A/N: What sucks about coming to the end of an adventure is that… well… it's the end. No more adventure. Hello guys. Thank you for all the fun. I'm pondering an epilogue. In fact… I think I will write one. One chapter that is. This story was one of my daydreams that I had to get out of my head and put down on paper (or computer that is). Thank you to all of you out there who put the time aside to read my story. AND TO ALL OF YOU WHO REVIEWED MY STORY….. A VERY…. VERY…. VERY…. SPECIAL THANK YOU!
Story summary: Jeanette was involved in an accident. This accident led to the discovery of something much worse. Jeanette ends up losing her vision. A very risky treatment is discovered. Simon undergoes surgery with Jeanette, making them both blind for two weeks, with the hope that it will be able to cure her blindness…
Chapter 10: Eye inspection
Two weeks of waiting never took so long. For two weeks Simon and Jeanette lived visionless lives. Unable to study, read, watch television, or play like their normal siblings they did what they could. They helped each other when possible, though most help came from Dave and the rest of the Chipmunks. They couldn't study school or read so they took to mastering Brail. Since they couldn't see the television, they tried to entertain themselves by other means.
By the end of their second day spent together in the darkness… they were board.
A young Chippette, wearing a Brittany-styled short purple skirt with a matching blue and purple striped top under her denim jacket, waited… And while she did so, she thought about the past two weeks… Two weeks of waiting…. Never… EVER!... Took so long….
"Jeanette? Are you ready?" Dr. Binder's voice sounded from up above her.
"Definitely!" she felt the doctor pick her up and take her into another room.
She felt the doctor stop and turn, "Simon, you're next. I'll be right back for you…" he said and turned again.
She heard a door shut and felt the doctor carry her farther into what sounded like a small room.
"Alright… wait here…" she heard his footsteps fade
Alone again… Jeanette sighed… all I want to do is be normal… I just want to see again… Be able to see what I'm going to wear… Be able to see my food… Be able to read…to see my family again… I just want to see…
Jeanette was trapped between two immense feelings. One the one hand she was, to say the least, happy, ecstatic, and generally overjoyed that the two weeks of waiting were over. She would finally have an answer today… She could be seeing again… Today!...
But on the other hand…
Today was the day… the day she would find out if she would be trapped like this. She could be stuck in a never-ending night. A nightmare created from nothing but the sounds and feelings of life around her. Trapped in the torture of hearing, smelling, and feeling the ones around her experiencing the very things she could no longer experience. No longer see the bright chipper smiles of her sisters and the Chipmunks… No longer be able to sit and watch a sunset settle in the western California skyline… In summary… Today could be the day she could lose hope in a future…
The sound of the doctor's steps returned… "Alright… Are you ready?" he inquired.
"Yes…" Jeanette said breathlessly
"Hold still… and keep your eyes closed" he instructed. She obeyed and felt the cool relief of fresh air against her face as he removed her mask…
The doctor walked away.
"Okay… slowly open your eyes…"
This is it… she thought
Slowly she opened her eyes…
And her heart sank…
There it was… her captor… the darkness… still here… still returning her stare…
"Can you see anything?" the doctor asked from across the room…
"No… I… I don't see anything…" A tear formed and slowly slid its way down her cheek
"Hold on…" the doctor replied calmly, "tell me if you begin to see anything…"
Jeanette continued to stare back at the cold heartless monster she knew as the darkness…
So it's true… I am blind…
Then, as if to taunt her, she thought she saw a light. She stared closer…
"Wait!... I… I think I see something!... a… a… uhh… a greenish…. Light… maybe?"
Jeanette heard the doctor's steps approach from across the room… "Can you keep staring at that green light for me?"
Jeanette did as instructed. The doctor's presence hovered next to her... She could almost feel him staring at her eyes…
"Good…. Good…" he mumbled and walked back to the other side of the room. "Alright… brace yourself…" Dr. Binder warned.
Slowly the green light in front of her was joined by another… a small white light from above… It slowly grew in brilliance until Jeanette could begin to make out shapes in the room… to the left of her there was some medical equipment. To her right she could see a wall with a table next to it. And straight ahead of her was the doctor. He was adjusting a knob on the wall.
"I can see you!... I can see you!" Jeanette said excitedly.
