Never Too Late

Chapter Thirty Seven

Johan sat alone outside the Ophthalmologist's office, waiting for his name to be called patiently, but as each minute passed, he felt more anxious and nauseous. Looking at his phone, he thought of calling his parents again or even cancelling the appointment, but in the end, he decided to tough it out and get it over with.

As another wave of nausea rocked him, he placed his head in his arms and attempted to empty his mind, but he was feeling too anxious to achieve that. Slowly, he heard footsteps approach him, and he feared it was his doctor, but when he glanced up, he saw it was Ericka.

"Good, I caught you just in time!" She exclaimed, taking a seat beside him.

"You didn't need to leave your mom just to see me," Johan told her although he was dying for company.

"It's okay, we talked and she's doing much better. Also, did you really think I would leave you all alone!?" She said warmly to him and he felt something in his heart move. It was just his attraction to her but perhaps something more.

"No really, I'll be fine." He insisted, mirroring the opposite of what he felt. "When I was in foster care I did almost everything on my own."

"You know, I rarely ever heard you speak about foster care. Can you tell me what that was like?" Ericka asked curiously, and normally, he would resort to giving vague answers, but for some reason, he found himself pouring out bits of details to her about his life.

"I don't remember living with my family before foster care. Most of my earliest years I spent moving from foster care to group home to foster care. I had a lot of foster siblings over that time, some better than others, but we all drifted around the same group of homes. When I was six or seven, I realized that some children went back to their biological family, while some stayed and kept moving around. I was one of the latter. We only had the bare minimum and we were punished if we ever asked for more. As I got older, my foster parents grew colder to me, and each new home I was relocated to, they would drop more and more responsibility on me while insulting and beating me up. I still have a few cuts on my arms and back from that time. The worst of it was when my foster father once choked me out when I talked back to him and burned me another time but I was too much of a jackass to back down even then." Johan laughed bitterly.

"Johan, I'm so sorry you went through that," Ericka whispered as her eyes widened in terror.

"It's okay, that was so long ago." He lowered his gaze, but truthfully, those times still haunted him.

"Johan, I know I can't understand what you went through, but I know it's good to let it out," Ericka encouraged him warmly, and he nodded.

"I suppose but my family wouldn't understand. How do I tell them I was starved for days at a time or made to sleep in the basement whenever I stopped my foster siblings from being beaten?" Johan paused, then looked over at her before sighing. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get all worked up over nothing."

"No, this might sound weird but I'm glad I got to see this side of you. Not the 'everything's okay' guy, but real you." She told him gently and Johan was caught off guard.

He had always put on a nonchalant facade around his family and friends since he was always worried about upsetting them or ruining the mood but now he felt weightless. He didn't feel like he had over-shared or that he was a burden to her, and it made him feel good.

"Thank you," he replied, gratefully.

"No need to, that's why we're friends." She smiled and he smiled back at her.

"Hunter, Johanan!" Someone called and snapped him back to reality.

"Here," he answered before he was ushered into the doctor's office.

He was asked to sit on the examination bed while the doctor asked him follow-up questions, but strangely, he didn't feel as anxious as before.

"Alright, let's remove the bandage and take a look," the doctor told him, but Johan held out his hand.

"Wait, there's someone I want to be here," he said before getting up and calling Ericka who was still waiting outside.

"What did he say!? Why do you still have the bandage on!?" She asked eagerly but he stopped her.

"He hasn't looked at it yet because I want you to be there." He explained while taking her into the office with him.

"Really? You wouldn't mind?" She asked sheepishly and he nodded.

"Yes, I would mind if you were the first person I saw." He confessed while taking her into the office.

When he sat back down, she stood behind the doctor and watched patiently as he removed the bandage and gauze.

"Okay, close your left eye," the doctor instructed and Johan did. "Alright, now open your right eye."

Johan obeyed his instructions and slowly opened his eye, and to his surprise, he saw the world for the first time in his memory from that eye, although it was blurry and painfully bright. His heart rocked against his chest with excitement, and as he looked up at where Ericka should be, he slowly saw her image form clearer in his vision. He could see her pale blue dress, hair tie, and most importantly, her pale, beautiful face. He felt so happy he thought he would cry.

"Johan, are you seeing anything?" She asked with bated breath.

"Yes, I can see you," he smiled brightly.

Opening both eyes now, he was caught off guard by his newly extended field of somewhat blurry vision which deepened his joy.

"Thank God!" Ericka clutched her chest right as the doctor stepped in to assess his eye condition. He could hardly focus on what the doctor was saying because he couldn't take his eyes off Ericka.