Untamed

79

"She looks so peaceful." Renee said. They were all in Heather's room, all being she, Danica and Shelby. Only one person was permitted to come in at a time but she was able to pull some strings. "Kind of like she wouldn't mind not waking up."

"Since I'm in the dark." Shelby pointed to the bandage wrapped around her eyes. "I hope she looks as good as you say, and you're lucky I can't see or I'll deck you for saying she shouldn't wake up."

"Thank God you can't see." Renee danced in front of Shelby, making Danica shake her head at her antics.

"Stop harassing the girl Renee, it's been a hell of a month for everybody."

"Tell me about it." Renee agreed.

Exactly one month ago- two months actually, after Shelby walked into a wall and passed out, Renee and Danica were the ones left in charge of situation report on both of them. Heather went into cardiac arrest twice in that period of time, and they had both agreed Shelby didn't need to know, she was battling a traumatic life changing experience of her own.

According to the doctor, his rule couldn't stop the destructive path her eyes had taken, at this point they didn't know if she'd ever see again. 'It's a natural course now' he said.

Shelby's life quickly materialized into one of despair. When her eyesight had gone to hell after the infection, she didn't feel a thing, not once did she think about losing her vision forever. It'd never dawned on her, so she accepted her blurry vision and moved on with her life but this- this was a new level of different.

Spending time with Heather helped her sanity, some days she felt like ripping the bandages off just to feel her face, on other days she felt crazy, it felt like she was lost inside herself drowning in the never ending sea of darkness, which was enough to make anyone crazy. Shelby didn't tell that to her therapist who she met every Thursday, going blind was enough, if they locked her up somewhere, she might actually lose her mind.

Bran and Tracy were in charge of handling the ranch until Shelby came back, not like there was much she could do now that she was blind; her therapist urged her to always think positively, there wasn't really anything positive going on but she didn't tell her that either. There were several options open to help her settle into her new life without difficulty, there was the option for a care giver which was definitely out of the question, a walking stick was one thing she couldn't say no to and lastly a service dog. Shelby wasn't a fan of dogs but she'd prefer that to an actual person.

Since she was still in the hospital, she was helped around by nurses but mostly Renee to get to Heather's room and back, she even knew what turns to take off by heart, it didn't matter that she couldn't go on her own, it mattered that her sense of direction wasn't entirely lost. Heather hadn't shown any sign of waking up but her vitals were fine, now all they had to do was wait, Shelby didn't know how much she hated waiting until a month ago, it was basically all she did, day in- day out, she waited for something- anything!

It wasn't like watching movies were at the top of her li- positive thinking.

°°°

Renee dropped Shelby off in front of her room, this had become their daily ritual. Renee would come check on her every morning after her bath, they'd banter for a few minutes then she'd guide her to Heather's room where they'd spend the rest of the day in silence or in casual banter with Danica acting as their neutral ground. They weren't best of friends, they just offered each other a kind of comfort they'd invented themselves.

"When did the doctor say I should get the hell out of this hospital?" Shelby asked while Renee laughed. "What? It's not like he'll say it out loud but he wants me gone."