The doctor's face broke into a smile… "just wait a minute…"
The doctor continued to adjust the light in the room… Ever so slowly, he increased the light, pausing every once in a while to wait for Jeanette's newly found vision to adjust. He walked over and began to examine her eyes in their newly developed state…
I did it!...Jeanette's mind was stuck on the same thought… I can see!… I can see again!... I can't believe it!... I can see! She looked up into the beaming face of Dr. Binder… He definitely looks happier then the first time I remember seeing him…
For the first time in a long time, the doc's worry lines on his face were gone. A smile was firmly fixed across his face. Even his eyes seemed to display a little extra gleam… This is what he lived and worked for. He loved helping people… and today… he had helped another person…
"Well,… how many fingers am I holding up?" he asked happily
"um… I don't know… I still don't have my glasses… but it looks like… um… maybe three?"
"Close enough." The doctor smiled, "let's take you back to your family… I think they brought your glasses along too."
Jeanette hopped onto his extended arm and the two walked off to see the others.
When the doors opened, those in the waiting room turned to see Jeanette, blindfold off, waving to her family, "Hi guys! I CAN SEE AGAIN!"
She hopped down and joined her sister's, the Chipmunks, and Dave in an embrace…
It's over… the nightmare is over!
The doctor watched on as they exchanged embraces, handed Jeanette her glasses, and talked about her recovery. After a few seconds, the doctor turned his attention to the remaining Chipmunk with an appointment… Simon.
"Simon? Can you come with me please?" the doctor extended his hand to where Simon could feel it. "You're next… I'll bring him right back." The doc said as he turned to the others. He started to walk away…
"Doctor Binder?" he heard a voice ask. He turned around.
"Do you mind if I come with you?" Jeanette asked timidly
The doctor's face broke a small smile as he nodded and motioned her to head into the re-darkened room…
Jeanette quickly grabbed Simon's glasses and followed after the doctor.
Once inside, the doctor set Simon on the exam table next to where Jeanette was waiting and then he walked out of the room.
"Jeanette?" Simon whispered knowing they were alone now, "did it hurt?"
Jeanette took his hand and looked into the dark where she could barely make out Simon's face, still covered with the blindfold, "not at all… everything is going to be a little bright for awhile though…" she informed him. She gave his hand a squeeze… "Everything is going to work out!" Simon could hear her excited smiling face in her voice.
He returned the hand squeeze, "I sure hope so…"
Nearly a minute later the doctor returned.
"Alright guys… Can you step aside for me please, Jeanette?" the doctor asked. She did so and the doctor leaned forward. "Alright,… please keep your eyes closed." He instructed as he removed Simon's blindfold. After removing it and setting it aside, the doctor took a small medical eye-examiner and studied Simon's eyes.
Jeanette observed the doctor performing the same actions that he had performed on her only minutes before… She could barely make out the doctor's outline as he walked away from Simon and Jeanette and towards a panel of switches on the wall.
"Alright… brace yourself…" the doctor instructed and flipped a switch. A small green light flicked on directly above the doctor.
Simon continued to stare ahead into the dark.
"Simon? Do you see anything?" Jeanette asked
"No…. nothing… it's all still dark…"
"Give it a minute." They heard the doctor instruct them. "Let me know if you think you start to see anything."
Simon continued to peer ahead into the dark void ahead of him. He waited. He waited to see anything. His eyes searched for any clue or hint of light to his dark world. After several minutes of waiting he broke the silence. "What should be happening?"
"You don't see any light at all Simon?" Jeanette was starting to get worried.
"Uh…. No… I mean… uh… not really… not yet anyways…."
The doctor flipped another switch. The small overhead light began to glow at its lowest setting. It was just enough for Jeanette to begin to make out the shapes in the room around her.
"Do you see anything now?" she asked expectantly.
"No… not yet…"
A sickening feeling settled in Jeanette's gut… Oh no… why can't he see the light?... What if… What if he really can't see anything?... Oh no… Not Simon!... Why me and not him? Jeanette squeezed his hand tightly. No! NO!
"Jeanette?" Simon asked. Jeanette immediately relaxed her grip.
"Yes Simon?"
"Are the lights on?" he asked flatly
"Um… not… not all the way… it's still kinda dark in here…" She said hopefully. She looked to the doctor who was still adjusting the light to about half of their brightness. The room was dim… but not dark…
Simon let out a deep breath/sigh… so it comes out like this… Simon thought. Jeanette can see… but I won't… his mind ran through all the memories of their last week together. Their last week that they could see… In an instant, thousands of images and scenes danced through Simon's mind. Memories of Jeanette's clumsy mishaps, her concentrated studying, and her captivating laugh and giggle… her smile…
A small smirkish smile slipped across Simon's face. At least she would be alright… At least she could-
Simon's thoughts slammed to a halt.
There in front of him…
A small glimmer of hope appeared…
"Is that a… uh… Jeanette? Is there a… uh… a greenish… light… in front of me?" Simon's brows furrowed in concentration.
