" Hold still for a moment
while I put these eye drops in. Look
off to the side; that's good." A
couple of drops splashed into the corner of my right eye. " Now the other eye, look off to the side, that will do
it." I felt a mild burning
sensation as the fluid around my eyes came in contact with my eyelids. " You really are very lucky,
considering how close that bottle rocket was when it blew up in front of you. Every year I have at least one patient who
has a fire-works related injury. The
damn things should be banned all together." He turned on an ultraviolet light and had me
look one way and then the other. He had
a large round magnifying glass that was suspended on a long swing arm that
looked similar to something one would see at the dentist's office. " I don't see any more fragments. Like I said, you're very lucky. "
" It was a freak
accident." Lucy went on to explain
to Dr. Entremont how a bottle rocket had gone astray and exploded in my face,
once more. She did have a quiet way of
getting things done when they needed to be done. I hardly remember being driven to the night
clinic. I do remember the way she
scolded me the entire time. " We
put a soft cloth compress on his eyes right away to keep him from moving them." She'd done everything about as good as could
be expected.
" You did just what you were
supposed to or there might have been even more damage. " He pushed the magnifying glass aside as he
reached into a cabinet that was just above the sink. He handed Lucy a small white plastic stopper
bottle. When you get him home I want
you to put a couple of drops of this into each eye. It will help with the pain so he can get some
sleep; more over, it will relieve the itching so he won't be tempted to scratch
at himself. The other drops are mostly
antibiotic, these are for pain."
" How long will the burning last?
" It was difficult to keep my eyes
open with the intense stinging. I
wanted to rub my eyes but I knew better as a steady stream of tears helped to
wash away the last of the gun powder that had burst into my eyes. We had been having such a good time
lighting the rockets and watching them streak wildly into the night sky. I'm not sure exactly what happened other
than the glue that held the thick part of the rocket to its stick must have
given way and it just took off doing a cart wheel. We all scattered as it danced down the street
instead of going skyward. It bounced
one way and then another with no specific direction at all until it hit the
base of the curb and came right at me.
I moved my hands to cover my face and it blew up at the same
moment. I remember feeling something
hit the bridge of my nose and that burnt sulfur smell filled my nostrils. My ears went numb for a while and I was
afraid to open my eyes. I knew I had
something in my eyes so I had them run the water hose over my face. It hurt so bad that I was afraid I had really
messed up. It was like someone had
lifted my eyelids and poured salt inside.
" You should plan on keeping your
activities to a minimum for at least twenty four hours, forty eight if
possible. You have a corneal abrasion
and some slight burns on the edges of your eye lids. Those eye drops that I gave your wife have
pain medication along with an anti-bacterial solution. Put two drops of this . . .", showing
us the brown bottle that had the antibiotic,
" . .in each eye every four hours until its all
gone. It's just past ten o'clock now so
you need to do it again at two and then again at six. Don't let the burning bother you too
much. Keep yours eyes closed as if you
were relaxing, don't try to force them
shut as that will only aggravate the situation." I listened as he went over the instructions
carefully. At least he was honest about
it; he said it would be painful and it was.
I relaxed as best I could and kept from moving my eyes around; it did
seem to hurt a little less.
" Did he do any permanent damage?
" Lucy asked as we waited as he
formed his answer. She was worried enough
for the two of us. She knew that if I
were going to be out of work for any length of time that not only would the
budget get tight very quickly; but that I tended to become a bear when I had to
stay around the house. Once I had torn
something in my knee and had to walk around on crutches for a few weeks. She was ready to toss me out because of my
attitude. My attitude was fine and
dandy, mild and easy to get along with; like a swarm of angry bees that have
had a stick poked in the hive.
" I need my eyes to
work." It wasn't like a carpenter
cutting off a finger; that was sort
of a symbol of being a journeyman. I was a locksmith and most of my work
involved being able to see. " If
someone locks the keys inside a car and I can see the key then I can make a key
just from seeing the key. I've had some
fun with this. Once I looked in and the
key was particularly easy to read and I didn't take but a moment looking at
it. I walked back to "clip"
the door key with my hand held cutter and realized that the customer had not
figured out what I was doing. I had
already made the key that would open the car; but rather than open the car, I
decided to see how far I could take it.
