Outside the room, Ben and his sons waited impatiently as the doctor examined Hoss. Ben jumped at the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.

Margaret and Tess Greene quickly approached him. "We came as soon as we heard," Margaret said. "Any news?"

"The doctor's in there with him now," Ben said.

"Is he awake?"

Ben sat back and nodded. Little Joe sat on Adam's lap, with his head up against his brother's chest. "He can't see," Ben put his hands up to his face.

Tess' eyes widened. "He's blind?" she asked shocked.

The bedroom door slowly swung inward and the doctor stepped out. "Mr. Cartwright," he said.

"How is he?" Ben asked him.

The doctor paused a moment. "Your son hit his head pretty hard in the fall."

"That's why he can't see?" Adam asked. The doctor nodded.

"Will he ever get his sight back?" Ben asked.

"Mr. Cartwright, I'm not going to lie to you," the doctor said. "This type of vision loss, due to head trauma, is very unpredictable. Some patients lose their vision for a few hours, others a few days, maybe longer." they were all silent as the doctor spoke. "The longer your son is blind," he said. "chances are he might never get his sight back."

"He could be blind for the rest of his life?" Tess asked.

"All I could tell you to do for him is keep him comfortable, Don't leave him alone for too long in the beginning, and prepare him for the worst."

"Can I see him?" Tess asked looking at Ben. "Mr. Cartwright?" Ben nodded.

Tess walked away from the group and passed the doctor, into the room, closing the door behind her.

"Who's there?" Hoss asked, sitting part up in bed. "Who is that?"

Tess had a tear in her eye as she walked up to the bed. "It's me, Hoss," she spoke. "It's Tess." She attempted to keep her voice from cracking.

"Is my Pa out there?" Hoss asked, staring blankly straight ahead as Tess sat at the edge of his bed.

"Yeah. And Adam too, and Little Joe. The doctor's talkin' too them."

Hoss paused for a moment. "I ain't never gonna see again, Tess," he said.

Tess took hold of his large hand. She could see that just the feel of her skin against his caused an emotional effect in Hoss.

"Don't be silly, Hoss," Tess sniffled. "The doctor says you could have your sight back in a few hours."

"And he says that I might never get it back." Hoss' eyes watered. "I'm scared, Tess. How'm I supposed to live like this? How'm I gonna live on The Ponderosa and not be able to do anything?" Tess rested her head down on him and Hoss cautiously moved his hand to the back of her head in an embrace. "What if I never see my Pa or brothers again? What if I never see you again?"

***************************************************************

A few days passed with no improvement. Hoss' vision didn't seem to be getting any better. Time however had come to return to The Ponderosa.

Ben rode with Little Joe in the front of the wagon as Hoss sat alone in the back. the silence was deafening as they rode home.

Ben glanced over at Little Joe and quickly back at Hoss. "Sure is getting cold," he said, trying to strike up a conversation. Little Joe nodded and Hoss went unmoved. "Maybe it'll snow soon," he continued. Little Joe shrugged his shoulders and Hoss still sat motionless. Ben took a deep breath and continued on with the rest of the ride in silence.

As the wagon pulled up to the ranch and the horses came to a stop, Ben and Little Joe dismounted. Little Joe ran inside as Ben walked to the back of the wagon.

Hoss slowly attempted to climb out of the wagon. Ben stretched his hand out and gently touched his arm. Hoss jumped.

"It's alright, son," Ben said. "It's just me." After a short pause, Ben continued. "Let me help you inside."

"I can do it," Hoss said pulling his arm away from Ben. Hoss continued down off the wagon. He stopped from a moment and extended his arm in front of him as he took a few steps forward.

Ben stood back as he watched his son taking a multitude of small cautious steps toward the house. As Hoss reached the bottom step of the front porch, he stumbled. Ben ran to his son and tried to help him up.

"I can do it!" Hoss yelled pulling away from him. He sat down on the step. "Please," he cried, "Let me do it."

Ben sat down beside Hoss. He lifted his hand and placed it on the boy's shoulder. Hoss dragged his shirt sleeve across his nose,

"It ain't never gonna be the same, Pa," Hoss cried. "I ain't never gonna see again. I ain't never gonna be able to do anything I used to. Look at me, Pa. I can't even walk into the house."

Ben was silent for a moment as he thought of what to say. "Eric," he said. " We need to take this one day at a time. You heard what the doctor said. You can still get your sight back. I know it's hard, son..."

"No," Hoss interrupted. "No, you don't, Pa. You have no idea what this is like. You can see. You know what's around you. You know what's going on right in front of you. You can tell if it's night or day just by lookin' out the window. You can wake up in the morning and know your gonna see the sun."

Ben sat silent. He knew that his sons words were fueled by frustration, and couldn't help but feel frustrated himself. there was always something Ben Cartwright could do when his sons were ill. Even when they were young, Ben could find a way to make their hurting stop. But not now, not with Hoss. His pain was too deep.

Ben knew that the longer Hoss was blind the odds were that he would never regain his sight. He knew that Hoss knew this too.

"Please just let me alone, Pa," Hoss said running his sleeve under his nose once again. "I just wanna be alone."

Ben stood and paused for a moment, looking down at his son. Hoss sat silent and motionless, almost as if he were in deep thought, as Ben slipped slowly into the house.