Out of the Darkness - A KathNiel Story

Chapter 39

It took nearly a week, but the doctors slowly brightened her room day by day, before finally opening the curtains to let in natural light. It was completely overwhelming, seeing everything around her for the first time since she was five years old and whenever DJ wasn't in class, he was at the hospital with her. Karla and Rommel spent a lot of time with Kath too during the day, teaching her colors, how to read, and how to write since as she had no idea how to do any of those things. Everything was brand new to her, but she wouldn't change it for the world. She could see her boyfriend's face, the people she loved as parents, and the two girls she loved like sisters, and the little boy she adored like a baby brother. The one thing she hadn't done yet was see her baby or even see herself. There wasn't a mirror in her private bathroom, but DJ had a plan.

He knocked on the door before letting himself in, a small smile on his face when he saw Kath sat up on the bed unsupported and the gauze covering her surgery wounds were gone.

"Hey, beautiful. They took off the gauze?" DJ asked, kissing her lips softly and they both smiled as she kissed him back for a moment before they pulled away from each other.

"Does it look bad?" Kath asked and DJ shook his head, making her turn her head so that he could see better.

She had two identical incisions on her temple the closest they could get to her eye without cutting her actual socket and it was only now that the specialists were saying that Kath's vision was focusing on what would be permanent. She didn't need glasses, she didn't need any extra help with her vision - she just needed to learn how to recognize colors, letters, and numbers because it would help with her headaches, and she was getting better with that every day. Her headaches weren't so bad since Karla brought flashcards during the day, they were originally made for toddlers but it worked wonders in helping Kath recognize what the colors were called and simple words. Everybody was so proud of how far she'd come in such a short period of time and the unborn baby girl continued to thrive, Kath feeling flutters more often as if she was celebrating her Mommy's vision the same way everybody else was. It was incredible to see her bump, to be able to look down and see how much her baby girl had grown instead of just relying on feeling it. She could barely remember what it was like to not be able to see anything, it was like a seventeen-year-long dream.

"You're still beautiful to me," DJ vowed and Kath cracked a smile.

"You're so corny," Kath mumbled self-consciously and DJ chuckled, but it was clear that he was super excited about something.

"I finished the video, I posted it online and everything so you can watch it." DJ blurted and Kath's eyes widened, her heart hammering against her chest.

"You did?" She choked out and DJ nodded his head fast.

"But I want you to see something else first," DJ said, setting his laptop down on the table that was over the bed, leaving him holding something else. "I borrowed this from the hospital salon, just so you know," DJ said and Kath's eyebrows creased in confusion but DJ lifted up the large hand-held mirror that the stylists in the salon usually used to show the client the back of their heads. "Meet you, baby girl." DJ breathed, his eyes burning with tears as he handed her the mirror and she saw herself for the first time. "Look how beautiful you are." DJ breathed, tears running down his face as she started to cry softly, touching her face with her free hand as if trying to prove that the person in the mirror was herself.

"I have badass scars," Kath said, touching the small scars she had over her eyes from the accident, and DJ couldn't help but laugh.

"And when the surgery wounds heal, you'll have two more." DJ teased, kissing her shoulder and Kath looked over at him, admiring her boyfriend - it was like every time she looked at DJ, she noticed something new about him. She adored him, she loved her entire family and she was overwhelmed with support, but she was beyond relieved that her biological family had no idea about the surgery taking place. She didn't feel ready to meet them again yet, not after what happened in the hospital before, what they said about their own grandchild.

"I'm ready to meet our little girl now." Kath breathed and DJ grinned, taking the mirror from her and he set it down before he opened up his laptop, bringing the table closer so that she could see. She winced slightly at the light from the laptop, but it was much easier for her to cope with than it ever was before but she pointed to his laptop background before he could open the internet. "That's us." She noticed and DJ chuckled, pecking her jaw.

"I have lots of footage of us," DJ told her, making Kath smile wider and she cuddled up with DJ as he got the video up, starting to show it to her.