I then took a plain key from the rack, which I showed him. He saw me place what he thought was that same
key in the key hole on his car while I
explained that it was made of a very special metal that would absorb the
combination of his lock and make the key all by itself. I went as far as to time it for two minutes;
tapping the end of the key, just for effect, every once in a while to check its
" progress ". The customer's
eyes widened with disbelief when the key turned to unlock his car; and yet he
had actually witnessed the miracle .
What he had not seen was me palm the uncut key and replace it with the
key that I had just clipped out to match his combination." It was good for business too; magic tricks
that are done well are more valuable than those that can be easily
explained. " I'll bet he told all
his friends about it. Its a sure bet
that if it ever happens again, the show won't be nearly as impressive.
"
" So, you enjoy your work, opening cars?" There was a puzzled look on his face."
And you can make a living opening cars like this? " I was tempted to tell him that I also make
keys to banks so that I could make night withdrawals; but thought better of
it. Actually, a very small percentage of my work involved
car openings. My specialty was to
restore lost keys; the largest portion of my business came from car
dealerships.
" I make keys for used cars
dealers. They lose keys all the
time. Most of what I do is art work,
kind of like metal sculpture. In a nut
shell; I take a plain ordinary key blank, and by putting it in a bind within
the lock, very small marks appear on the edge the key. I file those marks until the key fits the
lock. I've over simplified the process;
but its important that you understand that
I need to be able to see. How
long will I be out of work?"
" That's hard to say for
sure. It looks pretty good at this
point. I will want to see you back here
in five days. You must have had luck
on your side this time; please stay away from playing with fire works.
" He shook his head as he turned
and went to wash his hands off in the sink.
" Remember, no work for at least one full day. " We started to head out of the office, " Let me know how that pain medicine
works. Its a new product line that just
came out." He handed Lucy a
business card with my next appointment filled in. " My home phone number is on there too
if you need anything."
" Yes sir and thank you for being
open so late. " Lucy led me out of
the office and out into the parking lot.
The drive home was very quiet.
Lucy, an aggressive driver most of the time, made it a point to drive at
a snails pace and avoided the pot holes all the way. As soon as we got in the house she had me
get into bed so that she could put the pain eye drops in. When the drops hit the corners of my eyes
they felt like little ice cubes that melted across the surface of my lids. The pain went away so quickly that I was
able to drift off to sleep.
________________________________
" Time for some more drops.
" I felt the corners of my eyes
being opened and before I could object two drops splashed in.
" Damn it all, the least you
could do is let me wake up before you attack me like that." I could be abusive at times and Lucy was the
target this time.
" I suppose you would have gotten
up and walked to the bathroom, have a look around, then put these drops in
yourself. You don't have to act like a
two year old. I know that this isn't
any fun." She leaned over me so
that she could get the drops in my other eye and as she did her breasts hovered
over me as a distraction. I lightly
stroked the thin silky fabric that covered them to let her know that I wasn't
really angry with her, far from it.
" What have we here? " , I
asked playfully.
" Not right now ", she
giggled as the touching stimulated and aroused her. The drops went in and she left me to get back
to sleep. The pain medicine had worn
off and it was difficult to close my eyes.
" I could use some of the other
drops too." I called out into the
darkness as I could see the soft light that made it under the door that led to
the living room. I waited for a while
and asked again. " Could you get me
some of those pain drops; please?
"
The door opened and she sat down
beside me. " Is it bothering you
that much?" She put a couple of
drops in my right eye and the chilly feeling spread across as it had
before. Then she did the same for the
other eye and for a while the pain retreated.
It was like there was a thin layer of ice forming to protect the rough
surface beneath it. I went back to sleep
until the morning.
__________________________
" How do you feel? ", she
asked as I began to stir. I moved my
eyes about prior to actually opening them.
I was surprised to find that most of the irritation was gone. The sand paper effect was gone, almost as if
there had been no injury at all. I
opened my eyes and let the light in.
