Timmy Turner had a pair of cute blue eyes. Though he didn't enjoy the privilege of being a blue-eyed boy. In this Twelve years of his mortal life has only brought him pain and misery, he surely wasn't luck or fate's blue eyed boy. His moments of happiness and solace were very few and infrequent. He had friends, though only three in number. They stuck their necks for him whenever possible, yet his sufferings were unfathomable. As the whole school considered him a geek and picked on him. His lunch money was often being snatched by the school bully Francis. He was ridiculed and laughed upon for his crush on the richest girl in the school. Often his tries to woo her ended in, him being thrown to the dumpster, literally. The whole school laughed on him, sans his three friends, AJ, Tootie and Chester.
His parents were apathetic. They never cared about him, never had a conversation with him, which lasted more than a minute. They flew off to trips and vacations every other day, leaving him under "her" care. His feeling of abandonment meant nothing to them, often he would ask that why they won't take him along with them, their responses varied upon their mood, "Your grades are bad son, so you won't be coming." or "We are too ashamed to take you there as our child." or "Kids are not allowed there." Whenever he asked the same question their responses would be on the afro-mentioned lines. At first he felt pain and shame with equal intensity, the answers only bared their apathy for him.
Still life would be bearable if they didn't hire her. He was terrified when they left him for a trip ,all alone. He was so scared that he asked them to call a babysitter, very unfortunately he proposed them to call "her", as he had seen the flyer.
When she first came he thought her to be pretty, the fiery red hair, the glittering pink eyes, the sweet face and the melodious voice. Yes that's how he met Vicky Valentine.
"Oh, you must be Mr. and Mrs. Turner, you surely have an angle down here. He is so sweet, I will take good care of him." she said in her saccharine tone.
After his parents left, the real Vicky surfaced, "Vicky, I'm going to play some..." he was cut short as Vicky crouched down and yanked him up by his shirt collar, "Two things twerp, no gaming under my watch and it's Vicki, cause it's cuter that way." her tone was vicious and it sent chills down his spine. He blurted out "ok..."
"Fine, looks like your parents have given me some chores, better hurry up, twerp, else somenthing's gonna break." she asserted in a threatening demeanour.
The complete cycle of his misery, started from that day.
The more pain came from the fact, that his friend Tootie was Vicki's sister. He often contemplated the fact if the sister's shared different biological parents , as their attitude differed like Sahara and Antarctica.
At first he didn't give in to her commands, he fought her(not physically though), disobeyed her, tried to pull off a non cooperation movement against her. But alas she won every-time. His insolence was rewarded with more tortures like random beatings, starvation,bondage,solitary confinement and verbal abuse. She was pretty good in putting up her words in his mouth in-front of his parents. Their battles always ended her as being victorious while he had to lick his wounds, after being shown as a insolent brat to his parents. She never left a mark on him while faked scratches on herself. Often claiming that they were caused when she tried to stop a psychotic outburst of the young boy. To his chagrin, his parents believed her over him, every-time. They even went that far to consult a psychiatrist, but she dissuaded them, as she didn't want to be exposed.
Today it wasn't any different, his parents ran away just like every other Saturday and kept him under her care. They had already instructed her to take him to the science fair and splashed enough cashes. Just like everytime she reassured the oblivious couple.
"So twerp, I need to take you to the science fair, but I have a project at hand which can use some of your twerpy skills." she stated teasingly.
He knew that she was never gonna take him to the science fair, cause that would lighten him up. Instead she would torture him, he was sure of it.
"To my house, then I will reveal the thankless task, that you will be doing today." she smiled deviously.
They were walking off to her house. Her parents has gone on a weekend trip, while she stayed back for the babysitting job.
"You must have seen that it is getting very hot, now-a-days, so I got myself an A.C and you will install it." she stated nonchalantly.
Timmy sighed, Vicki's tasks came with no breaks(not even sipping a drink was allowed) and they were very tiring in nature, still he had the chance to escape the torture.
His thought changed suddenly as Vicki, tripped him by hooking her left leg in his stride. Timmy fell face down on the sidewalk.
He got up and waited sometime so that there was some distance between them, he didn't want to get tripped again.
