The Andros Royal Family- See You Later
"Remember that we will be picking you up next Thursday for your brothers...Khai are you alright?"
Aisha was video chatting with her youngest son who was currently studying at Red Fountain. He was in his third year and once again, rubbed his eyes.
"Yeah," Khai replied, "just tired."
"Khai, every time that we have spoken this year, you have-"
"Mom," Khai huffed as he looked at his mother through the screen, "I am eighteen now. I am fine, just really tired."
"You have been wearing your glasses as the doctor told you, right?"
"Yes, mom." Khai rolled his eyes, "Seriously, I have been wearing glasses for the past ten years. You don't have to remind me."
"I know, I know. But you are not wearing them now."
"You know that I don't like wearing them when I read."
"You know that you need to. Dr. G-"
Khai groaned and ran his hand over his face, "I will see you next Thursday, mom."
Aisha narrowed her eyes as she looked at her son, "Wear your glasses."
"Good night, mom."
"Good night, Khai."
Khai hung up on his mother and placed his phone on the desk next to him. He brought his hands back up to his eyes and began to rub. While his mother could see him rub his eyes, she could not feel how terribly his head hurt. His third year at Red Fountain had proven to be his toughest year yet, and he was so ready to graduate at the end of the school year. Studying strategy, Khai was familiar with late nights and a lot of reading. He should have studied combat like his eldest brother. Maybe his head wouldn't hurt so much.
Shutting his eyes, Khai leaned back in his chair and draped his arm over his eyes, hoping that maybe the pain would pass. He was just tired, Khai told himself. He just needed to get some sleep. Khai removed his arm from over his eyes and slowly opened them. Khai closed his books and computer and reached for his phone. He opened his messages, the bright light from his phone hurting his eyes, and groaned once again.
Mom: I called Flora and you are set up for an appointment with Dr. Gilbert at the hospital tomorrow. Go and remember to wear your glasses. And be honest about your issues.
Khai grumbled and messaged his mother back.
K: I told you, I am fine, mom. Just tired. I am about to go to bed.
Khai's phone vibrated again with another message which he had chosen to ignore. He knew that it would just be his mother annoying him with her worries. Sometimes Khai wished that his mother could be more like Stella or like Bloom; they didn't worry as much. Khai wasn't even the crowned prince. He really didn't know why his mother worried so much. He was just the "spare". Which he was more than fine with being; he didn't need the responsibility of one day being king. So why was his mother worrying so damn much?
But, there was no changing his mother and worrying was a problem for another day. Still, he would go to the doctor to appease his mother, and then maybe, just maybe, she would finally get off of his back.
"I think that it would be best if your mother were here to talk about this."
Khai looked ahead at the doctor who was seated at his desk, Khai's medical file sitting on the desk.
"I am eighteen. I don't think that my mom needs to be here. I know that she set up my appointment but-"
"Khai," the doctor interjected, "I don't usually interrupt, especially royalty like yourself, but I think that you really should see if your mother can be here."
Khai sighed and rolled his eyes before pulling out his phone from his pocket and dialing his mother's number.
There were three rings before Aisha picked up the call.
"Yes?" Aisha asked as she answered.
"Are you busy, mom?" Khai asked as he looked ahead at the doctor, his face somber.
"No, no," Aisha quickly replied, "is everything alright?"
Again with the worrying.
"I don't know. Dr. Gilbert asked that you come here to his office. I am not sure what for, he jus-"
Khai stopped speaking when a bright light appeared in Dr. Gilbert's office accompanied by a large and hollow ring. In the center of the ring, Aisha appeared, her phone in hand and a worried look on her face.
The portal closed behind Aisha and she quickly took a seat right next to Khai, n front of the doctor's desk.
"I am here," Aisha announced the obvious. "Is everything alright, doctor? I told Khai that he should wear his glasses when reading, but he always said that he didn't-"
"Your Majesty," Dr. Gilbert smiled as he stopped the worried mother's ramblings, "I am going to need you to take a deep breath and calm down."
Aisha took a deep breath before looking over at Khai and then back over to the doctor. She would be calm. She had to be.
Khai wished that he could tell his mother to calm down and have her listen.
"I thought that it would be best to have you here as I review the results of Khai's testing." the doctor picked up Khai's file, "Khai came into the clinic complaining of blurry vision and headaches. While this is usually not a cause for immediate concern, given Khai's optical and medical history, I decided to run a few tests. Khai," the doctor took a deep breath, "have you heard of macular degeneration?"
