Prisoner

(Day 17: Tuesday Morning)

"You're looking at my paper," Doug notices.

"Just getting the assignment," Evie comments as she looks at the corner of his notebook page.

"The assignment's on the board."

"No, thank you," she smiles. "I can see your paper a whole lot better."

Doug frowns, half confused, half shocked, "Are you telling me you can't see the board?" Evie doesn't answer. "You've been here over a week. Never mind getting A's and B's. If you can't see the board, then how are you even passing the class?"

"Same way I always have," Evie whispers. "By writing down the teacher's lecture and taking notes from the actual book." She gives him a look, "I can't believe you're all getting by on those premade notes. Don't you ever wonder how something happens or why it happens? How can you just stare blankly at a screen or board and be okay with being told it's just that way for a reason?"

Doug shakes his head, "Still. You're missing things. There's photos, diagrams, and charts. For labs there will be steps to the experiment procedure listed there."

She drops her pencil and looks at him, "What do you want me to do?"

"Let me take you to see an ophthalmologist this afternoon, so that you can be examined and get a pair of glasses."

"Glasses?" Evie questions. "You mean, like sunglasses?"

"No," Doug states. "More like prescription lenses." He sees that she still seems to be confused, "Like the glasses I'm currently wearing. They help me see better."

"Oh." Evie looks away for a moment, "I thought it was just a bad fashion choice."

"No," he asserts. "It really isn't. Everyone is allowed a new pair each year for free, but unless you want to pay out of pocket, then you're only given standard frame and lens options." She doesn't comment. "Did you really not know what glasses were?"

She gives him a look, "What do you think?"

"I just meant," Doug presses his glasses against the bridge of his nose. "Even prisoners have healthcare. I just thought—"

"Well, you thought wrong," she irritably interrupts as she writes down the vocab for the current section.

"Please. At least let me take you." She hears the sad regret in his voice. "Now that you're here, you should be able to be taken care of. That is, unless you want to find your grades steadily decrease after you put in so much hard work to get them up."

She looks at him, "You said you'd take me after school?" He nods. "Okay, then. I'll let you take me there."

"Sorry," the receptionist comments, "but I'm not seeing your name in the citizen index."

After Evie gives Doug a concerned look he replies, "Try looking under the Isle of the Lost."

A couple clicks are heard before she notes, "Yes. Here you are." as she types the information into the computer. "So, you need an examination and a pair of glasses. Is that correct?"

"Yes," Evie confirms.

The receptionist hands Evie the printed sheets of paper, "Go take a seat, and the doctor will be with you shortly."

"Okay," Evie nervously smiles, before she and Doug take a seat in the waiting area. "So. You've done this before."

"Only since I was seven," he jokes. "I have a lot of experience. Trust me. It's a very straightforward and simple examination. They'll just ask you what you're currently able to see, and then they'll put eye drops in to check the health of the eyes, before they place this device over your eyes and ask if the first or second image is clearer. There's nothing to worry about."

She looks at him, "I still don't know how I feel about wearing glasses. I mean, would I still be able to wear makeup if I wear glasses?"

"Oh. Right," Doug realizes. "Um, well, as I don't wear makeup myself, I don't know how hard or reasonable it would be to wear both at the same time, but if nothing else you can always look into contacts. They're like these small, round, plastic things you put in your eyes to see better. You'd look the same as you do right now, but, of course, it would be considered cosmetic and so you'd have to pay for it yourself." Evie nods. "Would you like us to ask the ophthalmologist about it?"

Evie smiles, "Yes. I'd like that very much."

"Wait a minute," Doug comments, slightly confused. "Aren't you supposed to sit down with her to show her how to put them in, and aren't there supposed to be samples?"

"She looks like a smart girl," the woman replies. "I'm sure she can figure it out for herself." She looks at Evie, "You were wanting the weekly ones. For a box of twelve that will be forty-five dollars or a total of ninety dollars for a box per eye."

"Yes." Evie pulls a pouch from her purse, "I've got the money right here."

"Good," the doctor smiles. "In that case, I will see if we've got your prescriptions in the back."

After the woman walks away Doug states, "This isn't right."

"What isn't right?" Evie turns to him in question.

Doug looks around before whispering, "Contacts can be dangerous if worn improperly. They require eye drops to not dry out and saline solution to clean them if needed. That's why they're supposed to have fittings for them. It's not just about showing you how to put them in and making sure your eyes can handle it. It's also about telling you how to be safe with them." He gestures, "In business terms, if they don't show someone how to be safe while wearing the contacts they're providing and if that person gets seriously injured because of it, then they're liable to be sued in the court of law, which causes both a loss of profit and an increase in bad publicity, making it probable that the amount of customers will decrease."

Evie shakes her head, "I don't understand. If that's the case, then why didn't they just have a fitting with me?"

Doug's unable to speak before the brown haired woman returns, "Here you go. This prescription is for your left eye, and this box is for your right."

Evie hands her the money before taking the boxes, "Thank you."

The blue eyed doctor informs, "Your glasses will arrive here within two weeks, so assuming that you can find a way back here, you can pick them up then." The woman hands the receptionist the cash, which is then placed in the register, before the doctor turns back around and heads down the hall."

"So," Evie asks, "does that mean we can leave now."

"I guess?" Doug questions, but before either of them can take more than a couple feet towards the door they're interrupted by the lady at the front desk.

"Sorry miss, but I'm afraid I can't let you leave quite yet."

Evie turns around, "Why not?"

"Your name was found under the prison registry. We can't let you leave until you're either picked up by the proper channels or until we close."

"What happens when you close?" Doug asks.

The blond woman partly smiles, "If the proper people have not picked her up by the time we close, then we will have to assume that she broke out somehow and then your friend will have to spend the night in a jail cell."

Doug shakes his head, "That's crazy. She didn't break out. She was let out by order of the king and his proclamation to give the villain's kids a chance to be reformed."

"I'm sorry, sir, but we have to follow protocol, and that protocol says that any prisoner who is seen here must be returned from whence they came."

"From whence they came?" Evie scrunches her eyebrows in disbelief.

"That's what the rules say," the grey eyed woman passively comments as she picks up a nail filer. "Don't try to leave. We have people posted at the door."

Doug strongly replies, "If you don't let us leave right now, then I will call King Ben himself and then you'll have to deal with him."

"Go ahead," she smiles. "I'm not going to stop you."

He stands for a second in shock, before he takes his phone from his pocket. It rings and rings again, and when it reaches the voicemail he hangs up. "He must be in a meeting or something." He looks at Evie, "Don't worry. I'll just send him a text, and within a few hours he should be able to be here."

Evie nods, "Right." as she looks around. "What are we supposed to do until then?"

The receptionist replies, "May I suggest that you take a seat?"

Evie doesn't respond, just staring blankly at the situation, until Doug places a hand on her back and guides her back to the sitting area. "It's okay. Everything's going to be fine."

- Does any of you remember that scene where Evie raises her hand to ask what the second option was again, when the multiple choice question was written in large letters on the board? Yeah. So do I. Plot hole is fixed! You can thank me later... or now. Now is good too.