Untouchable (LGBT - SciFi - Romance)

Chapter 36

The bandages were coming off. He didn't know whether to be relieved or even more frightened. He supposed it would be better to know the truth; after a week in the dark, even a glimpse of light would be a treat.

"Ready?" Dr Yoshida asked, her hands already peeling back the plasfoam. "Your eyes will be sensitive so keep them shut until I tell you to open them. Oh, and don't worry if it appears dim in here, the light is on its lowest setting."

He felt the cool air on his face as the plasfoam was removed. Thank god! Thank god! He could see light against his eyelids. He took a few deep breaths to steady himself.

"Right. You can open your eyes now, slowly, a little at a time." Dr Yoshida's voice instructed him firmly.

He opened his eyes. He could see Dr Yoshida's middle-aged face hovering over him, a young male nurse who he assumed was Tom, beside her. He could see them! He was so relieved it was several seconds before he realised his right eye was only distinguishing light or dark, he was to all intents and purposes blind in that eye.

Dr Yoshida fussed over him for another half an hour, helping him to sit up for the first time, then testing his vision. "Now the bandages are off, we'll be able to work at getting you up and moving around. Tom will supervise your exercises, Captain, until you are strong enough to manage by yourself."

"Will my right eye get any better?" he asked outright.

"It's possible," she replied cautiously, "But, to be honest, I don't expect there will be much improvement."

"What about my memory?" he asked determined to get all the bad news out in the open.

"That's a different matter. There's simply no way of knowing. Your head injury was severe as I said, but the brain is a remarkable organ, it's quite possible your memory will return eventually."

"Or it might not?"

"That's possible too," she answered seriously. "In either case, there's not much you can do about it except try not to worry, as difficult as that sounds."

XXX

The days passed, filled with exercises under Tom's close supervision, and conversations with Colonel Young. The Colonel would visit several times a day, talking to him about current affairs, about his work in the Patrol, trying to trigger his memory. It was odd how he could remember some things, like the fact that Capella was a space station; he could even remember what year it was, but nothing about his personal history. Sometimes the Colonel would casually drop a comment about his past into the conversation, almost as if he was testing him, as if he didn't believe he had really lost his memory. But his memory remained a black hole. Nothing the Colonel talked about triggered his recall. When he looked into the mirror, he saw a stranger.

The first time he had looked at himself had been a shock and a disappointment. It had been the first time he had felt steady enough on his feet to have a shower by himself in the small cubicle attached to his room. He had really hoped the sight of his own face would be familiar, but a stranger stared back at him. The man in the mirror looked older than he was expecting, he felt about thirty but this man looked in his forties, his face worn and lined by exposure to the sun, his hair, growing back now where it had been shaved off for treatment, silver grey. Perhaps the head injury had aged him.

It must have been on the fourth day of his new life that Colonel Young brought a visitor. He was finally out of bed, dressed in hospital issue cotton pants and shirt, but sitting in a chair. It was amazing how much better that felt, as if he was getting back some small portion of control over his life.

It hadn't dawned on him until that moment that no one else had come to see him, except for the Colonel of course. Where were his family, his friends? Surely he must have someone who cared that he had been injured? It was true he couldn't remember anyone but they would still know him.

"I've got a surprise for you this afternoon," Colonel Young came into the room, his lips smiling but his eyes watchful. "I've brought someone to see you. You can come in now," he called to the person waiting in the corridor.

Captain looked up warily, not knowing what, or who, to expect. For a moment he thought the man who came in was going to pass out when he saw him. The colour drained from his face as he stared, his eyes wide, lips parted in shock. It was obvious the stranger knew him. It was also obvious he hadn't been expecting to see him there.

"What ..?" The newcomer swung violently towards the Colonel. "What the fuck is going on? Sir!"

The Colonel was still watching him, ignoring the stranger. He thought he could see a faint flash of disappointment cross Young's face as he realised he didn't recognise the newcomer. Whatever game the Colonel was playing had failed.

He watched both men in silence, waiting to see what would come next.

The newcomer swung back to stare at him again in total disbelief. "You can't be here! You're dead! I saw you, you were dead!"

Well he certainly hadn't expected that!

"I'm sorry, I don't remember. I've lost my memory," he replied. The other man stared back uncomprehendingly. "I don't remember you. I don't remember anything," he repeated. He turned back to the Colonel, giving him an ironic look. "Colonel Young here, on the other hand, appears to know a lot more than he's telling. Perhaps, Colonel, you'd introduce us?"

"Certainly." Young nodded to the newcomer first. "Captain Juan Martinez," then he looked at the man in the chair. "Captain Robin Lang."