Lucy looked at me closely as she put the drops in, as per the doctor's
instructions.
" Well, how do they look?
" I asked as I winked at her with
my eyebrows.
" They look different; I don't know, just different somehow.
" She got the small magnifying
glass from my desk and turned the lamp on that was next to me. " It looks like you have some kind of
thin film covering your whole eye; like a big contact lens or something. Can you feel it ? "
" I don't feel the pain and
that's what counts for now.", as I blinked a few times to see if I could
discern the layer of film that she had seen.
" No, I don't feel it. "
It did not seem to affect my vision.
" Its probably just some mucous produced as a natural healing product." I looked in the mirror and there definitely
was a thin film or something covering both of my eyes.
______________________________
" I think you should call the
doctor and tell him about this. Its
been four days now and that film is getting thicker each day." Lucy put the drops in and studied the layer
that now was quiet noticeable. " I
don't like this at all; it scares me."
" I have an appointment for
tomorrow, it can wait 'till then."
I blinked to let the drops disperse and to enjoy the coolness that they
brought. " Anyway, I think my
vision has improved. I was able to read
the newspaper without my glasses yesterday.
I haven't been able to do that in years.
Maybe this coating is like a natural contact lens; like when they do RK to surgically correct vision or
something." I held the magnifying
glass to look as closely as I could into the mirror. " I can live with it."
" Well I still think you should
ask him about it." She shook the
bottle, " These are about used up.
I wish your appointment was for today.
Are you sure you feel okay? "
The soft tone in her voice was that of anxious love.
" I'll call him right now, dear."
I had learned that it was better to lose some times rather than think
you could win. " Did you notice how
they acted like sunglasses when I went out to get the paper? I can ask him about that too."
" What was that about
sunglasses? I thought you just bought
some nice ones a couple of months ago.
You might have left them in my car from the other day. " Lucy had not heard a word I had said as she
kept loading dishes into the cupboard from the dish washer.
" Never mind, it wasn't important." I went over to the mirror and watched as
the large lens type growth that had attached itself to me began to turn clear
now that I was away from the sunlight.
It didn't hurt; but it did bother me as I wondered about it. I would have some answers tomorrow; until
then I wasn't going to put any more of those drops into my eyes.
_________________________
" This is interesting. You say that it doesn't hurt, not even a
little? " He looked at my eyes from
all sorts of different angles in an attempt to understand the abnormal film
that had attached itself to my eyes.
" No sir, and it seems to have
improved my normal vision too. Is that
possible or am I just imagining that? "
I could tell that Dr. Entremont was at a loss to explain what had
happened. " Oh, I almost forgot,
when I went outside to get the paper it was like I had put on my
sunglasses. I went inside and that lens
thing cleared right up."
" I can't explain it; but there
is a marked improvement in all levels of your vision." He reviewed my last eye test and put it next
to the one I had just taken. " And
your injury is healed as if it had never happened." I want to have Dr. Ormandy, a specialist,
have a look at you. His office is on
the fourth floor and it won't cost you a penny. Is that okay with you? " He was dialing the number before I could
respond. " Jack, we'll be there in a few minutes, thank
you." As we walked down the hall to
the elevators I did notice something different, it was similar to the
photochromic response I'd had to the sunlight; except this was more
disconcerting. I noticed that some of
the fabric on Dr. Entremont's lab jacket
appeared to blink out; no, more like drop out. The fibers seemed to have changed from
being solid to a blend of translucent and solid. I took hold of the edge of his coat and drew
it up closer to where I could study it.
" I suppose this would qualify as
different. " I let go of his lab
coat and let it fall.
" Just what did you see? ",
he asked as he felt the fabric with his own hands, and looked for a mustard
stain or some other reason for my reaction.
" Oh, nothing much, unless you
can explain why I can see right through your lab coat, that is, most of
it. Some of the fiber looks perfectly
normal, but some of it isn't. That
doesn't sound very intelligent does it? " I thought for a moment, " Its like you
had hollow fibers mixed with regular fibers; oh hell, I guess that's what I
mean." We stepped onto the elevator
and the door closed. He looked at me
and there was a definite reaction on his face when he looked at me.