Vicki had other thoughts "Twerp, why the hell are you lagging behind? Do you want to stare at my ass, pervert?"
Timmy knew this, he never won against her, she would often put him in a horns of dilemma, so that he was forced to take the less welcoming choice.
He caught upto her, a sigh escaped his lip,"Don't be so hurt, at least this way I am touching your worthless body, I guess no woman other than my stupid sister wants to anything to do with you, so you better thank me for touching you, in the first place."
In a very heavy and inaudible voice he said "Thanks Vicki, for tripping me on the side walk." his balance was again lost and he fell on his face again. This time his nose was hurt, he sensed a stinging sensation on the outer skin of his right nose.
She strode on, "If your make out session with the Granite is over, care to follow me please?" her voice was dipped in sarcasm.
Timmy knew better than arguing with her, he followed her like an obedient slave.
Fixing the A.C wasn't a tough ask, it was a window A.C. and the channel on her window was already made. All he needed to do was drilling some wood-work and fixing some screws to fasten the A.C. Living with Vicki had made him jack of many trades.
After the A.C was fixed Vicki offered him a glass of water, the first time she had offered him something in past four years. He was weary, maybe it was another of her ploys to take him in confidence only to strike him when he was expecting it least.
"No worries, I haven't poisoned it, yet." she tried to reassure him; when her offer was coldly rejected by him she employed something different. He thought her to snap out and verbally abuse him, maybe recieve two or three smacks. But nothing sort of that happened, what happened instead was unheard of, considering her reputation.
"Fine, for the first time I offer you something genuinely you refuse it. I only thought that you deserve a glass of water after all these, but you reject it coldly. Now I am firmly convinced that you got what you deserved. Idiots like you don't deserve kindness, they deserve only misery. Do you know I am moving away? I have got a chance to enrol myself in the med. school . I just wanted our last interaction to be as less caustic as possible, that's why the task was nothing compared to some of your past deeds. What you do in return? You reject my offer coldly." she looked aggrieved.
This brought a fuzzy feeling in his chest, "So icky Vicki will be gone. No more torture, no more misery. I feel so good." though his face was emotionless, he knew the risk of wearing his heart on his sleeve.
He took the glass and drank it out. He was thirsty and felt happy from her revelation that she was going to leave him alone. This gesture calmed her down a bit.
In his thoughts he was smirking at the prospect of Vicki being a doctor, "She will surely deal in billions. She is not gonna remember the Doc.s oath at all ,for sure. She will probably milch her patients and will make them miserable, but the current trend says exactly the same thing about the doctors. She will fit right in."
"Hey, Earth to twerp," she remarked sarcastically to get him back in the reality.
"Yes, Vicki?" he was snapped out of his thought and had to cope with the reality.
"Ok, let's go back to your house, then we can visit the science fair." she stated calmly.
On the way, Vicki again switched to her old self and kicked him in his heels from back. Timmy fell on the side-walk again, though this time on his back and his head got bumped. He felt that his hairs had become wet and a fluid like thing was coming out. He felt dizzy and had trouble keeping his eyes open. Now Vicki was anxious, she crouched down to asses his damage, "Get up, I didn't hit you that hard... oh, shit, it's bleeding." she had tried to help him get up by lifting his head. Her hand was bloodied by his blood. Suddenly a faint spectacle was caught in his half lidded eyes. A car was approaching towards them, it meandered along and was having good speed. It was coming directly at them. Vicki didn't notice as she was busy assessing the damage. Timmy used the last ounce of his strength to push her away and bumping again on the side-walk in the process.
He felt a stinging sensation in the right eye and a huge pressure on his right chest. Then something stuck in his left eye too. His world became dark after that.
The accident took Vicki by surprise, she was surprised that the twerp had saved her from a nasty accident and sacrificed himself. His bloodied body repulsed her, his right wrist was thrashed, his eyes were pierced by glass shards, blood flowing out from his head. She called the 911, and sought help. Timmy was rushed to hospital, it was a timely decision on her part. They were able to save his life but not his eyesight.
She called his parents once the operation was successful, his parents replied "Ok, so now he is fine. We will come tomorrow, no need to cancel our fun as he is still kicking, if they need more, just mention that Timmy has a health insurance."
