Oracle

Part 14

"Yes, well," the woman sighed unhappily, sounding uncomfortable with the situation. "It's bad enough I have to do this kind of work for that boss of Elison's. I don't want to be called neglectful of one of my patients," Doctor Green commented, hands pressing on against the side of his face as the doctor began to pull the bandages off Jaspar's head gently. Doctor Green's voice was feminine but also harsh. She sounded bitterly resigned to the world around her but deeply unhappy with it. Unhappy but too used to it to anything else.

"Still thank you. From what I know of the world I've been dragged into, not many people would have," Jaspar commented gently, trying not to flinch at the sensation.

"Can't argue with you there," the Doctor Green sighed. "Really Elison, you should have brought him to me when you found him, not here," she scolded darkly.

"That was never going to happen," Elison said in a tone which clearly said he was not going to explain why and he wasn't sorry about it either. The doctor hummed unhappily but didn't make any more comments about it, instead continuing to take the bandages off Jaspar's face.

When the final piece of material fell away, cold air rushed over his eyelids and felt strange against his currently clammy skin. Jaspar clenched his hands to stop himself from reaching up to touch the skin. It felt strange and he couldn't actually move his eyelids anymore. The doctor hummed, gently moving them up. Jaspar wasn't sure what was there, but she made pleased noises.

"Well, the butcher did a good work with the surgery at least," she commented begrudgingly. "The eye sockets are healing well and there are no signs of infection." The next half an hour of Jaspar's life was strange as the doctor checked over the health of his eye sockets. "You'll feel like you have black eyes for the next couple of days. Already you are starting to swell up," the doctor mentioned. "I'm going to wash your sockets. It will feel weird," she warned, before making sure Elison was watching.

The sensation was unlike anything Jaspar had felt before. It didn't hurt or even sting but he had never had water touching the flesh behind his eyes before so, of course, it felt weird. Elison asked some questions about how often but Jaspar felt a little woozy at the idea of having to wash them out regularly.

Once it was all over, and the Doctor was packing up, Jaspar commented about the pain he was feeling. "Here, have some Tylenol," she commented gently passing him some pills and a glass of water. "Whatever happens, don't take any form of Aspirin. It will damage your healing," she warned.

"So physically everything's fine," Jaspar asked, taking the pill gratefully with the water. A hand rubbed his shoulder, Elison he assumed by the fact the doctor's next words sounded further away from him.

"Yes. While your eyes are still healing avoid doing anything too strenuous and drink plenty of water. In a week I'll come see you again to do another check-up. After that, in several weeks we can meet up to talk about fake eyes and such if you want them," she commented calmly. "You don't have to wear the bandages anymore either."

Elison's hands rubbed his shoulders gently. "Would you like to wear sunglasses or a scarf?" he asked gently. Jaspar found himself shrugging numbly, suddenly hit with the realisation this was real again. He had lost his eyes and he was now going to have to take care of the sockets. The doctor said some parting words before leaving them alone.

Jaspar felt himself crying again, the water running down his swollen cheeks now unblocked by the bandages. Elison shifted uncomfortably, before moving in front of Jaspar, hands on Jaspar's knees. Jaspar felt as Elison pressed their foreheads together gently. "You'll be fine Jaspar. I promise. I won't let anyone hurt you," he promised.

"You work for a man who deals with human trafficking and who is fine with stealing organs and limbs for the black market," Jaspar choked, "Just how am I supposed to believe you?"

"Jaspar, I'm a demon. When we give our word, we can not break it. Calder knows that. When he assigned me to you, he knew it would be at best a semi-permanent thing. Even if he does make me work in other trades again, I will continue to protect you for as long as I am able." Elison promised, cupping Jaspar's cheeks. "I'm not going to lie, this is going to be hard but other people have survived similar events. Some people are just born blind. We will work this out together. Okay?"

For a moment Jaspar had no words. Trapped between two warring desires. One to punch Elison in the face, or at least try to again, the other to hug the man and take some comfort from the strong man. Finally, he shifted, throwing his arms around Elison's shoulders and burying his face in his neck to sob, the man's arms coming around him to hold him. It was better than getting pinned again and at that moment all he wanted in the world was that hug.

He trembled and let out a wail of despair. Elison just held him as he cried, and eventually, he fell to sleep on the man's hard shoulder. Elison rocking him rocking, humming gentle sounds. He was still a seer but he was completely unable to see how the future was going to pan out for himself.