Seeing the light

A few days later you heard rapid steps on the hall. You wondered if there was an emergency again. Turns out it was Molly. By then she'd gone back to the day shift, much to your displeasure, literally, but this time she had good news.

"Hey, John, are you awake?" she asked.

"Yeah" you said. Occasionally, it still hurt to talk so you spared your voice as much as you could.

"I've got some good news. Dr. Jennings is coming by later in the morning to take your bandages off and take a look. If things look good you won't have to get the bandages replaced and you can get used to looking at things again" she said.

"So I won't see you first?" you asked, disappointed.

"No, you won't. But I'll be there. Do you want me to call your family to let them know?" Molly asked.

"Please" you said.

"Alright" Molly said. She walked over to you and fussed over you for a second before you suddenly felt her lips on your cheek then right next to your ear. She whispered: "don't forget: when you're out of here, we can date." A big smile came to your face and you nodded.

"I'd be happy to" you said. Even though you still had no idea what she looked like, you wanted to get to know Molly better. Sure, you'd talked a little whenever you could, but you knew next to nothing about her other than her skill at giving head. You looked forward to finding out more about her.

Your family arrived just before noon, with Rebecca taking the lead while your mom kept pace with Dawn. By now she didn't need her crutches anymore though she still walked with a partial limp. When they were all seated with you, they were all talk. You let them blabber, simply looking forward to the point where Dr. Jennings would come and let you see Molly.

"Aren't you excited?" Dawn asked.

"For sure" you replied with a smile.

"That wouldn't have anything to do with that pretty little nurse that's been walking around here, would it?" your mother asked.

"Mom, I've been blind for a long time" you pointed out.

"I know, but Rebecca told me a few things" she replied.

"Even in the hospital you won't leave me be with that dating stuff" you replied. "You can't see it but I'm rolling my eyes." This made your family laugh which suddenly stopped when the door to your room opened.

"Good afternoon" a male voice said. You heard footsteps come closer and heard introductions after that. "My name is Dr. Jennings. Let's take a look at your eyes, shall we?" he said. You nodded and heard the scraping of a chair as whoever had been on your right moved away. You felt Jennings' hands near your head and after a couple of seconds there was light. After such a long time in darkness it was awfully bright and you groaned in pain as the bright light from outside filled your eyes.

"Honey?" your mom asked.

"It's fine, Mrs. Doe. It's perfectly normal for him to react badly to the light this way. John, try blinking a few times" the doctor instructed you. Nodding slowly, you did just that, blinking. It didn't hurt but it wasn't exactly comfortable, either.

"Alright" Jennings said, "now open them again. I need to look at your eyes. It will be bright because I have a headlamp on me" he said. A little anxious you did what he asked, only to flinch when the bright light once again made your eyes hurt.

"Keep them open, John. I know it smarts but I need to see" Jennings impressed on you. Swallowing hard you opened your eyes again and strained to keep them open. Apparently satisfied, Jennings said you could close them. Letting out a sigh of relief you did. Just before you did, however, you caught a glimpse of a person standing in the doorway, smiling.