The doctor's office was bright, light bouncing off all four white walls, illuminating the room in a way that was blinding me. Kathryn, my 'mother', stood at my side, talking incessantly to anyone that would listen... Anyone that could listen. She patted my shoulder in a rhythmic fashion, probably meant as a sign of endearment but instead made me feel like a household pet at the vets for a possible ear infection because that's what they thought this was. They thought antibiotics could change this but from the moment I woke up I knew differently.

It had been as though all sound had drained from the room, leaving the house silent. No sound of clattering from the kitchen, no alarm going off, not even the sound of doors opening and closing as people were getting ready. Momentary deafness, I had thought. Waking up always meant you wished you couldn't hear, allowing you to go back to sleep but this was different! There wasn't a faint buzzing sound as the noise came back, there was no feeling of sound entering my mind. The only noise I could hear was my own voice talking back at me, questioning everything that was going on.

After meeting Daphne we all understood what being deaf was. We knew the difficulties, the limits that couldn't be crossed. Most of all we knew the strains it could put on family relationships... And our family relationships were strained enough. My Grandmother had chosen her new Granddaughter over the one she had known all her life, my Mother was too busy fawning over her new daughter and my biological Mother was still too wrapped up in her precious Daphne to care.

The only person that cared at the start was Ty. He had been there and right now, I wished he was here again. I wished I could hear his voice and feel his arms around me yet there was no chance of half of that ever coming true again, if any of it. If he came back he'd have moved on, and although I'd moved on with Emmett is wasn't the same. Emmett didn't understand me before, I was just his hearing girlfriend and as he had accidently pointed out once a deaf Bay to make his life easier. It seems he got his wish.

A hand waved in front of my face and looking up I noticed the doctor's lips moving, yet there was no sound leaving them.

"What?" I shouted, yet the words were lost on me. Everyone turned to look at me and I knew they had heard me, but I didn't know if the words had left. I didn't know whether I was whispering or whether I was screaming. "I don't understand what you're saying!"

The doctor knelt in front of me, his lips moving slowly now, as if he were talking to a child. In the corner of my eye I could see Toby signing his words to me, slipping in insults about the doctor in any place he could. I shrugged at the doctor, not noticing he wasn't paying attention, instead finding out that he was holding a conversation with Mom.

I watched as a tear ran down her face, watching as she sat in front of me, signing the final words that told of what was to come. You're deaf, Bay.

Standing quickly, I ran towards the door, wrenching it open before sprinting down the long corridor until I reached the exit, speeding out of it and down the street before anyone could catch up to me. If they had tried to stop me or shout out words of comfort I had no idea, any words were lost in the air, never reaching me.

I ran silently sobbing until I collapsed on the side walk, watching as people crowded around me, patting me and whispered words of question, probably asking if I was OK and if I needed anything, but their words weren't there. They didn't understand how lucky they were to understand eachother. They didn't get what was wrong, and once my internal mantra of 'I'm deaf...' finally reached my mouth they backed off slightly, probably unsure of what to do or say, but instead making me feel like a leper. Making me feel as though I'd lost everything and that my condition was contagious.

I pulled myself to my feet and went to push my way through the crowd of people, but instead they parted, refusing to touch me, none of them trying to talk to me as none of their lips moved. I kept walking, ignoring the curious looks of the people around me as I stormed down the street, tears mixing with mascara leaving streaks down my face. Yet as the tears fell, no sound echoed in my ears. No sound echoed at all.

Hours later I found myself standing outside of Emmett's Dad's home, wishing I could pluck up the courage to knock. He would be the only person that would understand and I couldn't go home to my 'family' and watch their pitying glances. Somehow, not only had their children been switched at birth, but now they were both deaf too and it was easy to see who their favourite was going to be. I'd been the difficult one, the one would caused all the trouble and now I was deaf, just like their precious Daphne, probably making everything worse as now they'd have to sign their punishments to me rather than shouting them at me.

My mind was on overdrive. I was losing my grasp on everything and only one person could help. I raised one hand, pressed on the door bell as hard as possible, not sure if it had worked. Quickly I went to turn around to run down the street but I felt a hand on my arm. Turning I found myself staring into the eyes of Emmett and I did the only thing that I thought I could.

I'm deaf... I signed to him, feeling the barriers I'd built break down again as I began sobbing again and his reply was the only thing that kept me sane.

His reply made all the diffence before he pulled my into his arms and led me into the house to calm me down. His reply was a simple I know.

Hi, so this just came to mind while watching Episode 17 and it may have been done before but this is my take on it. I hope you like it and please review!