Second sight

Not all things are as safe as we are told they are.

     “Seriously mom glaucoma surgery is perfectly safe and if you don’t get it done you could go blind. Dr Nolan has years of experience, and you’ve said yourself that you feel confident in his abilities.” Paul said for the hundredth time this morning as he opened the car door for her.

     He reminded her that he and Gloria would be there for her during the aftercare. They had set up the spare room for her after all. The severity of her condition she would most likely have to wear bandages over her eyes as a precaution, light sensitivity and Regina’s propensity to constantly rub her eyes would be an issue they’re prepared for.

     Paul and Gloria were quite prepared for Henriettas hypochondriac fancies and low tolerance to pain. They had already talked to Dr Nolan more than once about how they can calm her fears. The car ride was equally taxing, Henrietta was convinced she had left this that and the other back at the house when both Paul and Gloria reassured her that the items has been brought.

     Once they reached the hospital Paul had to once again attempt to convince his mother that this was rhe right thing to do. Back and forth they went before Paul had lost his temper and said in exasperation, “This is a perfectly safe operation mom, for the love of all things holy, there is next to nothing to worry about.”

     Henrietta wanted nothing more than to go home right now. She found countless amount of evidence online proving that Dr Nolan was hiding the actual risks to this surgery. It got to the point where Paul created a password in order to logon to her internet and telling her that she would get access back after the procedure was done.

     Henrietta filled out the necessary forms in the waiting room and handed them to the nurse when she was done. Paul and Gloria kept her company until she was collected by an orderly pushing a wheelchair. Paul held her hand until they got to the door and the orderly reminded him he wasn’t allowed any further. With a reassuring squeeze of the hand Paul let go and returned to his wife.

     Before he could sit Gloria suggested they get a bite to eat across the street at the sandwich place. He said he could go for a good sub sandwich and quickly agreed, they would be close enough to the hospital in the event of am emergency. The best part was they wouldn’t have to pay the high prices for what they tried to pass off as food at St Agness, patron saint of heartburn they quipped.

     Paul rubbed his knuckles out of habit and looked about to ensure that any one of the nuns didn't hear him. No dirty looks, signs of the cross, or even disappointed huff. It would seem they got away with their little rebellious heresy. The surgery would take one or two hours so they weren’t in any hurry.

     Lunch had been rather uneventful despite the slight guilt Paul felt, he then silently berated himself. It wasn’t as if his mother’s life was in the balance and the doctor was performing an open heart surgery and his mom could actually die on the table. Getting her to actually commit to the eye surgery was a minor miracle so he should take the wins no matter how small when he could.

     Finishing the last of their lunch and tossing the rubbish in the bin, Paul and Gloria meandered back to the hospital. Both dreaded the upcoming wait in the uncomfortable chairs provided in the waiting room. Neither were particularly religious so they opted to steer clear of the chapel and give those who did believe the needed space to pray or grieve over their loved one.

     Just over two and a half hours had passed when the doctor had emerged and called them over. “There was a bit of an issue” he began as he explained that there was an unknown mass behind her eyes. They were performing a biopsy and they hoped it wasn’t cancer but they should prepare for the worst. Henrietta will have to stay for a few days at the very least.

     “Can she have visitors?” Doug asked, the worry in his voice was quite evident.

     “That won’t be an issue, she’s obviously out of it now but I think she would appreciate a familiar voice when she wakes up.” The doctor replied.

     Escorting the couple to Henrietta’s room the doctor advised that they keep the biopsy news close to the chest. He was aware of her many concerns and he didn’t wish to compound her concerns if this was a minor little thing. Doug and Gloria agreed with his assessment and promised to remain silent on the matter.

     Reaching the recovery room the doctor opened the door for them and assured the both of them that he and his staff will everything possible to identify any possible problems. Normally they would allow his mother to go home after a few hours past surgery bit the doctor wanted to keep her at least until they felt there was little chance of getting an infection. 

     During the meantime the doctor recommended they go home for the night and get some rest. Paul asked if he could crash in his mothers room and the doctor thought that would be okay. Gloria offered to go home, later she would grab dinner for the both of them.

     The next few days went by painfully slow. The biopsy showed that the mass wasn’t cancerous and the MRI ended being inconclusive. Of course his mother constantly cried out in pain saying how much her eyes hurt. She would get her pain meds intravenously which helped with the pain but Henrietta would suffer from horrible hallucinations.

     These hallucinations often included someone doing medical experiments on her. These would include aliens, satanic cults harvesting her organs, and the doctors at this very hospital. Time and time again paul and Gloria would try to confort her as they xplained none of these things were happening. Eventually the bandages would come off and everything would be as good as new.

     The morning of the day Henrietta’s bandages were to come off she complained of the pain in her eyes and it felt like something was trying to wiggle out. Paul had to take a deep breath and remind her that sometimes her imagination got the better of her. The worst of these fits was she believed that a murderer or rapist was trying to get to her for days after her husband, Pauls father had passed. 

     “Don’t you remember that all that you were seeing at night was the shadow of the cherry trees branch coming in from the window?” Paul asked as he reminded her about the earlier hallucinations.

      “Don’t patronize me Paul, those were caused by the medications and you know it so I would appreciate you don’t throw your father’s death in my face.” Henrietta shot back.

      Paul didn’t have any reply for that so he chose not to, instead he told his mother that he would go find the doctor. Once he left the room Paul headed to the nurses station to ask when Doctor Nolan would be by.

     “He hasn’t arrived yet and we can’t reach him, is there an emergency?” The head nurse asked

     “No, it’s just today was supposed to be the day my mothers bandages came off”

     After getting Pauls name and what room his mother was the walked back to the room and she looked at Henrietta’s chart. Shetold him that she could do it since it’s a monor thing and there wasn’t anything on the chart saying to wait.

      The head nurse came in to the room with Paul and explained that the Doctor was with a difficult case and she would take the bandages off. She asked Henrietta to close her eyes and she removed the bandages while asking if she could see the light behind her eyelids. The nurse asked her to open her eyes and Paul felt that the worst had happened and his mother was blind.

     Both he and the nurse were horrified when his mother opened her eyes and both saw the eye sockets were filled with maggots…

Reviews

[Marie]

OMG! What a twist at the end of the poem!!!
Up to that point, I had enjoyed reading the story so very much and hoping when the bandages came of that Paul's Mom's eyesight had been restored!
Superbly crafted, couldn't have foreseen the horrific ending, dear L. K... It was so finely hidden and I thought Mom's ramblings were due to an over active imagination!!!
WOW!!! What an amazing tale from the dark side you have executed so finely in this amazing story! Thank you for sharing, L. K...

[Lore Keeper]

Thanks for taking the time to reading this short story and leaving a review. I had been sitting on this one since the mid to late 90’s. I’m glad the twist was twisty enough for you.

[Marie]

The twist was a big SURPRISE, totally unexpected, which truly brought the poem to life for me, L. K. Thank you again for sharing... Have a very nice day and enjoy...

[Samuel Dickens]

Rod Serling and I are smiling. I guess they might have a small sanitation problem at that hospital? Talk about a nightmare! Way worse than my major surgery that had me hearing hobbits singing in the walls. Very good writing, my friend.

[Lore Keeper]

Thanks Samuel, especially the part about Rod Serling. Glad to hear you survived the Hobbit incident, I can imagine the horror.