The pain was excruciating but even the stoic Russian let out a yelp as Doctor Greene asked him to open his eyes. Illya closed them as soon as a sharp pain stabbed them.
His fingers went to them instantly, rubbing his eyelids, as if that would really help.
The doctors were at a loss as to what was wrong with the agent. All they knew was that he'd been exposed to a blast of chemicals when a bomb in a THRUSH warehouse went off prematurely.
As a precaution Doctor Greene wore a surgical mask, just in case there were any chemical residues on Kuryakin's skin and clothing. Illya was finally given a black shirt and a pair of trousers from the Illya's locker there at headquarters while his contaminated clothes were sent for analysis.
Initially, one of the other physicians wanted Illya to strip and shower, but it was decided if there were any chemical residue on his skin, it was quite possible it could react when coming into contact with water.
Kuryakin suffered no overt injury such as a broken bone, there were no contusions or lacerations, but Illya's eyes had been doused with a concoction of unknown chemical agents. The explosion caused things to intermingle, making the combination of chemicals nearly unrecognizable. The doctors were just thankful these chemicals when inhaled didn't kill the Russian.
Again Greene asked Illya to open his eyes, and again he cried out in pain before closing them.
"Mr. Kuryakin were you able to see anything at all?"
"Yes, for a split second I could see you, and the room we are in."
"That's good….very good. At least you haven't lost your eyesight."
"For all intents and purposes I have, since I am unable to open my eyes Doctor."
"Point taken. Let's try something else."
"Must we? It really hurts...a lot."
"Please humor me," the doctor sighed.
"Fine, do as you will. I have no say in the matter." Kuryakin's face seemed placid enough despite his situation, but Doctor Greene knew better.
He could tell his patient was close to having one of his tantrums; Illya, like many other Section II agents, was not a fan of Medical, or doctors. They would often throw whatever they could get their hands on and in the process terrorize the nursing staff until they got their way...and that was to be released from the Medical unit.
Illya Kuryakin, however was the best of the best, " Greene thought to himself, but then corrected his thought, "No he's the best of the worst." Illya was notorious for tossing bed pans, furniture, and most often food, specifically green jello when confined to the Medical wing at headquarters.
This wouldn't be the case however, not being able to see would prevent the Russian from his usual behavior.
"All right, Illya. I'm going to turn out the lights. Then I want you to open your eyes again."
Greene hit the wall switch. " Okay lights are out."
Illya slowly opened his eyes, expecting another jolt of pain but this time there was none.
There was some light in the room, but it was very low and soft, coming from a fixture beneath some wall cabinets.
"Doctor, there is no pain,"Illya announced.
"Tell me what you can see."
"I can see everything, though it is as if it is all in shadows."
"The lights aren't bothering you?"
"No, it is too soft I suppose."
"All right, I'm going to examine your eyes. I'll be using a penlight and will shine it in your eyes to see how they react to it.
"Must you? If it is brighter than the light now, then I suspect I will not have a very good reaction to it."
"I know you're concerned about the pain, but I really need to look at your eyes."
"Fine, just do it then."
"All right Illya, I'm turning on the light now. I'm sorry if it hurts, but I need you to fight the pain so I can do the examination."
"Easier said than done," Illya grumbled."
Doctor Greene flashed the light into his left eye, getting a good look at it as Illya hissed, fighting against the discomfort.
"Okay, good. Now the other eye."
Illya reacted the same way, and breathed a sigh of relief once the exam concluded.
"The sclera is bright red and irritated, however your pupils reacted normally so I don't suspect any damage. I'm hesitant to use an eye wash, since I don't know what chemicals got into your eyes. We need to protect them for the next few days to see if they'll improve."
"Bandages?" Illya didn't relish the idea, but he knew his eyes needed to be protected from light, still being bandaged would prevent him from seeing at night. Taking bandages off and on would be an annoyance as well.
"I have a better solution. You're going to wear a pair of very dark sunglasses with side shields...the type that blind people use. That should protect your eyes enough from light, and would allow you to function in the daylight."
Illya nodded his approval.
"I'll need you to come in everyday for your eyes to be checked. In the meantime the analysis of what was on your clothing might give us a clue as to what affected your eyes. Before you leave, let's try washing your hands to see how you react to water on a smaller scale. If there's no problem, then I'll have you shower here, so I can reexamine you again before you leave.
Everything went fine; the doctor took a few dermal skin scrapings before Illya showered, as well as after. Kuryakin looked good, no reaction to the water at all, though Illya was careful not to get any in his eyes.
At first Greene considered an eyewash, but decided against it.
The special glasses arrived, and they were tested and worked perfectly, much to the relief of Kuryakin.
"A clever solution Doctor,"Illya hopped off the examining table, dressed himself in his black suit and turtleneck that had been delivered. The clothing had been in a suitcase in his office closet, and was pressed by Del Floria before being sent over to Medical.
Illya tentatively walked out into the corridor as he exited the elevator. He had no desire to be the object of attention, and thankfully he was not.
Apparently his habit of wearing his tinted glasses had desensitized the staff. To them he was just wearing sunglasses as usual.
He arrived at his office and no sooner had he sat down in his chair behind his desk, the pneumatic doors opened with a quiet whoosh.
"Hello mate, I just heard you were released from Medical. Say, what gives with those posh sunglasses?" It was Mark Slate.
"My eyes are sensitive to bright light at the moment, and Doctor Greene came up with this solution rather than bandaging my eyes until they improve. They will allow me to continue to function for now, though I am on light duty, no field work."
"I heard you were right lucky mate. They said the bomb you planted went off early. Defective timer?"
"Most certainly. I plan to have a talk with supply regarding that. Perhaps I will examine a cross section of timers to see if there are any others that might be defective."
"Not for nothing Illya, but aren't those glasses a wee bit dark for doing that sort of work."
"Surprisingly not. They cut off the light, but to a level that makes it tolerable enough to see as if I were not wearing them at all."
'Wow. Tell you what mate, before you head off to do that, how's about we have some lunch. They're serving Hungarian goulash in the Commissary, just the way you told them to make it.
Kuryakin smiled. "That sounds like a very good plan but first let me make a phone call to supply to get them started on examining those timing devices."
After the call, they headed out for lunch. And something Illya found rather interesting, his olfactory senses due to his eyesight issue had improved. The goulash smelled even more delicious than ever…
After his check ins with Doctor Greene for the next few days Illya's eyes had improved well enough that he could stop wearing the special glasses. As a precaution, he was told to wear his own tinted glasses for a few more days.
His subsequent examination of the timing devices found that one in three was defective. That was intolerable, to say the least.
After reporting his findings to Mr. Waverly, the section responsible for making the timers was revamped. Technicians were deprogrammed and fired.
The Old Man was furious; it was bad enough his field agent were at risk while on assignment, but he'd be damned if they would be in danger from faulty UNCLE equipment.
It was an all's well that ends well situation for Illya had it not been for being injured. His pain, and recovery resulted in saving the lives of other agents before they too were involved in using the defective equipment.
.
Illya sat at his desk, typing up his final report on the situation when his partner strolled into their office. Napoleon had just returned from a vacation in the islands where he was surrounded by sun, sand and beautiful women.
"So how's it going tovarisch," the tanned Solo grinned. "Did you miss me?"
"You are always missed my friend," Illya didn't even look up and continued typing away.
"Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"
"No, nothing really eye opening…" Illya half smiled.