A/N: So... This is a oneshot about Iggy losing his vision. I don't doubt that someone has written out this kind of story before. In fact, they probably did a better job, but I wanted to write an angsty Iggy fic. Read and review.
I didn't have to be blind. I could've chosen not to go into that operating room, could've chosen not to let them try to improve my vision, but that would've meant that one of my brothers and sisters would've had to instead.
You see, and I'm assuming that anyone reading this does, I couldn't let that happen to someone I care about. Sure, I didn't know that I would end up blind; in fact, I actually thought that the surgery might work, but I didn't want to take that chance.
The whitecoats came to decide which one of us would be the guinea pig when I was seven years old. It was a dark night, and if they hadn't been wearing their customary white I might not have seen them in time to stop them from taking Fang, or Nudge, or maybe Gazzy, though he was only a baby at the time. They'd always treated Max differently, always been afraid to hurt her too much. Something about "their last hope."
Two whitecoats padded across the room, between rows of barred dog crates, arguing as fiercely as they could in whispers. I saw their faces briefly, as they passed the fluorescent lighting over the cage of a sickly green girl. I'd heard her call herself Chlorophyll once with a laugh, heard her say that she'd live until the sun stopped shining, but we all knew she was fading. Knew, but how much could we care? She would hardly be the first disappear overnight.
Both of the whitecoats –Bostian and Reilly- halted abruptly in the space between Fang's crate and mine. Reilly seemed eager, much as he always was when pain threatened someone else, and I shrank back in my crate silently, hoping not to call his attention down on me. In sharp contrast, Bostian was shaken, swallowing too often, and I noticed that his hands were trembling until he clenched them into fists.
"It's too risky," Bostian hissed, looking at anything but Reilly. He'd never been the bravest mad scientist in the world. "He could lose his sight completely! Worse, if someone's hand slips, he could end up dead!"
Reilly rolled his eyes. "The hybrid is an experiment. What better to experiment on than an experiment? Besides, we'll still have the other four, and rumor has it that Batchelder's whipped up another."
Bostian bit his lower lip and glared at the ground. "Hybrids aren't cheap, Reilly."
"No, Bostian, they aren't, but replacing you would be."
"Fine. Let's just get this over with before the others wake up, okay?"
"Why? Are you concerned about how the experiments will 'feel' about it?" Reilly snorted derisively.
"Shut up." The statement might have been more moving if it had been more than a squeak.
Reilly shook his head with a chuckle and grabbed one side of Fang's crate. "Help me with this, will you? It's a long way to the operating room."
I lunged forward, thrusting one arm as far out of my crate as it would go. My fingers brushed the hem of Bostian's lab coat, and I stretched just a bit farther, finally grabbing the edge of the garment. I tugged on it weakly, and Bostian looked down, surprised.
"Please," I croaked, "take me instead."
All the way to the operating table, Reilly laughed. I didn't care; I was too busy memorizing every detail. Sure, the surgery could work, but if it didn't… I never wanted to let the faces of the Flock fade away.
When they unlatched the door of my crate, I clambered out on my own. I didn't want to give them any reason to rethink their decision. The operating table was the scariest thing I had ever seen; a slab of cold steel with restraints for the chest, stomach, arms, legs, and even head. More than anything, I wanted to close my eyes and scream, but I needed to see, even if it was this.
The tile floor was bitterly frozen beneath my bare feet, and I barely resisted the urge to hop to spare my feet. Somewhere within the first few steps, I felt a sudden wet warmth under one foot. Though I knew what it was before I looked down, morbid fascination drew my gaze to the ground.
A miniature pool of crimson liquid sparkled in the harsh light around my foot. The blood spread slowly outward, disturbed my foot's sudden placement. I stared at the fluid, wondering despite my efforts not to if this would be the last time I would see the color red.
Someone nudged me in the back, an obvious signal that I needed to hurry up and climb onto the table. Taking only the time to inhale, I moved forward. My limbs seemed to drag me up on their own accord, and it never occurred to me to struggle, not even as each restraint locked closed with ominous cracks.
Then, it began.
You already know what happened. You already know that I'm blind. I'm not sure how long the surgery lasted. I passed out at some point. The next morning, when I saw darkness with my eyes open, I wasn't really surprised. At least I knew that I had made the right choice; the rest of the Flock still has their eyesight, and I would never take back my decision.
The morning after my surgery, Chlorophyll was dead. Max said she had died during the night; when the sun stopped shining.
A/N: That was interesting. Hopefully. If you liked it, feel free to check out my one fic that's not a oneshot, The Rebirth of Itex: Omega's Story.
Comments/reviews are, as always, appreciated.