The Eyes Tell No Lies (2 page)

“I am sorry to have to inform you but both your parents died last week in a car accident,”
Cris said after a few moments of silence.

****

Arie couldn’t believe what she was hearing
;
her parents were dead and she didn’t even get the chance to say
good
bye. That was the worst part
,
knowing they were gone and she couldn’t say
‘
I love you
’
one last time.
It was
as if
her mind had
froze
. S
he couldn’t think or say anything.

“Give her a few minutes, she’s in shock,” Cris said to Kylee as she tried to snap
Arie out of the trance she was in.

By now Cris could spot the symptoms of shock
quickly
. He usually stayed with a family for a few hours before he left. He didn’t worry
about Derrick
who was
waiting in the car
because
he knew he would call his fiancée to come get him soon. This time it was different
for
him
, from what he understood her parents were all
she
had and now they were gone. And there was just something about her that intrigued
him and he was going to find out what it was.
He
stayed with Arie until he knew she was okay and finally fell asleep.

The next day, Arie didn’t feel right being in her parents’ home without them there.
She kept expecting them to walk in the door any moment and tell her it was all a big
mistake. Being in the house was too much for her, she smelled their scent
s
everywhere she went in the house. She couldn’t take the smell or the memories contained
in the house knowing they wouldn’t be back so she headed outside to the porch swing.

All the wonderful memories she shared with her father bombarded her mind as the sun
shined down on her. Her memories evaporated from her mind when she heard someone
approaching her. As the person
walked
closer
,
she could smell them and knew exactly who it was even though yesterday was the first
time she smelled his scent.

“Detective Crow,
w
hat are you doing here?” Arie questioned.

“I came to ask you some questions about your parents,” Cris answered as he sat next
to her on the porch swing.

Needless to say he never asked her a question, all his questions pertained to her
life. Cris continued to stop by and check on her for a week. Arie thought it was
cute how he pretended he had to ask her some
questions
but never did. Instead
,
he asked her about her life, dreams, aspirations, goals, fears, and anything else
under the sun.

Arie knew he was making excuses to see her, but she never called him on it. For some
reason she felt safe and soothed whenever he was around her. His voice sent tingles
throughout her body. When she thought about giving up after her parents’ death, he
knew just the right words to keep her going.
H
e breathed life into her when she forgot to take a breath and live.

He made her laugh when he talked about his different conspiracy thoughts. Hell
,
he thought everything was a conspiracy. He told her how he thought sharp objects
were intentionally left out on highways and roads so people
’s
tires will go flat and
they would
have to
buy new
ones
. She especially loved the one about insurance companies and agreed with him. H
e
knew
it wasn’t required for everyone to have insurance so when someone went to the hospital
and couldn’t pay,
he felt
the insurance premiums w
ent
up for everybody
to help cover the loss from the hospitals
.

The last day he came over was sad for her and the answer to her prayers at the same
time. She was falling for him quickly yet she didn’t want to or couldn’t tell him.
Despite all of this, she didn’t want him to go, but he was called out on an important
case in another town. He told her he would come back to her as soon as he wrapped
up the case, but she wasn’t going to hold her breath.

Arie snapped out of the past
,
not wanting to
think about it any longer.
Her past
consisted of
depending on others when she was blind or taking on the world alone. She was tired
of
shouldering her
problems on her
own
. She wanted someone to stand next to her and help her with her problems while she
helped them with theirs.
Arie couldn’t understand it, every time she pictured someone being there for her and
taking some of the weight and pain off her shoulders, she heard Detective Crow’s voice
or imagined what she thought he might look
like
. She didn’t know whether or not it was because he was
there for her the first week
after learning her father and mother were dead. Or simply because he was the first
person that made her look forward to her future and made her forget the past and her
fears of the future. He made her want to grab a hold of her future and him.
She knew he had a job to do and it was important
,
but she hated that his latest case had taken him away from her. And she especially
couldn’t understand since she hadn’t known him for that long but something about him
made her feel safe.
Even with all his conspiracy theories. Hell
,
he even had a conspiracy theory on why hospitals smelled the way they do. He told
her they smelled liked that so they could make more money. The smell made patients
leave quicker than they
were
supposed to and when the patient left early
,
it made room for the next paying customer.

