The Man Who Was My Right Ear Chapter 07

The Man Who Was My Right Ear Chapter 07

Nolan Hayes naturally took my bag.

“Is the noise in your right ear still bad today?”

I touched my ear. “Better than yesterday.”

Gavin’s voice came from behind, cold. “Vivian Rhodes. Who is he?”

“My therapist.”

Nolan Hayes nodded at him. “Hello.”

Gavin didn’t respond. He stared at the hand Nolan Hayes had on my bag.

“Therapists carry your stuff for you?”

Nolan Hayes smiled. “Just being helpful.”

Gavin looked at me. “You let some stranger touch your things?”

The absurdity hit me.

Maya Sutton wore my dress. Pinned my camellia. Rewrote my vows.

He called me petty.

Now Nolan just held my bag, and suddenly Gavin Morgan had opinions.

“Gavin Morgan. You’re overstepping.”

His face went stiff.

Maya Sutton spoke softly from beside him.

“Gavin, let’s go. Vivian has someone else now.”

He shot her a cold look. “You go first.”

Maya Sutton’s face fell completely.

I didn’t stay. I followed Nolan into the adjustment room.

Through the glass, I could still see Gavin Morgan standing in the hallway.

After the session, Nolan handed me the settings sheet.

“Now if someone stands on your right and talks quietly, you’ll hear them better too.”

I blinked.

He smiled. “But hearing clearly isn’t about enduring. It’s about deciding whether to stay.”

I tucked the paper away and thanked him.

When I left the hospital, Gavin Morgan was there again.

His voice was rough. “I’ll take you home.”

“No.”

“Vivian. I just want to have a meal with you.”

I checked the time. “I have plans.”

Gavin instinctively looked at Nolan.

Nolan stepped back tactfully. “I have another patient. Talk later.”

After he left, Gavin spoke.

“You’re close with him?”

“Not really.”

“Then why make plans?”

I looked up. “I didn’t say with him.”

Gavin Morgan choked on his words.

My mom texted: “Dinner’s ready.”

I texted back and pulled up an Uber.

Gavin grabbed my wrist. “Vivian.”

This time, his grip was gentle.

“I didn’t think you’d really cancel the wedding.”

I looked at him. “You thought I wouldn’t dare.”

He didn’t answer.

So I finished it for him. “You thought I couldn’t leave you.”

Gavin swallowed. “I used to think that. But I know I was wrong.”

The apology came too quickly.

Like a bandage slapped onto a wound that hadn’t been cleaned.

I didn’t respond.

Gavin’s eyes were red.

“That umbrella. I remember you said the canopy was white, like snow.”

My fingers curled slightly.

He saw it. Hope lit up his face.

“Vivian, we weren’t always like this.”

No. We weren’t.

He used to stand on my right and shield me from all the cruelty.

But then the cruelty came from him, and I had nowhere to hide.

I said quietly, “Gavin Morgan. People change.”

“I can change back.”

I shook my head. “Not everything broken can be fixed.”

The car pulled up. I opened the door and got in.

Gavin stood outside and pushed the new umbrella through the window.

“It’s raining.”

I looked outside. The sky was gray, but the rain hadn’t started yet.

“I have one.”

I pulled a black folding umbrella from my bag. Plain. Light.

Gavin’s hand hung in the air.

As the window rolled up, the first raindrop hit the glass.

Gavin Morgan was still standing there, holding the umbrella no one would take.