ShiKahr, Vulcan, Stardate 2292.296

After he was able to compose himself, Losha turned back to Dr. Karatek. He wasn't sure what to make of the expectant face, the first he'd seen since the accident. It exuded the typical Vulcan calm, but it wasn't void of emotion like those of the Vulcans he had occasionally encountered in his line of work. His hair was short, though due to its curly texture, did not hang in the blunt cut style typically worn by Vulcans with straighter hair. Though there were no signs of graying, slight lines on his face indicated that he was perhaps nearing one hundred in terms of age. He wore a loose-fitting gray shirt and pants, likely the hospital uniform. He held up a thin, silver-colored scanner.

"I will perform a cursory examination on your eyes."

Dr. Karatek did not give any indication he had noticed the tears. Losha wasn't sure if the fact that the doctor was Vulcan made it more or less embarrassing. A Seenan doctor would have asked if he were alright and perhaps even tried to offer comfort had he noticed his patient crying. Though Losha couldn't imagine ever being capable of controlling all his emotions, he disliked crying in front of anyone. He thought he had long ago cried his last tears, but since the accident, he found himself crying more than he had in perhaps the last decade. As the doctor performed the examination, he concentrated on preventing any further tears from forming.

"Everything appears to be as it should be, though it will be several days before I can determine whether your vision is completely recovered. It may be several days or weeks before your eyes learn to focus and work together again. Reading may prove difficult initially. A vision therapist will be in to see you tomorrow and will provide you with some exercises and guidance. Do you have any questions?"

"No." The truth was, he wanted Dr. Karatek to leave. He found himself unable to stop staring at him, and he knew it was rude. He wanted to look at other things too, to look at words, to see if he could read. Even if reading did prove difficult, at least he could see this much. Words or no words, he would no longer be dependant on other people.

"Very well. I will be in tomorrow to perform further examinations. Our initial scans after the surgery indicated that the brain is functioning and recovering normally. If the scans tomorrow evidence this as well, as I expect, you will be discharged, though I will need to see you again for a follow up visit. I will discuss this further with you tomorrow."

With that, Dr. Karatek turned to leave the room.

"The nurse will be back in shortly to go over some more things with you."

Losha hoped Sodok, or whomever the nurse happened to be, would return sooner rather than later. He was anxious to see Naalem and to look at his padd to see whether he could read. He spent what seemed like an eternity taking turns staring at different objects in the room, including a door across from him. He supposed it was a lavatory. There was a window to his right, but it was darkened so as to be opaque. He was considering getting out of bed to see if he could lighten it when he heard someone walking into the room.

He turned to see a man wearing the same loose-fitting gray clothing as Dr. Karatek. He was younger than the doctor, but clearly older than Losha. He was tall with a stocky build, and had medium brown hair and light brown eyes.

"Are you Sodok?"

"Yes. I wanted to let you know that I will be in hourly to check on you. Tomorrow afternoon Dr. Karatek will determine whether these checks are still necessary. Should you need anything in between my checks, depress the white button on the side of the bed." He moved around the bed and indicated the button on the right side of the bed.

"You may begin consuming foods tomorrow, but today only water. The lavatory is here." He pointed to a door across from Losha. "I will assist you to it."

"I don't need to use it."

"Still, I need to assist you in rising from the bed and walking to it. It is necessary to determine whether you are capable of this before I leave you again."

With Sodok's assistance, Losha was able to stand and take a few steps, and then immediately realized why Sodok had insisted on this. As he moved, things seemed a bit blurry, and he had difficulty judging distance. He may very well have fallen flat on his face had he attempted to get out of bed and walk without the nurse's assistance.

Sodok perceived his difficulty immediately and did not release his grip from around Losha's shoulders. When they made it to the lavatory door, Sodok asked him again whether he needed to use it. The answer was still no, so the nurse helped him back to his bed.

"Your difficulty walking is to be expected. Do not attempt to get up and walk around without my assistance."

"Can I have visitors now?"

"Yes, Dr. Karatek has approved you to have visitors. The staff will be keeping your family apprised of your progress. I expect they will be in sometime today to see you."

"I didn't bring my padd with me here to the hospital. Do you have padds here so that I have something to read?"

"Your eyes may not be able to focus well enough to read at this stage, but I can bring you a padd so that you may at least listen to articles."

"Thank you."

"I will be back momentarily."

Losha went back to staring at various objects around the sparsely decorated room. Aside from the bed he was lying in, the only other object in the room was a table on his right, which was the same shade of gray as both the bed and the hospital workers' uniforms. The walls were an off-white color and the floor was a brighter white. He lifted his gaze from the floor when he heard footsteps once again.

The man who stood in the doorway was not Sodok. He wore a light brown tunic with a darker brown horizontal stripe across it, and tan pants, clearly not the hospital uniform. He was an older man, his thick hair completely gray, with light-colored eyes. He was taller than Dr. Karatek, though not quite as tall as Sodok. He held what appeared to be a padd in his left hand. Losha studied him closely, waiting for him to speak.

"The nurse informed me you requested a padd." The voice of the man who now approached him, the padd extended in his hand, was familiar.

"You are Sarek."

"Yes."

Losha took the padd from him without looking at it, unable to take his eyes off the older man.

"I thought you would be Sodok, the nurse."

"He approached me in the waiting room to ask whether I had brought your padd along."

"I didn't know you were here."

"The hospital staff informed me not long ago that you were conscious, and I came when they informed me you were permitted visitors." Losha had not expected Sarek to look as he did. He had imagined someone older, thinner, and with eyes as dark as his father's. It was strange to hear the voice he knew coming from this strange looking man.

"I was conducting business in the city," Sarek continued, "not far from the hospital. Amanda, Malar, and Naalem should be arriving shortly."

It finally occurred to Losha that he had been staring at Sarek, so he looked down at the padd on his lap. He immediately recognized it as his own.

"It's my padd." He looked up at Sarek again.

"Yes, I brought it with me as I knew I would arrive at the hospital first."

"Thank you."

Sarek nodded his head in reply.

"Is there something you wished to look at on it?"

"No, nothing in particular. I just wanted to see if I could read. The doctor told me that it might be a while before my eyes can focus well enough to read."

"But your vision is adequate otherwise, the doctor informed me."

"Yes, I can see again." Losha couldn't help but smile, but quickly composed himself. "I can see you, and everything in this room, and I could see the doctor and the nurse. Things were blurry when I tried to walk, but Sodok told me that is to be expected."

"I am glad." It only lasted a second, but Losha was convinced he saw a twinkling Sarek's eyes.

"So I am." He smiled again, this time not caring what Sarek thought.