"You see it?!" Jeanette looked back to the wall. "Doctor! I think he sees it!" Jeanette hopped up and down.
The doctor hurried over to the table.
"Simon?" the doc began
"Doctor? Is there a green light ahead of me?" Simon continued to wince.
The doctor released a deep breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "What do you see?"
"A green light… up ahead of me… and… maybe… hey doc! I think I'm seeing shapes now!..." Simon began to get excited. "Is that you?" Simon pointed in front of him towards a tall standing piece of medical examination equipment.
"Not exactly…" came the doc's response, "Let's give this a few more minutes…." He leaned down and observed Simon's eyes in the dark. "hmmm… yeah… I'll give it a few more minutes before I raise the lights…"
Slowly the world was gaining perspective… and depth. Before long he could make out the fact that he was in a room. A room with four walls… Next he began to recognize the furniture…. There stood a table next to the one wall. More medical equipment, including the piece Simon mistook for the doctor, was scattered throughout the room. He could make out the shape of the doctor as he headed back to the wall to continue bringing the lights up…
As the lights got brighter Simon looked down… I can see my hands again! He looked down to his left hand. His gaze travelled past his own hand, past the hand held by his own, past the arm and shoulders of its owner, until his gaze focused on the very fuzzy bespectacled face of the Chippette standing next to him.
"Jeanette?" Simon asked
A tight, near back-breaking hug was his immediate answer.
Jeanette began to cry as she held the one she had been wanting to see… the one she had been wanting to see her… she tried to think of something to say… something that could express the overwhelming joy of finally being able to see each other again… But nothing came to mind…
"Simon…" was all she could manage to whisper as she continued to embrace her counterpart.
Simon returned the embrace… "Jeanette…"
The two embraced for a little longer then separated to look at each other. Jeanette handed Simon his glasses.
"Whoa!" Simon exclaimed as he slipped his glasses on, "when did you start dressing like that?" he gestured to her wardrobe.
"What?" Jeanette blushed as she looked for a mirror. "What do you mean?"
"I mean… uh… that style… uh…" Simon was stuttering
The doctor reached into a drawer and set down a small hand mirror on the exam table. Jeanette looked into her 'full-length' sized mirror and jumped back at what she saw.
Staring back at her from the mirror was a chipmunk that looked very similar herself. Only instead of the normal, non-attention-drawing, standard clothes that she was used to wearing, this chipmunk standing in the mirror was dressed in styles that were completely not her style. Her skirt was purple- but way shorter than anything she remembered wearing. Her top boasted purple and blue stripes, which she had worn before, only it was much more form-fitting then something she would have picked out. And she never wore jackets, unless it was cold… This chipmunk in the mirror was an imposter!
"Oh my!..." she finally muttered
"It's very…um…" Simon was still sputtering.
Jeanette looked back at Simon after being chocked by her reflection. Her face was a mixture of embarrassment and uncertainty.
"You look beautiful" Simon finally settled on what to say.
Jeanette looked at up at Simon. There was nothing but truth in those eyes… that made her feel a little better. Still she thought I think I'll have a word with Brittany when we get back...
The doctor decided to try to move on from this slightly awkward situation. "Let's go let the others know." He suggested.
The two chipmunks hopped down from the table and began to follow the doctor. Jeanette felt a hand gently take hold of hers as they walked. The two exchanged looks, began to blush, and continued forward hand-in-hand.
"The end of a very long day" Simon concluded as he and Jeanette sat outside in the yard.
"A very long week…" Jeanette responded.
"This whole affair was very, very long…" Simon added.
"Yeah," Jeanette sighed.
The two looked at the sun glowing orange as it set in the western California skyline.
"Hey guys," Dave said as he walked out the front door, "You guys enjoying grass?" he chuckled
"Yeah," Jeanette smiled, "it's SO green!"
Dave smiled as he looked at his two 'children' relaxed outside. "Just appreciating the simple things?" Dave asked.
"Yep" they both answered.
"You often don't realize you've got something until you lose it." Dave said
The two chipmunks exchanged knowing looks.
"I'll be right back," Dave turned around and disappeared back inside the house.
The two thought in silence before Jeanette spoke up, "He is right…"
Simon looked over to Jeanette. He furrowed his brows and seemed to be focusing on something, "Jeanette? Can you look at me please?"
"What?"
Simon got real within a few inches of her face and began looking intently into her eyes.
"Simon, what is it? Is something wrong?" she asked, her voice gaining a worried tone.
