A few months ago I had laser eye surgery. The procedure itself went fine, but the events that followed were troubling for me. I decided to post what happened here.
The Story
I made an appointment three weeks earlier, and the doctor had me come in to get my terrible eyes fixed. The doctor laid me down on a table in his operating room and a while later, I was sent outside with some bandage wrapped around my skull to cover my eyes. One of the nurses, who I'd seen when I'd walked in, led me over to a chair in the front waiting room and sat me down. She was very attractive and I, being the lonely guy I am, was very keen on picking up her number. Of course, with a scarf around my eyes to make me look like a mummy who ran away after they started the job, I wasn't going to be melting any hearts today.
She asked me who would be coming to pick me up. No one was the answer, but I didn't say that to her. When I made the appointment, the doctor told me I'd have a bandage over my eyes overnight, and I wouldn't be able to drive home. I told him there was no one that could give me a ride, so he told me one of the nurses would be my ride home.
How embarrassing. Halfway through my twenties and I didn't have a single person to come and lend me a hand. Not a friend or family member. I didn't have any friends and all my family were out of state. The nurse told me it would be okay and that she would finish her shift in thirty minutes if I wanted to hang around, and she'd drive me home. I felt debased, like I was useless.
Her name was Jackie.
She told me this as she led me out the door by the hand, giggling at all the little mistakes I made. She was very kind and made me feel very comfortable. I was happy to have her assisting me. She opened her car door for me and helped me inside. The car ride home was wonderful. We talked the entire time and had a real conversation too. Not the kind of small, awkward talk I'd expected, but we really had a conversation. It was a nice change from my boring, usually empty life. Having someone there was exactly what I needed. While we were driving, the car jerked to a stop and my head flew forward. My eyes began to ache, and I felt dizzy. Jackie asked me if I was alright and I told her I was, but asked what happened. A car flew past the stop sign perpendicular to us, and she had to hit the brakes. I told her my eyes hurt. She told me not to move my head too much and apologized when she realized it was her fault. I felt her hand on my shoulder as she repeated her apologies. It was a nice feeling.
She brought the car to a stop out in front of my house. I still felt dizzy, but she told me she'd bring me inside and everything would be okay. Once inside, she sat me down and told me she'd get me a glass of water. I thanked her as she trailed off into the kitchen. It didn't seem too bad to only have to wear this bandage overnight. what's one night? She returned and set the water on the table next to me. I dismissed any attempts trying to get a drink in fear of knocking the glass over. At this point, I figured she'd be leaving and it saddened me. I'd be completely alone, and I'd be missing one of my senses.
However, she acted otherwise. Instead of saying goodbye she said that it probably wasn't safe for me to stay in my house alone having not gotten used to being blind. She offered to stay and care for me until I went to bed. I found it a bit odd. After all, we'd only just met, and I thought it was a bit out of order for her to do such a thing. But I didn't argue with such a good thing and promptly agreed, thrilled that this gorgeous woman would be staying with me until dark.
It was magnificent. We talked and played card games, but with my impaired vision, you could probably guess who won. She watched television with me, and we played a game where I'd hear the noises. She'd visualize the show out loud, and I'd try to guess what we were watching. I felt her growing closer and closer as the hours went on, not figuratively, but literally. She'd put and arm around me and sit even nearer than I'd expected. I was in ecstasy. Whatever I wanted to happen would happen. For once all my wishes were being answered.
Then, as Jackie told me, night came and she brought me upstairs, laid me in bed, and requested I come by her work so we could do this again some time, but it only felt like a few hours since we had been home. I said that, and she assured me it was nine at night and that I should get some rest if I wanted to remove that bandage. It only felt like three or four, but I took her word for it and asked if I could remove the bandage now. Everything felt fine, and it was starting to get annoying. Not to mention I wanted to get a peek at her beautiful figure once more before she left. She asked me to keep the bandage on and that I could take it off tomorrow. Then, she said bye and began to leave, but once more I stopped her and wished her a safe drive home. To this she said nothing, but I heard her blow a kiss and leave for good.
As I laid there, tossing around, searching for a comfortable position in vain, my mind disallowed any sleep. It only allowed thoughts of Jackie. I smacked my hand against my forehead to try and shoo the thoughts away, but something wet covered my palm. It was a foreign substance. I tore the bandage off my eyes and waited for them to adjust. Once they focused in, I saw it. My hand was covered in blood. I threw the sheets aside and ran to the bathroom. In the mirror, I surveyed my face, marred by a massive gash on the top of my forehead. Blood poured out of it and began dripping down to my nose. I looked at the loose bandage that I held in my hand. It was stained red with blood.
It must have been the doctor's or nurse's fault is what I originally thought as I grabbed my coat and headed downstairs. Sure enough, sunlight spilled into the windows from outside and the clock read 3:34. I hopped in my car and started off towards the doctor's office.
On my way there, I had to stop at a huge line of traffic. Traffic, frustrating as always. We inched forward in five second increments. Finally, I saw the front of the cars start to break up and move. They had slowed down for an accident. I sighed and inched past the scene of the car wreck.
It was a sedan that had been spiked from the driver's side.
And hanging out of the driver's seat was a woman in a nurse outfit, halfway in and halfway out of the car, limp and covered in blood.
It was Jackie.