Chapter 13

"Broken but Still Fully Functional"

Annie woke the next morning much earlier than Auggie expected. She had told Joan and Danielle that he didn't expect her awake until after 9 or 10am, so neither of them planned to be there until then. However, after walking Silke, Auggie walked into the room to see Annie sitting up in the bed flipping through the TV channels, pausing after each channel change to listen for a few moments before changing it again.

"Wow, you're up a lot earlier than I expected." Auggie commented as he entered the room. Annie heard the leash come off of Silke and moments later heard her drinking from her water dish.

"Well, I'm not "up" exactly, but I am awake and bored. I feel so helpless lying here." Annie said trying not to sound too whiny.

"Danielle should be here in a few hours, she should have your computer and books that you requested when she comes." Auggie told her. "Although, I can ask her to come earlier for you if you want. I just told them before I went to walk Silke that I thought it would be a few hours before you were awake. I didn't expect you up at 6:30."

"I've actually been awake for a while. I guess its habit for me to be awake this early. I'm usually up by 6am. Since going blind, I've made sure to stay on a strict schedule so my body does not get night and day confused. I was warned in rehab that this frequently occurs for blind people since they do not have the light of day to tell them when it is time to rise or the darkness of night to tell them it is time to sleep. I rarely have to use an alarm clock now, although, I still do."

"I wouldn't have taken Silke for as long as I did if I'd known you would need me. I'm sorry." Auggie said walking toward the bed. He had been gone almost 45 minutes with Silke. Anything could have happened in that time. He needed to remember to be more careful about timing next time. The posted guard outside gave him some relief that Annie would be safe, but it was still a fear that something else might happen to her on his watch.

"It's okay. I'm fine. No one came in to my knowledge and I found the remote with only limited difficulty and pain." Annie confessed.

"I think the doctor will be coming around 10am to check in on you. I heard one of the nurses say something about more tests." Auggie told her as she continued to flip through the channels.

"More tests? Hmmm, maybe they need to see how my bones are healing. I'm hoping they heal fine. I don't want to have to have surgery if I don't absolutely have to."

"Perhaps. I'm not sure."

"Either way, at least it will be something to do."

Before she was allowed to have breakfast, Annie was sent down to radiology again for x-rays and an MRI. After getting back to her room again, Auggie helped the nurse settle Annie back into her bed. He had noticed that Annie was in a lot of pain before as she was moved from the bed to the wheelchair.

"The doctor will be in shortly to speak with you. Is there anything I can get for you before I leave" The nurse, whose name Annie didn't know, asked her.

"I would like to have breakfast now if I can. I'm used to having breakfast around 8am and my stomach is telling me it's later than that."

"You're right Ms. Walker; it is now 8:20am. I'll have you some breakfast as soon as possible. How is your pain level?"

"About an 8." She admitted reluctantly. She didn't want them to think her weak, but she was very sore and achy all over.

"I'll get you some pain medicine put into your IV when your breakfast arrives." The nurse said. "Will that be all you need?"

"Well, no, could you please tell me your name before you leave?"

"It's right here on the board in front of you." The nurse said almost coldly.

"I know it is, but I'm blind. I can't read it from the board." Annie responded calmly.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. It slipped my mind that you're blind. You must have practiced for years to be able to meet people's gaze the way you do. My name is Emily. I will be your nurse until 7 tonight."

"Well, Emily, thank you. I've only been blind about a year. Could you please bring breakfast for August as well? I know he has not left to go get food for himself yet."

"I'm okay Annie. You don't have to worry about me." Auggie said beginning to protest the need for food.

"August, I can hear your stomach rumbling from here. If I didn't know better I would think there is an angry lion cub in my room."

Auggie blushed at this description; he had not realized she could hear his stomach growling from across the room.

"I can just go get something from the cafeteria." Auggie said not wanting to be a bother for the nurse.

"No, please don't leave. I didn't like waking up earlier and being alone. I had no way of knowing for sure if you were here or not." Annie admitted anxiously fidgeting with the sheet covering her as she spoke.

"Okay, I won't leave Annie." He said coming over closer to the bed. "Silke and I had a nice walk this morning. Would you like me to tell you about it while we wait for our breakfast to arrive."

"Yes, that would be nice. I always enjoying hearing of the things other people see. Most people think it would be hard for me to hear these things, that it will remind me that I can't see them."

