Clarity 3 (11 page)

“The surgery went very well. I promise you, sir.”

Silence.

“Yes, she should start to see improvements within a few days. We’ll be doing a lot of tests over the next little while to monitor the improvements. If she needs a stronger dose, after a few weeks we’ll go back in and try again.”

Silence.

“Absolutely. Thank you so much for the opportunity, sir. I really appreciate your support. It’s been a pleasure to perform these clinical trials, and I’m so glad you chose me. Take care.”

The voice stops speaking, and I feel someone sit on the bed beside me
. I feel a bit groggy and confused when I feel a hand on my shoulder.

“Liam?” I
manage to croak out. My mouth is very dry, and my throat feels rather hoarse. I try to move, but my body feels like lead. “Could you please get me some water?”

“I can’t give you water right away, but let’s start with some ice chips,” Liam says. He moves away slightly and returns with a small piece of ice that he runs back and forth over my lips. “How’s that?”

I sigh gratefully at the refreshing sensation as the ice melts over my lips and gently drizzles onto my tongue. I thirstily savor every droplet. I never imagined that waking up from surgery would feel like I’d been lying in the hot desert sun and baking for hours. No one ever mentioned that part to me. “More, please,” I whisper.

He moves away immediately, with a small chuckle. “It’s quite easy to get you to beg for more, isn’t it?”

Only then do I snap fully awake as I try to open my eyes and glare at him. I am surprised to discover that there are soft patches covering both my eyes, and that there is a growing ache in each eyeball. The more I think about the area, the more it seems to hurt. When Liam returns with more ice chips, I try to focus on them instead.

“Were you on the phone with someone?”
I ask him in a slight daze. “Before I woke up?”

“
That was my boss,” Liam explains as he runs the ice over my lips. “He usually supervises these surgeries, but he couldn’t make it today since we moved the dates.”

“Oh,” I mumble, using my teeth to steal a piece of ice from his fingers and gently push it around in my very dry mouth. “So, how long until we figure out if it worked?”

“It’s different for everyone,” Liam explains. “Some people see a tiny improvement almost immediately, but it can take a few days for your eyes to be healed enough...”

“So I could be able to see right now?”
I ask him. The idea finally sends a true pang of excitement through me. The muscles in my arms tighten and twitch with the urge to rip off the eye patches. “I want to try.”

“It’s only been a few hours since your surgery,” he warns me. “You might need more ti
me...”

“I don’t care,” I tell him, pushing myself into a sitting position. I immediately
feel lightheaded and woozy, and regret moving so quickly. I clutch the sides of the bed as Liam helps arrange the pillows to prop me up a bit. I breathe and lean back. After a moment, I stop feeling like I’m going to fall over and I reach out to squeeze his shoulder. “Come on, Doctor. Show me how good you are at your job. Impress me.”

Liam laughs lightly. “You know, I had a feeling you’d say that.
Here, I’m going to remove these shields. But if you feel too much pain when you try to open your eyes, we’ll replace them and try again later, okay?”

I nod eagerly.
I am determined not to feel any pain, or to ignore it if I do. When I was a little girl, I dreamed of this moment for so many years. Now, here it is, and I don’t know what to do with myself. Tears begin to gather in my eyes, and they sting and burn a little.

“Wait!” I tell Liam, as he begins pulling off one of the eye patches. I grab his wrists and hold them in my lap. “I just need a
second.” I try to compose myself before he reveals my eyes and sees my tears.

“Winter, it’s okay,” he tells me gently, holding both of my hands. “I’ve helped so many people to see for the first time,
and it’s a very emotional thing. I know what you’re going through.”

“
It’s not that,” I say with a sniffle. “I’m just worried that you’ll be hideously ugly.” I try to swallow my emotion. “What if I don’t find you attractive? We’ll have to break up so I can go find a hotter boyfriend.”

Liam laughs and runs his thumbs over my wrists. “
That’s just the drugs talking. Trust me, Winter. You’re going to find me
very
attractive. I have absolutely no concerns about that.”

“Well, aren’t you cocky!” I say with a scoff, but I also smile
a little. “Fine. Take off my eye patches.” I take a deep breath to prepare myself.

“Just relax,” he says in a soothing tone.
“The worst part is over. It only gets better from now on.”

As
he removes the shields, I find that I’m frozen with apprehension. What if it doesn’t work? What if everything remains the same?

“Winter,” he coaxes
, placing a hand on my stomach. “You need to open your eyes in order to see.”

“Okay,” I say nervously. When I finally allow my eyelids to flutter open slightly, I
am assailed by the bright light in the room. I reflexively shut my eyes again to protect them, but a little gasp escapes my throat. “Oh my god,” I whisper. “Oh my god.” I try again, peeking through a tiny slit in my eyelids. My eyes begin to throb with the unbelievable brightness of almost everything. I look around in wonder. Everything is blurry, and I can’t seem to make out any aspect of the world around me, but it is no longer completely dark.

