Over a week had passed since we had left Jax with Creso. The longer we took, the more apprehensive I became. We had felt certain that Creso wouldn’t do anything to Jax, but we were wrong. In the final moments before I lost my vision I was able to see Jax. Blood dripped from his panic stricken face as Creso grabbed him off the ground and pulled him to his feet like a ragdoll. In the moments after I lost my vision, I heard Fuchsia and Keri’s screams and the squealing tires of our car as Sina arrived. I later found out Fuchsia had been hit by a bullet, but she had managed to grab my arm and drag me into the car along with her mother. 

My eyes watered underneath the bandages as I impatiently waited for Fuchsia to remove them. It had been several days since she had operated on me. When I first awoke from the surgery I had felt a heaviness from my new eye. My skin felt raw and sore against the non-organic surface.  I was ready to get this over with so we could leave. 

I heard movement near me, and it put me on guard. I must have looked nervous because Fuchsia said, “alright Bren! Are you ready?”

 

I simply nodded. At times like this I was grateful that I had an artificial heart, because surely by now it would have taken flight. I flinched as I felt Fuchsia’s cold fingers on my face, and thought I could feel a slight tremble in her touch. I swallowed back my fear and told her, “everything is going to be fine, Fuchsia. I trust you. Now remove the bandages, please.” 

She withdrew her hand from my face and then I heard metal clinking together. Cold metal touched my face as I felt the bandages begin to loosen. A few minutes passed as the cloth bandages fell into my lap, leaving the soft circular gauze in place. 

Fuchsia said, “mom, dim the lights for me.”

Seconds later, I felt cool air replace the warmth that had been sealed underneath and it caused my whole body to tremble. My right eye opened easily, but it felt strange, perhaps a little stiff and sore. I tried to open my left eye but a slight sting radiated behind my new eye. “Don’t force it Bren, there may be some swelling,” Fuchsia said. 

My vision was blurry in my right eye, but I knew this was probably normal so I remained calm. I waited while Fuchsia gently worked on my eye. After she examined the outside of the eye she said, “I am going to have to administer a steroid injection in the tissue beside your eyeball. I am going to carefully lift the lid and insert the needle, so I need you to stay still.”

It was a little painful as she pulled the tender skin open, but it was more startling when the light entered. It felt like I was looking at the sun and I wanted to shut my left eye and force the light out. After about 20-30 min I felt like I could move my eyelid freely. I slowly began to crack it and when I felt no resistance I opened it fully. I grabbed the table as I experienced sensory overload, I felt like the world was spinning. Like a child’s kaleidoscope, colors and shapes rotated in front of me like they were trying to find their correct place. I placed my hand over my mouth feeling sickness rise from my stomach. My head throbbed as my brain tried to make sense of this chaotic visual input. Fuchsia calmly tried to talk me through what I was experiencing.

“Bren, it is going to take a couple of hours for your vision to stabilize. Your brain has to adjust and learn how to communicate properly with the neural link and new eye. You can rest here and we can talk about our plans later,” Fuchsia said.

I felt dizzy and a little strange, but I had no intention of resting any longer. I pushed myself off the table and said, “I will need some help making it to the living room but I want to go ahead and talk. If I can see properly, and no other problems arise I want to leave at sunrise tomorrow.”

Fuchsia sighed and placed a hand on my arm and said, “I don’t want to wait any longer either so I am not going to argue with you.” 

She guided me to the living room and helped me sit down. Sina was already sitting on the sofa and I could tell she was staring at me. I turned my head in her direction, the movement causing a wave of dizzy vertigo. I have always appreciated Sina’s direct and straightforward personality so I waited for her to speak. When she didn’t say anything, I jokingly asked, “are you going to say something or just stare?” 

Sina chuckled and said, “it is going to take some getting used to! How well can you see?”

I looked back forward and said, “ not too well yet.”

I blinked my eyes a couple of times, the pieces were starting to come together but if I moved it 

was like everything scattered. I held my head as still as I could and I was able to see Fuchsia but everytime she moved it would make the pieces scatter again too. I was getting a worse headache as I tried harder to focus. 

***

We talked for several hours about what would be the best approach for rescuing Jax. We couldn’t rely a hundred percent on my abilities considering my current situation. Our current plan is for the three of us to leave in the morning and head back towards Jax. Thankfully, Fuchsia placed a subdermal tracker on him so we know exactly where he is. We know that they moved him to another facility, and according to Fuchsia, it is an old hospital. Sina and I are going to infiltrate the hospital and locate Jax. Hopefully, with minimal confrontation and casualties. We will be better prepared when we go up against Creso’s men this time. 

The vision in my new eye is mostly clear now. I am surprised that the neural link has been able to create a successful communication bridge so fast. I walked to the bathroom, finally ready to see what my new implant looks like. 

I leaned against the sink and took a deep breath. Nervously, I looked into the darkened mirror trying to get a glimpse of it before I turned the light on. All of a sudden I felt a strange sensation in my new eye and I could see a glowing blue circular ring rotate rhythmically in my eye. A few seconds later my vision was clear and I could see. Shocked, I stared into the mirror and said, “you never fail to amaze me, Fuchsia!”