Two days later…

Jaime held my hand as they let me finally walk down the hospital corridor. I bumped into the door before they finally just got me a wheelchair after I complained a million times that I could do this on my own. Jaime wheeled me to the elevator as a nurse accompanied me.

“Can I walk now, please?” I asked the nurse. Jaime gently pushed my head the opposite direction so I was facing the nurse. Whoops.

“No, dear. We can’t have you falling.” She laughed as if it was a joke. If she thought it was funny, then she can go be blind!

Woah, that was pretty mean. Sorry.

The elevator bell dinged softly as I heard the doors rattle open. The wheels of the chair started to move again. The clicks of my little vehicle being pushed along the tiles started up again.

I sure hoped that Turtle had finally gotten the door open. I think Jaime told me that Autumn had to use his boxer’s and a wire hanger to get in.

I’m pretty sure the whole “boxers” part of the situation wasn’t essential-just to make fun of Turtle.

“Oh look, MD. Everyone’s in the lobby, waiting for you!” Himes smiled, patting my shoulder. I returned a feeble grin. It was a little disorienting, not being able to see where I was going. I put all my trust in my boyfriend.

“Did you tell them about everything?” I asked. Jaime didn’t answer. “Himes?”

“Oh, what?”

“I’m blind.”

“Oh, sorry. Yeah, I told them.” He was probably blushing pretty hard. There was a loud patter of footsteps and squeals. I think that either my friends were running towards me, or a herd of gazelles were being run over by a dump truck.

“MOVE IT, LOSERS!” Autumn boomed. Yep, it was my friends. There was a squeak of Jack as he undoubtedly got trampled by the dump truck. (AKA: Autumn)

“MD: There’s a rampaging season coming in from straight ahead.” Jaime warned me.

“AUTUMN, I’M BLI-“ I got cut off as she gave me a great big hug. The nurse next to me made a noise of disapproval.

“OHMYGOLLYGEEYOUCANTALKANDYOUCAN’TSEEANDYOU’REALIVEANDOHGOLLYGEE!” She spilled out. She might be crying now, but I can’t tell. I patted her back and tried to locate her by the sound of her voice, but it all sounded like a dictionary being hit with a hammer.

“You can talk!” Everyone exclaimed at once. I held my hands to my head.

“Make them shut up, Himes!” I whimpered. I was still drugged up and thoroughly confused.

“She wants you to shut up.” Jaime put bluntly. Everyone fell quiet.

“Hi, Willow.” Zack whispered as he came up. He was always the quiet one. He said that he’s quiet and doesn’t talk much because if you’re not thinking when you talk, then it isn’t talking at all. We always called him Sensei Merrick. He is the wise one!

“Hi, Zack.” I recognized from the voice. I held out my hand for him. There was shuffling as he reached and took it. It was his familiar rough hands from playing guitar.

“So we drew you a picture.” Rian offered. Oh man, I loved those two.

“But then Jaime told us you where blind.” Zack murmured dejectedly.

“So then we bought you roses! The yellow ones that you like…” Rian sighed.

“But then we realized you couldn’t see them.” Zack grumbled. I laughed.

“So we’re still giving you those things, but then we decided to get you food. Food is the solution to everything.” Rian offered again. I held out my other hand. Rian took it. Okay, there they are! I can tell, just imagine, where they are in relation to me.

“Aw, you boys are super sweet.” I blushed a little. Rian removed his hand and gently placed a bouquet of roses in my hand. I felt the plastic rub against my smooth hand. Taking my hand away from Zack, I ran my fingers gently up the plastic to the rim. I could only imagine what these looked like.

As I traced my index finger across the stem up to the bud, I silently created a picture of what the roses looked like. Holding them up to my nose, I inhaled the sweet scent. I could almost see the yellow petals as I gently rubbed my thumb over a flower.

“And here’s the picture.” Zack gently place a piece of paper. I took it in my hand, careful not to tear any of the edges. I ran my hand along the sheet until I felt the waxy surface of a crayon. I couldn’t even imagine what they drew.

“Can you describe it for me?” I asked them. Jaime slowly pushed me along. The group trailed after it.

“I’ll show you in the bus.” Zack touched my shoulder. I nearly jumped. I couldn’t see it coming.

“But I’m blind…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll help.” He chuckled. We got outside. I heard the sliding doors whoosh open and felt a warm current kiss my face. Holding the roses tight, I heard the hum of the bus right in front of me.

“Is the bus here?” I asked someone.

“It is.” Mike answered. I stood up out of the wheelchair. Jaime held my arm. Autumn held my gifts for me.

“Jack and Alex are waiting on the bus. I think Jack’s driving.” Vic offered. I chuckled lightly and took hesitant steps towards the bus. I felt weak, stupid, and embarrassed that I had to have Himes help me walk.

“Wait, so we’re going to our own funeral?” I teased. Jack whined from inside the bus.

“I can hear you!” His muffled voice called out. I grinned a little as Jaime opened the door for me. I ducked out of the way before slowly stepping up.

“I’ve got you!” Alex laughed. I held out my hand. He grabbed it and helped me onto the bus. I gave him a big hung. He just picked me up and set me down on the couch.

“Hey!” I squeaked. He smiled and let me go.

“I’m here to help!” He chuckled and went away. I heard the others walk onto the bus. Patiently, I waited for someone to let me know what is going on.

“Here’s your picture.” Rian sat down on one side of me, laying the paper on my hands. I could only assume it was Zack on the other side of me. Zack took the paper from my lap and set it on the table in front of us. I held up my hands, letting them bump against the table’s smooth edge. Zack took one of my hands, gently guiding it onto the paper.


“Okay, I’m going to explain what you’re feeling.” He murmured quietly. The others softly chatted behind me. Rian sniffed on my right side.

I was using sound as my vision now. I had to try to adjust to my surroundings. The bus started up. I jumped a little, not expecting it. Rian chuckled.

“Easy there, MD.” I whacked his arm. I held the paper with one hand after a moment of fumbling. Zack took my shaking right hand and brushed it over thin paper.

I tried to imagine seeing the two draw a picture. Honestly, they were like little kids sometimes. Zack was like the quiet older brother, and Rian was the annoying little sister.

“So Rian and I drew a picture of the mountains. Here is one peak, another, and another, and this is the range,” He quietly explained each thing he traced my index finger over. The mark the crayon left behind helped trace an image in my mind.

“What color is it?” I asked him.

“The base of the mountains are blue, and the peaks are white.” Rian said. Zack guided my finger over where the peak was. I felt the colored in surface versus the white tops.

The boys continued to softly explain what was in the picture until I grew a wider and wider smile. I “saw” the trees and each of the road winding through the pass.

As the bus drove one, I slowly walked around, trying to get used to my surroundings and “seeing” them in a new way. Alex turned on the radio as I sat down next to Jaime. My head was hurting and I needed a break. He kissed my head as we silently enjoyed being back together.

This was certainly going to be different.

Notes