Now she knew how apathetic were they, now she knew how miserable Timmy was. She sighed "I should have been kinder to him, his parents never cared for him, if only I cared he would have still those goofy blue eyes, still he would have been in better condition. If only I cared."
That's the last time she ever saw him in person, lying in the hospital bed unconsciously, multiple iv needles perforating his slim wrist, eyes being bandaged, the big bandage over his forehead. She might have hated him, but she was sure that she never wanted to see him like this.
The next day was scheduled for her departure to the med. school and her parents were very happy. This was the first time that someone is going to a prestigious med school in their family. Her sister had other thoughts, though.
"You must be very happy now, don't you Vicki?" she asked the red-head with venom laced in every word.
"Think whatever you like, but it was an accident. He pushed me away in the last second. He saved me."
"I don't believe you. I know how much you like to torture him, seeing him fighting with the death, surely makes a great parting gift for you." Tootie wasn't in any mood to cut her some slack.
"Look, I despised him, never had any great opinions about him. Now tell me what to do? He saved me from a potential messy death. He gave me my second chance at life. The person, who till the last moment made him miserable(shouldn't have kicked him at all) was being saved by him. Now tell what to do with his photograph that I use as a target? Tell me what to do with the "Chewy-Timmy" doll? I just can't use them like before, I can't destroy them. Tell me what should I do? I can't just hate that naive, selfless idiot and I am too far to even care for him. Please Toot's be little understanding. I know I'm a bad person, I know how I treated him, how I returned his friendly gestures with venom. Now I'm too far from him. " she was on her knees, tears streamed down her eyes.
"He was a kind, selfless and nice person. He gave up his eyesight to save you. At least you can try to see the world through his eyes, at least you can be a little more caring. As a doctor you can be little more humane towards your patients and this way you can repay the debt of life." Tootie was astonished, how can these mature stuff just come to her mind?
"And they say you are only Twelve." a sad smile graced Vicki's lips, while Tootie hugged her. On moments like this both the sisters felt that they could use a hug.
(8 Years later)
Dr. Victoria Valentine was nicknamed the female "Hipoocrates" of the west coast. She was the most moral doctor around. She never gave a discount to her rich patients but gave free consultation to poor one. Her competence in diagnosis and surgery was unparalleled. She never milched a single patient. With brutal honesty she stated that a patient will come around or not and whether he needed any medication or not. Unlike corrupt physicians she never played on the fears of the patient's family.
Anyone, who knew, Vicki the teenager with the most manipulative mind; a monster lurking behind the sugary façade, a cold and unfeeling heart beating in the sculpted and sexy body, would have been awed by her transformation.
But her temper and bossiness remained as usual, jumping queues, taking whatever she wanted without paying and intimidating anyone who dared to cross her, old habits die hard.
This honest and busy doctor also followed a strict health regime, every-morning 30 minutes jogging was an inseparable part of her routine.
That day everything was normal, she arrived at the park per schedule, fellow joggers made way for the speed-star(out of fear) and she started her regime. But on the halfway she saw a man, holding a stick and waddling in the path aimlessly.
She tried to dodge him but the man crashed in her path, both of them tumbled down in the ground. Everybody were shaking in fear, they were afraid for the ill fated man.
She stood up with the murdering look in her eyes, grabbed the man's collar and yanked him to her eye level, she prepared her right hand to smack him. Something stole her attention, his eye's weren't moving, though he was flinching in her grasp and bombarding her with apologies. She looked closely, yes they were prosthetic eyes.
She understood the situation, "Sorry to yank you up like that, I didn't know you were blind."
"No problem, people often make that mistake, I don't mind anything." the brunet man replied.
Now she got a look on him, a lean man of early Twenties, a blue t-shirt and black jeans and with a red stick.
"Have you seen my shades, I think I might have dropped them?" the blind, young man asked.
She saw it over the path, she picked it up and handed him the shades.
"Thank you very much." he wore them with little difficulty.
He looked familiar, as if she'd seen him many times in the past, suddenly her eyes fell on his right wrist. It bore the sewing scars of a heavy operation. She had a name in her mind, though she wanted to verify it.
"Well, I can use some rest, why don't you come with me and sit over there?" she proposed him with little authority.
