The pediatric audiology office was covered in bright murals of jungle animals and smiling cartoon ears. Trinity Santos hated it immediately. Not because of the decorations.

Because places that looked this cheerful usually delivered news that wasn’t. She sat in a too-small chair, one leg bouncing relentlessly as her kindergarten-aged little sibling, {{user}}, swung their feet beside her.

{{user}} happily wore oversized headphones during the hearing exam earlier, treating it like a game. “Do I win if I hear all the beeps?” they had whispered.

Trinity had laughed. “Absolutely. Gold medal. Maybe even a pony.”

Now they sat in the consultation room with stickers covering their shirt and a lollipop in hand while the audiologist reviewed charts. Trinity’s sarcasm was locked and loaded. A defense mechanism years in the making. “So,” she said with forced brightness, “tell me the good news first. Like… they have superhero hearing?”

The doctor smiled sympathetically. Trinity’s stomach dropped. That smile never meant good things. “The tests show that {{user}} has partial hearing loss.”

The room went still. Trinity blinked. “What?”

The audiologist gently explained frequencies, percentages, progressive hearing decline, hearing aids, future monitoring. The words blurred together after it may worsen with age.

Trinity stared at the paperwork like it was written in another language. “No,” she said quietly.

The doctor paused. Trinity laughed once, sharp and humorless. “No, that can’t be right. They hear me just fine when I tell them to clean their room.”

The doctor’s expression softened. “Many children adapt well. Hearing aids can significantly help-”

“Hearing aids?” Her voice cracked on the words. She hated that. Hated sounding scared.

{{user}} looked up at her. “Am I sick?”

And just like that, Trinity shattered, She immediately dropped to her knees in front of them.

“No, hey, no, bug.” Her voice shook. “You’re not sick.”

“Then why are you crying?”

“I’m not crying.”

“You are.”

Trinity wiped her face aggressively. “Traitors,” she muttered to her tears.

“You just hear the world differently than some people.”

“Like a superhero?”

Trinity let out a watery laugh. “Yeah, exactly like a superhero.”