Page 25 of Capturing Perfection

Erin waved. "Hi Logan. Come on back."

He and Clay followed. Logan saw Clay's lips moving, but couldn't read them well. He supposed Erin and Clay were chatting. This had to be the longest hallway on the face of the planet. When they entered the office, he saw a table full of equipment. His feet came to a halt as he stared.

"It's okay," Erin said as she squeezed his shoulder. "I know it looks like a lot, but we're only working with a couple of pieces today."

He could read Erin's lips fairly well. Logan supposed she was used to working with people who couldn't hear, so she spoke slowly and faced them. He nodded and his feet unglued themselves from the floor. Logan's eyes zeroed in on the two processors innocently perched in their cases. Those small devices would change his life. If they worked, he would no longer think of himself as one of the thousand broken men who’d returned home from hell, but a survivor. Sure, he had a few bumps and bruises, but his life would once again belong to him. Erin unlocked a tablet and started a conversation caption application.

“Mr. Callen, are you ready?”

He nodded

She turned to see Clay standing behind her. Erin said something to Clay, but Logan didn’t have a good view. At first, hethought she was telling Clay to leave but let out a relieved breath when Clay sat in the chair beside him. He could read Clay’s lips and see his expressions. Logan wouldn’t face this alone.

Logan sat and stole a glance at Clay. Clay gave him a little wink, and his nerves settled somewhat. He chastised himself at his earlier thought because he knew Clay would always be there. Logan once again focused on Erin, sitting across the table from him.

"Okay, so the first thing I want to do is check your incision sites. Since we are doing earlyactivation,I expect there is still some swelling, which is normal, but I want to make sure there is no sign of infection."

"We've been putting the ointment on them and Logan hasn'tcomplainedof anypain,"Clay said

"That's great. Let's take a peak."

Erin walked around the table and Logan remained still while she palpated the spots behind his ears where Dr. Cleary had cut. The flaps of his ears were still a bit numb but when he'd taken the bandages off and looked at them in the mirror, both ears looked just like they always had. He'd also explored his scalp to locate the magnet, but his thick hair obscured it.

Erin came back around and smiled."They look fantastic. Now we'll figure out what strength magnet to start with. We might adjust this as the swelling goes down. I'm going to place the headpiece on your scalp. You may feel a little click when the twomagnetsfind each other, but therewon'tbe any sound. I promise I'll tell you beforewe putsound through the processors."

"We both read the procedure outline you sent home with us," Logan said.

"That's great, but I know there are probably a lot of emotions flying around the room right now, and it's hard to rememberdetails. So I like to make sure I tell you each step as we move forward."

Logan watched Clay thank Erin.

“Let’s get started.”

Logan sat still as Erin attached the magnets to his scalp, where the implants rested beneath the skin. Huh, it was higher up and closer to his ear than he'd thought. Maybe only a couple of inches away. He’d chosen a black casing so the devices would blend in with his hair. Although he'd seen a bunch of people online who got wraps and stickers with fun designs. He might do that in the future. Why not have some fun with the whole thing?

When she secured the processors, it surprised Logan how light they were. He definitely felt them, especially the magnet resting on the side of his head, but the overall presence didn’t feel like the giant satellite dishes he’d expected.

“Okay, Logan, we’re going to check the impedances of the electrodes. You don’t need to do anything, but you may hear some beeping sounds or there could be a tingling sensation. You can talk if you want."

He couldn’t talk. He was too focused on listening for every little sound. Perhaps something existed there? He wasn't sure. Logan locked eyes with Clay, desperate for some connection to the world outside his head.

"You're doing great, Logan. Since they took the nerve conduction measurements in the OR, I'm going to use that to set your first map. When I turn them on, the sounds will be soft at first, then we'll raise them until speech is loud but comfortable for you."

He closed his eyes. Oh God … oh God… please let this work.When he opened his eyes, he caught Erin's mouth moving, but only the last bit, so he didn't understand what she'd said. He looked at Clay for clarification. Clay squeezed his hand.

Logan saw Erin gesture with her hand, and he jolted when he heard a light buzzing sound. He wasn’t sure what that was. Were the units on? Seeking confirmation, he looked into Clay's eyes. He watched Clay's lips move, but there was no sound. His heart raced and Logan feared he was about to hyperventilate, but then the buzzing got louder. He tilted his head and closed his eyes to focus on the buzzing sound. The buzzing transformed into a cadence of vaguely robotic sounds. Then…

“Logan?”

Clay squeezed his hand, and Logan whipped his head around to stare at his love.

"I want to say something profound, but can only sit here admire how brave you are."

It’s Clay! That’s Clay’s voice! It sounds a littleartificial,but that’s Clay!

He watched Clay’s lips move and heard. He actually understood the words. For the first time since that fateful day that’d changed his life, he’d heard Clay’s voice. Moisture pooled in his eyes and spilled over. With the beauty of sound restored, and the enormity of all he’d lost since the explosion, of all he’d taken for granted before, poured forth.

Clay’s face was a mirror of rioting emotions. Logan wanted to leap across the room into his love’s arms. Erin sat calmly in the chair across the table with a smile on her face. A box of tissues appeared, and he mopped the tears trickling from the corners of his eyes. Here he was a battle hardened Ranger, and the simple presence of his lover’s voice had him crying.

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