A 3-year-old girl ruptured her eardrum when she inseed a pencil into her ear. Her mother took her to the emergency depament after noticing that the child was crying and complaining of pain in her ear with a few drops of blood in the external auditory meatus. The attending doctor examined the child for possible injury to a nerve that runs across the the eardrum. Which is the MOST likely nerve to be injured?
Auricular branch of the vagus Chorda Tympani Glossopharyngeal(CN IX) Lesser petrosal