The Silence Between Us

Two weeks later, Maya’s mother leaves Maya in charge at home while she is away on business for the weekend. She has prepared Maya with careful coaching about how to administer Connor’s breathing treatments and reminders about what to do if he has various symptoms. Maya urges her mother not to worry. She spends the day indulging Connor with games, television, and macaroni and cheese, pleased at how happy and animated he seems. That night, however, Connor wakes her to let her know that he is having a breathing crisis. She is alarmed to see that he is already turning a little blue.

Maya rushes Connor to the hospital. When she carries him into the emergency room, the alarmed staff take him from her arms. Maya cannot stop crying as they rush him away; she is unable to lip read in the chaotic environment, and she begs for information about what is happening, but no one seems to understand her situation. Finally, she yells at a nurse blocking her way that she is Deaf; she asks for the hospital’s Video Remote Interpreting (VRI), an assistive device that provides a remote interpreter in situations where an in-person interpreter is unavailable.