Chapter 6.

Conrad Zoran.

The first time I woke up to absolute darkness, it will haunt me forever.

I remember, regaining consciousness on a soft surface, which I eventually learned was the hospital bed, with the beeping of the Jaret monitor echoing behind me.

The first sensation I felt was my head banging as though it was being beat on like a drum.

The next was pain, aching pain all over my body, yet when I opened my eyes, they refused to open.

“Am I still unconscious? Dreaming?” Those were the thoughts that crossed my mind.

My struggle might have alerted someone to my regained consciousness as the next thing I heard was the concerned voice next to me.

“Conrad? You're awake!” He said this with so much excitement that I wondered how long I had been in this state.

Still feeling a bit groggy, I croaked, “What happened?”

The last thing I remembered was leaving the house for the  board meeting.

“You were in an accident, don't you remember? You've been in a coma for over two weeks,” he divulged with an uneasy tone.

“I,” 

Reaching up to feel my face, as I was fully convinced that something was covering my eyes from opening.

“I don't think you should remove those bandages, oh! I should call the doctor.” I did not hear his voice for a while, but I could still hear footsteps which means he was still in the room, presumably pressing on the call button.

“The doctor should be here soon-” he was cut off by the sound of the door being pushed open.

“Mr Zoran you're awake, wonderful,” The unfamiliar voice uttered in a polite tone.

Disinterested in whatever he had to say, as my focus was solely on my eyes.

“Take the bandages off so that I can see,” I voiced out almost immediately after.

“Yes, the nurse will be here to remove it shortly, but it should have no effects on your sight whatsoever,” He replied in the same tone.

My lips pulled into a frown as I reached up to touch my eyes, and just like he had said, there was nothing obstructing my view, in fact the bandages were a few inches above my eyebrows.

“You came in with some minor fractures and broken limbs, you are healing nicely, but your leg will need a few months along with physiotherapy to heal completely, also…”

I barely heard a word he said as he droned on, still in distress about my inability to see.

It was as if I had a blackout while everybody else was perfectly fine.

“Is something the matter?” The doctor asked, obviously sensing that something was wrong.

I blinked my eyes repeatedly, but nothing changed, all I saw was darkness.

“I can't see.” I answered honestly, beginning to feel anxious.

“You can't see? Doctor what's going on?” Lincoln was the first to speak, sounding as confused as I felt.

“Let me check for a moment,” I heard footsteps coming my way before a presence hovered above me.

The room was filled with a tense silence as we awaited the doctor's next word's.

“Can you see this?” He asked, doing God knows what.

I shook my head with a frown, “No,”

“Or this?” 

I was beginning to get annoyed with the useless questions.

“I said i can't see anything, what fuck is going on?” I snarled already over the whole thing.

I heard him out a sigh, accompanied with shuffling of feet.

“I suspect that you might have lost your eyesight as a result of the head trauma, but we will need to do a scan to know more details about your condition.” 

The one thing that my ears picked up on was the loss of eyesight.

At that moment I did not know what to say, shocked into silence.

I rubbed over my eyes aggressively hoping that it would turn out to be a lie, but no matter how much I rubbed, I could not see anything but darkness.

“I want to go home,” The words came out of my mouth in a resigned tone.

“Mr Zoran, you'll have to do the scan-” The doctor started but I cut him off mid sentence.

“When is the scan?” I asked blankly.

“I can arrange for it to be done in a few minutes,” He rushed out.

I heard Lincoln clear his throat from my other side.

“Please let's do that immediately,” he requested.

The doctor excused himself to do as instructed while I laid on the bed, my emotions bubbling under the surface.

A few minutes later, I was wheeled out if the room to my utter displeasure, but there was no other alternative; I was fucking blind and I could not even walk because of a broken leg.

The test results informed us of what I already suspected.

“I know this isn't easy to process, the accident caused significant trauma to your head which led to your vision. However, whether it is permanent or not can only be determined with time,” My jaw clenched at his words as I gazed into nothingness.

“Additionally, the memory loss you're experiencing is a result of your head injury. It is not uncommon in cases like yours. Right now, your mind is protecting you from the trauma of the event, which is why you don't remember the accident. In some time, the memories may return, or they may not. Either way, we will do the best that we can.”

I swallowed hard, my new reality dawning on me.

“So… I woke up, and just like that, I was blind?”

“Yes,” The doctor answered honestly.

Afterwards, I demanded to be taken home and without protest, Lincoln agreed.

The journey home was spent in tense silence as I had to be wheeled in and out of the car practically incapable of functioning on my own like a normal human being.

“Conrad, I'm considering hiring a nurse to take care of you,” Lincoln started slowly.

My anger flared at his words.

“I don't need a babysitter!” I shut him down immediately.

“But, you need-” He tried again as if he was trying to tame a mad man.

“I said I don't want one, end of story!”