Carson sat around playing a board game with his brother at the kitchen table on Christmas Eve as his sister chatted with their mom while she made dinner. He was in the lead for now but that could change any time so he had to stay focused.
Even so, bits of Shaelie's monologue were audible. "…it was the weirdest thing I had ever seen, Mom! This girl's auditory cortex was under stress for weeks as if she was stuck listening to a fire alarm 24/7 when everything was quiet. We had to put her in a medically induced coma because her pain was so terrible."
Their mother clucked sympathetically. "Poor dear. Did you end up figuring out what was causing it?"
"No. She got sent away to a specialist out of state. I have no idea if they figured it out or not. But honestly, if I hadn't seen those readings taken on multiple days at different times with the same results I would have thought the machine was spazzing," Shaelie said in disbelief.
