Chapter Fourteen: Same but Different

Two days went past, and James was fixed and ready to go, but unfortunately, his eyesight didn't come back, which meant James had to go through therapy. There, James was sent to Knapford Yards to train himself on how to navigate his way without his eyes.

Once he arrived, he was greeted by The Fat Controller, Thomas, and a young woman, "James, I would like you to meet Dr. Eve Clarity."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, James.", spoke a kind feminine voice with dark blonde curly hair, light blue eyes, and fair skin.

"Y-you too, Dr. Eve Clarity.", James stuttered as he was still feeling glum and depressed.

"Please, call me Clarity.", Dr. Clarity spoke kindly.

With that, The Fat Controller went to the doctor and asked worryingly, "Will he get his eyes back?"

"Of course, Bertram, but it will take time, but until then, he will have to learn how to work without his eyes.", Dr. Clarity explained.

With that, The Fat Controller left to get back to his work as Dr. Clarity focused her attention on the red engine, "Alright, James. Today, we will test your hearing ability to see what to improve on."

James didn't say anything as he only sighed sadly. Dr. Clarity understood his feeling as she explained, "Don't worry, James. I have helped both people and engines learn how to navigate their ways without their eyes."

This made James feel slightly better, "I-if you say so."

With that, Dr. Clarity instructed Thomas, "Alright, Thomas, go right here."

There, she pointed at the buffer as Thomas reversed back until he felt the buffer, "Perfect.", Dr. Clarity gave a thumbs-up as she turned her attention again to James, "Alright, James. I want you to follow Thomas' voice."

With that, Thomas spoke, "Over here, James."

James looked left and right. This was confusing and scary, "T-Thomas? Thomas, where are you at?"

"To your…", Thomas spoke before being interrupted by Dr. Clarity.

"Don't tell, Thomas. He must learn to use his ears.", she explained to the young blue tank engine.

With that, James began to hyperventilate as his breath became shallow, as his pupils went wide, "Doctor, I can't do this!"

There, James sobbed as Thomas wanted to rush over to his splendid red engine. However, Dr. Clarity stopped Thomas from what he was about to do as she approached James, "It's okay, James. Just breathe in deeply. Just relax.", she spoke gently as she placed her hand on his buffer as a way to comfort him.

James followed Dr. Clarity's instruction as he began to breathe in and breathe out deeply as he could as he still felt shaken, "That's it, James.", Dr. Clarity praised him.

Once James felt calm, Dr. Clarity then asked, "Are you ready to try again?"

This time, James felt a bit more sure and prepared, "Yes, Clarity."

"That's the spirit!", Dr. Clarity praised him again as she waited for Thomas to speak.

"James, I'm here!", Thomas spoke out loud.

There, James used his hearing ability and listened carefully. Where was Thomas? With that, he followed his instinct and went to his right. As he got closer to Thomas, Dr. Clarity encouraged him, "You can do this, James."

"That's it, James! You got it!", Thomas smiled.

However, James turned again and met a buffer of a dead end. As he felt the buffer, he thought he had met Thomas, "Thomas? Is that you?"

"I'm afraid not.", Dr. Clarity replied, "But I must say, your first start was good. Much better than other clients I had previously. You just need to learn to focus more and not to rush."

This disappointed James as he whined, "Aww, I failed!"

However, Thomas explained to James kindly, "It's okay, James. That's why therapy will help you work again until you gain your eyesight."

James felt a bit better from Thomas as he gave him a gentle smile, "Alright, James! That's today's session, but tomorrow, we will do the same thing and test another challenge."

With that, she patted James' buffer and thanked Thomas for helping him, "You can take him back to Tidmouth Sheds."

There, Dr. Clarity hopped into her shiny white car and drove off. Thomas whistled as he went behind James and got coupled up, "Come on, James! Time to go home!"

With that, Thomas slowly reversed and took James to Tidmouth Sheds, "D-did I do well?", James asked Thomas worryingly as his first go was a fail.

"You did, and Clarity did say that you did better than the others on your first go. You were so close, but if you didn't go right again, you would have been closer to me.", Thomas replied with such honesty.

This made James feel better as he and Thomas headed their way back to Tidmouth Sheds, "I sure hope Clarity can help me, and I hope I can get my eyes back. I really do.", James sighed sadly to himself before smiling at Thomas from behind.

Meanwhile, at The Fat Controller's office, Dr. Clarity gave the results to him, "Sir, James has done well on his first day, but I feel like he needs to learn to focus more and not to rush. He was close, but not quite there yet."

The Fat Controller only sighed, "Poor James. He has to go through an accident, and now he would probably won't see again."

"He will, Bertram.", Dr. Clarity reminded him kindly, "He had a head trauma that caused him to go blind, and until his head gets better, he will remain blind until time tells."

"Thank you, Dr. Eve.", The Fat Controller sighed again with a gentle smile.

"Again, please call me Clarity.", she smiled.

"Thanks, Clarity. I'm sure James will be on the railway again in no time.", The Fat Controller hoped.

