Tales From a New World

Chapter 5: Blindness and It's Comfort

"Hello?"

"Hi babe! How's work going?"

"Pretty slow today, I guess no one likes drinking on a Thursday."

I laughed because normally Thursdays are busy days at the bar. I worked as a bar keeper for about two years, nothing bad had happened up until this point, but today would change all that for ever.

"Well that's good, then I guess you wouldn't mind if I stopped by for a drink then?"

"Are you kidding that would be great!"

"Ok, sounds good."

It was a very good day so far. It was about 18:00 and almost closing time. My beautiful bride to be was coming to see me as she often did as she gets off work early, perks of being your own boss I guess, it was a perfect day.

"So umm I'll see you there."

"Okay I'll be waiting."

"Okay bye."

"Wait!"

"Yeah?"

"Be safe."

"Joker, you know me." She said with a giggle.

She hung the phone up and I went back to my duties. After about two hours, I see her car park in the parking lot. I eagerly wait for her to enter. I hear the door open and a seat get pulled out of the counter, I walked over to the drinks I had prepared prior to her arrival. She sits and starts ringing the bell at the counter, "What does a gal gotta do to get some service around her!" I grabbed the tray with the drinks and come around the corner and smugly say, "Well asking works, but I was prepared." I placed our strawberry milk shakes on the counter and took one and placed it infront of her. I looked into her eyes waiting for a response. She smiled at me with those big eyes "Hi sweetheart." I smiled placed a straw in her drink and replied with "Hello Beautiful." Before I knew it, it was closing time we were the last ones in the bar and I was making sure everything was locked. I walked outside to her car and stood next to her. I put my arm around her "Ready to go?" I asked her. "Yea, sure." We got into our respective cars as I followed her to our house about twenty minutes away. On the way there, I was thinking about what a good day I had been having when suddenly, time started to slow. I felt my car suddenly spin out and end up on the other side of the intersection I was crossing then I blacked out. I woke up to Lacy holding my head in her lap crying and saying something to me, I couldn't quite make it out.

I came to and she was saying "Joker? Joker are you awake?"

"What happened?" I replied.

"I saw you get hit so I stopped and ran here as fast as I could."

I thought to myself for a second. "Get hit?" I turned to see that my car had been smashed from the back right side. I looked over to the opposite side of the street where the ambulance had just arrived. "Help! Help!" Lacy yelled so that they would notice me in her lap. The paramedics came over and put me into the ambulance and they took me away. It wasn't till later that I found out that six people died at the seen and four were hospitalized. My car was the first thing to be hit. If I had been going a little faster when I spun out, I would have hit a family walking on the side walk. I had woken up the next day in the hospital bed being treated for a fractured wrist and whiplash. Lacy stayed with me through the night and called in at work for both of us. The doctors told me I got off easy and that out of the four people they brought to the hospital, myself and another man were the only two that survived. When I asked about the other man they told me that he had suffered damage to his eyes and was in a coma, that image still haunts me to this day.

Lacy woke up soon after I did and asked how my sleep was and I replied, "better thanks to you."

We smiled at each other and she laughed and said "Even at your worst you are still a huge dork." After I had gotten out of the hospital, I came back every day before work to see the man that survived the crash. Every day for two months I went to see him, I brought him flowers and made sure he was being taken care of. I felt like I owed it to him to see that he gets healed. His name was Ryan Woodstock, an african american man, he looked over fifty at this point and very strong and fit for his age. One day while I was visiting him, he actually woke up and started panicking asking where he was. I went and alerted the nurse and she ran to get the doctors. He came in and started shining light into his eyes and asking if he could see the light. The man started crying hysterically. "Where am I?! What happened?! Where is my daughter?! Where is she?! WHERE IS SHE?!"

I felt myself tear and I was asked to leave the room so the next day I went to visit him.

I walked into the room and he asked, "Who is it?"

"Umm, it's me Joker, I was part of the crash I was hit also."

"Did anything happen to you?" He asked in his deep booming voice.

"Fractured wrist and whiplash nothing major. They told me that we were the only ones that survived."

"I know." I felt his voice sink as he said this out loud. He then broke down into tears and rolled over and started mumbling. I could just make out what he was saying "I wish she didn't go. Why did she leave? Why?" After some months he could finally leave the hospital and went back to his house. I visited frequently. I learned that his daughter had run away from home that night because her father had yelled at her about something he has yet to tell me about. He had chased her because he was going to apologize about yelling, but then the crash happened. On the second day he was out, I invited him to get drinks with me at my bar. He had actually met me one day while there.

"You're Joker? From the 52 Deck?"

"Yup I work there. I'm a barkeeper." I learned that he loved whisky and I just so happened to mix the best cinnamon whisky in the city. We had become great friends and I had helped him with so many things. As of last week, we have known each other for eight years. Unfortunately, there is something he still doesn't know about the night of the crash. I have never had the heart to tell him even though that he has recovered mostly. While he was still in the hospital, two officers approached me and said that Ryan was the one who caused the crash, so they asked if I wanted to press charges. I told them no, that this man lost everything and that he does not deserve anymore wrong in his life. The officers agreed and left. I was trying to think about how I was going to tell him, but in the end I decided that he should remember that night in a way that makes him feel like it was out of his control and not his fault. I think he would never forgive himself. I guess sometimes it's better to not be told the truth if it meant living long enough to forgive and forget.