Love at Last Sight

Chapter Three

The sanitary stench of the solemn hospital was a smell I would never grow used to. In fact, I was beginning to associate the scent with depression. Every time I stepped into the awful building, any spirit that was in me dwindled away as I trudged further into its depths. My shoulders sagged and my chest constricted; always expecting the worst. It didn’t help that my dad was always too busy to come with me.

            Like today. My first appointment since the time I received the life-changing news.

            “Morning, Rose,” Dr. Vasquez greeted me warmly, baring his sparkly whites. “How have you been?”

            “What do you think?” I responded moodily, not the least bit happy to be there.

            His smile faltered the slightest bit. “Right, I’m sorry. So you scheduled this appointment; do you have questions for me?”

            I nodded, taking a seat on the wooden bench by the window as he picked up a clipboard off the marble counter. “Yeah. Since about two weeks ago—actually the day you told me about my disease— my vision has sometimes been blurring randomly.”

            “Blurring how?” he asked, pulling a ballpoint pen out from his white doctor’s coat and scribbling something onto his clipboard.

            “Like, if I had really bad vision. It’s so blurry I can’t make anything out. And I also lose my balance.”

            He scrawled another few words down before turning his gaze to me. “Is it happening often?”

            I scrunched up my face. “Not really. One time it happened twice in one day, but usually it’s only maybe once or twice a week.”

            “Aside from the twice in one day situation, that is pretty normal,” he informed me, straightening out his back. “Your eyes are changing drastically, Rose. They’ll have to make adjustments because they’re rapidly deteriorating.”

            Rapidly deteriorating. I didn’t like the sound of that.

            “My guess is as your eyes continue to grow worse, they’ll be growing blurrier as well. I’m only guessing that those periods of instability will also happen more often. It might be best if you avoid any dangerous activities.”

            “Dangerous activities?”

            “Like driving.”

            I gaped at him. He was expecting a high school senior who was still trying to have a social life despite the fact she’s going blind to stop driving? He was out of his mind! Completely insane!

            Catching my outraged look, he half-smiled. “I know it sounds unfair, but please think of other’s beside yourself. What if you accidentally crash into someone and kill them?”

            I hesitated. He had a point. “You’re right.”

            “I’d say your fine for now, but maybe in about a month you should stop,” he continued, now flipping through some pages on his clipboard. “If you do have a dizzy spell while driving, pull over immediately.”

            “Yeah,” I said with a wry smile. What I really wanted to say was duh. How much of an idiot did he take me for?

            “Have you been having any headaches recently?”

            I shook my head.

            He nodded. “That’s good.”

            “Is that a symptom?”