Suddenly Blinded

Suddenly Blinded - Chapter 2

“Everyone knows now mother. Every single person in the school by now. And it’s only the second lesson.” I heard Timothy talking to our mother on the phone in the principal’s office. Mr Gale had sent us and his lesson would have just ended. He thought I was not capable of sitting in a class, blind, even with my brother sitting beside me helping. The principal had seen us immediately, even abandoning a meeting with the P&F to see us. He thought it was a very serious matter, one that he should have be warned of. I couldn’t say we rang Principal Kline personally, however, we had rang the office ladies, they obviously hadn’t passed the message on. He had then decided to call our mother to send us home so he could figure out what he could possibly do. He hadn’t thought I was capable of using a phone any longer and had my brother call.

I was underestimated. Silent tears trickled down my face as this came to my realization. A member of authority had doubted me, doubted people in my situation. Surely he should know better! Perhaps he thought I was to blame for the death of Sam like so many others thought. I half considered asking him, but then remembered, if he did think I was to blame, he wouldn’t have told me the truth.

For the first time since the accident I wondered what had happened to the other footballer in the car. He had looked pretty banged up, but I remembered hazily a nurse walking to my bedside and telling me that he had survived with only very bad scarring and bruising. The same nurse was the one who had told me all about the crash after I had passed out and she had only told me the information because I had begged her.

“Oh dear, you say you passed out when the glass hit your eyes, and after you saw your friend die?” She had asked, waiting for my reply. She was an old lady, she had told me her description; grey hair, blue eyes, rather frail but still able to keep going. I had confirmed this information and she continued. “The police report stated that the car then burst into flames, it was clear that you were passed out at this time because there was no evidence of struggle on your behalf. Joshua, the boy you say you didn’t know, managed to get out on time. He came around to your side of the car as fast as he could to try to get you out. He says when he got around towards you, he didn’t know what to do. He said he wanted to help you but your seatbelt had cut into your body pretty deeply, you were covered in scratches and there was glass everywhere. He was scared that if he even tried to move you, you would be hurt even more. The smoke was also getting pretty bad so he swung you around so your head was leaning near the door frame so you could get fresh air. Even this movement was horrific to your body, it added a few extra cuts, but I don’t think any of them will scar, except for the movement in the seatbelt. He said there was no phone on him and even if he did have one he was in shock and was unable to speak.”

“How is Josh? Did he….survive?” I had choked on the last word, I didn’t want to be the only survivor of a horrific car accident, that would be too much for me to handle.

“He did survive, the wound on his head wasn’t as serious as he looked and most of the blood that ended up on his body, did not belong to him, it was a combination of yours and Samuel’s. I can’t tell you the rest of the story, because I am not one hundred percent of what happened and I don’t want to tell you the wrong thing. All I know is that an anonymous passer-by rang the emergency services, however, they do not know who this person was because they were not at the scene of the accident. The also rang from a pay phone so there is no way of tracking them down for either information or thanks.” She had given me a sympathetic hug before she left the room.

In present time, I heard the door open and footsteps come towards me. A hand was laid over the top of mine and I recognized my mother’s perfume. “I drove as fast as I could, sweetie.” She said drawing me in for a quick hug. “I knew it was too soon.”

“You must be Cassie’s mother.” Principal Kline stated. Until that moment I had completely forgotten he was still in the room. I couldn’t give a description of this man, he had only started at the school after my accident and I was legally blind. Although I want to make it clear that I can still see, it is just extremely hazy, a condition called Glaucoma. But between the haziness and the darkness of the sunglasses, I couldn’t make out anything and I didn’t want to scare this principal by taking my glasses off just so I could get an outline.