Looking forward to what is coming next! Please, don't make us wait too long.

The next day, Grace woke me up bright and early at 8:00 AM for the eye exam. Our appointment is at 9, but the place is a mere ten minutes away, and I don't need to fill out any forms. We eat a light breakfast of yogurt for me and scrambled eggs for Grace. I go at it with a Waterpik that I ordered before my treatment. It turns out just as disastrous as the night before, with water everywhere, but it took 5 minutes less. I then brush my teeth and get the key to my expander.

When I give the key to Grace, she tells me to tip my head back because she is going to start with the upper one. I obediently do that, and as it is her first time doing it in somebody's mouth, she pokes me a few times before getting it in. When she finally turns it, I experience a sharp burst of pain, and then try to move my tongue away from the lower one so she can turn it. I feel the same sensation during both turns, and wince a bit after the second one.

G: Did I hurt you? If I did, I am sorry, and will try not to do it again, unless was it the expanders expanding?
S: It wash the ecshpandersh turning, sho there is nothing you can do.
G: Ok, it is 9:40, so we should get going. Although you don't have any forms to fill out, I still need to be there for your appointment!
S: Ok, I will get my shoes on and shtart heading out. Alsho, did Dr. Schmidt tell you if I had to wear my headgear in public?
G: Well, he said that you needed to wear it at least 18 hours a day, but more is better. If you don't feel comfortable yet, then don't do it.
S: I don't want to yet.
G: Ok. That is fine.

After we got to the clinic, I learned that I was doing the eye exam first. The waiting room was nicely furnished, and I found the latest edition of a magazine I liked. Just as I was getting comfortable, Grace came in and called, "Ms. Rodgers, we are ready for you!"
By that point, I was extremely nervous.

We walked into a conference room with the traditional poster with letters on it. Grace sat me down and explained how it would work. I would read the poster from different lengths with my bare eye. Then she would give me some experimental lenses that I would put on and do the same thing. She said that she would put different letters up so I couldn't just memorize the letters.

I did it with no lenses, and from up close it was easy, but from afar I had some difficulty. She gave me some lenses to try only from close, and only from afar. I found that the lenses that I used to see things close didn't work and made it blurry. The ones for nearsightedness helped a bit.

After I was done, Grace told me that she would text me the results in 30 minutes to an hour. She also said that she scheduled my ear appointment for 10:15, but I should be there at 10:00 to get the necessary paperwork done. As I was there for around 45 minutes, I had 15 minutes to get a snack and check-in.

Chapter 5

When I get to the ear clinic, I find it is drabber than the eye clinic. It has white-washed walls and a few hard chairs next to the receptionist's desk. I check in and fill out the necessary paperwork. There isn't much to fill out on the forms, only basic medical stuff like my birthday and allergies.

I get called on at about 10:20 and get shown to a room that has the basic chair you would find in a doctor's office, along with a chair and the doctor's desk. The doctor, Dr. Carlson, came in. She looks to be a woman aged 60-70. She says I should put a pair of headphones on and my hand up when I hear a beep.

When I do that, Dr. Carlson remarks, "Hmmm. Interesting." and walks out of the room. When she says that, I feel scared. About five minutes later, she returns with some boxes. Before we go any further, I should explain this. Dr. Carlson is a very blunt woman with little compassion for her patients.

She walks in, sits at the desk, and tells me to get comfortable. She shows me a graph of my hearing.She explains that I have average to high hearing at low frequencies and low hearing at high frequencies. She says that those results line up with noise-induced hearing loss. When she asks what I do for a living, and when I respond, "I work at a factory at a large company," she confirms that I don't wear ear protection. She confirms my fears that I will have to wear hearing aids, and I start freaking out.

Right at that moment, I hear a ding from my phone. When I glance down at it, I see it is a text from Grace. She says I am nearsighted and should come in to try on glasses today at 1:00.

I tell Dr. Carlson that I also had an eye exam today and will have to wear glasses. She said that some modifications would be made so that the hearing aids would fit correctly, but nothing that wasn't regularly changed.
I would have to come in sometime next week to make molds of my ears so they would fit correctly. As I didn’t have that bad of hearing, it could wait.

Just a note: I’m really bad at typing with a lisp because of autocorrect so every time Sophia is speaking make her have a lisp. I tried, but it is hard to do. I also know I am switching between 1st and 3rd person and past and present tense, but it is so hard for me to stay in the same one for some reason.

I feel that I’m not very good at writing, it is a lot of work, and I don’t really enjoy it, so this is the last chapter. I took his suggestion and sent it to BraceFace2015 for proofreading.

Chapter 6:
As soon as I left the ear clinic, I went to a deli to get a sandwich and chips, although I knew I wouldn't eat much. I was stressing so much as time flew by. I suddenly realized that I had to get going if I were to make my appointment on time. I got to the eye doctor at precisely 12:57 and was shown to a room filled with glasses of all types. When I looked around, I realized I wanted two pairs: a clear pair and a tortoise-shell pair. After I paid for them, I went back to see Grace during her lunch break.

S: “Hi, Grace!”
G: “Hello Sophia! I didn't realize you would come here during my lunch break.”
S: “I just wanted to see when you would be home. I mean, I was here anyway.”
G: “Oh, that's right! I forgot that you were coming today to pick out new frames for your glasses. What did you pick?”
S: “I picked clear ones and tortoise-shell ones.”
G: “When will your frames be ready?”
S: “They said they would call me when they are ready; that will most likely be in 3-4 days.”
G: "Well, I'll let you go. I'll probably be home at about 4-ish, but it may be a little earlier or later. Bye!"
S: “Goodbye, Grace.”

We had dinner that night, and it was enjoyable. Over the past two years, Grace and I turned into a little more than friends. I still get stared at with the headgear, which was upped to 24/7 wear, but I have gotten used to them. I got the tongue spurs replaced with a tongue crib, which has been good, but the headgear wear has gotten longer. I see improvements in my smile, so I guess it is worth getting the braces, but it has been the longest two years of my life. Dr. Schmidt told me I probably have five years left of active treatment, but maybe I can shave it down a year.

When I started writing stories, I felt the same way.

I can offer you a bit of advice. If you keep writing, it will get easier. You will get better if you keep writing and it will get easier.

I also know that writing is something that some people don't enjoy and struggle to learn how to do.

It is your choice to stop writing and I respect that. You have made a contribution to the collection of stories for us to read and I thank you for that. I hope that you will consider writing something for us again.

Just caught up and you are doing amazing. Can’t wait for the next chapter

Now I am here and reading this masterpiece! Keep up the good work for sure!

Greetings, Crow