Speaking of hospital smells.

She didn’t know how she was going to survive in the hospital for that long since she
ha
ted the smell of hospitals. Especially since her other senses had become
so
enhanced. The smell of the hospital made her stomach turn and she couldn’t wait until
the doctors came and sprayed some of the scents her in-home care nurse had packed
for her. Arie was starting to get a pounding headache—and not from her surgery—but
from the beeping sounds of the machines she was hooked up to. It sounded like someone
was beating pots and pans right next to her ears.

Arie could hear and smell Dr. Johnson before he entered the room. The first thing
she realized after she became blind was that she could determine who a person was
just
by the way they walked and smelled. Everyone had
a
unique scent even without wearing cologne or perfume.

“How are you feeling, Arie?” Dr. Johnson asked.

“Fine, except the smell and sound in this room is throwing me off,” she answered with
a slight whisper.

“I am turning off the machines now, so that will help with your hearing. Nurse Jane
is plugging in one of your Glade automatic sprays.

“Now I am going to remove the covering from your eyes. Don’t worry if your vision
is blurry at first, it takes one to two days for your vision to come in. While I
am unwrapping your eyes, I will give you the information for aftercare even though
you are staying here for two weeks,” Dr. Johnson said as he reached up and began to
unwrap her eyes.

“You will have to use
a
metal shield nightly
when you sleep
or when taking a nap during the day
, plus
a cloth pad under your glasses for one month. You may not bend at the waist for
more than ten minutes at a time but may squat at the knees. You may not lift or push
anything heavier than fifteen pounds for two week. You can have your head be gently
shampooed by a friend or a beauty shop with the head leaning slightly backwards for
two weeks. You may watch television, but you cannot read a book for more than ten
minutes at a time. No heavy exercising or swimming for three weeks, but walking is
fine.

“Here are your eye drops and medication. It is very important you remember to take
it and the right dosage everyday once you leave the hospital. For now, a nurse will
come in everyday and give it to you.

“
Once you leave, y
ou will have to come in weekly
f
or
the first
four to six weeks
and then monthly for the next three months,” Dr. Johnson said.

“I promise, Dr. Johnson,” Arie said when she noticed the doctor was hesitating.

“Nurse, close the blinds and turn down the lights,” Dr. Johnson said.

Dr. Johnson waited until
the
nurse followed his orders before removing the last layer around Arie’s eyes.
She
slowly opened her eyes and closed them quickly again. Even though
there
wasn’t that much light in the room, her eyes still burned.
She heard Dr. Johnson say to her, “Take your time and tell me what you see.” She
slowly opened her eyes once more, this time determined to keep them open and focused.
Her eyes slowly roamed the room with a slightly blurry vision, each time she blinked
the room became more focused. It felt odd for her to finally be able to see again.
She reached out and ran her right hand along the bedrail, then clutched the cover
into her left hand. She could finally see everything she touched or sensed again.

“How is your vision?” Jane, the nurse, asked this time.

Arie jumped a little at the sound of the nurse’s voice, she had forgotten they were
even there. She hesitated for a second before she answered.

“Fine, my vision was blurry at first, but now I can see everything so clearly. Thank
you, Dr. Johnson, I can finally see again,” she said with a hitch in her voice.

“Remarkable, your vision is returning already. It usually takes one to three days
for someone’s vision to return fully. Here is your metal shield and sunglasses.
If you would like to see the garden we have for our patients or the walkway, please
put on the glasses before going outside. For the first three days, you can visit
the cafeteria or have your food brought up. After the three days are up, we have
a few dining spots within blocks of the hospital and across the street. Most of them
deliver or you can travel.

