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In The Dark - part 7 of 7
Dawn341@AOL.COMMon, 9 Apr 2001 23:36:12 EDT
In The Dark by Dawn Cunningham - part 7 of 7 For disclaimers, see part 1. ***************************************** For the next hour, they played around in the surf. Duncan finally stepped back and watched as Richie made a game of trying to stay out of the surf. As the wave receded, the young man would follow it, then try to retreat before it came back. He was getting pretty good at judging it before he finally gave up, coming back up to dry sand and flopping down. After resting for a while, they went back to the blankets and ate lunch. Duncan was glad to see how much Richie ate. Ever since the accident, the young man hadn't been eating that much. It was nice to see that his appetite was back. Once they were done, Richie stretched out on his stomach, his head resting on his hands. He sighed, then asked, "Hey, Mac, were you involved in the Civil War?" Wondering what had prompted that question, Duncan replied, "Yes." "Would you tell me about it? There was a special on TV last night, and it kind of got me to wondering..." Duncan got comfortable, then starting telling about his time with the underground railroad, helping slaves to freedom in the north. Tessa knew some of it, since the Scot had told her about his friend, Lucas Desiree, who he'd met during that war. He would have been a good man for Richie to meet. It was too bad he'd lost his head before Duncan had the chance to introduce them to each other. Once he was done, he dragged Richie back down to the wet sand. The tide had been going out ever since they got there, so there was quite a stretch of sand for them to play in. Tessa couldn't resist, and joined them in building a sand castle. Even without being able to see, Richie did quite a good job on his portion. Finally, Duncan called an end to the day. He carried the basket and cooler back up to the car while Tessa shook out the blankets and folded them up. The Scot returned to the beach, and helped Richie up the stairs and back to the car. He winced at the amount of sand the teenager had on his clothes, but didn't say anything. The car could always be cleaned. Once they were back home, everyone headed for their bedrooms to take showers. Richie was already in the living room when Duncan came out. "Did you have a good time today?" the Scot asked, although he already knew the answer. "Yeah, it was great. I guess blind people can have fun, too." Richie paused for a moment, then added, "It wasn't necessary, Mac. I already told you I wouldn't commit suicide. You don't have to prove anything to me anymore." "That's not why I did this, Richie. All I was after was a way to make the day go by fast. If we had fun doing it, all the better. I wasn't trying to prove anything." He didn't bother telling Richie his other reason for the day in the sun. Hopefully, the young man would easily fall asleep tonight instead of spending half the night worrying about the doctor's appointment in the morning. Richie smiled. "Well, it was a great day. Maybe we could do it again, sometime." "Of course. I'd like that, too." Duncan reached out to ruffle Richie's hair. It had been a fun day, and he'd forgotten how relaxing the ocean could be. Now, he just needed to keep the young man relaxed for the rest of the evening. Unfortunately, he had no idea how to do that. Dinner took up part of the evening, but they could only draw that out for so long. Duncan could feel the tension rise as the evening progressed. And it wasn't just Richie. Tessa was almost as bad, and he knew he wasn't far behind. Starting a fire would help two of them, but wouldn't do Richie much good. Likewise, he didn't think putting on operatic music would calm the young man down, either. The only other option was for them to all get drunk, but he really didn't think that was a very good idea. Tessa had other ideas. She pulled Richie over to the couch, then sat down beside him, wrapping her arms around the young man, and pulling him back so he rested against her. "Tell us some more about your past, Duncan," she ordered. "Any specific time period?" Duncan asked while he racked his brain for something that would keep them interested and amused. "Your choice," Tessa said. Duncan settled back in his chair, and started telling them about the friendship between Hugh Fitzcairn, Gina de Valicourt, and himself. Of course, Gina hadn't been married to Robert de Valicourt at the time. He had Richie laughing at the picture of them breaking into Robert's home to steal back something that belonged to Gina. He kept embellishing the story as he told it, making himself and Fitzcairn more bumbling than they had really been at the time. Finally, it was bedtime. Tessa took Richie back to his bedroom while Duncan shut off the gas fireplace, and checked the doors to make sure they were all locked. He was on the way to his own bedroom, when Richie's door opened. "Something wrong, Rich?" "Uh... Could I... I mean it wouldn't hurt if..." The teenager fidgeted nervously. "What? Just say it, Richie." "Well, I was wondering if I could take a sleeping pill? I don't think I can sleep." Normally, Duncan wouldn't have let Richie rely on drugs to sleep, but this was not a normal situation. And since the doctor had prescribed them for the teenager, it couldn't hurt just this once. "Of course, Rich. Go ahead and climb back into bed, and I'll be right back." He hurried back to his bedroom, and retrieved the bottle of pills, then to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Richie had followed orders, and was in bed when Duncan got to his bedroom. "Hold your hand out," he said as he opened the bottle. He shook one pill out onto Richie's outstretched hand. "Here's some water." Duncan set the bottle and the glass down on the nightstand once Richie had swallowed the sleeping pill. He sat down on the bed, then asked, "You hanging in there?" Richie nodded. "Good." He stood up, straightening out the bedcovers where he had been sitting. "Sleep well." Duncan picked up the glass and the bottle of pills, and was almost to the door when Richie's voice stopped him. "Mac?" "Yes?" "Did you take the sleeping pills with you?" "Yes." Duncan prayed that Richie hadn't changed his mind. "Richie sighed. "Good." "You haven't changed your mind, have you?" "No." Richie paused for a moment. "But I just don't want the temptation around - you understand?" "Yes, I understand. Just remember that talking things out can often solve a problem." "Thanks, Mac." Richie yawned widely. "Go to sleep." Duncan watched silently from the doorway until he was sure Richie had fallen asleep. Only then did he turn to his own bed. ***** Monday: "What's taking so long!" Richie complained. It felt like it had been forever since they'd been shown into an exam room, but they were still waiting for the doctor. A strong hand came to rest on his shoulder. "Take it easy. It hasn't been that long," Duncan said. "Well, it feels like forever!" Richie was in no mood to be reasonable. He wanted to know if he could see, and he wanted to know now! Finally, Dr. Mercer joined them. "How are you doing, Richie?" "You tell me." "Any pain in your eyes?" "No." "Okay, let's see how they look. I want you to keep your eyes shut until I tell you to open them." Richie felt the bandages being removed, then the gauze pads. Finally, he heard the words he'd been waiting to here. "All right, Richie. I want you to open your eyes very slowly. If you feel any pain, close them and tell me." The young man took a deep breath, then slowly opened his eyes. All he could see was darkness. Panic almost overwhelmed him. "I can't see! I can't see!" "Calm down, Richie. The room is dark, and I have my hand blocking your eyes. Now, do your eyes hurt in any way?" Richie struggled to control his breathing before he answered. "No." "Okay. I'm going to move my hand. If you feel any pain, close your eyes as fast as you can." It seemed to take an eternity, and Richie fought against his panic the whole time. Slowly, he realized he could see some light. He blinked his eyes furiously, trying to focus. "I can see light!" "Good." Suddenly, Richie realized he could see a hand. It was only about six inches in front of his face. It must have belonged to the doctor, because it kept pulling back. Richie looked around the room, trying to locate Duncan and Tessa. They were standing off to the side, holding on to each other tightly. "I can see!" He turned back to the doctor. "I can see!" "Let's just take a look." The doctor held up some weird gadget with a light in it, and peered through it into Richie's eyes, one at a time. "Yes, I think you're going to be just fine. Let's check out one more thing. Close your eyes for me." Richie followed the doctor's order, but could tell through his closed lids that the room's lights must have been turned on. "All right. Open your eyes slowly. It might take your eyes a little bit of time to adjust to the light, so don't rush it." The young man opened his eyes, pleased that everything was coming into focus. He could even see the tears on Tessa's cheeks. He smiled at her before turning back to the doctor. "No pain." "Great. I'll give you some more medicine that I want you to keep using for the next two weeks. Come back and see me then. Any questions?" Richie shook his head. The doctor handed him a prescription, then left the room. The teenager slid off the examination table, and walked over to his friends. Suddenly, he was engulfed by both of them at the same time. He didn't care. If felt like he had come home. The end.