"And hopefully, understand more about blindness.", Dr. Clarity said as the two people looked at each other before looking at the picture of James the Red Engine, smiling while pulling his dashing red coaches.

At Tidmouth Sheds, James sat in his berth, looking miserable as he heard nothing but silence as now he's blind and can't see anything beautiful or exciting. Thomas looked at James worryingly as he gave James a concerned look. There was silence between the two as Thomas didn't know how to make his precious red engine feel better, while James just wished and prayed that his eyesight would come back.

As silence lay between the two, Thomas had an idea, "James. I have to go and fetch something, but I'll be back."

James only sighed, "Okay."

"Okay then. I'll see you soon. I love you.", Thomas gave a blown kiss to James as he puffed to the turntable and went on his way to fetch something or someone.

James did feel the blow kiss as he chuckled a bit before sighing again, "Being blind is not easy, but… will I pull through?"

At Cara's cottage, Cara started to feel slowly better as she began to eat again and start talking more. Rayne felt a vast relief from that, but she kept an eye on her daughter if she felt upset again. Stella also kept an eye on her human friend as she didn't want Cara to feel miserable. Cara was outside lying in the grass with her red glossy acoustic guitar next to her when she heard a familiar whistle, "Thomas?"

There, Thomas puffed in and smiled at Cara with a warm greet, "Hello, Cara."

"Hi, Thomas. Is James okay?", Cara asked worryingly as her eyes went wide.

Thomas thought to himself on if he should tell Cara everything or just tiny bits of it. He took a deep breath and replied, "He's doing fine, but he feels a bit… lonely. So, I thought you would like to visit him. Would you like to see him?"

Cara nodded vigorously, "Yes! I want to meet him again!"

With that, Cara went to her mother to explain everything, and when her mother allowed her to go with Thomas, but on the condition to arrive back at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Cara went to grab her acoustic guitar and hopped in Thomas' cab as they went on their way to Tidmouth Sheds to cheer James up.

Back at Tidmouth Sheds, James could only hear a few engines passing slowly, probably pulling some trucks as he felt sorry for himself. Before he could gloom over the negative thoughts, he heard Thomas' whistle, "James! I'm back, and I brought you a visitor!"

"A visitor?", James asked curiously, "Who?"

"Hello, James!", Cara greeted him happily.

"C-Cara?", James gasped in surprise as tears escaped from his glistening eyes, as his eyes were wide as an owl's eyes.

Once Thomas got on the turntable and parked next to James, Cara hopped out and climbed onto James' running plate with her acoustic guitar, "I'm glad to see you again. How are you?"

However, James couldn't hold his sadness and guilt as he began to sob. Cara gasped in concern as she tried to comfort James, "J-James? What's the matter? I-I thought you would be happy to see me again."

"No, I'm glad you came, but it's just… it's just… now I can't see you again!", James sobbed harder as Cara gasped again.

"W-what do you mean?", she asked curiously yet nervously.

"I'm blind, Cara…. just like you…", James replied sombrely as he began to cry again.

Cara was shocked, "B-blind? How?"

"From the accident, Cara and I won't be able to see for a while…", James explained as he sniffed his tears.

There, Cara hugged his cheeks and tried to console her best friend, "It's okay, James. I would sooner have a friend who's blind than be broken into pieces."

James was surprised as he sniffed again, "R-really? B-but I won't be able to see the beauty again…"

Cara understood as James could see, unlike her, but she wanted to remind James again about the inner beauty, "James… at least we are the same but different."

"How?", James asked before he felt like crying again.

Thomas watched as Cara grabbed her guitar and played a song.

"You with the sad eyes.

Don't be discouraged, oh, I realise.

It's hard to take courage.

In a world full of people.

You can lose sight of it all.

The darkness inside you.

Can make you feel so small."

This made James stop crying as his mouth went wide in surprise. Although he couldn't see Cara's gentle smile, nor could she see his reaction, she knew she was helping her best friend as much as she could as she continued to sing a beautiful song.

"Show me a smile then.

Don't be unhappy.

Can't remember when.

I last saw you laughing.

This world makes you crazy.

And you've taken all you can bear.

Just call me up.

'Cause I will always be there."

When Cara finished strumming the guitar, Cara waited for James to respond. James only gave Cara a gentle smile as he then asked, "C-can you please continue to play?"

Cara smiled as she began to strum her guitar and continued singing a song. James smiled as he was allowed to close his eyes and picture something beautiful in his mind as he could see in his mind. It was beautiful to see the true colours shining through. James appreciated Cara's kindness and was thankful for Cara as his best friend.

As this continued, Thomas smiled as he was glad to help James feel better, and hearing Cara's beautiful voice was so good that he also closed his eyes. When Cara finished singing, she began to ask, "D-do you feel better, now?"

There, Cara hugged him on the cheek as James allowed his remaining tears to escape his eyes as he whispered, "Thank you… Cara… for helping me."

With that, Cara and James embraced each other as the two best friends felt the warmth of comfort. Just seeing the two best friends together made Thomas' firebox lit as he was glad that Cara could come and save the day. Hopefully, Cara can teach James true beauty without using his eyes.