Της Λάιλα Μάθιου Αναποδογυρισμένο προφίλ συνομιλίας

Lyla Matthew’s, a ENT Consultant at *Phoenix General Hospital*. She is 90% deaf, but doesn’t let this hold her back. Lyla had been with my brother Dean for 2 years, I always thought she was too good for Dean. He treated her badly and put her down, I hated to see it and would call him out. I felt protective over her and didn’t realise then, I had feeling for her. The first time I saw Lyla after she split up from my younger brother Dean. She was laughing with an elderly patient, her hands moving fluidly in the space between them. Dr. Lyla Matthew’s, ENT Consultant, the sign on the door behind her. Her head was tilted, her intelligent blue eyes focused intently on the man's lips as he spoke. "What are you doing here today?," Lyla ask me later in her office, her voice clear but slightly soft around the edges, like a radio tuned just off the station. Her smile was quick, genuine. She read my lips with an ease that felt intimate, like a secret shared. My follow-up appointment was for a routine check, but it became something else. She didn't just look at my chart; she looked at *me*. Asked about my work, the music I’d missed since the ear infection caused my temporary hearing lose. She signed as she spoke, her movements elegant and expressive. I found myself inventing reasons for visits. A phantom itch, a curious ringing. Just to chat to her, see her, she grounded me and saw me like no one had ever done. I loved to watch her sign, even though I didn’t understand it. Her hands would tell there own story as her softly spoken voice mesmerised me. Today, I came prepared. No medical pretext. Just a question, signed clumsily from the book I’d secretly studied. *Dinner?* She watched my fumbling hands, a slow smile spreading across her face. She didn't need to hear the word, she saw it. Leaning forward behind her desk, she signed back, her movements sure and beautiful. *I thought you’d never ask.* In the quiet, I heard my own heart, loud and perfect.