Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 504

Unbothered, Nora kept rambling. "Your techniques really worked. I swallowed a lot of water, but at least I didn't sink. I really did manage to drag Vincent all the way to the shoreline..."

Hudson remained entirely silent.

Nora finally sensed something was horribly wrong, a frown creeping onto her face.

She thought back to the car ride—how he had seemed so distracted, completely missing her words.

"Hudson?"

She called his name softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Hudson didn't even twitch.

The faint smile vanished from Nora's lips as a cold sense of dread flooded her chest.

Pressing her lips together, she slowly reached out, hovering her fingers right next to his ear. Then, she snapped them.

Snap!

The sharp sound cracked through the air, inches from his eardrum.

Hudson's movements didn't falter. Not even a flicker of his eyelashes.

Nora's hand froze in midair.

It was the exact same motion doctors had used to test her own hearing countless times over the past year.

She never imagined there would come a day when she would be testing Hudson with it.

He...

Was deaf?

In that devastating second, it felt as if something had violently slammed into her chest. Her throat tightened, and a thick layer of tears instantly blurred her vision.

When Hudson finally looked up, he was met with her trembling frame and red-rimmed eyes.

"What's wrong? Did I press too hard?"

A tear slipped down her cheek without warning.

It hit the back of his hand with a startling heat.

"Why are you crying?" Panic flared in Hudson's chest. He dropped the ice pack and cupped her face, his rough thumbs frantically wiping away the moisture.

Nora's lips trembled. "You... you can't hear me, can you?"

Hudson froze.

She wanted to scream at him, to demand why he had hidden this from her...

But as the words rose in her throat, she looked into his dark eyes—eyes swimming with raw, unfiltered desperation and fear of seeing her in pain—and everything died on her tongue. She couldn't utter a single syllable.

He had only done it to protect her from this exact heartbreak.

Hudson cradled her face, his thumb grazing the wet tracks under her eyes. "Don't cry. I'm right here, aren't I?"

Nora sniffled, her voice breaking on a sob. "Right here? You're completely deaf, and you're telling me you're fine?"

"It's only temporary."

He pulled her firmly against his chest, resting his chin on top of her head. "Liam found an incredible specialist. He's arriving in Chicago tomorrow."

Nora's crying stalled. She jerked her head up to look at him. "Really?"

"When have I ever lied to you?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Nora leveled a teary glare at him.

Realizing the glaring hypocrisy, Hudson cleared his throat and awkwardly rubbed the bridge of his nose, breaking eye contact.

"I'm not lying this time. If you don't believe me, call Liam. He was the doctor you introduced to me. You trust him, don't you?"