In The Dark - part 1 of 7

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In The Dark by Dawn Cunningham

Disclaimers:

Duncan, Tessa and Richie belong to Rysher. I'm just borrowing them and
not getting paid for it.

Do not post or publish this story anywhere else, without my express
permission. Feel free to share it with others as long as the disclaimers
remain intact. Permission is granted to post this story on the 7th
Dimension Highlander fiction archive

This story is NOT part of my alternate universe. It is a first season
story that takes place some time before Band Of Brothers.

Acknowledgments:

As usual, Melanie Riley deserves a medal for her constant support and
beta reading. Her comments always make my stories better.

Thanks also go to JoAnne for helping me with French translations.

And of course, thanks always goes to those readers who took the time to
send me feedback. Without that, I would have stopped writing long ago.

Comments are always welcome at Dawn341@aol.com

If you wish to read any of my other stories, they are archived at:
http://members.aol.com/dawn341/fiction.html

************

In The Dark by Dawn Cunningham

Wednesday:

Tessa Noel frowned as she glanced around the antique store. Something
was wrong, but she wasn't quite sure what it was. Her eyes finally
settled on the problem - one of the bulbs on the track lighting had
burnt out. Richie should have seen that and fixed it, but sometimes he
could be totally oblivious to the most obvious things. She looked around
for the young man, then decided to change the bulb herself when she
couldn't find him.

She fetched a new bulb from the storage cabinet in her workroom, then
climbed the stairs and walked out on the catwalk until she could reach
the lights. A closer view of the fixtures made it quite obvious that
some serious cleaning was needed. There was enough dirt and dust built
up on the lights to plant flowers. She couldn't really blame Richie for
that. The city had been repairing the street outside the antique store
for over a week. Every time the door opened, dirt and dust blew in. It
had been a constant battle to keep the floors and display cases clean.
Still, this much build-up had to come from more than that. She'd have to
talk to Richie about cleaning the lights on a regular basis.

Tessa fetched cleaning supplies - a bucket, rubber gloves, a rag, and
hot, soapy water. For good measure, she added ammonia to the bucket,
deciding it would help cut through the grime that had baked on. Her eyes
started to water from the fumes, but she turned her head away and
blinked several times to clear them. Once again she headed for the
catwalk where she put the bucket down, and set to work. One by one, she
removed the bulbs and cleaned the fixtures.

She was on her last light when her attention drifted down to the main
floor of the antique store. Duncan was listening intently to something
an elderly, gray-haired woman was telling him. Tessa had to smile. Her
lover had a way of making anyone feel like they were the most important
person in the world. Sometimes, she wondered how she'd ever gotten so
lucky to have him in her life.

She continued to watch him for several moments, enjoying the opportunity
to observe Duncan without him being aware of it. Suddenly, the front
door burst open, and he glanced over toward it. His eyes shifted up and
he spotted Tessa on the catwalk. He smiled at her before returning his
attention to the customer.

For some reason, Tessa felt heat flood through her cheeks at the thought
of being caught spying on Duncan. She stepped back, almost forgetting
where she was for the moment. It wasn't until her foot hit the bucket
that she remembered what she had been doing. She glanced down in time to
see the bucket tipping and she grabbed for it, but it was too late. The
soapy, ammonia-laced water spilled out over the catwalk and through the
open gridwork toward the floor below - straight toward the person who
was walking under the catwalk.

"Richie! Look out!" Tessa screamed.

It was the worst thing she could have done.

Richie paused and looked up.

It was the worst thing he could have done.

He gave an anguished scream as the water splashed onto his face and into
his eyes. Too late, he raised his hands, trying to protect himself, even
as his screams echoed through the store.

Tessa was frozen in place, unable to move as the disaster unfolded
before her. Fortunately, Duncan reacted quicker. He was at Richie's
side, reaching for the young man's hands, even as the teenager collapsed
to his knees.

"Don't rub your eyes, Richie," Duncan ordered, finding it hard to hold
onto Richie as the young man struggled. "You'll only make it worse." He
finally wrapped his arms around the teenager, lifting him to his feet.
He half-carried, half-dragged Richie to the bathroom off the antique
store. He wasted no time turning on the water and sticking the young
man's face directly in its stream.

Richie's screams of pain had stopped, but Duncan could feel the shudders
running through the young man's body. He had to support the teenager to
keep him on his feet.

"Open your eyes, Richie. We need to flush them out."

"They hurt, Mac." The words were spoken so low, Duncan could barely make
them out.

"I know, but you have to open them," Duncan ordered in a stern voice.
For a moment, he thought he'd have to pry the teenager's eyes open, but
Richie finally obeyed.

Tessa joined them at that point, having recovered her wits by the time
Duncan had gotten to Richie. But she'd been on the catwalk and it had
taken her a few moments to get back to the main floor.

"I'm so sorry, Richie," she said, practically in tears. "I tried to warn
you. Je suis desolee."

