“I don’t like to talk to people unless they’ll be interested”

N

aomi has a stomachache; she’s hardly eaten or drunk in five days. But it’s when she stops talking — for the first time since she started, seven years ago — that I get worried.

Naomi and I are both the youngest in our families. I knew from a very young age that no one wanted to hear what I had to say, so I learned to talk to myself, a habit I still enjoy. Naomi is different. She doesn’t care if anyone’s interested. Her words bombard me like tiny ping-pong balls — they don’t hurt, but they can be annoying.

But now Naomi has stopped talking, and the silence is so worrisome that I take her to the emergency room.

Her appendix has burst. She needs an operation, armfuls of antibiotics, and pints of painkillers. Seeing her wan and silent in a hospital bed, I feel an affection that’s missing when I’m listening to her chatter.