Look through my Eyes

Prologue

I never imagined that my life would take the course that it did today. But then again, my life never went according to plan. As far as I was concerned, Life couldn't kick me further down the streets. Ever since I was a little girl, the other kids have bullied me. At first, it was only a few; mostly some boys who wanted to act tough. But as the years progressed, more and more classmates joined in, until my whole class picked on me.

Maybe it was because I decided to stay myself; I wore the clothes that I liked, I did the stuff that I wanted and most of all, I never joined any of the groups that were scattered on the school grounds. It could be because I wasn't a snob, geek or whatever classification; I was just me, being normal and myself.

This morning, on my 17th birthday, I had left home to go to school like every other day, fear clawing it's way in my heart when I walked through those gates. My routine had been the same; I had kissed my mom goodbye while I glanced over her shoulder to wave at dad and my little sister.

Right now, I was slowly waking up in the hospital, my body felt battered and broken. An annoying beeping sound sliced through my head while I groaned softly. What happened? Soft hands brushed over my face, stroking against my cheek. The next thing that my mind could register was my mom's voice.

"Kim? Kimberly, can you hear me honey? Are you awake?" Her voice was...off; it cracked and sounded shaky. "Hmmm." I hummed affirmative while I opened my eyes. Only to be greeted by darkness. I shot up in bed and brought my hand to my face, trying to feel what's wrong.

A warm, enormous hand engulfed mine, stopping my frantic search for the reason of this darkness. "Honey, I don't think that's a good idea..." father said with a soothing voice but I ignored him, yanking my hand out of his to slowly trail it over my face.

I stopped at my nose; a soft band ran over it. Slowly following it, my fingers started to tremble when I found a wad of cotton wool over my eyes, pushed against them by the bandage. Flashes of what happened shot through my head; some of my classmates punching and kicking me while others took pictures of it. The leader of the whole band, who walked towards me with a baseball bat.

Hands pushed me down when tears started rolling over my cheeks and I heard mom and dad argue with each other but I wasn't paying attention. What was wrong with me? Before I could start to hyperventilate, the door brushed open and footsteps walked in.

A soft women's voice asked, "You called for assistance?" followed by quick steps towards my bed and a cool hand against mine. "Miss Hale? I'm Sandra." The woman said in a calm tone. I heard my mom's muffled cries to my right while this Sandra explained, "I'm your nurse for the time being. You were taken to the hospital yesterday evening. One off the students had called 911. Don't worry Miss; you're in good hands. "

My head was spinning by now and I took deep breaths to calm down, although I had to struggle. My ribs felt sore from the beating they have endured and I could imagine that I was covered in bruises.

My mind was flashing from one scenario to another, hoping that I wouldn't have to endure the worst option. The sound of chairs scraping over the floor made me jump slightly and I felt the warmth of somebody close by. This time, a male spoke up.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hale?" I could hear my mother gasp while my father asked hesitantly, "Doctor Peters, how did the operation- her eyes-" my father trailed off, pain and agitation clear in his voice. It made me feel miserable; he shouldn't feel this way. The doctor's voice sounded closer while he said "Let's discuss this topic with your daughter, shall we?"

A firm hand landed on mine while I could feel softer, cooler hands fuss with the bandage around my head. "Miss Hale, I am Doctor Peters, specialized in eye-surgery. I'm sorry but I have to go through the basic questions before we can continue." He then started asking me simple questions: Who am I, how old I was, where was I, what day is it, and so on.

I was wrong on the date but for the rest, I had answered every question like I should have. Swallowing audibly, I pointed a shaky finger towards my eyes while I mumbled, "Can someone explain what is going on?"

The doctor sighed before he said, "According to the police statements and the observation in the E.R., you were brought in with several bruises, head trauma and a few broken bones. We believe you have suffered several impacts with a blunt object?"

I opened my mouth to reply but I had temporarily lost my voice. I cleared my throat and managed to wring out "Baseball bat." Mom's whimper and Dad's ferocious roar told me that they had heard me.

"Well, due to the trauma, the pressure in your eyes was rapidly building up and by the time that the aggressor's sister had called us, the central nerves in your eyes were already severely damaged." A shocked silence filled the room before my mom whispered, "Do you mean that Kim is-is..."

"I'm afraid that your daughter is completely blind. I'm sorry." Doctor Peeters apologized before father started hearing him out. I was already slipping in my own personal black hole.

I'm blind! Blind! Why did this happen?

The future that I had planned out, my future of being a graphic designer, gone. Just poof, thrown away by a classmate and for what?

All I could think about now were the things that I couldn't do anymore and that I would never be able to. I couldn't look at my family's faces anymore. No more movie-nights. I wouldn't be able to drive a car. I would always be dependent on someone.

Running footsteps were clearly heard in my room before my door smashed open and a girl screamed my name. "O god, Kim! What did they do to you?" Before anyone could answer her, a gust of wind blew over my face and I felt her grab my hand.

"Kath, I-I-..." I took a deep breath; I owned my best friend an explanation. Tears started to fall again when it really started to sink in. "I'm blind." I said in shock. Kath whimpered loudly before we both started crying while she hugged me. The doctor's voice was drowned out and when the nurse suggested that Kath should leave, we both nearly exploded.

"Don't you dare to tell me that I can't comfort my best friend!" Kath screamed from the top of her lungs while I begged, "Please don't send her away!". When everyone calmed down and Kath was fully informed, I felt her gently squeeze my hand.

"I won't blame you if you drop me now, Kath." I whispered. Kath reacted immediately with a firm tone to her voice, although I could still feel the tears drop onto my bare arm.

"You listen and you listen carefully. I had promised you that we would be best friends forever and I meant it! So don't you dare to try and be the brave kid who can handle the world." Kath squeezed my hands again before she continued, "We are in this together and I will help you through, okay?"

I felt my throat swell up at Kath's devotion. We knew each other from when we were running in diapers but I never thought she would be this noble. I nodded my head while I grabbed her hand with both of mine, holding tightly to my light through the darkness.

"Together." I said with a watery smile.