Heaven's Gate Bridge eleven

Heaven’s Gate eleven

Harriet felt like a trapped animal. She did not have Catherine to support her and give her an obvious clue to the subject in discussion. Even with the forced smile on her parents’ lips, she felt that she was in for a surprise that she did not care to have.

Doctor Carson was a nice person. Harriet even thought of him as her father’s friend. He looked as if he was recalling something he had heard and was trying to put it into the right words. He stood in the position that Harriet could see his lips if she was having hearing problems and was trying to read lips.

“William and Frances, we have a lovely young girl who has two problems. The first is the measles. Since you have told me that her fever is gone by your thermometer’s indication, I will suffice it to say that her measles disease is about over and she might go to school on Thursday and Friday. I will leave a note.”

“The next issue is that of a mystery. “ he continued as he took his glasses off and pulled out his handkerchief to clean the lens in front of his mouth.

Harriet did not move. She did appear to be focusing on his lips but leaned a little to her left to try to catch anything that he said. She then stood up and put her hands on her hips. “Dr. Carson. I know that you must be talking about me. I do consider it rude that you do not talk clearly enough for me to hear everything that you are saying. Please consider my feelings and remember that I am here and I want to know what you are saying,” after which she sat down and scowled at the three adults in the room.

“Harriet. You are talking to an adult. We have taught you better manners than that. Apologize for this outburst or you will stay in here until you do.” said Mrs. Miller with a few steps toward her determined daughter.

“No that is quite alright Frances. I wanted to get her reaction and I think that she is correct. She has a problem and does not want to be treated like a baby.” said Dr. Carson as he put his glasses on.

“I am not a baby!” shouted Harriet. She then burst into tears.

Mrs. Miller rushed to her daughter and tried to give her a comforting hug. Mr. Miller looked at Dr. Carson to see if there was anything he could do. After a minute, Dr. Carson continued.

“Harriet, please forgive me but I must do a few things that you think are unusual. There is no place that I know who has an expert on what your problem is. I will try a few things if you will just cooperate. Will you try?” he said as he walked up to her.

Harriet shook her head and let her mother move away.

Dr. Carson took out his big pocket watch. He showed both parents what he held. “My own father gave me this watch before I went to medical school. He told me that a doctor should never be late for class or an appointment. This watch has been through as much work as I have been.”

Harriet sat still as she was trying to follow his explanation.

“I will put this near your ear.” He showed her the example. “I will move it away.” He continued his demonstration by moving the watch from near the ear to about one foot away from his own ear.

“I want you to tell me when you cannot hear it anymore. Do you understand?”

“I think I do. Please proceed.” she said.

He put his watch near her ear after she closed her eyes. The room was quiet except for the sound that came from outside.

He held it there for a few seconds and waited for any reaction from Harriet. Her eyes flickered from side to side as she listened very intently. There was no acknowledgement of any hearing. Both parents’ faces showed a slight disappointment.

“Oh no. “Harriet moaned.

“No dear. This is only one ear. You have two. I forgot to check for wax in your ear but I do not have enough light here. Let’s try the other ear.”

Harriet sat very still for a second time. Dr. Carson checked her left ear. This time Harriet crossed her fingers and closed her eyes again. This time she nodded that she heard a faint ticking. As the watch moved about six inches away, she opened her eyes, “Oh Dr. Carson. I think that I really heard something that time. Please tell me that you did not play a trick on me.”

“No Harriet. I did the same thing. I will check both ears for wax when you come by the office. But I would like to try one more test that will take three seconds. Okay? This time I will toss a coin into the air. Tell me what you hear. Does the coin have a ringing sound or a thud.”

“Okay.”

Dr. Carson checked his pocket for a large coin. When he could not find it, Mr. Miller immediately offered him one that he had in his pocket. “Will this do?”

“Excellent.” He tossed it high and let it fall onto the wooden part of the floor.

“It was so soft but I heard a thud. It that good?” Harriet asked.

“Yes Harriet. It means that you have something that we can work with.” he said as he returned the coin to Mr. Miller. “I will talk with some of my colleagues and see you on Monday afternoon. It seems that maybe the measles gave you an unfortunate Easter gift but nothing that a smart, lovely young lady cannot live with.”

Dr. Carson looked at his watch and saw that he was going to be late for list last appointment for the first time in his professional career. “Well I need to go. I afraid that I will have to ask the family to enjoy Easter at home just to make sure that no one will say that they got sick from the children. Maybe the Easter rabbit can hide some eggs around the outside. Harriet can go outside but very limited activity. I hope that I can find some good news.”

“Thank you doctor. I will show you out.” said Mr. Miller as he nodded to Frances to stay with Harriet for a minute.

At the front door, Mr. Miller shook hands with his dear friend.

“Stanley, thank you for the time you spent here. But I must ask, will Harriet get better?” he inquired as he tried to see past the glasses and into the eyes of a good man.

“William, I think that we are going to have to prepare the family for a child who has a hearing problem. This will change a few things in her life, but one thing should never change. “

“What?”

“The fact that Harriet is loved by the whole family. She did not lose an arm or a leg. She can go anywhere she wants. She might need to have assistance in some aspects of education, but she must be treated the same way that she was before her loss. Think about it. “ He said as he went through the door and to his car. He had given bad news to many families and felt that that part of his medical profession would not change.