"Hmmm… nope." Simon answered but continued to stare into her eyes. His smile couldn't hide itself anymore. "Nope… I was just admiring my handiwork…"
She realized he was referring to her eyes. She began to blush and tried to look away. But Simon gently lifted her chin so she was staring back at his eyes.
"I do good work…" he whispered the first thing that popped into his head.
Jeanette continued to stare back at her blue-eyed counterpart. He was the chipmunk that had risked his own health to help her. She seemed to get lost in his eyes. She wrapped her arms around him in an embrace.
"Simon…" she whispered
"hmm?"
Jeanette pulled her face closer to his.
"thank you…" she whispered before she closed her eyes and the two began to kiss…
"Ah-hem!" a stern voice sounded from behind them
The two jumped back from each other and spun around obviously embarrassed.
"You know if Dave catches you guys doing that you'll both be grounded, right?" a red-hoodie wearing chipmunk continued with a smirk.
"Alvin!" Simon raised his voice
"You two look good together," Brittany's voice sounded from the porch. The three chipmunks turned to find the rest of the chipmunks were there…watching.
"How long were you guys there!?" Jeanette asked overly embarrassed.
"Only for the good part." Eleanor responded with a smirk
"That was really sweet." Theodore added.
"Hey guys… I see the movies over… what are you guys up to?" Dave asked as he came out of the house carrying a box.
"Oh… nothing…" Alvin replied with a mischievous smile, "Just 'inspecting' some 'work' you might say"
Simon shot a 'you're dead later' look over towards Alvin.
"That's good," Dave answered completely oblivious to what was going on between the chipmunks. He set the box he was carrying on the ground. "You guys recognize this?" he asked pulling out a potted plant.
"Nope…" Simon answered.
"What is it?" Jeanette asked
"This," Dave held up the plant, "is the 'experiment' you two were working on when this whole thing started."
The two chipmunks looked to the small plant. "I think we should plant it." Dave suggested…
For the next couple minutes all the chipmunks helped Dave out as they helped him dig a hole and then plant the small sprout. The sun had nearly set by the time they had finished.
"How about some Ice-cream!?" Theodore suggested as they finished up.
"Yeah!" they all agreed and ran inside.
Dave and the two bespectacled chipmunks were the last to head inside. Dave stopped at the door and knelt down.
"It's good to have you guys back… I missed you." Dave said quietly
"It's good to be back." Simon replied
Jeanette nodded in agreement.
Dave smiled. "How's about some cake and Ice-cream?" he said standing up.
"Alright!" the two agreed.
"Only… let's keep the 'eye-inspections' (A/N: "kissing") to a minimum" Dave 'suggested' before he stepped inside.
Jeanette's eyes widened as she shot a look over at Simon.
Simon simply smiled, shrugged his shoulders and held the door open for Jeanette.
"No promises, Dave" Simon whispered as Jeanette walked by.
She blushed and gently elbowed Simon in the ribs. The two laughed and then ran off to join the others…
A/N: Hello again… Sorry… I wanted the ending to be better, but I think the length of the chapter stretched me thin… So… I will be writing an epilogue… one final chapter…
Special Thanks:
A special thanks is due to every single one of you who read AND REVIEWED. I need all the help I can get. All of you guys were absolutely amazing with either encouragement or constructive criticism. THANK YOU!
On the Future:
I have three stories I really want to tell (among some others that I also really want to tell…but not as badly as these three) If you read this story and liked it… give me a little time… but more will be on the way…
Recommended Reading:
Okay, so there is a ton, A TON of good stories out there. But a few that I really recommend reading ASAP (as soon as possible) are here:
-SIMON'S WONDERFUL LIFE by BlytheHasFreckles
-THE LIST: ONE SHOT WRITING CHALLENGES by knk4891
-(an old fic I just read and liked) ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED by Awesomo3000
Again… there are many I want to recommend…but these are some I think everyone would enjoy… Great authors and great ideas…
See you next time for the very end… and then the beginning of another "AKmunk12" adventure!
ONE MORE THING!
IF YOU LIKED THIS STORY AT ALL REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW… A SIMPLE "LIKED IT" WOULD BE PERFECT. IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT, PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU LIKED ABOUT IT, WHAT YOU DIDN'T… WHAT YOU WISHED YOU COULD HAVE SEEN. ALSO, FOR FUTURE REFERENCE: DO YOU GUYS LIKE LONG CHAPTERS OR SHORTER MORE FREQUENT CHAPTERS? DO YOU LIKE LONGER STORIES OR ONE-SHOTS… Review or Private message me… please..
YOU GUYS ROCK!
-AKmunk12