Duncan could tell that Tessa was on the verge of hysterics, but that
wouldn't help matters. He had to get her focused on helping instead of
blaming herself.

"What was in the water?" he asked.

"Soap and ammonia," she replied. "Will he be all right?"

"Get the first aid kit." Duncan avoided answering the question. Only a
doctor could tell them that. Tessa nodded and hurried away.

"Would you like me to call 911?" a woman's voice asked.

Duncan glanced over at the doorway and saw the customer he'd been
helping before the accident. "Thank you, but by the time they got here,
we'd be at the hospital already."

"Can I help in any other way?"

Duncan shook his head. "No, I think we can manage, but thanks anyway."

"I hope he'll be all right."

"I hope so, too," Duncan replied softly. "I hope so, too."

The woman turned and left once Tessa returned. Dimly, Duncan heard the
store door open, then close. He hoped it wasn't a new customer because
neither he nor Tessa had the time to wait on anyone. He glanced at his
watch, then decided that he'd flushed Richie's eyes long enough. He
reached out and shut off the water. Tessa handed him a towel, and he
lightly patted the teenager's face.

"Close your eyes, Richie, and keep them closed," Duncan said as he
helped the teenager stand up. He quickly stripped off Richie's t-shirt
which had also been doused with the cleaning solution, then sponged off
the teenager's back, shoulders, and chest.

"Tessa, I'll need some gauze pads, and the rolled gauze, too. Richie,
I'm going to put the pads on your eyes to protect them until we can get
to the hospital." He worked quickly, taking the pads from Tessa, soaking
them in water, then lightly placing them on Richie's eyes. Then he took
the roll of gauze and wrapped it around the teenager's head to secure
the pads.

When he finished, he turned to Tessa. "Close up the shop, and get a
clean shirt for Richie while I help him out to the car. Also, bring the
bottles of the soap and ammonia that you used. The doctors may want to
see the ingredients. Okay, Richie, we'll take it nice and easy. Just
trust me - I won't let you run into anything or fall."

Richie nodded and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Okay,
Mac."

Tessa hurried out of the bathroom ahead of them to lock the front door
and put up the closed sign. Duncan placed one arm around Richie's
shoulders, and slowly started walking. It wasn't easy to maneuver the
teenager through the antique store without bumping into anything.
Several times, Duncan was tempted to just pick Richie up and carry him,
but he knew that the teenager wouldn't appreciate it very much. So he
continued on guiding Richie's hesitant steps. Finally, they made it
through the office, then through Tessa's workshop.

Tessa was waiting for them at the backdoor and she handed over a clean
t-shirt. Duncan helped Richie into it, then headed outside with the
teenager. Tessa hurried ahead and opened the front door of the T-bird
before climbing into the back seat. It didn't take long to get Richie
into the car, then Duncan hurried around to the driver's seat.

It seemed to take forever to get to the hospital. Duncan would have
sworn that every stoplight they had come to had turned red just as they
approached, even though he knew it hadn't been true. It didn't help that
every time he turned his head a little to the right, he could see
Richie's bandaged head. Finally, he pulled up at the emergency entrance
and dropped off Tessa and Richie before going to park the car.

Duncan hurried back inside, and found the pair at the registration desk
giving the clerk information. Tessa was doing most of the talking, but
occasionally Richie had to provide some of the answers, which he did in
a monotone. Duncan placed one hand on the teenager's shoulder, which
caused Richie to jump.

"I'm sorry, Rich. I didn't mean to startle you," Duncan apologized,
cursing himself silently. He should have said something first.

"That's okay, Mac." Once again, the words were spoken in a monotone.

The clerk pulled a piece of paper out of her computer printer and slid
it across the counter. "If you'll just sign at the bottom, then you can
have a seat in the waiting room. It shouldn't be too long."

Duncan signed the form, then helped Richie to his feet and over to a
chair in the waiting room. Tessa sat down next to the teenager and
reached for his hand. At first there was no response from Richie, but
soon he was holding on to Tessa as if his life depended on it.

It was so unusual to see Richie sitting still, without saying a word.
Despite the number of times that Duncan had wished for just that, now he
would give anything to have the young man making smart-aleck remarks and
bouncing around the room.

They only had to wait ten minutes before their name was called and they
were taken down a hallway to an examining room. The young nurse who had
accompanied them took Richie's temperature, pulse and blood pressure,
writing them all down on a chart. As she finished, a middle-aged man
came into the room.

"I'm Doctor Mercer," he announced. "I'm an ophthalmologist. I understand
Richie got something splashed in his eyes."

Tessa handed over the bag that she'd brought along. "I had these mixed
with water."

The doctor pulled the bottles out of the bag and studied the labels.
"How long ago?"

Duncan glanced at his watch. "Maybe thirty-five minutes. We flushed his
eyes with water right away."

"That's good. All right, let's take a look." He walked over to a nearby
counter and picked up some scissors. "Richie, I'm going to remove the
bandages. I want you to keep your eyes closed until I tell you to open
them." He cut the bandage wrapped around the teenager's head, then
removed the gauze pads, dropping them into a metal bowl the nurse was
holding. Finally, he pulled a small flashlight from his pocket and
clicked it on.

