away from me when you’re talking! What the hell did you just say?”
“If you had the implant, you would have heard what I said,” he signed and walked out of the bedroom.
I stood in the middle of the room as anger and hurt consumed me. It felt as if the walls were caving in, and I couldn’t breathe. Grabbing my suitcase from the closet, I began throwing some clothes into it. Henry walked back into the room and lightly took hold of my arm.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m going to stay with my mom. I can’t be here with you right now!”
“So you’re just going to run instead of talking about it?” he signed.
“There’s nothing to talk about! What don’t you understand? I am who I am, and you’re trying to change me.”
“I am not trying to change you, Ellie. I’m trying to help you.”
“I don’t need help, Henry! Nothing is wrong with me!”
“Fine. Go to your mom’s then.” He threw his hands up in the air and walked out of the room.
Tears started streaming down my face as I grabbed my phone and got an Uber. After zipping my suitcase, I took it from the bed, grabbed my laptop, went downstairs, and walked out the door. It was late, so I texted my mom to let her know I was coming over instead of just showing up.
“I’m on my way over. Can I stay with you? Henry and I got into a fight, and I left.”
“Of course, you can. What did you fight about?”
“I’ll tell you when I get there.”
The moment I stepped through the door of her apartment, tears streamed down my face. She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me for a few moments before we started to talk.
“What happened?”
“Henry wants me to get a cochlear implant.”
“Oh. Did you tell him you tried that already?”
“Yes. But he wouldn’t stop going on and on about modern technology and how things are different now. He wants me to be able to hear him.”
“In all honesty, honey, I was waiting for that, and I think you were too.”
“He’s trying to change me, and change who I am.”
“Oh, sweetheart, I don’t think he’s trying to change you.”
“He actually compared my deafness to cancer and broken bones.”
“I don’t think he meant it the way you took it.”
“Are you being serious right now? Why are you defending him?!”
“I’m not defending him. But you can’t just run away, Ellie. The two of you need to talk about how you both feel about it.”
“We were and he wouldn’t listen or accept what I was telling him. He just got angrier when I told him I didn’t want it. He can’t respect my decision.”
“Listen, Ellie, I love you. But he does have a point. Technology is more advanced since you last had it done twenty-two years ago.”
“Oh, so now you think I should get it?”
“I don’t know. It’s up to you, and only you can make that decision. You were never the type of person to let other people influence you. It’s late, go get some rest and in the morning, you’ll have a clearer head, and you can go back home and talk to him once you’ve both calmed down.”
I threw myself on the bed in her guestroom and stared up at the ceiling. I had never been an impulsive person, but in this case, I did an impulsive thing. Grabbing my phone, and without any thought, I booked a flight to California. I needed to get out of the city and away from everyone.
Chapter 37
Ellie
I snuck out of my mom’s apartment in the middle of the night and stayed at the airport until my flight boarded at 5:30 a.m. As soon as the plane landed and I was in the cab on my way to the Malibu house, I turned on my phone and found I had a few text messages from Henry.
“Please come home so we can talk.”
“Why are my messages being sent as text messages instead of iMessage’s? You better not have blocked me, Ellie. That’s really immature.”
“????????”
“Damnit, Ellie. Answer me!”
“I didn’t block you. My phone was off. I don’t want to talk to you right now. When I’m ready I will.”
“That’s not fair. We need to talk.”
“No! What’s not fair is you no longer wanting to accept me for who I am!”
“Oh my God. That is not true! Stop being a spoiled brat!”
“A spoiled brat? Now you’re blocked, asshole!”
I inserted the key into the lock, opened the