Khai shook his head as he stared ahead at the doctor.
"Well, you have a form of macular degeneration known as Stargardt disease and to spare you both from the details," the doctor's somber expression quickly turned to one of concern and sadness, "you are going blind, Khai."
Khai didn't hear what came next. Blind? He was going blind? There was no way. He must have heard wrong. He came in because he was rubbing his tired eyes at night to much and thought that he would have had some issues with seeing in the dark; he had never been good in darkness. But now, he was told that one day his whole world would be plunged into darkness.
"Blind?" Aisha asked in disbelief, "Is there anything that we can do? I have fairy dust that worked when I went-"
"No," the doctor shook his head, "your blindness was a curse, Your Majesty. Easily cured fully by magic. Khai's has been caused by a genetic-"
"I made Khai blind?" Aisha's eyes widened. Maybe if she had used more fairy dust when she had cured herself. Had the effects of Valtor's curse cause her son's loss of vision?
"Aisha," the doctor called her name informally, "there is nothing that you did. Both you and your husband both must have the recessive trait and when combined resulted in Khai's current condition. There is nothing that you could have done to prevent this. I do want to see Malik soon to run some genetic testing on him, just to see if he has become a carrier."
Aisha nodded her head and Khai just stared in front of him, shocked by all that he had heard. He had so much that he wanted to do.
"How long?" Khai asked quietly.
The doctor and his mother turned to him.
"How long until I lose my vision?" Khai's voice was a bit more firm as he asked the question that he really wanted to know.
"I cannot be certain." Dr. Gilbert replied, "But there are some things that both you and I can do to slow down the progression. I know that you hate doing so, but you will need to wear your glasses at all times, and you will need to follow a special diet that decreases your level of vitamin A. And I know that this will be especially hard, but when you are home, you will need to protect your eyes from the UV light, so you will need to wear sunglasses. We can have some custom-made for you that have your prescription. Khai," the doctor leaned forward, "I promise that we will do everything we can to help slow down the disease and we will also be here for when you eventually do lose your sight."
Khai inhaled and nodded. That was all he could do. He couldn't change anything and he knew that Dr. Gilbert would do everything that he could to help him. But right now, Khai just needed a moment.
Standing up from his seat, Khai looked at his mother and then towards the doctor.
"Thank you," Khai said as he stood up straight, trying his best not to be crushed under the weight of the news about his ocular health, "I need a moment. Do you mind if I step outside?"
Dr. Gilbert shook his head, "Not at all. You don't mind if I talk to your mother about the next steps, do you? You are eighteen, so I will not do anything without your permission or-."
"I don't mind," Khai replied before turning and walking out of the doctor's office and into the waiting room of the ophthalmologist department at the hospital.
Khai slumped into a green-colored chair and held his head in his hands. Partly to soothe the headache forming and also to help him deal with the news he had been given.
There was so much that he had wanted to see and he didn't know how long he would have to see it. He wanted to travel through all of the realms, magical and not. He wanted to see the waves crash along the sand and his brother surf those waves. He wanted to see his brother finally marry Valerie when she came of age. Would his vision be around long enough to see his wedding day? Would he see his children if he were to have any?
He supposed that the scariest part about the whole going blind thing was that there wasn't an expiration date to his vision, just that it would go slowly until finally, without warning, it would be gone. There was so much beauty out there and Khai did not want to miss a thing.
"Khai?" a soft voice called to him, a voice that he easily recognized.
Khai looked up and saw Irene staring down at him, her green eyes filled with worry and a soft smile on her lips. He was so fortunate that he could still see her and was immediately filled with sadness at the realization that he would one day no longer be able to see her. He would miss Irene's beautiful smile, shiny brown hair, and bright green eyes most of all.
"I am fine," Khai replied, "just here to see, Dr. Gilbert. Why are you here?"
He had hoped to change the subject. He really didn't want to tell Irene what was happening. Would she see him in the same way? She was so kind and he knew that she would feel sad and sorry for him and the last thing that he wanted was to be pitied and treated differently. His mother already doted on him enough, he didn't want Irene to do the same. He just wanted to be the same Khai.
"I came to help my mom with some of the medicinal herbs and lab tests. Plus, dad is with Antonio because he got in a fight with some boys at Fountain prep over Alfie."
"Antonio really is taking after Mireya, huh?"
Irene laughed, "Who would have thought that I would have been the odd one out? I think that Mireya and Antonio were switched at birth sometimes."