"Well, first we went out of the hospital and there was a grassy area where Silke did her business. After cleaning up after her, we continued walking around the hospital premises. Silke saw a squirrel at one point and I thought she would lunge after it, but she only watched it scurry up the nearby tree. Last week's snow is still evident on the grounds in spots, but it did not seem to bother Silke. I took one of her toys outside with us and let her off the leash in a grassy area in front of the hospital. It was still pretty dark outside while we played, but she always brought the ball back to me. After we played for a few minutes we walked around to the backside of the hospital. We sat on a bench back there and watched the sun rise. Slowly watching the colors transform from deep blues and purples, to red and oranges, until finally a glorious golden yellow peeked through the horizon, it was like I was seeing the sun rise for the first time. We came back in here to find you unexpectedly awake." Auggie said trying to be as descriptive as he could. As he looked at Annie she had her head leaned back on the pillows with her eyes closed, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Oh my God, Annie, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." Auggie said quickly taking her hand to comfort her.

"No, it's okay." She said. "They are happy tears."

As Auggie watched her she met his gaze almost spot on as usual. "No one has described things to me in a way that I can visualize them so clearly. It felt nice for a moment just to sit back and listen to what you saw. It was almost like I was there with you. Thank you, August, for allowing me to hear about your adventure. I am sure Silke enjoyed it."

"You're welcome, Annie. She did seem to. She was apprehensive about leaving this morning, but I promised her you would be awake later to see her." Auggie told her.

"Certainly, when she has finished her breakfast, I will be happy for her to join me on the bed. I think I can side over enough on the bed to give her room to lay next to me without bothering any of my injuries."

After breakfast came for both Annie and Auggie, they sat in comfortable silence as they ate. Annie stubbornly ate left handed, but Auggie was impressed with her. Despite the fact she couldn't see the food she was eating and she was eating with her non-dominate hand, she was able to get almost all the food to her mouth. The breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast was easy enough for Annie to handle. Auggie had described for her where the food was as he had seen Danielle do the day before. The only thing she still couldn't handle well on her own was the drink. She probably could have, but spilling juice on yourself is a lot different than a piece of bacon falling on you. Auggie helped her as she needed it, but then would go back to eating his own food. Annie was glad he didn't hover over her.

After they both were finished, Annie suggested Auggie try to help her move over on the bed some so that Silke could lie beside her. After several minutes of maneuvering and several moments of pain for Annie, She was once again prompt against the pillows with her broken leg elevated, but this time there was a few feet of space between her and the left railing of the bed.

"How should Silke get into the bed? I mean, do you want her to just jump up there or do you want me to lift her up to the bed?"

"Ummm, could you lift her onto the bed? I think her jumping on the bed might be slightly painful for me. I think she understands that I'm hurt right now, but she can only be so careful."

"Silke, come here girl." Auggie said with his back to Annie speaking towards another part of the room that Annie had neither seen nor explored. Annie heard the tink tink tink of Silke's collar and tag as she hurried over to where Auggie stood. "Hey sweet girl, mommy wants to cuddle with you on the bed. I'm going to pick you up and lay you next to her. You're going to have to be very still next to her though so you don't accidentally hurt her." Annie just listened as Auggie explained to the dog what was happening. He spoke to Silke as if she were speaking to a toddler. Annie thought it sounded adorable.

After putting Silke on the bed next to Annie, Silke laid down next to Annie and put her head on top of Annie's chest. Annie put her arm around Silke and eventually they both fell asleep.

About the time Silke and Annie drifted off to sleep Joan texted Auggie to let him know she was back near the hospital again. Auggie told her to wait about thirty minutes before coming so that Annie could rest.

When Annie woke up again, Silke was back on her bed in the corner. As she woke up, Silke came over from the corner, gently rose up on her hind legs and put her front paws on the bed. Nudging Annie's hand with her nose, a smile immediate came across her face as she patted Silke on the head. "Good girl, Silke."

"Hey Annie, we're all here, Danielle, Joan, Auggie, and Silke." Danielle told Annie.

"Hey guys, you could have woken me. What time is it?" Annie said.

"Not a chance! You need your rest. Its 10:20am." Danielle replied sitting on Annie's right side.

"We're expecting the doctor to come in any minute now." Joan told Annie. Joan had a soft spot for Annie that she couldn't explain. Despite the fact that Joan really did have a lot of other things to be doing, she needed to be there for Annie.

"Joan, has there been any luck tracking down Amos?" Annie asked

"No Annie. We've got an entire team of agents on it, but they haven't had any luck yet." Joan answered near the corner of the room.

"What about stopping the sale of those weapons?" Annie asked anxiously.

This time Auggie answered from Annie's left. "Annie, we've got this. You don't have to worry about any of this. You just have to worry about getting back to 100%. You've got a long healing process ahead, all your energy needs to go to that. The CIA is taking care of all the rest."

"I suppose you're right." Annie said pursing her lips in thought, still rubbing Silke's soft fur. Silke was always there for Annie when she needed her.

