"Lauren, how are you?" Dr Melton's big smile almost makes me smile, which is difficult considering these appointments are always scary and depressing.
"Fine, thank-you, Dr Melton. How are you?" I fake a polite smile and drop my bag on the chair, pulling myself up onto the examination chair Dr Melton pats.
"Uh, I'm doing very well, Lauren. Thank-you for asking." He says, smiling broadly. "Now, I'm going to take a look into your eyes. Please be still, alright?"
I nod once and sit a little straighter, keeping my eyes open and straight ahead.
Dr Melton shines a pen like torch into my eye, flashing it on and off of my eye. "Your pupils are reacting nicely, Lauren. I do notice a little redness around the sclera of your eye."
"Sclera?" I ask unknowledgeable in the parts of my eye.
"The white area." He clarifies, flicking off the little torch.
"Oh, that could be from crying..." I mumble embarrassed.
Dr Melton frowns sympathetically at me. "I know it's tough, Lauren, but I must insist that you don't cry, it could speed up the process." He says as he scribbles something on the stack of paper on his clipboard. "How is your Braille class going?" He asks, his eyes casting a quick glance at me.
I shrug, "just fine, I think. It's difficult and I must admit I don't like it, but I guess I have no choice, right?" I say with a drawn out sigh as I fidget with my fingers.
"Unfortunately not." He agrees, "now I have to just look into your eyes, with the Phoropter. This light is bright but I need to measure any visual acuity differences since our last visit. It'll only take a moment..." His voice is calm and reassuring.
"Okay, go ahead." I say, sitting very still again.
After a long and boring appointment with Dr Melton, I take a walk to the cafe to burn away some stress with a cup of coffee.
I order and sit in a booth toward the back, fiddling with the left over change.
"Lauren, hey." I hear a familiar voice say. I look up at James from the party the other night.
"Oh, hi James." I say distractedly, "what's up?"
"Not a lot, how about you? How did you pull up after Caitlin's party?" He says with a smirk.
I shrug, "rough as guts... I spewed like all day." I say with a small laugh.
He chuckles a moment but furrows his brows. "You don't look so good, are you okay?" He notices.
I drag my eyes up to him and gesture toward the other side of my booth. "I'm okay, just got a lot going on in my personal life. Do I look real bad?" I run a feeble hand through the lengths of my slightly wind-tangled red hair.
He shakes his head quickly, "no, not bad. You just look real upset, like someone ran over your dog."
I quirk a brow at his choice of words. "I'd feel even worse if that was what happened." I smirk at him when he looks suddenly worried.
"IS that what happened?"
I laugh a little for the first time all day. "No, it's not. But I'd rather not talk about it. Can we talk about something else?"
He shrugs, "sure. What are you ordering?" He looks toward the counter and waves his hand in the air.
"Oh, I just ordered a coffee." I say, looking up at the older women, Greta, as she stands with a pad and pen, waiting rather impatiently.
"Do you want something to eat? Like some nachos?" He says almost eagerly.
I laugh at the enthusiasm that seems to always seep into his expression and words. "Sure, nachos sound great."