" Your eyes! They are all blue, all blue! "
" Always have been, blue that
is." The whole wall on the back of
the elevator was one big mirror with the exception of the hand rail. I turned and looked for myself to see what
had bothered him so much. "
Damn! What the hell is that? " The film that had coated my eyes was almost
a gun steel blue which took up the entire surface, completely blocking out the
white portion. The elevator door opened
onto the fourth floor and we walked with a little more haste to see his friend
the specialist. When the door to his
office opened I took a seat and went over in my mind what I had just
experienced. It was a very comfortable
waiting area with above average furniture.
I looked at the lab coat and it had somehow returned to looking like a
solid fabric. I could not help but
blink a couple of times as I did a double take.
" Are you all right? ", he asked as he noticed my mannerism.
" Its gone back to normal. "
" So have your eyes. " He walked back across the room and stooped
over as he examined them up close.
" They are changed back."
He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head to sum up his understanding
of what he had just observed. About
that time the door that led back to the inner office area opened and a very
attractive young woman presented herself and gestured to us. The stark white uniform she wore was almost
blinding in contrast to the rest of the background.
" Why don't you all come back
here. " Dr. Entremont had me go
before him as he held out my file folder to hand to her.
" Tell him what just happened on
the elevator; go on , tell
him." I folded my arms as a
reaction to the feeling I was getting from this " specialist ". I had been in his waiting area, which gave
me the impression that a great deal of money had been spent to give off a
certain lavish look. I had been to an
attorney's office once a long time ago and his office was similar. When I got the bill for my half hour visit
I understood how he could afford all those nice furnishings. I suppose it showed a lack of respect for
his professional achievement; all the same it bothered me. He took the folder from the young woman and
she took a few steps back from his desk and waited like a trained seal for his
next command. He read over the cover
sheet and raised his brow as he got through some of the comments that had been
penned by Dr. Entremont.
" Come take a look at the Sclera,
the way it has been blotted out by what appears to be a second Cornea. ",
pointing to the visible layer of film that had grown. " There on the edges; do you see those
blood vessels? I tell you they were not
there when I examined him four days ago."
He was becoming more excited with each moment.
" There surely must be a good
explanation for all of this.", as he studied my eyes through one of those
funny looking mirrors with the hole in the center. " Any history of eye problems in your
family; cataract, glaucoma or anything that might . . ."
" No, no , and no." I interrupted his question as it was leading
down the wrong road. " Its like I
told Dr. Entremont; I think this has
something to do with those eye drops."
" What kind of drops? "
" Napier III, that new stuff out
of Lilly." Dr. Entremont
said. I picked up on his tonal change;
like he had something he was ashamed of.
" Hummm. " Not much of an answer as I studied the look
that Dr. Ormandy returned to Dr. Entremont."
" I know, it hasn't been fully
tested; but it seemed like it would be just the thing for his type of
injury." It appeared that Dr.
Entremont had used me as a guinea pig to try out a new drug.
" You say it sped up the healing
time by seventy five percent, hmmm."
He was checking the results of the eye test that were in the
folder. " What's this about
something happening on the way up here on the elevator?"
" We left my office and in just a
few moments the lens changed color to a deep blue that covered the whole of his
eye. He claims that during this time
he was unable to see certain pigmentation.
When we got here it was gone; as if it never happened." He continued to examine me as if he
questioned his own observation skills.
" Maybe it was the kind of lighting in the elevator. That might explain it; what do you
think?"
" The lights in the
elevator? No, I don't see how. There are no special lights in there, just
plain fluorescent lights. I know because
I've complained to the management that they make everyone look pale and
sickly. I hate fluorescent lighting;
you won't find any in my offices."
" Then lets go back to the
elevator and try looking at them under florescent lighting to see what
happens." I suggested in a matter
of fact way.
" That does seem to be a logical
suggestion, and it would only take a few
minutes. to do." I was no fan of
that kind of lighting either, it made it
look like they were blinking all the time;
gave me a head ache. I much
preferred incandescent lighting. As
soon as the light from behind the large panels landed on my eyes I could feel a
surge that started in the corners of my eyes; almost like a tightening of a
band of muscles that worked its way all the way around until both of my eyes
had adjusted to the flickering pale white light.