"Danielle, are the girls okay? What do they think happened to me?" Annie asked suddenly worried about her nieces.

Danielle coming over closer to the bed, "Annie dear, you can't worry about everyone else right now. The girls are fine. I am fine. Auggie and Joan are taking care of the bad guys. Right now, you have to just think about yourself."

"Now Danielle, you know that's not who I am. I mean, I was blinded in Africa because I was helping build school there."

"I know sweetie, but it's okay to think about yourself sometimes." Danielle said as someone else entered the room.

"She's right ya know." Doctor Hilton said, "Right now your only concern needs to be you."

"Thanks for being on their side doctor." Annie said slightly annoyed for being ganged up on. She tilted her head towards the doctor. "When can I get out of here?"

"Maybe tomorrow if someone will be with you at all times, if not, you can't leave until next week. But that also depends on you. I wanted to talk with you about something Annie." The doctor said as he check Annie's vital, injuries, and dressings.

"First off, we're going to get a hard cast on this leg in a few hours. The swelling has gone down significantly the last couple days, a hard cast will mean you can move around a bit more than you can down without as much pain. We're also going to keep that wrist in the brace it is in and try a clavicle brace for the collar bone. That particular brace will work well for you because it will help you with posture and balance as well as help your bones to heal properly. This brace will also allow your right wrist to be in a sling so you don't have to worry about hitting it on things. You're ribs will be tapped in order to allow for more comfortable movement. This will need to be changed at least once every other day."

Annie listened carefully to everything the doctor said and realized she really would need help throughout this healing process. Biting her lip slightly, she thought about the fact that August would be the one tending to her needs primarily. While she was more comfortable with him than she had been a week ago, she still had a nagging fear of him in the back of her mind. She knew this had nothing to do with him, but everything to do with the experience she had had in Africa.

"Annie, secondly, I want to ask you about your blindness. We've done a lot of testing on it and I'm wondering if anyone has spoken to you about any of the experimental procedures restoring eyesight using stem cells."

Annie sighed painfully as her broken ribs announced their protest and turned her head as if to look directly at the doctor. Yes she had heard of this research a year ago when she was first told she was blind. But she had not been a candidate then and she doubt she was now.

"Doctor, I'm blind. It's a simple fact. If I could change it, I would, but I know about these experiments and I'm simply not a candidate. I know that people see me as broken and constantly want to fix it, but doc, just because I'm broken doesn't mean I can't still be fully functional in the world. Everyone has something they would like to change about themselves that they can't. Millions of people take medications to "fix" things wrong with their bodies, people are constantly getting plastic surgeries to "fix" what they don't like about their bodies, and others diet themselves to nothing in order to fit into society's idea of pretty. I appreciate you trying, but my eyesight does not need fixing. It is what it is and I'm trying to accept it."

The doctor was a bit stunned at Annie's defiance towards him. He understood where Annie was coming from, but had not expected her to be so negative towards something that could potentially give her sight back. At the same time, he understood that Annie had been through a lot and was coming to terms with what had happened. "Okay. Just wanted to make sure you were aware of the information."

"Yes, sir, I am. Now I just want to go home so these bones, cuts, and bruises can heal and I can get back to my job and life." Annie said holding her head up high. She couldn't believe the speech she had given. She had been slowly accepting life in the dark, but saying it out loud was something she had not done so eloquently to date. It made her fill empowered as she thought about the words she had said and realized it was how she truly felt.

"We will work on getting you out of here as soon as we can. Is your home set up for wheelchair use or will you have to go somewhere else?" Dr. Hilton asked Annie.

"I think I can manage, I've never tried to use a wheelchair in my home, but I'm certain it can be done." Annie answered.

"We will make sure she is able to get around as much as she can on her own and when she can't we will be there to help her." Danielle stated still a little surprised at Annie's conviction. She had not realized her sister felt broken or that she was so unwilling to explore options that could restore her vision.

Joan couldn't believe Annie would deny the chance to see again either, but at the same time, she understood better than the others (or so she thought) that Annie had been through a lot and had overcome more than just the blindness to be where she was. Perhaps getting her hopes up to probably have them dashed was not the best idea. It wasn't like the research wouldn't still be there in a few years if she decided to explore it further later down the road.

Auggie on the other hand now understood better where she was coming from. She didn't want to get her hopes up just to be disappointed time and time again if she allowed herself to fantasize about seeing again. This was a step in the right direction towards accepting her disability as part of her and not something that defined her. Now Auggie hope he could keep this passion alive in her and not see her spiral into hopelessness as the frustrating next few weeks progressed.

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.