Dog Days

Chapter 45

The following Monday morning, Odin helps me into my Jeep at 6am to drive me the two and a half hours into DC.

My appointment was scheduled for 9am, and due to traffic, we got there fifteen minutes late. When we finally get called back, they begin by running a series of tests to photograph my eyes and get proper measurements.

As soon as they're done, I put my eyepatch back on and we're moved to an exam room.

Dad and I sit in complete silence as we wait for the ocularist to come in..

As we sit there, I sigh "This is taking a while."

He scoffs "Yeah, well, we were late."

I'm about to say something when there's a knock at the door. The doctor pokes his head in and smiles "I'm guessing I'm only looking for one patient. Which one of you is Thor Odinson?"

He pulls in a cart behind him and closes the door as I give him a tired smile "I'm Thor. This is just my father."

He smiles at me and states "I'm Doctor Stephen Strange. I'm going to be your ocularist for awhile."

I furrow my brow and ask "How long is awhile?"

He smirks "Until one of us dies, or your eye grows back." I scoff at him and he smiles "That joke either bombs or kills."

I hum, before he motions towards the exam table "If you could just take a seat and remove the eye patch."

As I do, he asks "How'd you lose the eye, anyway?"

I take in a deep breath as he grabs hold of my cheeks to examine the socket "I got blown up." He gives me a concerned look and I state "I was a marine."

Odin buts in "Staff Sergeant."

The doctor gives me an apologetic look "I'm sorry this happened to you, Staff Sergeant Odinson."

I shrug, before he pulls up a stool and asks "How long ago did you get injured?"

I take in a deep breath and state "Six weeks ago."

He gives a short nod and asks "And your surgeon didn't give you an orbital implant?"

I give a weak smile "I was critical, and there was an issue with sand mites. I was told I needed to wait for the ulcers to heal."

He gives me a short nod "Yes, that was definitely the right thing to do. Where was your doctor?"

I clear my throat and state "Germany. I was air lifted there from Jordan." He nods, before writing it down in his notes.

He looks up to me and states "Well, the first thing we need to do is get you in for an orbital implant." He explains "It's a spherical implant that makes the socket appear cosmological symmetrical. We stitch it to your extra ocular muscles, and it has a small peg that holds onto the ocular prosthetic."

I take in a deep breath, before I ask "Hold long until I can get it done?"

He shrugs "I can get it done within the next two hours." I cock my eyebrow to him and he smirks "I usually golf, but my clubs are getting fixed."

I hum, and he sighs "It will take a week to heal, and then, after that, no more eyepatch."

I look to Odin for advice and he shrugs "It's your eye, Thor. I can't tell you what to do."

I furrow my brow and ask "Do I pick out the prosthetic?"

He reaches back to the cart and hands over a box with perfectly displayed prosthetic eye lenses. All of the eyes are different shades of blue and he explains "Most people want their eyes to match, but we do have a wide variety of colors in stock."