" There, see how those blood
vessels have swollen and that disk has taken over the whole Sclera." He pointed out his observation of the
obvious.
" I can see, I can see. You say this has all come about in the last
few days? ", looking back for the positive nod from both of us. We got back out of the elevator and walked
back towards Dr. Ormandy's office. The
effect lasted much longer this time. We
stood at the entrance to his office, the young assistant stood just inside the
office; her head tilted a degree off from
center, as she tried to figure out what her next assignment would be.
" Try to explain this; I see that
you have a scar on your chest right there", pointing to and touching it
simultaneously. " Most people
couldn't see it because you have a shirt that covers it; but I can see it
plainly through your shirt." I
wondered out loud, " That's funny; I can see through your shirt but I
can't see through yours. What kind of
fabric are they made out of? "
" Mine are one hundred percent
cotton. What are yours?"
" Hell, I don't know; let me look
at the label." Dr. Ormandy took
off his shirt and sure enough there was a scar on his chest. It was exactly the same as the one I had.
" Did you have a collapsed lung
at one time too? " I pointed back
to his scar and at the same time pulled the top of my shirt just enough to
expose my own scar. It was only about an
inch wide and mostly hidden by the dark outcropping of hair that had covered my
forty five year old chest. He nodded
that he had as he looked at me; only this time his level of arrogance had
dropped off to a more tolerable level.
" Hurt like the Dickens; didn't
it? " His words laughed and yet
reflected his own knowledge of that specific kind of pain. I nodded back with a sober expression as I
momentarily remembered those terrible minutes of my life that had been
hidden by the years; being nearly
forgotten.
" Yes, it did. " I let the material of my shirt return to its
natural hang.
" Polyester and Cotton, its sixty
five percent Polyester and thirty five percent Cotton. ", as he put his
shirt back on.
" I figure that's about
right. I can see through most of your
shirt with a few lines of real material scattered across like a fish net. Yea, like a fish net; no, more like a very
loose weave. That about covers the way
I see it." I looked back and
noticed that the technical assistant was standing there naked with the
exception of her lab coat. I hadn't
expected to see so much at one time as I covered my eyes and blushed. I looked away and tried to look at the
ceiling.
" Is there something wrong with
my assistant?" He looked back
towards the young technician. She had
been listening to the strange conversation.
She began to feel a little uncertain of herself as a smile crept across
my face.
" Let me guess; one hundred percent polyester? It was like she was wearing a dress made up
of clear cellophane threads that had been woven together and yet let the
original landscape show through, as it were.
I had seen jelly fish that you could see clear through as they bobbed
about on the other side of a massive wall of retaining glass at the Chicago
Aquarium. It was a little like that as I
glimpsed another look just before she left the room rather hurriedly.
" I don't think we need to test
your eye sight, at least not on Miss O'Connor.
Can we get back to a more scientific examination; if you please? "
" That's okay with me; tell her she has nothing to be ashamed,
nothin' at all." I had to laugh
just a little as the thought lingered.
" If you please? "
" So any first guesses as to
what's going on here? "
" With what little I know about
fluorescent lights, I would guess that it has something to do with a generated
field of electricity that has a signature or a specific frequency that matches
that of the fibers. I know that there
is a practical working model of a coated pane of glass that becomes transparent
or totally opaque depending on the current of electricity that is either switched
on or off. Maybe this is something
similar; except that this is an organic filter / counter filter."
" Where do you get this stuff,
comic books? "
" Actually I read a lot and watch
the Discovery Channel instead of Wheel of Fortune. I used to get a publication from the Academy
of Sciences when I was a kid. I knew all
about ridged sailed multiple hulled ships long before they became available to
the regular public. If it weren't for
the high price of fuel oil I suppose these technological advances would never
see the light of day."
" So what would happen if we
altered the frequency? Would his
ability to see improve or diminish? "
This was all beginning to sound a little too weird for me.
