"We know that in everything God Works for good with those who love him, who are called according to His purpose."
-Romans 8:28
Resi awoke some time later, at least he was fairly certain that he was awake. However, the main objection he could find to his being conscious was that most medical stations didn't have fog machines and light shows going on, as this one seemed to have. Additionally, most medical stations had walls. It took a few minutes of watching this tableau before he remembered why he was in a medical station in the first place. Waving his hand in front of his face a few times, then poking around the still fresh wound revealed that he wasn't 'seeing' the lightshow in the traditional since of the word. In addition he discovered that he had a rather large and stiff bandage across the lower half of his face.
Hearing a door open and the slide closed again, Resi turned toward the sound. Trying to ask the person what was going on, Resi was quickly reminded of the bandage as it muffled his question. Letting out a slight 'hhhmmmm' sound from beside the bed, the newcomer loosened the bandage, both to check on the wound and to allow Resi to speak. "hmmm, ah. How are you feeling?"
Taking a moment to fully take stock of how he feels, Resi quickly comes to the conclusion that he was apparently floating on a fog bank, despite the circumstantial evidence. "… drugged … and slightly thirsty."
Letting out a small chuckle and apparently tapping something into a datapad, the doctor continued to poke and prod at Resi's wound. "it usually takes people a little longer to work that one out. And how about your sight? Anything unusual?"
Pondering where to tell the medic the truth, Resi decided it would probably be a good idea. "well, at the moment I can't see anything but fog and flashes and bursts of random light."
"hmmmm, that probably isn't a good sign. When you arrived here, you had a massive facial wound and were covered in trash. Would you care to explain how you managed to get that wound?"
Immediately realizing that the truth would be a very bad idea, Resi decided on a slightly altered series of events. "I was mugged. I must have lost consciousness during the attack. I woke up in a trash bin."
"hmmm, just so. It has been nearly a week since you arrived here. Unfortunately, your wound was infected, most likely from the trash. The infection spread to your eyes. Despite our best efforts, we were unable to halt the infection before it had done serious damage. It is likely that the damage will render you permanently blind. Once your wound has completely healed you will be able to get prosthetic eyes, however we will have to transfer you to a larger facility to do so, as we don't have the necessary equipment on-planet."
Resi sat for a moment and thought over that rather disturbing news. "In your estimation, how long until I can be fitted with the replacements and back about my business?"
Making a sucking, clicking sound, as if he had just started eating a mint, the doctor replied. "Tough to say, but it wouldn't surprise me if it takes 5 or 6 months for the wound to fully heal. If you are lucky the infection will have worked itself out of your system by then, if not it may be upwards of a standard year before you are ready for the implant surgery. And the rehabilitation time after the surgery is usually a few weeks, or more depending on how long the person has been blind. Care for a mint? They are very good."
Resi felt all the breath leave his body, it was if someone had rammed him in the stomach with a vibro-hammer. A year or More. It was unthinkable, he would go insane long before that. And beyond that, no other Anzat would so much as spare a glance for him, the stupid little child who had managed to blind himself and got his feeding tubes cut off on his first hunt. It was almost too much to bear, an eternity of loathing and being ostracized. Startled back to the present moment by the feeling of a small hard mint being dropped into his hand.
"don't worry about it too much, it isn't the end of the 'verse. Good things can yet come from this. Anyway, I need to check on some of the others. I will be back in a bit." the doctor states before walking back toward the door. As the door clicked closed, Resi could almost swear that he could see the outline of the door closing mimicked in the swirling insanity of the fog filled lightshow.
AN: sorry about the horrible delay on this chapter, I ended up having to rewrite it several times before it felt right. Combined with the fact that I am writing by the seat of my pants, I will be posting new chapters as I write them. Hopefully that will be at least one a week, but….