I walked into Nick’s ward carrying a coffee and some sandwiches I bought from a
machine down the corridor. I knew how much he avoided hospital food. I didn’t
blame him either.
"Yo Nicky!" I alerted. "I got you some
breakfast!"
I tossed the plastic box containing the sandwiches at him and
handed him the coffee.
"Bri, you are a mind reader!" Nick declared as he dug
into his food.
I watched him and grinned, "Boy, your hungry! I’ve seen
starving lions with less appetite than you!" I joked.
He just grinned, then took a swig of his coffee. "So how long
do I have left in this prison?"
I looked at my watch, "Still got till 10 o clock tonight. 14
and a half hours then you’re a free man!"
"Darn," he complained.
I chuckled and stood up to leave.
Nick’s point of view
"Wait a sec, Rok!" I called to Brian.
He turned and looked back at me.
"I was wondering, what do we do about the media?" I
asked.
Brian thought for a second, "Do you think we should tell them
what happened with your eyes?"
"Well, it would just make them harder to get rid of if we
did. Besides, it was just a mistake!" I stated.
"Yeah, good point. I’ll tell the others." Brian said,
and headed for the door.
It then hit me. What about the stranger, in my room, last night? I
had put off mentioning it to the others for some reason. What if it was
important? Perhaps I should mention it? Maybe I should try and track them down
to find out who they are.
"Erm..Brian?" I called.
"Mmm?" he replied as he glanced over his shoulder.
I though for a bit longer. Perhaps they didn’t want to be
identified.
I hesitated, "Um, nothing."
He just shrugged and walked off.
I didn’t have to mention it. I had my eyesight back. Even though
they were my closest friends, they didn’t have to know.
Later that day, 10:00pm
Kevin’s point of view
"Yo Nicky!" I called. "Time to go!"
Nick sat up, and a wide smile spread across his face,
"Finally!"
"Get your stuff and check out at reception. And meet us by
the back entrance. There’s an entire film crew of the media outside the main
entrance," I instructed.
Nick eagerly packed away his things, if not a little messily. But
I didn’t like hospitals either. Who did?
I headed for the back entrance and joined the others to wait for Nick. When he did
arrive, we got into the security van and left to our hotel.
Nick’s point of view
I got out of the security van and felt the cool air brush my face. The sky was
getting darker, and I looked up at it to see if any stars were out. No sooner than
I had raised my head, Howie walked into my back.
"Woah!" he blurted out in surprise. "What’s holding
you up, Nick?"
"Nothing," I murmured, walking inside.
When I got my room, I dropped my bags on the floor and headed for
the window. I loved the night sky. I became lost in my thoughts until Brian
poked his head around my door, "You OK, Frack?"
"Don’t you ever knock?" I complained, turning to him.
"Oh, sorry," he laughed, stepping inside. "So what
ya doin’?"
"Nothing," I told him, looking at the sky again.
"I’ve just realised how much I’ve taken sight for granted."
"Well, they always say you don’t realise that until you lose
it," he told me. He came and joined me by the window.
"It’s just hard to believe I almost lost it," I claimed
quietly.
We stood in silence for a few minutes. Brian broke the silence.
"You do know we’re on tour in a couple of months,
Frack."
"Yeah," I confirmed. "Good job it’s not a couple of
weeks!"
Brian raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"
I looked to him, "Well, you arm has to get better, don’t
it?"
"I guess," he grinned as he turned to leave.
I resumed my stargazing. I was trying to get my life back to
normal, but even though it seemed the diagnosis of my blindness was a simple
mistake, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the stranger in my room the previous
night was responsible in some way. And that this girl was the one that gave me
back my vision.
Confused and still very tired, I left my stuff to unpack in the
morning, and went straight to bed.
***