" Excuse me; but could I get you
to back up at least one giant step. Is
this doing any damage to my eyes and can you reverse the situation? " It seemed like a proper request from two
doctors who were supposed to be treating my medical condition. I was mistaken, these two had never been
given a chemistry set when they were kids; now they had a real toy to play
with. They could do any number of
things that might bring them notoriety.
They could write papers and obtain grants to continue their studies as
long as I had this condition. If I ever
got over it; well, that would ruin everything.
________________________________
" Bring me that box of tuning
forks; yes, that box over there."
Dr. Ormandy was getting tired of trying things that didn't work. He had tried to alter the effect by
multiplying the number of fluorescent lights, my proximity to them did seem to
increase my ability to over come Dacron and Nylon. He tried having me stand at right angles,
about face, even standing on my head to see if it made a difference. About the only thing he found out there was
that I was getting too old to stand on my head without a great deal of
assistance.
" Try this one. ", as he
taped the end of the tuning fork with the small mallet. It began to hum. He placed it closer to my face and there was
no change other than I could feel my teeth vibrate. " How about this one? ",
Hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. " Now try this
one. " He had a nice collection of
them and we tried all of them until by accident he hit two of them at the same
time.
" Hold the phone I think we have
a winner. "
" Speak English so that we all
might enjoy your thoughts; please."
Dr. Ormandy said sarcastically.
" What I mean is that I can see a
little more than I did just a moment ago. " I had been bored for so many hours by their
failures that it never occurred to me that they might succeed. I found myself looking through a metal door
which had momentarily become as clear as a window. I looked inside the hollow of the door and
could see the workings of the lock as it hung there; suspended in mid air. The frequency of that particular tuning fork
together with the other one must have matched the reflective resonance of the
steel.
" Enough of this, just tell us
what you saw."
" I will; but first you're going
to have to sew the letter S on my under shirt. I just looked through that metal door like
it wasn't even there. Try thumping
those two so I can see if it happens again." They wanted to believe me, and yet this was
more than they thought was possible.
" Come on now, set them to humming. " I wanted to try it again; it was hard for me
to believe too. When the two forks
started off they noticed another change; the color of the Sclera was no longer
a gun metal blue. It was almost the same
color as Lucy's car, a deep saffire blue, similar to the color of the sky just
as the sun goes down for the night.
When the tuning forks stopped vibrating the color began to fade back to
the other color. They took me outside
of the room with all the fluorescent lighting and my eyes went back to looking
almost normal; with the exception that there was still a glossy coating, like a
big contact lens covering the whole eye.
" Maybe we should give it a
rest. After all, we really have no idea
what were doing here; do we? "
Doctor Entremont was right; we hadn't a clue.
" Okay, we gave it a rest. Now try some other combinations and let's see
what happens." I was charged up
and wanted to find out what I could do.
We did take the time to write down the different combinations as we went
along. With tuning forks three and six
I could look through steel doors, with two and four I could see the Dr. Pepper
inside of the aluminum can, with three and nine I was able to read the tumblers
inside the brass lock on the door.
This was almost intoxicating, I
could improve my ability as a locksmith considerably with the right combination
of tuning forks. Of course it might
scare the bejebers out of my customers if my eyes glowed like burning lumps of
coal. I suppose they would pay what ever
I asked at that point. I think that we
must have been at it for several hours when I began to get very tired. I felt myself getting light headed and we had
to quit for the day. Lucy had been
waiting for me in Doctor Ormandy's office the whole time and was at the end of
her rope with worry. It had not
occurred to me that she would be angry.
The only thing that saved me was that I was flat out exhausted from all
the testing and she could see that I wasn't up to any further scolding.
" Well what did the doctors
say? Are you going to be okay? Tell me something will you? "
" They want to run some more test
tomorrow and they don't have a clue on what to do next. " I was so tired that I just wanted to go to
sleep. " Could we go home now; I
am very tired and I have to get some sleep. " It was time to sleep, to dream about what I
could do with my strange abilities.
" Oh, and by the way; I think you should wear only one hundred
percent cotton underwear when we're in public."
_______________________________