Chapter 37: Starlight, Part 4
"Now, we're going to make it that even though your eyes are open, you won't see a thing." Doctor Dowd announced to Ba Nee.
"Will it hurt?"
"You won't feel a thing. It'll be like you're asleep. And when you wake up, you'll have a brand new set of eyes."
Ba Nee nodded, and the anesthetic flooded her lungs. Dowd readied his instruments, and watched as his patient's eyelids were held open with speculums.
"Let's give this little girl her new eyes." he ordered.
"Sweet dreams are made of these/who am I to disagree?" Jessica sang as she stared at a nearby clock.
Aja looked up from her laptop.
"Sorry- just nerves. And coffee."
Aja closed her laptop.
"Look, the people doing this are pros. All those consulting sessions-"
"I know. It's just that…well, things sometimes go wrong on the table."
In the hospital chapel, Raya knelt.
"O Saints Cosmas and Damian, we honor and venerate you with all the humility and interior affection of our hearts." she began.
She paused.
"Please let Ba Nee be healed." she finished.
"Both globes are removed with minimal damage to optic nerves. Let's put in the cyber." one of the surgeons announced.
Dowd nodded and opened a small box. Staring right back at him were two cold electronic eyes, waiting for implantation.
Here goes nothing.
Dowd leaned over his patient and stared into the empty sockets that had once contained diseased eyes. Nerves were linked to cold metal and circuits, and the new synthetic orbs were inserted into their proper orbits.
"The eyes are in place." he announced.
"Should we ac—"
"Not yet. We'll do that once she wakes up."
IV tubes were disconnected, and Ba Nee was rolled out of the operating room.
"I want my mommy!" Ba Nee whimpered as she awakened.
All that greeted her was an inky blackness, which soon gave way to a hazy blur of light. Inside her skull, the circuits of her cybereyes began to activate, and the haze gave way to a hospital room as the eyes activated in full.
"I take it you slept well."
Ba Nee turned her head and saw a nurse approach her.
"Hello." she whispered.
"So you're the little girl with the electronic eyes. Well, I'm here to make sure they're working like they should." came the reply.
Ba Nee nodded.
"Now, follow my finger."
The cybereyes moved about in their sockets as they tracked the nurse's finger. Up, down, left, right- where the finger went, they followed.
"Good job! Now, I need to make sure that you're seeing colors properly…"
AN HOUR LATER:
"Well, your new eyes are in full working order. You're just going to need to take it easy for a few days here in the hospital."
Ba Nee nodded, and the nurse left, leaving the small child alone with her stuffed Cthulhu.
"I love you, Mr. Tentacles." she whispered.
Just then, Jessica walked into the room.
"How's it going?"
"I can see much better now. But it's not like how I used to see."
"Why's that?"
"It's like I've got video cameras for eyes."
"It'll be fine- trust me."