Truthful, Beating Heart

Chapter Seven

After a week in the hospital, Tony visited again. When I heard his voice coming from the doorway, my heart sped up. The machine made sure that everyone in the room knew it too. Beep. Beep. Beep.. I blushed and made myself a mental note to ask the doctor if that machine was still necessary. After all, it was my eyes that were the problem, not my heart. If Tony noticed, he didn't say anything. I cleared my throat and said,

"Hey. Come on in." I smiled, hoping that he was looking my way. I turned my wheelchair toward the middle of the room where the couches and chairs were.

"Thanks," he said. By the way he said it, I knew he was smiling. "I brought you a little something." I crinkled my eyebrows, trying to think of something it could be.

"You brought me something?" He set a package in my lap. I felt around it's edges, trying to determine what the mystery object was. "A book?" I asked him. I was confused and I wasn't sure what to say. I felt anger start to creep into my blood and I tried to hold it down. There must have been some reason that Tony gave me, a blind girl, a book. A book that I would never be able to read. I said, becoming more angry, "Is this some sort of sick joke?" Tony must have heard the anger in my voice because he answered quickly.

"No! I didn't mean it like that at all! Just...open it." I hesitated, and slowly ripped opened the package. Then I opened the book. The pages were thick, like pieces of cardboard. I ran my fingers over the pages. I felt tiny, raised dots. Realization dawned on me. I whispered,

"Braille?" The room was completely silent and I was sure that my mom and Tom were watching all of this take place. Tony said,

"Yeah...I thought maybe you and I could learn to read it. I could help tell you which letters are which and if you get stuck on a word I could help with that too." He seemed to be nervous. He asked, "What do you think?" I didn't know what to say. I was so touched that he wanted to help me that I wheeled my chair to where he was sitting and I threw my arms around his neck, making sure not to hit him in the face. He hugged me back and I said,

"Thank you so much." We pulled apart and a tear slipped out of the corner of my eye and I tried to wipe it away without him noticing. It didn't work. He traced the wet trail running down my cheek. I let out a little giggle nervously and looked down. Tony said,

"You're welcome Erin." We sat in silence for a moment and I hugged him again. He asked, "Should we get started?" I nodded and pulled the book off my lap. I opened it to the first page. My fingers ran over the unfamiliar dots.

I knew that we had a long way to go but I didn't care because Bree and Tom and Mom..and Tony..were going to help me through it.

                                                                                      ******

I could feel my own blood running down my face from a cut in my forehead. The headlights from the other car shined in through the window openings of my car. I heard a hysterical male voice yelling words like 'accident, blood, hurt' to someone else. I felt hands on my face. Despite the situation they felt gentle and caring. I was pulled out of the car and set on the tar. Someone was supporting the back of my head with their hand. I tried to open my eyes but all I could see was darkness. I heard a moan escape my lips. The hysterical voice in the background came closer and he yelled to the person that was supporting my head. "Come on! I called the police and they're on the way! She'll be fine! Let's go!" The other voice must have been talking to the person at the police station on the phone. Gently, my head was set on the ground and I could hear the footsteps running away. The other car peeled out and left me in the darkness.

Note from Abby: Hello to my faithful readers! What do you think so far? Feedback would be much appreciated! (: Also...I know I've been updating pretty frequently. I'm going camping until next Monday so I won't be able to update until then! Sports also start on Monday so I will be a lot busier. I will continue to try and update as often as possible! Thanks for reading! Vote/Comment please!! (: