The hearing aid kept whistling inside his desk

Dear Delyara, One of my pupils stopped attending school last month. His family moved suddenly after their asylum claim was refused, and nobody has been able to tell us where they went. Today, while clearing his desk, I found his hearing aid wrapped in tissue beneath a workbook. The battery was still inside. When I touched it, the device began producing a thin whistle that filled the empty classroom. He used to remove it when other children mocked the shape behind his ear. I spent months encouraging him to wear it, moving him closer to the front, asking classmates to face him when speaking. Now the hearing aid remains here, and I do not know whether he is somewhere trying to understand a new language without it. The school office says we cannot post medical equipment without a confirmed address. I turned the battery off and placed the device in my drawer. It looks far too small to contain the difference between joining a conversation and watching mouths move from outside it. Tomorrow, another child will sit at his desk. I will teach the same lesson. The hearing aid will remain beside my pens, waiting for a boy whose government file says he no longer belongs in this classroom.