Chapter 37: Blindness
When Shadow woke the next day, everything was dark. Sitting up, he moved his hands over the bed. Pushing the blankets off, Shadow got out of bed.
"Why can't I see anything?" he asked himself. He looked around, but couldn't see anything. Shadow put his hands over his eyes and gasped. He staggered out of the room, stumbling around. "N...no...I'm blind...help, somebody! Help!" He panicked.
Shadow's hand found the phone before he realized it wouldn't help him at all. He couldn't call anyone if he couldn't see the numbers. Shadow tried to look around, still panicking. He sat down on the couch and cried. If only Tails or Shadic were here now. He ran his hand over the phone, trying to find the correct numbers to call the doctor. After a few tries, he finally managed to hit the right buttons. By the time he heard the doctor's voice, he was ready to give up calling.
"D...doctor...please...h...help," he said, crying. "I...woke up today...and couldn't see...anything! I'm...blind!"
The doctor's eyes widened. "All right, Shadow. Just calm down." The doctor looked at some papers. "I'll come over in a few minutes, all right?" He didn't want to force Shadow to find another way there.
Shadow nodded and continued to sob, then hung up. A few minutes later, the doctor knocked on the door. Shadow moved towards the sound, stumbling over a few things. The doctor sighed when he heard the noises from inside. He had no idea how he was going to help Shadow.
A few minutes later, Shadow opened the door. "Who's there?"
"Your doctor," he said.
"Come in, please."
The doctor entered the house and looked around. A few things were lying on the floor where Shadow had most likely knocked them over, but everything was in perfect order otherwise.
"Let's go to the couch, shall we?" The doctor went to take Shadow's hand. Shadow nodded and had the doctor lead him over to the couch. They sat down. The doctor looked him over with what he had brought from his office. "You said you woke up and couldn't see, didn't you?"
"Yes, that's right," Shadow said.
The doctor sighed. He couldn't find anything that could have cased it other than the disease. "I believe your blindness is a side effect of AIDS. I don't see anything else that could have caused it."
"Wh...what? So...I won't be able to see ever again?"
The doctor shook his head. "I'm afraid not."
Shadow gulped and he looked away, sobbing slightly. "So, what will happen? I can't see a damn thing."
"The same thing that was going to happen. You just won't be able to see anything. Did you want me to call someone to help you?"
"Can you call Rouge? She's my friend and works at GUN with me."
The doctor nodded and picked up the phone. He called Rouge, and then hung up, looking at Shadow.
"What did she say?" Shadow asked.
"She said she'll be here soon. You're lucky to have such a caring friend. Any other symptoms I should know about?" Shadow thought for a moment before explaining what else had happened before he lost his eyesight. The doctor nodded and wrote them down on the notepad, then looked up at him.
"Anything else?"
Shadow nodded. "Lack of energy, fever, weight loss..." He tried to remember what else.
"It sounds to me like your disease is progressing."
"I guess. You said I had four weeks to live, right?"
"Yes, I did." The doctor was curious about where Shadow was going with that question.
"Since the disease is progressing, do I have less time, or is it the same?" Shadow asked.
"We'll see." The doctor wished he could be more specific.
Shadow nodded and stood up, looking around. Everything was dark. He frowned and sat back down. "How will I know where to go and what to do if I'm blind?"
"Either your friend or your son could help you with that."
Shadow nodded. "Thank you."
The doctor stood up and walked out of the house to see Rouge standing there. He nodded and left as she walked in.