"Do your eyes burn now?" the doctor asked.

"A little bit," Richie admitted. "But not as bad as when it first
happened."

"Okay. Go ahead and open your eyes slowly." Dr. Mercer aimed the
flashlight toward Richie's eyes as they slowly fluttered open. He
studied them carefully, before clicking the light off.

"Is the room dark?" Richie asked suddenly, panic filling his voice.

"No, it's not," the doctor replied. "Why?"

"I... I can't see anything! I'm blind!"

*****

Three hours later, Duncan watched as a nurse re-bandaged Richie's eyes.
They'd been through a series of tests, but the doctor hadn't said
anything about the results yet. Richie was holding up better than Tessa,
who was obviously struggling with feelings of guilt, but he was still
too quiet.

The doctor came back into the room carrying Richie's file. He placed it
on the counter and stuck his hands in his pockets, before facing them.
"Richie's corneas have been badly burned, but the damage may not be
permanent. I'd like you to come back... let's see, this is Wednesday...
why don't you come back on Monday, and we'll see if there's any
improvement."

"And if there isn't?" Tessa asked.

"Well, it's a little early to worry about that, but we would have to
consider corneal transplants. What's important right now, is that Richie
gets plenty of rest and time to heal."

"We'll make sure he rests," Duncan promised.

The doctor pulled a prescription pad and a pen out of his pocket. "I'm
going to prescribe some drops that will need to be put in Richie's eyes
twice a day. Try to keep the light at a minimum while you do it. The
darker the room, the better. And only open the eyelid enough to place
the drops in. I'll also prescribe some sleeping pills, and some pain
medication." He scribbled out the prescriptions and passed them over to
Duncan. "I'll see you next week." He then left the room.

"Ready to go home?" Duncan asked, once the nurse had finished her task.

"I guess. There's not much else I can do."

Duncan couldn't decide whether it was despair or self-pity that he was
hearing in Richie's voice. The next few days were going to be hard on
the teenager, but the Immortal had a feeling it was going to be rough
for all of them.

*****

Duncan unlocked the back door of the antique store, opened it, then
guided Richie inside. Tessa followed them as he led the teenager towards
the apartment.

"Here are the stairs," he warned. "Step up, Richie."

The teenager managed the first one, then tripped on the second. Only
Duncan's quick reflexes kept Richie from pitching headfirst into the
apartment door.

"Be careful, Richie," Tessa cautioned from behind them.

"How?" Richie burst out, angrily. "I can't see anything and it's all
your fault!"

Duncan winced as he heard Tessa gasp. It was a cruel thing to say, but
he knew Richie was just lashing out because he was afraid. "It wasn't
Tessa's fault - it was just an accident."

There was no reply to that from the teenager. Duncan got Richie safely
inside, then led him over to the couch. "Why don't you lay down and rest
while I fix us something to eat?"

"I'm not hungry. I want to go to my room."

"All right." Duncan led Richie to his room. "Stand there for a minute,"
he ordered before going over to the bed and pulling back the bedspread.
He returned to Richie and helped him to sit down on the edge of the bed
so he could remove the teenager's shoes. Richie scooted back on the bed
and searched with his hand until he found his pillow. Using that as a
reference point, he stretched out on the bed. Duncan pulled the
bedspread up over the young man.

"Do you need anything?"

Richie shook his head.

"All right. Try to get some rest. If you need anything, just yell. I'll
check up on you in a little while."

Duncan returned to the living room where he found Tessa sitting on the
couch, silently crying. He quickly hurried to her side and wrapped his
arms around her. "It wasn't your fault," he pointed out again.

"Yes, it was. I'm always telling Richie to be more careful, and then I
do something stupid like this. Richie could be blind for the rest of his
life, and it would all be my fault! How can I ever make that up to him?"

"First off, we don't know whether Richie will be blind for the rest of
his life, or not." Duncan could only hope that he wouldn't be for
several reasons. First, and foremost, was that he knew it would be hard
for the young man to give up some of his favorite activities, such as
riding his motorcycle. His other major concern was that he had no idea
if this kind of injury would fix itself when Richie died his first
mortal death. He wouldn't last long as a blind Immortal. "If he is, then
we'll help him learn how to overcome his handicap. Others have done it.
But you can't keep blaming yourself. That won't help you or him."

Tessa nodded, and tried to pull herself together. Duncan continued
holding her until she finally pushed him away so that she could stand
up. "Why don't you get Richie's prescriptions filled, and I'll clean up
the mess in the store?" she offered, taking a deep breath and pasting a
determined expression on her face.

Duncan wasn't certain that he should leave Tessa and Richie alone just
yet, but then decided that he wouldn't be gone for that long. "All
right. And I'll stop at the grocery store on the way home. Maybe a
little comfort food like hamburgers and french fries will make Richie
feel better, too."

***** end of part 1

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