Worried Parents

Writers: Avery, Heather
Date Posted: 9th January 2024

Characters: K'ran, Saidrene, Zehva
Description: Zehva gives K'ran and Saidrene a troubling diagnosis about their daughter Saikera.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 4, day 12 of Turn 11

K'ran

Saidrene

Small, chubby hands grabbed at the long braid over Saidrene's shoulder as she hurried from the creche to her and K'ran's weyr. She barely paid Saikera any attention, as her unblinking eyes remained straight ahead, intent and focused on one thought - reaching the weyr.

Her day had begun normally, wing drills and some other duties, but when she had gone by the creche to pick up Saikera, everything had gone sideways.

"Have you noticed that Saikera doesn't react to noises?" the foster mother had asked.

It was a simple enough question, but it had hit Saidrene like a ton of bricks. Suddenly, months of little incidents here and there, or the way Saikera could sleep through anything, came flooding back to her.

**Hard of hearing? Deaf?** The possibilities plagued her as she opened the door to their weyr. She was instantly comforted by the comfortable, familiar smell of their family living area.

Sinking onto the couch with Saikera in her lap, she stared at her daughter, thinking how beautiful and perfect she looked. If she was deaf... She would never have the opportunity to Impress a dragon, she would never be a harper... How would she communicate?

**She'll never say 'Mama'...**

K'ran had just finished visiting the Infirmary checking up on an injured wingrider, and so his expression was already sober when he arrived home, several minutes late from the candlemark he usually met Saidrene on regular days. "Sorry I'm late, I was - " he started as he opened the door.

As soon as he saw her facial expression, like she was looking into the middle distance and seeing something close by and yet so far away, his brow furrowed. "Saidrene?" he said more tentatively.

When her eyes turned on him they filled with tears, but did not spill beyond the borders of her eyes. "When I picked up Saikera her foster mother asked if we had noticed how she doesn't react to noises... Have you noticed? Anything?" Even as she asked him, the greenrider snapped her fingers beside of Saikera's left ear.

K'ran watched as their daughter didn't respond to the noise. He thought back, and said, hesitantly, "She hasn't been bothered by Hatchings, and all the noises of the crowds and dragons. I thought she just found the hum soothing."

"Do you think she's... deaf?" she choked saying the word out loud.

K'ran stepped forward towards Saidrene and Saikera, reaching his arms out for them when he settled on the couch. "Have you taken her to the Healers to see? They didn't say anything shortly after the birth..."

"No, I just came straight home." Saidrene said, finding shelter in his arms. Saikera's face brightened with a delighted smile upon seeing her papa up close. Her hands reached eagerly up towards his face.

He bent down to look at her face and took her tiny baby hands in his. He was always astounded by the feeling of them. "Saikera, can you hear me?" He made a trill of sounds from high to low and back again to see if she reacted to any.

She continued gazing up at him with adoring eyes, never flinching or changing expression.

Saidrene closed her eyes, and then said in a hollow voice. “I’ll make her an appointment with the healers.”

"Maybe it's only partial," he said, a note of hope in his tone. But there was a sinking feeling as he spoke. "Do you want me to go take care of it right now?"

"Yes." She would have no peace until she knew what they were facing.

"I'll be right back, I promise," he told her, giving one more hug before he headed down to the Infirmary.

The apprentice on duty looked up in surprise to see the Weyrsecond arrive not even a candlemark after he'd left. "Sir, did you need - "

"I need a Healer's appointment. For a baby. With your best," he said.

"Oh, yes," the apprentice stammered, looking down to see the schedule.

}:My rider wants to know if yours wants the hatchling seen right now, or wait until tomorrow?:{ Rogueth asked Ashareth.

}: She says now. She is on her way.:{ Ashareth replied.

“I’ll let Journeywoman Zehva know, sir.” The apprentice said as the message was relayed.

K'ran sat down in a chair so that he could wait and fidget without looking extremely obvious about it, dipping his head to remain in communion with Rogueth rather than obviously be bouncing his feet or picking at his hands. When Saidrene and Saikera arrived, he stood up to join them. "At least they're responsive."

Saidrene flashed a tremulous smile.

