[ Everybody's going bonkers all at once, so it sounds like a disease to him. He shakes his head, though, because it's been fine for him. Not being able to hear isn't a terrible inconvenience for somebody who doesn't go out of his way to make small talk with people to begin with. ]

Not me, but there's another boy, Isaac- he has his arm in a sling and I hope he was able to talk to you again about that. He's been having trouble keeping balance. Ling has been hallucinating things too. They all sound like brain problems to me.

[ If not a disease, then poison. The brain's a vital organ; asking whether she thinks this is fatal isn't too far a leap. ]