Amberville - By Tim Davys Page 0,123

ear infections, or if the ear is subjected to extreme strain over a long period, high volumes for example, the hair cells can die.”

Father had waited for this moment. He explained to the doctor that there would not be a need for any tablets, because the pains would go away when Magnus willed it. Father spoke in a loud, unctuous voice, as much to Reuben as to the doctor. He stood up and raised his paw toward the doctor’s desk and said that Magnus was good.

“Shouldn’t we let Magnus devote himself to more important matters?” the doctor answered. “So the medicines can help Reuben get healthy?”

This was a mistake. Reuben swallowed a large clump of anxiety and looked down at the floor. The doctor was making a big mistake. You didn’t joke about Magnus like that. The gray linoleum floor under the stool began to spin.

“Hair cells that die cannot be reproduced,” Margot Swan continued. “What happens is that the fewer cells you have left, the smaller the decibel range you can perceive. It’s a matter of range, the highest and lowest tones. But you already know that, of course.”

Reuben nodded. He nodded to confirm to Margot Swan that he had understood and to remind Father that forbearance was also a virtue.

“Do you think,” roared Father, “that you can decide what the Lord Magnus should devote himself to?”

The paw that was pointing at the desk was now aimed right at the doctor’s face.

“Do you think,” roared Father, “that you have the right to reduce a punishment that our almighty Magnus has pronounced? Do you think perhaps . . . that you are the equal of Magnus?”

The doctor finally realized what he was up against. Reuben looked down at the floor and put his fins over his ears. He did not want to hear. It could hurt as much as it wanted.

“Drexler’s syndrome,” said Margot Swan to the old composer, who again refused to lift his gaze from the floor, “is a disease around which I have devoted the greater part of my life to doing research. Drexler’s syndrome means that the hair cells in the ear die without apparent reason. The course of the disease is often very . . . aggressive. Sometimes it only affects hair cells, sometimes the hair cells are only the beginning.”

I prefer pain, thought Reuben, I prefer pain to this. And he got up and left Father and the doctor in the examining room. He sat down on one of the chairs in the waiting room, where he could still hear Father telling off the blasphemous doctor, and there and then he decided never to return to a hospital again. Fifteen minutes later Father came out of the consultation room. His cheeks were red, his eyes were large, and he was breathing heavily.

“Now we’re leaving,” he said triumphantly.

Reuben did not recall how they managed to find their way out.

“You have Drexler’s syndrome,” said Margot Swan. “As I said earlier, there is of course a slight possibility that I am mistaken, which is why we are continuing to take samples, but . . . I advise you to read as much as you can about the disease before the next time we meet, then I will try to answer any questions you have. Judging by what I see today—and once again, more is required to determine this beyond all doubt, but from what I know at this point—it’s a matter of about three weeks. Then your hearing is going to . . . be extremely limited, if not . . .”

Reuben Walrus did not know what Margot Swan was talking about. He could not for the life of him recall the name of the syndrome. And he would not recall how he managed to find his way out of the hospital this time either.

About the Author

TIM DAVYS is a pseudonym, and this is his or her first novel.

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This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

AMBERVILLE. Copyright © 2009 by Tim Davys Corporation. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub © Edition January 2010 ISBN: 9780062000637

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