Zehva appeared at that moment. "Weyrsecond, Rider," she bobbed her head to both. "Come on back. Yanlen tells me that this is urgent?" She led them to a private examination room and shut the door.

"Well, I hope we're just being panicky parents but..." Saidrene set Saikera down on the table. "Her foster mother noticed that she doesn't respond to noises. Is that.. normal for her age? Or do you think there might be some hearing loss?"

"Let's see," Zehva said, her voice calm and collected, soothing even. She withdrew an instrument from the pocket of her coat and looked inside Saikera's ears, tickling the baby lightly after each look and earning a grin. "No obstructions," she murmured before turning around and retrieving a tuning fork from the drawer behind her. Setting the tool down, she also withdrew two eye patches. "I'm going to cover her eyes so she can't follow my movements and then I'm going to make noises on either side to see if she follows the sound."

Saidrene nodded, watching as the patches were slipped over Saikera's head and put into place. The healer then lightly tapped the tuning fork on the left side of Saikera's head and then the other. There was no reaction. Not the tilt or turning of her little head. The healer then tried placing the tuning fork behind and in front of Saikera, but to no avail.

Zehva took the patches off of Saikera's face and grinned at her in peek-a-boo fashion, earning another big smile from the baby.

"It does seem, at this point, that she may be deaf." Zehva said, leaning back against the counter and crossing her arms over her chest. "For now, at her age, she's under constant supervision as it is, so there's not much risk. Bring her back in a month and let's re-evaluate."

K'ran pressed a hand to his mouth. Their pretty girl, not able to hear. He'd known someone with a hearing impairment twice. Once during the trader caravans, a young woman whose skill with numbers for exactly what they could carry and how to sell it, who communicated by slate - but she hadn't been completely unable to hear. Another, a dragonrider with almost-total loss, who could use his dragon to speak mind to mind. No one completely deaf.

"You think there would be a chance for it to change?" he asked hopefully.

"I doubt it," Zehva said. "However, it's still early to determine the severity of her hearing impairment. At this point we can't rule out that she doesn't have some amount of hearing. We'll know more as she ages." The healer looked up, noting the pool of tears in Saidrene's eyes and the tremble of her lower lip. Reaching out, Zehva put a hand lightly on the greenrider's arm. "She is healthy and happy. Hearing is just one aspect of life."

Saidrene nodded, ashamed at the tears as she reached up to swiftly brush them from her cheeks. She couldn't escape some inexplicable guilty feeling that this was her fault. It was an irrational feeling, but she wanted to protect Saikera from any sort of hardship in life, even though that was obviously impossible.

K'ran reached out to touch Saidrene's cheek to catch the tears, hoping it would help calm the storm in him as well. "How much more dangerous will it make things for her, if she can't hear? Children try to get into everything, and..."

"There are a lot of dangers in a Weyr for a child that can't hear," Zehva conceded. "It's not a decision you would need to face right now. At this stage she's still supervised heavily and corralled away from incidents."

"But it's a bridge we'll have to cross as she gets older," Saidrene gathered, to which Zehva nodded. Saidrene imagined Saikera toddling too close to a weyrledge and not being able to hear the warning, or reaching for something hot, or.... There was a list of things. Many of the fostermothers at the Weyr tended to multiple children, not just one child.

"Thank you for letting us know about it," K'ran told Zehva. His mind was working overtime already, as he suspected Saidrene's was. "Is there anything else we should know about her condition? Does she look healthy otherwise?"

"She's the picture of health," Zehva assured him. "I can set her up a referral appointment with a Master who specializes in this if you would like."

Saidrene glanced at K'ran and then nodded. "Let's do that."

"Consider it done."

"Is the Master here, or will we have to travel?" He could fly them anywhere they needed to go.

"He's at the Healer Hall at Jade Harbor," Zehva confirmed.

"I'll take us as soon as there's an appointment, just let me know," he said.

“Thank you, Zehva, for everything.” Saidrene said, standing with Saikera balanced on one hip.

“Of course.” The journeywoman healer stood, smiling at Saikera and waving. “Bye bye Saikera.”

Saikera beamed and reached out with one chubby hand to wiggle her fingers in a baby wave.

Last updated on the January 10th 2024

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