train McKenzie’s brain to recognise the sounds she’ll hear as speech and to learn to talk herself.’
‘Yes.’ Peyton was prepared for the long haul.
‘Why don’t you sit opposite her and then we’ll start.’
Peyton rose and moved to the other side of the table. McKenzie, engrossed in her puzzle, didn’t even notice. Valentino clicked the mouse a couple of times and murmured, ‘It’s on. Why don’t you try calling her?’
For a few seconds Peyton wasn’t capable of speech. Of anything. She’d been looking forward to this moment for the last two years and now it was here she was totally overwhelmed. A swell of emotion rose in her throat and stuck there, jagged as barbed wire. Her heart beat like an epileptic metronome. Her lungs couldn’t drag air in and out fast enough.
Just like that. One click and a whole new world for McKenzie. It seemed like such an anti-climax. Surely it should at least be heralded by trumpets.
Or angels?
‘It’s okay, Peyton. Take your time.’
Peyton glanced at him. He was smiling at her encouragingly and she swallowed hard at the empathy softening his eyes to dark velvet. He was obviously well used to the raw emotion of the moment. So was she but this time, it washerchild.
‘M-McKenzie.’ Her voice shook and she cleared her throat. ‘McKenzie, darling, can you hear me?’
McKenzie played on, blissfully ignorant to sound or to Peyton’s turmoil. Stricken, the fantasy already crumbling, Peyton flicked her gaze to Valentino.
‘It’s okay,’ he whispered. ‘Keep going. I’m adjusting it louder as we go.’
A part of Peyton was desperate to gesture to McKenzie, gain her attention. This was the biggest test of both of their lives and Peyton couldn’t believe how much she wanted her daughter to pass. But pre-empting the process by letting McKenzie know she was speaking to her was pointless – they were after an uncoached reaction.
‘McKenzie? That puzzle you’re doing, it’s just like that one we have at home with the koalas, isn’t it?’
The silence in the room reached a screeching crescendo. Peyton raised her eyes to Valentino, her heart beating so loudly in the utter silence she thought it might explode out of her chest. ‘Nothing.’
Shooting her an encouraging smile, he said, ‘The telemetry is telling me her nerves are being stimulated. You know sometimes it can take a few weeks for kids to recognise any useful sound.’
Peyton nodded, her lips pressed together to stop the sob threatening to slide free. She did know. But still it wasgutting.
