Blind Date

This Has to Be a Dream

Everything has to be perfect.
Everything has to look perfect.
I have to look perfect.
For her.

••|••

"Man." I cringe, this amount of pain, compared to a headache (a really bad one), hasn't left since I've gotten home.
"Here." Matt handed me a bowl of popcorn. Mostly it was just this constant throbbing, but what do you expect? It was sergury on my eyes. I know I can handle it, but it's just a struggle. "Maybe a comfort food will make it a little better."
"Thinking about the end result makes it better." I smile and kiss his cheek.
Not much has changed. Only difference is I can't even open my eyes. But I couldn't see before period so..
"Would you two shut up?" Kyle gets up off the ground.
"Sorry, angel cakes, didn't mean to disturb you." I mock. "I told you both to go. You don't have to stay!" Neither wanted to leave. They wouldn't, to be correct.
"I'm not going anywhere. What if you fall and the bandages come off?"
"Then I can see and Samson and I will have a party." I hear his old lazy head rise before falling again.
"What if something got into the bandages?" Kyle tries again.
"I'm blind, guys. I have been my entire life, I know how to take care of my eyes." I laugh, eating the food in front of me.
"Let's be truthful Matt. Grace, we want to be here in case they come off and you can see." Everyone goes silent.
"Well, you got til tomorrow then to do all my house work." I reach over and pat Kyle on the head.
"Kyle, cleaning?" Matt laughs and Kyle snorts.
"I can clean!"
"Yeah, sure. Keep telling yourself that buddy."
"I can though! I can use a broom, and the, the- the Vacuum!!" Kyle goes on as they walk farther away, towards the kitchen.
Am I ready for this?
Imagine everything for what it really is, instead of the image I have created in my head. I hope I get some of the things right, maybe even what Kyle and Matthew actually look like.
The thought of seeing the two of them for what they really look like plants a smile on my face, and I sit back and listen to the two bickering over who actually knows how to sweep.
My life is good. With or without my eyesight.

***

"I'm not ready." I squeeze his hand.
"I am." He pulls the strands of my lose hairs behind my ear. "Don't you want to see the world?"
"I already do."
"I mean, through my eyes." He kisses my forehead. Dr. Jones then instructs Matt what to do.
"Just be careful not to damage the eyes. They might be more fragile because they've been shelled away from the environment for so long."
"Don't ruin her chances of seeing altogether Matt." Kyle mumbles from the right corner behind me. He's been quiet and filled with anxiety when I do hear him speak.
"No, Kyle. I'm totally going to try my best to just throw that two thousand I just paid for down the drain." His sarcasm is so thick.
"Just warning ya."
"Just don't be disappointed Matt, if it doesn't work.." I stay cautious, worried his expectations are too high.
"Don't be disappointed when it does work, missy!" He smirks.
"Just pull the bandages off!" Dr. Jones laughs. "Now, Grace, try your hardest to keep your eyes closed when you feel the bandages come off."
"Okay." I feel Matt's fingers peeling away at the corners of the bandages. The pinching on my skin stings, but I grind my teeth, hoping to hide it from him. When the bandages finally come all off, cold air hit's my eyelids. Dr. Jones tells me before he does anything. I can see a brightness of something going across the darkness, which scares me so I jump.
"You saw that?" Kyle gets ecstatic.
"Yeah.. What was it?"
"Light." Dr. Jones states.
"Can you do it again?"
"No." I sigh, "What you can do is open your eyes."
"Open them?"
"Yes. Open them." His voice slowly drifts, telling me that he has backed up. Matt takes my hand and I laugh nervously.
"You ready?"
"No."
"You're ready." His voice smiles and I take a deep breath.
"I'm ready."
"Remember, open slowly, and blink slowly. It's a crucial step in the healing process." I nod.
"How bout I count to three and you open?"
"Okay." I shake.
"One."
Anxiety.
"Two."
Fear.
"Three."
Excitement.

It almost feels painful trying to open my eyes, but I focus on the goal and I keep going. Like before, what Dr. Jones said was called light, it pours into my sight. It's weird and before too long it starts to be a little painful. Shapes started forming, and I was becoming more eager to open them the rest of the way. The shapes turn into extreme blurry images, and I am getting used to the brightness. I see an outline, of something in front of me, and it starts to form, starts to become clearer every second. Features start to form, and I move my right hand out of Matt's grip and I touch the features.
The figure moves and I am shocked. Every second my vision gets better, and before too long, everything is clear. I stare.. at the figure. It's a face.. A chiseled chin, soft lips, light color as his skin.. A clean cut nose.. And eyes, that burned through me. That's what eyes look like.. Hair that swept across the forehead. I bet I looked like a deer in the headlights, which I can now maybe understand that simile. His lips parted and a smile formed. His smile looked so easy, and genuine.
"Grace?"
I start to shake and I laugh nervously.
"Matt?" He smiles even more, and then envelopes me into a hug. I embrace him while looking around the room. We're in a bleek, kind of boring, but roughly big, solid room. I look and find another face, but they won't look at me. Curly and a mixture of frizzy hair, long on top with short cut on the side. I couldn't tell what colors, but the long hair was brighter than the short, but all together, it fit well.
Matt finally let's go and I turn all of my focus on this interesting man. His fingers ran over the long portion of his hair and he looked up at me. His eyes were extremely bright, and his skin was pale. His form was slim, but I really don't know the difference; yet. An overwhelming joy fills his eyes, only in the form of tears.
"All I've ever wanted for you, was happiness."
Tears fill my vision, but I don't like it. I want to see clear. I want to see Kyle.
I stand and embrace my best friend, the one who has been next to me this whole time. He laughs on my shoulder, yet I feel wet tears. This has to be a dream.

A dream come true.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you for reading!

Only get better from here 😏😎

- Emuna_Jasmine