CHAPTER 25 - When All I See Is Darkness Part I

The next morning Layton was glad he hadn't left.

His morning alarm clock was getting knocked off the bed by an extremely agitated Melanie waking up with a start and immediately getting wrapped up in her fear of not being able to see and for the moment not remembering why or where she was.

"Layton?" Melanie feverishly felt around the bed, trying to sort out her surroundings as fast as she could. "LAYTON!"

The voice was scratchy and still weak. But it had enough force to have Layton back beside her in a split second. He gently, but quickly, grabbed her by the shoulders, keeping her from literally falling out of the bed.

"Melanie!" He said her name in a firm but gentle tone, trying to calm her down. "Hey. Settle down. I'm right here. OK. You hear me? I'm right here."

Melanie instantly turned to the sound of his voice as she found support in wrapping her partially bandaged hands about his arm and wrist. Almost immediately she stopped fighting and settled into just listening to him. In the moment she only focused on that his voice meant safety to her. Everything else aside, as long as he was there, nothing would hurt her.

"You're perfectly safe." He told her in a calm, reassuring tone. "I'm right here. You're safe."

He could tell her heart rate hadn't caught up to his words yet as she kept her bandaged eyes fixed on the sound of his voice.

'Get her oriented.' was his next order of business. "Do you remember where you are?" He asked.

There was a slight pause before she quickly nodded.

"Good. But you have to calm down. Now, do you remember why you're in the medical car?"

Another pause, this one a bit longer, before she slowly nodded.

Layton gave her a small smile. "OK. That's good then. How's the voice this morning?"

Melanie paused, then shook her head. "Hurts." Came the hoarse reply.

Layton turned as the door to the room hissed open and an assistant walked in with a tray.

"OK. Maybe this will help." He told her. "They brought you breakfast."

Melanie quickly pulled herself up in the bed. Although he could tell she was trying to feign indifference, he noted her following the sounds of the staff worker putting the tray down on the small table with interest. To his knowledge she hadn't eaten anything since yesterday, and who knew how long before that.

He politely thanked the staff worker before turning back to her.

"OK. Lets see how good your nose is." He told her with a small smile as he maneuvered the tray table over her bed and in front of her, then lifted the lid. "What are we having?"

Melanie took a long sniff of the contents, then sat thinking.

"Well?"

"Oatmeal." Came the less than enthusiastic response, accompanied by a small frown.

"Correct!" Layton rewarded her. "Probably because of your throat being a bit raw." He answered her frown. "But that doesn't get you a free pass on having to eat it."

Just then the door to her room hissed as it opened again. A slightly less tired looking Bennett entered.

"You have a visitor." Layton told her.

Melanie turned to the sound of someone walking across the floor.

A soft kiss brushed against her forehead. "How are you feeling?" Bennett asked her.

A small smile came to her lips at the sound of his voice. "Better."

Bennett pulled back with a slight smile to answer her's. "Lair."

Layton tried not to put too much into the exchange between the two as he got up from his chair. Of course she would be happy to know Bennett was there. They were in a relationship. But he wasn't exactly a stranger to her either. Yet in the whole time she had been awake, and as cordial as he had tried to be with her, she hadn't managed one smile for him.

Yet all Bennett had to do was walk in the door.

Layton consoled himself with a small smile. True as all that was, when she had been frightened and unsure of things, who had she called for?

"She was just about to eat all of her breakfast." He told the other man, trying to keep his voice normal, but putting emphasis on the word 'all' as he stepped back from her bed. "Make sure she does."

As he started to leave, he heard her voice a question to Bennett as he sat down in the chair. One that didn't surprise him in the least.

"Engine?"

Layton quickly turned back to them before leaving. "Make her eat all of her breakfast before she gets an answer." He advised.

Bennett picked up the spoon on the tray and put it in her hand as Layton left the room.

"You heard the man." He stated with a soft smile.

Thanks to Javi covering for him, Bennett managed to stay with her for most of the morning. Around 11, the third engineer came in for his turn to sit with her. After a few hours, Ms. Audrey came in and stayed until she had to leave around 5 to start setting up for the evening in the Night Car. But at that time Layton returned for his turn to sit with her again.

Everyone tried to adhere to the rule they could only ask her 'yes' and 'no' questions to keep her from having to use her voice too much. Doctors orders. But Melanie was far to interested in what was going on with her beloved engine to stick to the rule herself and had practically questioned herself hoarse again by the time Javi left trying to ascertain the damage to the train.

From what she was able to gather, though not entirely sure Bennett and Javi were telling her the truth, the damage wasn't as bed as it looked initially. Thankfully the fuel cell that discharged was only partly full. The recharge of the cells, she had told them, was what she was doing when the accident occurred. What perplexed her was that it happened at all. The work was routine. She swore she could do it in her sleep, and there was a low if any danger of what happened, happening at all.

But when Layton came to sit with her, she fell almost completely silent, even though Ms. Audrey had told him they had had a nice chat through the afternoon.

Sitting in the chair in the room, he studied her for a few moments before saying anything.

"So, how has your day been?" He asked finally.

Melanie only answered him with a slight nod as she sat in the bed, propped up with several pillows behind her.

"How is your throat?"

A shake of the head answered him.

Layton frowned at his reception. "Ms. Audrey said you were talking up a storm all afternoon. Now I'm getting the silent treatment?"

Melanie turned to the covers of her bed, but didn't answer him.

Layton sighed quietly as he watched her. Apparently she had had time to remember a lot more than just where she was and why since that morning.

"I left once before, Melanie." He told her quietly. "That's the only one you're getting. I'm not walking out on you again. If you want me gone, you're going to have to throw me out."

Melanie continued to fix her stare on the covers.

Layton gave another quiet sigh. "Would you rather I leave?" He finally asked her.

Layton took a lot of stock in the fact it she spent some time thinking things over before she answered his question. But in the end she eventually slowly shook her head.

"OK. And I know you're not feeling the greatest right now, and your throat hurts still. But if you want to talk, we'll talk."

Melanie continued to stare at the covers for a few more minutes before she finally turned to his voice.

A scratchy and tired voice asked, "Do you think I'll be blind forever?"

The question actually surprised him and took him a little off guard. "Dr. Pelton isn't sure." He answered her. He wasn't going to lie to her or give her false hope. In their current situation, he didn't think that was the way to go with her. "She said it 'may be' temporary."

Melanie fell silent again and turned her attention back to the covers of her bed.

"Try not to focus on just one scenario, Melanie." He told her softly. "No one knows for sure how this will go. We'll just have to wait and..." But he stopped himself, realizing what he was about to say.

But Melanie quietly finished the sentence for him. "...see." She whispered.

Layton carefully sat down in the chair by her bed. "Look, losing your sight would frighten anyone. But no matter how this turns out, it'll be all..."

Melanie suddenly turned to his voice, rising her own even past the scratching in her tone. "Don't say it'll be all right!" She stated, her sentences coming out stilted as she fought to make each word heard clearly. "I'm blind, Layton. I know how bad the flash was based on how close I was standing to the fuel cell when it exploded. It was a full fuel cell discharge! That kind of flash would burn someone's retina beyond repair. I didn't see...I didn't see stars..., or points of light afterwards. All I saw was darkness. A sighted person will still see light even when they are blinded." She stopped for a moment as she laid back against the pillows piled behind her. "I don't see anything." She finally whispered.

"Melanie, that doesn't mean..."

"It isn't a sign of hope." She cut him off in the same quiet tone.

"Then we'll just have to wait and see what comes. You're a great engineer, Melanie, but you're not a doctor. So why don't we listen to one of them this time? OK?"

Silence hung in the room for a few moments. "For how long?" Melanie finally asked.

"For as long as it takes."

She was staring up at the ceiling now. When she asked her next question it was so soft, he barely heard her.

"And how long will it take before you realize how utterly useless I am to this train now?"

Layton leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs as he looked up at her. So that's what this was all about. The center of their problems hadn't gone away. She had just refocused it. She didn't just fear being useless to the train, the fact she felt her survival hung on, now she felt she actually was.

"You'll never be useless to this train, Melanie." He answered her in the same soft tone.

Her stare remained fixed on the ceiling. "Maybe you should just let First Class have their execution now." She replied. "That would solve everyone's problem."

"You're not a problem, Melanie." Layton answered her suggestion. "Not to me."

This time Melanie turned back to his voice. "What I am to you, Mr. Layton, is a blind engineer. And over time you will begin to see how useless that is. You'll grow tired of looking after me. Of feeding me. Taking care of me when I have nothing to give you in return. Protecting me when the others come and start to question why I'm still kept alive."

Layton got up from his chair and, resting his hands on either side of her on the bed, leaned down just inches from her face.

"Then let them come." He told her in a quiet but firm voice. "Because before they get to you..., before one of them lays one hand on you..., they'll find they have to go through me first. And I don't think they'll find that a very easy path."

Melanie didn't pull back one inch from feeling his breath on her face.

"Why?"

Layton pulled back this time. "Because as stupid, silly, ridiculous, and utterly unlikely as it may seem to you, Melanie, you are my friend."

She started to say something, but he quickly cut her off. "Now that may not be a word you would willing use, but I'll say it to anyone who dares ask. 'Melanie Cavill is my friend.' And I will stand by you until this train runs itself clear off the rails if I have to to prove it to you."

Melanie sat in the bed staring straight ahead for a few minutes. Layton swore during these silent periods of her's he could practically hear the gears turning as she thought through whatever was going on in that brain of her's. Finally she started to scoot down in the bed.

"They give me sleeping pills every night with dinner." She commented casually. "They tend to work pretty quickly."

Layton got up and lifted the covers, helping her settle into the bed.

"OK. I guess sleep is the best thing for you now."

After she was settled in the bed, she listened as Layton returned to his chair. She could hear the springs creak slightly under his weight as he sat back down.

"Aren't you leaving?" She asked.

"Do you want me to?"

Melanie laid staring in the opposite direction of his voice for a few minutes before eventually turning to him over her shoulder.

"Do whatever you want." She told him, then settled back under the covers.

Layton sat watching her. Slowly her breathing evened out and she seemed to be settling off to sleep.

"Then I want to stay." He said quietly, settling himself into his own makeshift bed for the night and trying to get a few hours sleep.