"Okay Shizuru, we're going to remove the bindings from your eyes now," the kindly, middle-aged doctor said as he carefully slipped his fingers under the soft gauze wrapped around Shizuru's head and eyes.
Shizuru nodded once, before she squeezed the hand gently holding hers for support. Natsuki sat beside her chestnut-haired friend, and waited nervously for the doctor to finish removing the wrappings. Her parents as well as Shizuru's were in the room, and they all waited with bated breath for the doctor to finish unwrapping. Finally, after what seemed like a small eternity, the doctor finished unwrapping the gauze, and stood back to let his patient slowly open her eyes.
Shizuru took in and released a deep breath, and felt the comforting pressure of Natsuki's hand in hers, before she slowly...so very slowly...began opening her eyes. Finally her eyelids were fully up and open, and Shizuru took her first look around. Her vision was...blurry...though it slowly became a bit clearer the more she looked around.
"Now, remember you won't actually be able to see full features like people's eyes, nose, mouth, and fine details like that yet. Though you should be able to see something even if the image will be a bit blurred for another month," the doctor said as he leaned forward, and carefully shone a light into first Shizuru's left eye and then her right.
Shizuru nodded her head slowly. She could see things like the doctor's face before her, though as he said his actual facial features were blurry.
But she could SEE. It was way way more than she could before the surgery, and she wanted to jump up from her bed, wrap her arms around Natsuki, then her parents, and even Mr. Kuga and hug them all as tightly as she could.
"I can see..." Shizuru whispered in a soft, wondering voice and a collected sigh of relief was let out by everyone in the room.
"Shizuru, that's wonderful!" Natsuki exclaimed happily, as she leaned her face closer to Shizuru's. "Can you finally...see...me?" she asked softly, as she gave Shizuru's hand a light squeeze.
Shizuru turned her face towards Natsuki's, and tried to focus fully on seeing her facial features. Natsuki's face was still fairly blurry to Shizuru's eyes, but...
"I can see you..." Shizuru breathed out softly, as she reached up a hand and tenderly traced her fingers down the side of Natsuki's face.
Natsuki's eyes closed as she leaned into Shizuru's gentle touch, then her eyes slowly reopened with tears shining in them.
"I'm glad..." Natsuki said on a tearful whisper, before she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Shizuru in a tight embrace.
Shizuru let out a happy, tearful laugh as she sank into the dark-haired girl's embrace, and then laughed again in further joy as her parents came over with Natsuki's father, and they all hugged and embraced each other happily.
Shizuru was ecstatic!
She could finally see her parent's faces...something she hadn't been able to do since she was a little girl. Her mother cried over her, while tenderly cupping her face and placing soft, happy kisses all over it. Her father stood behind his wife, gently gripping her shoulders, and looking relieved and pleased. He couldn't thank Hiro enough for the generosity he had shown them, that had allowed his daughter to have her operation so early. Hiro just slapped Shizuru's father lightly on the shoulder with low laugh, and told him that he really needed to stop thanking him, for doing something that was easily within his ability to do for the Fujino family.
Finally Shizuru's doctor gently encouraged them all to leave for the day, as his patient needed to get some much needed rest. Shizuru's parents and Natsuki's father immediately agreed, and told Natsuki and Shizuru that they would give them a few extra minutes to say goodbye for the day. The doctor agreed to the few extra minutes, and all the adults quietly left the room.
Finally, it was just Shizuru and Natsuki left in the room together, and Shizuru simply could not get enough of gazing at Natsuki's face. Her features were blurry, but Shizuru could still see enough that having the ebony-haired girl like this...so close...was leaving her fairly breathless.
She's so beautiful...from just what I can actually see...she's so beautiful. What will it be like in a month's time, when I can fully see her amazing features. I won't be able to breathe..., Shizuru thought dreamily to herself as she laid her head down on her pillow, and continued to drink in the sight of Natsuki before her.
Natsuki could feel a light blush spread across her face, as the scarlet-eyed girl continued to gaze at her with a soft smile playing across her lips. She then leaned forward and tenderly brushed a dangling lock of hair from Shizuru's brow, and smiled when Shizuru's eyes closed and a soft, contented sigh slipped passed her lips. Natsuki felt her blush deepen at the sound, and she sat back into her chair to wait for Shizuru to open her eyes again. And when she did, and Natsuki was presented with those dazzling garnet jewels, that looked more clear and brilliant then she'd ever seen before, her breath hitched and an almost uncontrollable urge pushed at her to lean forward again and...
Brush her lips across Shizuru's eyelids...and then her nose...and then...her mouth...
Natsuki's breath caught in her throat as these thoughts flitted through her mind, and she ended up squeezing Shizuru's hand a little too tightly. Shizuru gave Natsuki a slightly worried look, and began to open her mouth to ask her what was wrong, when the door to the room opened and a young, male voice spoke up.
