Chapter 5 - My hearing had been failing for three months
It started with ringing.
Then pressure.
Then moments when speech sounded distant.
Not completely gone.
Muted.
Distorted.
As though everyone had stepped behind thick glass.
Some days were almost normal.
Others terrible.
The episodes came with:
Dizziness.
Fatigue.
Difficulty concentrating.
Occasional nausea.
I had seen:
An otologist.
A neurologist.
My primary physician.
No tumor.
No obvious structural explanation.
No clear autoimmune diagnosis.
No single answer.
Vanessa developed a theory before the doctors did.
Stress.
I was thirty-six.
Founder and executive chairman of Northstar Infrastructure Group.
Ports.
Data centers.
Industrial logistics.
Energy projects.
My net worth looked impressive in magazines.
My calendar looked less impressive in real life.
Vanessa told everyone:
“Graham works too much.”
Reasonable.
Then:
“His body is finally forcing him to stop.”
May you like
Also plausible.
I started believing her.