"Ok,." was his short reply.
She guided him to the nearest bench and both sat there.
"So, who are you? and what were you doing in the park?" she meant business and hated beating around the bush.
"I am Timothy Turner, I teach vocational education in the blind boy's academy. One of my colleagues, informed me about this park. They said it was very refreshing so I came to sit and enjoy. Suddenly I felt a tin can at my feet. I wanted to dispose it, I didn't know the location of the dumpster, so I had a little trouble finding my way back and thus collided with you. Again sorry for that." he briefly concluded.
"Still even with this he wants to take the responsibility over his own shoulder, the twerp never fails to amaze me."she almost felt proud for him.
"By, the way can I know more about you?" he asked the red-head.
"It's boon that he can't see me and my voice has changed much, else he would have wetted his pants." she loled on the mental note.
"No, I won't tell you my name, but I will tell you this, I know you from a very young age." she teasingly stated in a lot thinner voice.
Suddenly his facial feature changed as if he had been faced with certain death, "I need to leave, I ..." he got up only to be yanked down by her.
She realized it immediately, she had puled his wounded right wrist and he yelped in pain. "That's an old injury, it hurts." he somehow blurted out.
"Sorry, should have known that." she released her grip, yet he didn't get up,
"What more do you want from me Vicki? Haven't I suffered enough already? All my friends are far away from me, I can't even use a pc to get in touch with them, my parents have kicked me out, tell me what else should I be in so that you are satisfied?I have moved on and I don't blame you for anything but please , for god's sake we aren't kids any-more." he sounded almost pathetic.
"I know I had treated you badly in the past, yet you stuck your neck out for me, you saved even when I inflicted a bloody wound on you, now please tell me why did you save me? Why you saved me when I didn't deserve it?" now she was furious, this question has haunted her for past Eight years.
"Any human would have done that, I just did my duty. I am not in control of you but I can control my abilities. I didn't want you to get hurt, even if it meant my death. I can only decide for myself not for you. That's why I didn't let you die, now do whatever, mock me, lampoon me for saving you, call me names cause I am..."she kept her hand on his mouth.
"I am not good at acknowledging good deeds, but you are nice, forgiving and saving someone like me needs strength of character. But still it doesn't answer my question?" she had her hands firmly placed on his shoulders.
"You had a life, you had loving parents and an understanding sister, on the other hand I had apathetic parents, nobody cared for me and everyone else used me sans my friends. I knew that your life was more precious than mine, even now look at me, I'm a pathetic being, living on the blood of taxpayers. That education is shit, it's not gonna help my boys, yet I get paid for it and their parents get milched. Don't you think it's a life of a parasite? I wanted to be painter, I wanted to paint my imagination and make this mundane world colourful. But now I can't even see how blue the sky is, how green the grass is, not even how red my blood is? Why I just don't die? I can't even commit suicide in this condition" if he had eyes, he would have been crying them out.
Vicki never knew Timmy was this depressed, the Vicki of Eight years earlier would have filmed this and made a fortune of the blind brunet's banter, but she was a different person now. She hugged him tightly, he tried to wiggle out but relented eventually, "I want to mend this. Please give me a second chance. I promise I won't hurt you any-more."
"But all those times, when I believed you, you just hurt me more." he was cut short, "I'm a different person now, Tootie told me that the best way to honour your sacrifice is to become a empathetic person. I also have the job opening for a personal secretary, how about it, twerp?" she was uncharacteristically mellow and her voice wasn't the usual saccharine tone also.
"I have a job..."
"But, you aren't satisfied with it."
"But if I move in and you fire me, then I will be on the streets, it's too much of a risk."
"On that day you also took the risk of saving me, take it once more, I promise I will keep up my end."
"Why you have to be like this?"
"Because for the last Eight years, whenever I was seeing a tough case I imagined ,that you needed my help. If I was saving any-one I was saving you, now when I have the chance to really make things right, you are not willing to give it to me. Fine, be that way." now she was hurt, still she didn't want to blame him. Her past history won't allow him to fully rely on her. A sigh escaped her lips.
She got up only to be held back, "From when can I join?"
She smile warmly, "How'bout we discuss that over the coffee?"