“I have some more rounds to make so if you need me press the Nurse Call Button and
have them page me,” Dr. Johnson said right before he stood and left.

The doctor's voice began to fade away as she started to think to herself. Arie felt
a mixture between excited and scared about her eyesight. She was elated to see again
but was still petrified of going back into the dark where all she could see was either
blurry outlines and shapes or total darkness. It was like being trapped in yourself
and not being able to find the exit no matter how hard or long you searched for it.
Being the strong-minded, determined person she was, she quickly adapted to the darkness,
overcoming any obstacles that came her way. It felt surreal to finally be able to
see again since she never thought she would.

Her mother had stopped her from having the cornea transplant a lot sooner. Over the
years, Arie’s mother had lied to her by telling her the doctors said it was impossible
for her to see again. Arie had believed her and some of that disbelief about her
eyesight was still in the back of her head. This left her in shock and still in utter
disbelief about being able to see now.

There wasn’t enough words in the dictionary to express the joy she felt, as she thought
more about being able to see again while looking around the room. She couldn’t wait
to be able to do and see just the simplest thing. Like go to the park to feed the
ducks and watch them as they flocked to her for a piece of bread. Watch the waves
as they traveled to the shore and build a sand castle on the beach. Watch the sand
flow through her fingers and back into the pile of sand on the ground. To gaze at
a flower as it blooms in her hands. Hell, she just wanted to take care of herself
and not depend on a CNA to cook her meals or clean her home.

“I have set up everything you will need in the shower. You have had a long day, get
some rest and if you need anything, have the nurse’s station page me. I will be here
for the next two days as you
r
nurse. Your lunch is right over there and dinner will be in another four hours,”
the nurse’s voice lightly drifted into her head before she left the room.

In truth, Arie was tired of being alone in the world and longed to feel that sense
of being in love with someone. She wasn’t ready to have kids yet, but she was ready
to find that person who completed her in every sense of the word. Arie just wanted
someone to love her. Her father loved her, but he was always away at work, sometimes
for months at a time leaving her with her mother, who, for some reason, hated her
with a passion. The hatred her mother had for her caused Arie to become strong and
independent at a young age, since her mother was never there for her
,
she would have starved to death if she didn’t learn how to fend for herself. It
was hard being strong on your own since the tender age of five and never having anyone
around you to share your burdens with. At first Arie thought it was normal for a
kid to take care of herself until she made friends at school and started visiting
their homes. Going to her friends’ homes was like a vacation since she was able to
be a child and their parents took care of all of them, but when she started questioning
their home life, her mother put a stop to her vacations, as she liked to think of
them.

Arie never had someone to pick her up when she fell. Growing up, she had to learn
how to pick herself up and talk herself out of giving up. She wouldn’t change it
for the world since it made her strong and independent but now she wanted someone
to be there for her to help her up. When she felt
as if
she couldn’t go on anymore or felt like giving up. She was tired of feeling as if
she was walking alone in the world, and carrying her burdens and hurts on her own.
It was all just getting to be too much and causing her so much frustration and pain.
Arie needed someone there to help relieve the ache and aggravation, someone to love
her for who she was.

She was tired of receiving sympathy and pity because of her blindness and now because
of her parents’ death.

‘
Oh poor, Arie, she is blind and now her parents are dead, what is she going to do
without them?’ I am tired of them thinking I cannot take care of myself since my
parents are dead and I am blind. Hell, I have been taking care of myself since I
was five and continued to take care of myself when I became blind. Shit, I even got
a degree in criminology without anyone’s help. I helped the FBI solve cases they
couldn’t while blind, but does anybody give me credit for my accomplishments?
Hell no, they overlook
everything I accomplished all because I
am
blind
, Arie thought as she blew out a breath of irritation, then laid back onto the hospital
bed and stared up at the ceiling.