Chapter 12

"Wow Annie, Just Wow"

Auggie sat quietly as Annie gathered her thoughts and began her story.

"I guess I should start my story in Sri Lanka." She began nervously rubbing her thumb against his hand as she spoke. She shifted slightly in the bed and paused a second as her broken leg protested the movement.

Annie began her story, "It was August 2007. I was travelling the world after college and met Ben Mercer. It was a whirl wind romance. I fell in love with him. I fell hard. But three weeks into it, he left, with just a note. We had made so many plans together; I thought I had found "the one". Even after he left, I had planned on travelling more, but instead I took a 2 year project manager position for the UK organization "Building Schools in Africa". She tilted her head toward Auggie as she shifted slightly in the bed making it so she was facing him more. Continuing her story she said "We were tasked with building twelve schools in the North West and South West regions of Africa. I enjoyed my work in Africa. I learned a lot and it was extremely rewarding to be able to see how happy the children were with each school we completed. I was a year and a half into the job when it happened. We only had two more schools to build in the South West region. I've never even checked to see if they were ever finished. The team might never have been able to finish without me there to help them." Annie began to get off topic. Auggie could tell that she was more uncomfortable now than when she started.

"Annie, if you're uncomfortable telling me this, we can do it another time. You've been through a lot the past few days." Auggie said putting his other hand over the one he held.

"I'm okay. Thanks for your concern. Okay, at this point, I usually tell people I was in a car accident that caused a traumatic brain injury that left me blind. I tell them I was driving supplies to the next school site and I ran off the road and hit a tree. They never question it or ask me for details."

"But that's not the truth?" Auggie said not wanting to disturb her story, but at the same time he was quite uncertain why she would lie.

"No, it's not. The truth is much more long, complicated, and horrible than that. In reality, on March 5, 2009 I was kidnapped by some villagers for the North West region of Africa."

"What!?" Auggie interrupted her. This was not where he thought this story was going.

"Apparently, they thought I controlled the money that was building the schools. They tried to get me to tell them where it was. I never actually handled any money, only the supplies for building the schools." Annie paused and took a couple slow deep breaths before continuing to the most difficult part of the story.

As she allowed the memories to come to her slowly Auggie waited patiently for her to be ready again. "They kept me for four days. They gave me no food and only filthy water to drink. During the time they had me, there were three captors. Each day I was there they took turns beating and raping me multiple times a day. Their favorite torture method was smashing my head against whatever they had around, although they used others this did the most damage. Eventually, the fourth day, I lost consciousness and they weren't smart enough to know I wasn't dead. They left me in the dessert where I was eventually found by a young boy. When I woke, I was in a hut in North West Africa. At the time, I knew something was wrong with my vision, but I could still see shapes, colors, and faces, everything was just very blurry. I just assumed it would pass or could be fixed. I lost consciousness again and woke up in a DC hospital several days later. When I woke up, I was in complete darkness. The doctors said that the head injuries I sustained caused my brain to swell. This swelling cut off blood supply to my optic nerve. Apparently I was lucky this is the only thing the swelling did. Once the optic nerve is damaged it cannot be repaired. This means my eyes work fine, but my brain never receives the signals from them. It's like disconnecting the video cord from the TV while watching a movie, the sound works fine, but there's no picture to come up on the screen."

"Wow Annie, just wow." Auggie said bringing himself closer to her bed. He caressed her hand gently hoping it would comfort her.

"Danielle still doesn't know the truth. I can't bring myself to tell her. When I woke in the States at the hospital they asked me what happened and since they didn't know, I made up the car accident story. Joan was apparently in Africa at the same time that I was kidnapped. She heard about the kidnapping and understood what was being done to me. She and you are the only people in the world other than me that know the truth. I don't want to be labeled a victim. Yes, what happened to me was horrible, but I don't want people to treat me differently. I'm pitied enough for just the blindness. If people knew I was tortured and raped in addition to being blind, I don't have to be able to see to know their looks of apprehension."

"Will you ever tell Danielle the truth?" Auggie asked as Annie seemed to stare forward.

"Yes. Joan has made me see that especially after this latest kidnapping, I need to face my fears and tell the truth. It's not something everyone needs to know, but those close to me need to understand why I am the way I am. I've secluded myself from everyone and refused to allow myself to get close to people, especially men, since Africa. Everyone just assumes it's because of the blindness, but it is so much deeper than that. I'm afraid to trust anyone."

"Annie you know that people who love you won't look down on you when you tell them the truth, right? You know they will just have a better understanding of what you need. It's completely normal to need help. There is no shame in admitting it. Everyone is broken in some way or another, the trick is to learn how to function despite the broken pieces."

"Wow August, I never thought of it that way. I'm not sure I believe everyone is broken though. I mean, you don't seem broken at all. You seem like the perfect man." At this last statement Annie blushed realizing how that could be interrupted, but before she could correct her faux pas Auggie responded with a slight chuckle.

"I'm not perfect Annie, far from it. Just take how I treated you less than a week ago as an example of this." Auggie said lifting her hand slightly to hold it tighter in his own. "I've made decisions that I'm not proud of and I've done things most people never have to think about doing. But this all makes me who I am just as your decisions, experiences, and actions make you who are you. Don't change for anyone, be who you are."

"Well then, I'm glad you're not as arrogant as I originally thought you were. Good to know you have a little humbleness in you as well." Annie said as she yawned, wincing as the action triggered a series of painful sensations where cuts and bruises were.

"Looks like someone needs some sleep. Do you want me to get the nurse to give you something for the pain or to help you sleep?"

"No, I think I can get back to sleep without drugs. Could you just help me get back into a better sleeping position?" She asked again sounding uncertain.

"Of course I'll help, just tell me what you need me to do specifically so I don't accidentally hurt you." Auggie replied no sure how he could help exactly.

"At this point breathing and blinking hurts, so pain is inevitable." Annie said stating the facts.

After settling Annie in the bed, Auggie sat back down next to her. A few minutes later her eyes were closed and she was snoring cutely. At the same moment her snoring began, he noticed that her uninjured hand was out stretched with her palm up as if asking for him to hold it. As he silently took the hand, he saw Annie smile slightly as she slept.

Authors Note: Just like you'd clap or boo for the concert you just sat through, please review my writing as you read it. I'm not above saying, I really do NEED to hear from you each chapter so I know your comments, likes/dislikes, and expectations for future chapters.