The Colours Within

The Diagnosis

The sickly sweet smell and the buzz of people moving around greeted my ears, and I faintly registered someone shaking me.Memories slowly started swirling in my head, photoshoot... a
bright light shining in my eyes...searing pain and blacking out.... I slowly opened my eyes, blinking
them, in order to get adjusted to the light.
“Ariana dear, do you feel alright? You gave us such a big fright! What happened? Are you alright?
Is anything hurting?” The rant of questions from beloved mother seemed unending. But I could be less bothered. I was more focused on the fact that I could not distinguish colours. Everything appeared to mix with each other. I looked at mom’s dress, it was the one I brought for her from
my first salary. But, It was red and yellow with floral patterns, not olive green and yellow which she
was wearing right now. In fact, mom didn’t even have an olive green coloured dress, she hated that colour with a passion. I was about to ask her, when, The Doctor entered the room.
“ Ah! So you are awake!”
No shit Sherlock!
“ How are you feeling? Is anything hurting? As you may recall, you were during a photoshoot, when a light was mistakenly shot at your eyes, which caused you to black out. Now I need to ask you a few questions, is that alright?”
Holding back my frustrations, I gave a simple nod.
“ Ok, so, are you able to see everything?” He asked.
“ I can see everything, but it appears to mix. I, sort of , cannot distinguish colours. It’s temporary, right? The aftermath of the accident, right?” I asked. He looked taken aback for  moment, but then, gave a reassuring smile, saying he will be back in a while.
Later that night, I was discharged. I barely registered my surroundings, the only thought before me was that, I was now, colourblind. The bright light had slightly burnt my retinas. I was lucky to have a vision at all, they said. I couldn’t grasp the fact that I was colourblind. How could a teen photographer, be colourblind? I was the best at the newspaper agency, which I worked at, now will they even want to still hire me? I was jerked out of my thoughts by a car honking at us. I looked up to see the traffic signal, of which, once again, I couldn’t see the colours clearly. Tears
sprung to my eyes, If I couldn’t even distinguish the colours of a traffic signal, how could I even click photos. What about my daily routine ? What if I wear mismatched clothes when I go out? How would my friends treat me? Many thoughts were swirling around in my head, giving me a headache. I tried to ignore the pitying glances and worried questions which mom threw at me every now and then, resting my head against the headrest. I know it was unfair to them, but what about me? I had my whole life in front of me, a lifetime of plans as a photographer, now gone down the drain.
I was, once again, interrupted from my thoughts, by the car door opening. I stepped out only to be crashed into a hug by my best-friend, Rita. She also worked at the agency, in the designing
section.
“Oh god! What happened? Are you alright? Hitler told me you had an accident at today’s photoshoot? What happened?”
Oh yeah, Hitler was the name which we had given the head of the Agency. No one liked him. He was quite bossy and arrogant.
“ It’s alright! I...I’m fine...” I tried to keep a straight face, but obviously failed, allowing a few tears to slip out.
“Ariana, I have known you for nearly seven years now, Don’t even try
tricking me! Tell me what’s wrong! I can help you!” She pleaded.
I contemplated whether or not to tell her. I didn’t want to lose her as a friend. What if she judged me? I looked up in her worry-filled eyes, and I couldn’t contain myself anymore.