Chapter 17:

reunited

My senses were the only thing I had left. I could feel, hear, and smell my surroundings. As for my vision, I couldn't see more than blurs.

I lost track of time, stuck in my thoughts, although I knew I had been in a hospital bed long enough to lose feeling in my toes. Still, I was grateful for the day I regained strength to open my eyes and get up to use the bathroom, almost as good as new.

The doctor explained how my body was lifeless after being crushed by the other car, honestly I'm glad I was crushed and didn't fly out the windshield into immediate death.

It was an hour past noon when I watched my family walk into the room, I could clearly hear their gasps echo loudly and their careful steps approaching me. After long days of waiting and frustration at my weak state, their reactions were more than surprise and carried the relief I was waiting to hear all morning.

"Mom?" I croaked, unable to contain my tears when I felt her hand on my shoulder.

"We're so happy to see you awake." Dad's voice cracked as well. I felt terrible whenever I heard his slight sobs, but as they surrounded me, I felt the similar warmth of being at home.

"You scared us real good." Hanabi joked, sitting next to me on my bed.

The doctor gave us a moment to reunite, but quickly got to the point about my vision. My parents were more than preoccupied about it, as glad as they were about my recovery, I still couldn't see well enough to even walk around on my own and that caused them to express more fearful reactions than the ones I got to rejoice in earlier.

"It seems like there was severe trauma in an area of the brain that controls vision. We expect it to get better with time, but the trauma is very serious and we will have to put her in therapy to fully recover."

"So will I be able to see again? Clearly?" I asked.

"You'll be able to see again, but I can't say if it'll be the same clear vision you had before the accident."

I could feel my parents' heads turn to me, almost in a sorry way. They must be thinking that this is all too much for me to handle.

The doctor excused himself and left a lingering silence behind. My bed shifted to my side, and I knew my mother had sat beside me when her perfume wafted into my nose.

"You're not alone, Hinata." She whispered, holding my hand and putting it on her lap, "We will work together to get your vision back. Don't worry."

She kissed the top of my head and I felt my eyes close with so much serenity, hearing her talk to me and caress my hand was the perfect remedy.

"We brought you your favorite snacks!" Hanabi chimed in, making my eyes shoot open. I could hear a plastic bag being ruffled around and then could barely see something being handed to me.

"What is it?" I asked, with a tiny smile, not knowing where to look or direct my attention.

"We've got all kinds of pastries, but this is a cinnamon roll." Hanabi put it in my hand and waited until I had a good grip on it before letting go.

"Thank you..." I whispered back.

"See, we can make it work."

I smiled, tasting the pastry in my hand, and although my family continued talking to me, my mind couldn't help but wonder.

Change was something I couldn't understand, and up to this point, so much has changed in my life that I should be able to. I have so many unanswered questions about where I'm going and what I'm doing, if the choices I'm making are the right ones. The news from the doctor was so hard to swallow, I didn't even know how to react or what to say. I thought I knew where I was going with my art and the trip to Neji's school as a part of my "plan for the future," but is this a sign that I am doing something wrong? How will I continue painting if I can't even see what's in front of me?

"Is it good, sweet pea?" My dad asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yeah. Thank you, dad." I tried smiling at him, but I couldn't tell where he was, so I simply looked ahead and let him see that I was okay.
The day went by quickly with them around. I actually got used to talking again, and a lot of that time was spent answering Hanabi's questions about being partially blind. Without my family around, I would've never been able to laugh this off. Even though it is the biggest obstacle I've ever had to overcome, I took shelter under my family's optimism.

"Well, visiting hours are almost over, honey. Will you be alright tonight?" Mom asked as she picked up the bags that once carried all of my favorite pastries.

"Yeah. Don't worry, I can always call a nurse." I replied.

She leaned over and kissed my forehead, making sure I was tucked in and warm. One by one they wished me a goodnight, but my father stayed behind.

"No matter how old you get, you will always be my baby." He whispered, pushing my bangs out of my eyes, "I will always see the same little girl who would wake me up early on weekends and talk to me about whatever went on in her tiny little head. You would tell me outrageous things and I simply laughed you and your crazy imagination."

He chuckled softly and kissed my hand, "if anything happens, just call me, okay?"

I nodded, fighting the tears that welled up in my eyes. "Don't worry, dad. I will."

I had woken up in the middle of the night to the sound of the TV hanging from the top corner of the room. There was a faint noise that I couldn't make out, until I sat up groggily and listened intently. A woman spoke from outside my room, she seemed to come closer and before I could hear anything else, she had opened my door.

"Sorry to bother you so late." The nurse excused herself, rolling the usual small machine with her to take my vital signs and change my IV; it was routine.

"It's okay..." I whispered, and a couple of minutes silently went by with her hooking me up to new medicine, and checking my pulse and breathing.

"Alright, everything looks normal. Before I go, is there anything you need?"

I bit my lip, thinking hard about the question since having the nurse around was an opportunity to get whatever I needed.

"Actually there is..." I cleared my throat, "Can I make a phone call?"

"Sure. Just wait here, I'll bring the phone."

She left the room and came back a few minutes later with a phone, but before she handed it to me, she asked the number I wanted to dial since I couldn't see the numbers. I swallowed hard, thinking how embarrassing this was, even if she had no clue who I was calling in the first place. I hesitated, trying to recall Naruto's phone number and finally gave her the digits with a sweat-inducing blush.

She dialed and waited until she was certain that the call got through, and after a couple of nerve wrecking seconds, she put the phone in my hand and left quietly.

"H-Hello?"

I was cold, but as soon as I spoke, I broke into a sweat. It had been days since I spoke to Naruto—weeks. Ever since he came to visit me, there was never a moment he wasn't on my mind. I had to speak to him, even if I wasn't sure of what I wanted to say, there was an inescapable desire to hear his voice. There were fears I knew I had to conquer and speak to him about, but at the same time all I wanted was to know he thought about me just as much as I thought of him.

"Hinata? Is it really you?"