Iggy had been taken away two hours earlier. He hadn't come back yet. The flock was worried.
Suddenly, there were footsteps outside. "Did you hear that after two hours they're only just starting the surgery now? If you take a mutant bird freak away, you should take him away right before the surgery." Gazzy paled. Yeah, he was three, but that didn't mean he didn't understand the word surgery. The whitecoats were going to do surgery on his best friend? That was very bad.
"Yeah, the surgery's probably gonna be over like that." The other Eraser snapped his fingers. "It's starting now…"
Three seconds later the most bloodcurdling scream Gazzy had ever heard echoed through the halls.
The first Eraser chuckled. "Think that was the bird freak?"
"Gotta be. He's got a good pair of lungs; isn't he at the other end of the School?"
Fang's eyes widened. If Iggy was at the other end of the school, and they could still hear him, what horrors had the whitecoats cooked up for him?
Two days later, Iggy still had not returned. Another Eraser walked by their room, speaking casually.
"The bird freak's still alive, right? Only it wouldn't be the first time an experiment died."
"Nah, this one survived, but he's still out cold. They couldn't move him back because he hadn't recovered yet, but he's going back tonight."
Max, Fang, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel all breathed a sigh of relief. Iggy was alive, he was coming back that night, and apparently the surgery hadn't had any lasting damage.
That night at eight, an Eraser came by with a cart that had Iggy on it. Everyone was relieved to see him, especially Gazzy, but Iggy was still unconscious.
Around eleven, he woke up. It was night, so the lights were turned off, but there was a thin sliver of moonlight to see by.
"Man, it's dark in here."
"Are you joking? I mean it's kinda dark in here, but not really, 'cause we gots the moon and stars and everything, and I know you gots good night vision so why are you pretending and have you ever noticed how stars are like those teeny-tiny buggies that go flash on flash off and they're like little lights and what are they called, oh right, they're called light buggies and—"
"Nudge. They're called fireflies, and it's dark to Iggy because he's in the corner farthest away from the window." said Max.
"No, I mean like it's really dark, I can't see anything."
Max thought for a second. "Iggy, come closer, I want to check something, but do it slowly." Iggy inched forward and ended up hitting his head on the bars of his cage.
"Ow. What was that?"
"The bars, duh," said Fang.
"Bars? I don't see any bars."
"Um, Iggy?" Max said cautiously. "I think you're… blind."
"Look, you were probably right the first time, and I just can't see because it's really dark in my corner. I'll be fine in the morning."
"Ig, it's true, you might be blind."
Iggy waved her off. "I'm not blind, I'd know. Just go to sleep." Then, exhausted from even this, he rolled over and fell asleep.
Nine hours later, Iggy woke up. "Oh, man, how long have I been out?"
"Nine hours." Fang replied bluntly.
"And I came in at…"
"Eight." Fang said again.
Iggy did the math in his head. "So it's four now… but they turn the lights on at three-thirty! D'you think they forgot?"
"Iggy. The lights are on." Gazzy said, his voice quavering.
"Okay, this joke might have been funny last night, but now it's getting annoying."
"It's not a joke, Iggy." Max said. "The lights are on."
"What?" Iggy sounded scared. "But – but – but I can't be blind. What's going on? Wait – what was that?"
"What was what? I don't get it, if this is a joke, then it's not a good one, 'cause if you're blind then wouldn't we already –"
"Nudge, shut up! I know I heard something! It was like, a click or a footstep. Yeah, it was a footstep, a heavy one. Maybe an Eraser, coming this way."
The door swung open.
"Hello," a creepy voice said. "Mealtime freaks. Lucky you." The voice finished rather sarcastically. It was an Eraser. He pushed something into Iggy's cage. The thing was – a tray? Yeah. Oh, yuck, with gruel and water. Delicious.
"Iggy," Nudge said quietly after the Eraser had left, "How did you know?"
Iggy was speechless. "Umm… I… don't know."
Gazzy grinned. "That was way cool! You're like one of those black night birds, the ugly ones. Max, what are they called?"
"Bats, Gazzy."
"Are you saying I'm ugly?" Iggy asked mockingly.
"No! Just that you have good hearing!"
"Relax, Gasser, I'm teasing you." Iggy said, a bit smugly.
"Funny. Really hilarious."
Iggy's hand went squish in something wet. "Ugh, what was that?"
"Well, um, that was your breakfast."
"Honestly, I could make better stuff than this. But – anyway, blind, great. Just what I want."
"Oh, that reminds me. Um, well, happy birthday, Ig."
A tear trickled down Iggy's cheek.