Lend me an Ear?

Dear Diary,

Date: November 3rd 2024

A few weeks after my voice acting job, so i have been getting back on the groove. slowly but surely. I was feeling kinda beat so i went to get coffee from the opposite shop only to find that they were closed. Something about some stupid health concerns like its coffee, the only health concerns I care about is being awake.

Date: November 13th 2024

i must admit its been kinda weird not seeing Daphne everyday.  I mean i spend most days at Lily's anyway but even when i get home she is not there. On the plus side, the apartment is clean.

Date: November 18th 2024

I woke up feeling rather unusual. I got this pain bothering me at the left of my ear. It kinda felt like a sharp crisp pain, the kind you feel when you touch an open wound. At first I thought it was nothing, but while at my office it came again and the pain was excrutiating so i flinched.

“Woah, are you okay doc?” Todd asked.

I touched the inner of my ear and assured him as I was fine. “Diane, you were telling me about books?”

Diane was in her “I’ve just read five self-help books” phase, spouting phrases like “manifestation is my new medication,” while Todd looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.

“Doctor Harvey,” Diane said, leaning forward dramatically. “Do you think Todd’s negative energy is causing his hairline to recede?”

Now, usually, I’d have a witty comeback, but all I could hear was a muffled version of her words, like a distant radio station tuning in and out.

“Max?” she prompted, waving her hand. “Hello?”

“Sorry, what was that?” I asked, louder than necessary.

It was just after 1:00PM when Diane and Todd left. I honestly don’t remember much of the session. I have a few minutes to take a break and eat my lunch which i waste writing on a diary. “Curry and rice,” I thought looking at the homemade lunch Lily made for me and put in a container. I had just began eating when I got a message from Stephen. I staggered into his office feeling a bit weird.

“Max! You’re late!” Stephen greeted me with his usual over-the-top cheer. “Also, you look... sweaty?”

“I just got your message seconds ago,” I replied sitting with a heavy thud on his couch.

“Hey that’s for my clients.” He slid a can of soda toward me. “Drink this. Caffeine solves everything.”

Midday through Stephen’s rant about this girl she hooked up with last night, my ear decided to stage a protest. A sharp pain shot through my skull, making me wince so hard Stephen actually paused.

“Are you okay?”

“Just a little—” I started, but then the muffled hearing sensation shifted to full-on echo mode. Stephen’s voice sounded like it was coming from a cavern, and I could swear someone whispered “Go to the doctor” in my other ear.

“Max?” Stephen asked again, leaning in.

I shook my head. “Sorry, what?”

He squinted at me. “Did you just ignore me to have an existential crisis?”

By 2 p.m., I was taken to the small pharmacy two blocks from the clinic. Budget cuts means we don’t get a “real” doctor The doctor, a woman with the patience of a saint, took one look at me and sighed.

“Ear infection?” she asked knowingly.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Your left ear is redder than a sunburnt tomato.”

She handed me a tiny bottle of eardrops and a box of painkillers. “Use these. And for the love of all things holy, dry your ears properly after showers.”

“That’s why I keep telling him but does he ever listen?”

I turned around to see Lily standing next to the door.

“Lily? What…what are you doing here.” I asked still a bit dissoriented.

“I came to pick you up. Daphne called me to say she got a photo opp and Stephen had a patient. So here I am.”

Typical, everyone is always busy when I am in need.

“Stay here. I’ll be right back,” Lily said going out with the doctor.

Lily came back in and took me back to the office where she got my briefcase and notebooks while I waited in the car. I heard her opening the back door as I was snoozing a bit, but it woke me up.

“Stephen said that he got your 3’oclock, he said you would understand.” I nodded and we took off. 

Lily took me back to my apartment where she dropped me onto the couch, after trying her best to support my weight as we climbed the stairs. She put my keys on the bowl on top of the fridge and went with the ear drops to the kitchen. She came back and tilted my head gently and applied the eardrops, which felt like pouring liquid ice directly into my brain.

“How’s the ear?” she asked

“Oh you know, great. Just a reminder to have good hygiene.”

She laughed. “I told you to call sick for work before you left in the morning.”

“You did? I must have not heard you.” I tried to wake up but she pushed my head back down with force.

“I’m sorry, are you okay?” she asked softly.

No!

“Yeah.” I replied.

“The doctor said you need to let the medicine get all the way down. Just stay like that. I’ll make some soup for you. Just stay like that. I’ll be right back.”

Eventually I was able to resume my norma head posture. We stayed in the rest of the day watching some cheesy, rom-coms that I became too heavily interested in. I blame the meds. Daphne came back in quite late I think, and she DIDN’T WAKE US UP. Who leaves two people asleep on the couch and doesn’t even cover them with a blanket or something. Daphne. Daphne does that.

Signing off,

Max…sleepy time.