"You're just as fierce as them," Khai remarked, "you just have a different way of showing it. Plus I like you just the way you are."
Irene blushed as she looked away from Khai, "Thank you," she turned back to face him, "I hope that everything went well with Dr. Gilbert. I heard your mom talking to my mom last night about setting up an appointment."
Khai sighed, "Yeah, just some headaches at night."
"Oh," Irene took a seat next to Khai, much to his pleasure, "and everything went well?"
Khai really wished that Irene would stop asking if everything was alright because things were not. Things were bad, and he didn't want Irene to know. He didn't really want anyone to know, but Khai supposed that they were all going to find out anyway. If there was anyone outside of his family that he wanted to know first, it was Irene.
He shook his head, "No, they aren't."
Irene's expression fell back to one of worry and concern for the young prince, "What happened?"
Khai looked to his shoulder as he felt Irene's soft hand rest on top. He looked from her hand up to her face and simply stared. He just couldn't imagine a world where he would not be able to see Irene's face again. He didn't know what he would do. So, Khai's hands went up and cupped Irene's face.
"What are you doing?" Irene asked, her voice shaky as she did her best not to completely melt under Khai's touch. The blush returned to her cheeks as she looked at Khai with confusion.
"You are so beautiful, Irene," Khai smiled, but Irene was too shocked to say anything. She didn't need to. Khai was fine with just looking at her, "I know that you think that your sister is the beauty of the family but not to me. I think that you are the most beautiful person that I have ever seen and I want to memorize every millimeter of your face. Every curve, every bump, every hair..."
"Khai, what are you trying to say?" Irene finally asked as Khai continued to stare.
"I am going blind, Irene."
Irene's eyes began to fill with tears as she looked at her best friend, "Khai..." she sighed, "I am so-"
"Don't tell me that you are sorry, Irene. I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me or feel bad about what I am going through."
"But Khai-"
"I get to see you now, and Dr. Gilbert suspects that with proper eyewear and health precautions, it will be quite some time before I lose my vision. And I know that before that happens, I don't want to see you cry. At least not because of me."
"Is there anything that I can do to help?" Irene asked.
"Just let me look at you as much as I can." Khai smiled, "And when I do, I hope that you will smile."
Irene's mouth turned up, and for that, Khai was so thankful.
"I can do that."
There was a moment of silence as the commotion of the hospital moved around the two teenagers. Khai felt something pull him towards Irene, something strong that he was unable to resist. So he didn't. And Irene did not back away as Khai moved closer to her. His lips parted and his eyes began to close as he was just a breath away from Irene. He could feel the soft skin of her lips brush against his and his heart beat faster and harder at the realization that Irene had not backed away. Irene's lips parted ever so slightly as Khai's lips lightly came into contact with hers. But before their lips could firmly meet, the door to Dr. Gilbert's office swung open and Aisha and the doctor came out into the waiting room, talking about the plan for Khai's treatment.
"I have sent out the prescription for Khai's new glasses and his sunglasses," Dr. Gilbert said as he came out of the room with Khai's mother.
Khai and Irene now sat side by side, Khai's hands in his lap and the tingle still on his lips. He was so close. He glanced over to see Irene seated next to him, a bright red blush covering her nose and cheeks. Still, so beautiful.
"Are you ready to go, Khai?" Aisha asked.
"I came here by myself, mom. I can make my way back to Red Fountain."
"I know you can. I just thought that-" Aisha stopped as she spotted Irene and smiled, "oh, hello, Irene."
"Good Morning, Aish-" Irene caught herself, "I mean Your Majesty."
Aisha smiled and rolled her eyes, "You were just about to kiss my son. You can call me, Aisha. Or should you start calling me mom?"
"Mom!" Khai shot up from his chair. He may have been eighteen, but his mother still knew just how to embarrass him.
"Tell your parents that I said hello and that we will see you all next Thursday for Malik's investiture."
Irene gave Aisha and Khai a sheepish grin, still embarrassed at the fact that Aisha knew that she was so close to kissing her son.
"I will."
"I know that Khai will certainly look forward to seeing you there." Aisha gave Irene a wink.
Khai groaned, "Can we please just go."
Aisha laughed and waved her hand dismissively in front of her son, "Fine fine," she turned back to face Irene, "until next time, Irene."
"Until next time, Aisha," Irene smiled as she looked at Khai, "see you later, Khai."
Khai's mouth turned up into a small grin as he took in Irene's face one last time.
"Yeah," Khai let out a small laugh, "see you later."