“Liam,” I whisper, grabbing his hand so that I can squeeze it
again. “Is this a dream? Am I going to wake up?”

“No. It’s real. What do you see?”

“I don’t know. It’s just... not like before. It’s not
nothing
.”

“Look directly at me,” Liam says, returning the pressure on my hand. “Can you see my face?”

I follow his instructions, and it takes me a moment to focus on him. I see a shadowy spot surrounded by light. I see an outline surrounding what must be the shape of a man. “I can’t see you,” I tell him, “but I can see all the light around you. I can see... a silhouette, I suppose.”

“That’s good.
Just take a moment to look at me. Let your eyes adjust. You should be able to see a little more after a few seconds.”

“This must be a dream,” I whisper again. “Sometimes when I was younger, I used to dream that I wasn’t blind. Sometimes I could see people or landscapes for a fleeting second, the way I imagine they might look. But then I’d always wake up to darkness. Is this one of those dreams?”

“Unless our entire existence is part of one very large computer
-generated illusion and we’re all actually in some alternate reality,” Liam says, “you’re not dreaming.”

His face is becoming
clearer to me, even though it still feels like I am looking through a hazy film. I can see the color of his hair contrasting against his skin. I can see the shape of his eyes and nose and lips. I reach out to run my hands over his face to try and make sure that what I’m seeing correlates with what I’m used to feeling. I find myself squinting slightly and trying to see more.

“Take it easy,” he says with warning. “Just close your eyes if it gets too painful, and I’ll put the shields back on.”

“You’re beautiful,” I tell him as I run my fingers over his chiseled cheekbones. I feel the warmth of emotion brimming in my chest. “You’re more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. No wonder the nurses are crazy about you. And your slutty neighbor across the hall. You must be one of the most beautiful men on the planet.”

“Whoa, Winter,” he says with a laugh. “Slow down! At least give yourself a chance to see other
people so that you can compare.”

“I don’t need to see anyone else
,” I insist with a big smile. “If you’re the only man I ever see for the rest of my life, I’ll be perfectly happy. You’re so handsome.” I sigh in contentment.

“While
my ego appreciates the compliment, I can assure you that I’m quite average. If I were really as handsome as you think I am, I would have just become a male underwear model or an actor and not have to work so damn hard.”

“
Oh!” I say as my vision becomes a bit sharper and I can make out the details of my hands moving on his face. “Oh my god... Is that what a hand looks like? Is this my hand?” I bring my hand close to my face to try to examine it more closely. “It’s so wrinkled. There are so many lines.” My eyes begin to hurt, but I can’t stop staring. I don’t even want to blink. I want to see everything. My eyes have been closed for too long, and I never want them to shut again. I wiggle my fingers wondrously. “Wow,” I say in awe.

“You know, Winter—when people wake up from surgery, they usually have their families there to greet them. Wouldn’t you like me to call your dad and sister? Wouldn’t you like to see them for the first time?”

I shake my head. “No, please. I just want you. I can’t deal with anyone else right now.”

“Okay,” he says gently. Then his face breaks out into a smile. I can tell by the little flash of teeth visible between his lips;
I think that must be the color
white
. “That reminds me. Owen said that I should call him once you wake up, but I think there’s someone else you need to meet first.”

“Who?” I ask curiously.
“Do I have to? I don’t really like people.”

“You’ll like this person.”
Liam leans forward and reaches on the bedside table for a small oval-shaped object with a handle. He offers it to me, holding it up so I can stare into it. “Winter Rose, I’d like to introduce you to yourself.”

For a moment, I simply stare.
Then I gingerly reach out and allow my hands to encircle the handle of the antique mirror. I bring it close to my face and angle it properly so that I can examine every inch of myself. “Wow,” I whisper. “Wow. This is me? Oh my god! I can see my lips moving when I speak.”

Liam laughs
at this and I feel a little silly. I don’t care. My hair is lovely in the way that it frames my face, and I love the structure and placement of my eyes and nose and mouth. If I tilt my head to the side, I can even see my ears. I run my hands over my face and gently tug on my earlobe.

“Wow,” I say again.
I laugh lightly and I immediately decide that I look adorable when I laugh.

“What do you think?” he asks.

“I’m a babe,” I say with a sigh as I run my fingers over the mirror. “Wow. I’m definitely the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.”

“You’re the only girl you’ve ever seen,” he remind
s me.

“Quit ruining my buzz,” I tell him teasingly. “I’m so
lovely. I’m like a princess.”

“You are,” he agrees.
“I tried to tell you that when we met, but you didn’t believe me!”

“You saved me,”
I tell him suddenly, staring at him with renewed awe. I don’t care if the anesthesia is making me loopy. “I ran away from my castle and got trapped in a tower, guarded by evil trolls. You were my knight in shining armor; you rode your horse across the land to come and rescue me.”

Liam begins to chuckle. “I think you should probably get a bit more rest, Winter.”