He Gave Me Hearing, Then Taught Me What Silence Really Means novel Chapter 34

The dedicated technician examined it closely and asked casually, "Are you Juniper Lane?"

Juniper hadn't given her name when she was brought in to see him. Surprised that he knew it, she offered a slow nod.

The technician pushed his glasses up his nose. "This hearing aid was fully customized. It features a very rare dual-layer shell. There's a tiny, tightly rolled slip of paper hidden inside. I'm assuming whoever bought this for you left it there. Do you want to see it?"

A minuscule piece of paper was handed over. The moment Juniper saw the handwriting on it, a sharp ache pierced her chest.

—Wren? What is twenty-five-year-old Juniper doing right now?

Nelson's handwriting was usually bold and sprawling, but to fit it onto this tiny scrap, he had written it incredibly small. You had to look closely just to read it.

Twenty-five-year-old Juniper had finally found the note, but her relationship with Nelson had shattered long ago.

It was probably the first time the technician had seen something like this, and he smiled. "Pretty romantic. If you just tossed paper into a standard hearing aid, it would ruin the tech. That's why they specifically ordered a dual-layer shell—to hide the note without affecting the functionality. Your boyfriend leave that for you?"

Juniper's throat tightened, a thick, suffocating lump forming as grief washed over her.

She hated the cynical, mocking man Nelson had become, but she desperately missed the boy he used to be.

Memories of an old love really were like a physical blow. Every time she remembered, it felt like being slapped all over again.

She took the repaired hearing aid but didn't put it in immediately. Instead, she walked out of the building in a numb daze.

She even forgot her manners, failing to utter a simple 'thank you' as she stepped outside and sat on a bench, staring blankly at the device and the tiny slip of paper.

—Wren? What is twenty-five-year-old Juniper doing right now?

She read it again.

She had been fifteen the year she received it. She still remembered how overwhelmingly thrilled she had been.

A ten-year promise was just too cruel.

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