"Well now, I do hope that I'm not interrupting anything. Shizuru, you look absolutely stunning, and I can see...yes, I too can now actually see...that your operation was a success," Reito Kanzaki said, as he entered Shizuru's room. He no longer needed the aid of a nurse, as his vision had cleared up enough that he could see much better. He slowly and carefully made his way further into the room, and came to stand beside the seated Natsuki, at the side of Shizuru's bed.
Shizuru felt an unexpected blush colour her cheeks, as she got her first real look at the young man who had visited her before her operation.
He was dashing. Tall, handsome, with wavy-black hair and deep golden eyes that even Shizuru with her still blurry vision, could easily see.
Natsuki felt a deep scowl form on her lips, and she opened her mouth to tell this guy to leave, when the hospital room door opened again, and this time Shizuru's doctor walked in gently tapping the watch on his wrist.
"Sorry, I know you want to keep Ms. Fujino company, but she really needs her rest. You can come back tomorrow to see her during visiting hours. And that means you too, Mr. Kanzaki. I'm not even sure why your nurse allowed you to leave your room unattended. You are still recovering from the complications of your own surgery," the doctor said with a slight disapproving look at Reito.
Reito just flashed the doctor a quick grin, before saying, "I actually slipped out when my nurse went to the restroom. I do hope that you don't punish her for my...impulsive behaviour."
The doctor fought the urge to roll his eyes at the incorrigible young man, and instead began herding him out of the room.
Reito flashed a boyish grin at Shizuru, and allowed himself to be led out of the room, and out into the hallway. The doctor stuck his head back into Shizuru's room, and lightly tapped the face of his watch at Natsuki. She knew that once he returned from taking Reito back to his room, he'd be back to usher her out as well.
Natsuki quickly turned back to Shizuru, who was gazing at her with a slightly-furrowed brow, and a worried look on her face. Natsuki struggled dearly with the angry, jealous feelings that had erupted within in her chest when Mr. Suave Romeo Reito entered the room. She'd never felt like this before, and she wasn't quite sure how to make this sudden rush of feelings go away.
"Natsuki..." Shizuru asked with a worried frown, as she reached her hand forward to gently cup Natsuki's face.
Natsuki, without thought, pulled her face back as she tried to wrestle her swirling emotions under control. The hurt look in Shizuru's crimson eyes when she pulled away, caused a feeling of despair to pool in Natsuki's stomach.
"I'm...I'm...sorry, Shizuru. I have to go...I'm sorry!" Natsuki sputtered as she quickly rose from her chair; moving so fast to get away from that hurt look of bewilderment on Shizuru's face, that she almost knocked the chair over.
"Natsuki..." Shizuru whispered softly in confused upset, as she watched the young woman who had come to mean so much to her, begin backing her way out of the room.
"I'm sorry...I just...I'll be back tomorrow. Okay, Shizuru. I promise, I'll be back tomorrow. Right now I'm just so confused..." Natsuki's voice trailed off, as she looked down at the ground.
You're screwing this up, Natsuki! This is supposed to be her special, happy day. Stop screwing this up for her! Natsuki growled angrily at herself. And so she quickly took hold of her swirling emotions; wrestled them down into a manageable tangle; and looked up with determination shining brightly in her eyes. Then without giving her mind time to talk her heart out of it, Natsuki strode quickly back over to Shizuru's bed...and leaned down to place the softest, most tender of kisses against the corner of Shizuru's lips.
A faint gasp fell from the honey-brunette's mouth, as Natsuki's soft lips brushed against the side of hers. Shizuru looked up into Natsuki's eyes, which even with her blurred vision, she could see were swirling with an untold number of emotions.
In fact, Natsuki's kiss against the edge of her lips set off a mini bomb of emotions in Shizuru's own chest, and she found herself gasping to draw air into her suddenly breathless lungs.
Natsuki stepped back and with the most shy, most adorable look and blush Shizuru had seen yet, smiled softly at her and then turned on her heel and ran from the room.
Shizuru was left laying on her bed with one hand placed over her rapidly-beating heart, and the other on the small spot by her lips where the soft warmth of Natsuki's kiss still lingered.
This was how her doctor came back to find her, and he worried for a few minutes over her elevated heart rate, and the slight flush to her skin. When he couldn't find anything actually wrong with her, he ordered her to go to sleep immediately, and to try to calm herself down from whatever had caused her body to react in such a way.
Shizuru nodded her head at her doctor's orders, then settled down into her bed as he turned off the room's light, and quietly closed the door behind himself.
Shizuru stayed awake for a few more restless minutes, before her eyes began to burn and she decided it was best to try to fall asleep, so that her newly-repaired eyes could have a chance to rest.
A small spark of happiness lit up her chest, when she fully focused on the fact that she could see now. Not fully, and not yet perfectly, but it had still been enough for her to visually drink in the faces of those who meant so much to her.
"Natsuki..." Shizuru whispered softly to herself as she finally...slowly...drifted off to sleep...her hand never leaving its place by her heart, where it still beat strongly with the memory of Natsuki's kiss...
AN - It's been a very long time since my muse found the inspiration needed to continue this story. Please review, as those especially help her keep my creative juices flowing =3