Power Couple?

Flash Fiction Freakin' Friday

Dec 08, 2023

You can thank

if tomorrow’s chapter of Remembrance is late, because these Flash Fiction Friday prompts were just too good to pass up.

I have had no time to edit this at all, as my daughter woke up from her nap just before I finished the first write-through, so here is my very rough (almost unfinished, maybe not quite cohesive or coherent, but I can’t spend any more time on it!) take on today’s FFF prompt. And catch me at 11pm frantically trying to finish my chapter for tomorrow.

Peter gently held one of the young man’s arms as he sat back into the orthopedic chair. The man’s wife held his other arm. The dog, a large German Shepherd, sat peacefully next to the chair. His leash didn’t leave the man’s hand.

“Remind me what your name is?” The man asked, staring off into nowhere.

“I’m Peter. I’m the technician who will be working with you here at the McNeill Institute.”

“So it will be you every time we come in?”

“Yes sir. It’s important to us that we are able to build and maintain relationships with our patients.”

“Well that’s just lovely. I’m David, and this is my wife Mary-Shauna.”

Peter nodded, then remembered that David couldn’t see him. “Yes sir. It’s nice to meet you both.”

Mary Shauna smiled gratefully at Peter before turning back to her husband. “Alright, honey, I’m going to sit down here just a few feet away from you while Peter works. If you need anything, just let me know. I’ll let Astro stay with you.”

“Thanks, dear, much appreciated.” He turned his face to where Peter’s voice had come from just a moment before, although Peter was no longer standing there. “Now, Peter, can you remind me again what your Dr. Pierucci thinks he can do? I’ve seen every ophthalmologist this side of the Mississippi, and quite a few other folks as well, and every single one of ‘em told me there was nothing to be done about the blindness.”

“Yes sir. Even if they had heard of the technology we use here at the Institute, they likely didn’t have access to it.”

David turned toward Peter’s voice, his eyes still unfocused and hazy.

“But why didn’t anyone refer me? Why did it take Mary Shauna researching and emailing far later into the night than’s good for her before she found you guys? I’d think if you’ve got some miracle treatment here, it would be better known.”

“Our treatment is still… well, not quite experimental, but new. We’re still doing research into the possibilities and boundaries of the technology that Dr. Pierucci and Dr. DeLeon developed.”

“So I’m just a lab rat to you all, then. So much for relationships with patients. You just want me because my eyes are special.”

Peter didn’t quite know how to respond, so he diverted back to David’s original question.

“The MentaLink console that we use here at the Institute gives us special insight into the function of the brain. Today’s session will be primarily focused on gathering information on how your brain and your eyes are—or aren’t—communication. Moving forward, we can leverage that information to rewire the nerves, remove any blockages, or consider a surgical procedure, if it seems called for.”

Peter lifted a helmet and a set of goggles from his desk and made his way towards David. He noticed Mary Shauna mouthing the word “narrate” as he did so. He had almost forgotten that David wouldn’t be able to see him. He mouthed back “thank you” before turning back to David.

“David, I am going to go ahead and set you up with the headset here—it’s a helmet, sort of similar to a motorcycle helmet, and a pair of goggles like you might use if you were skiing. Can I go ahead and put them on?”

“Yes. Will the helmet cover my ears?”

“A little bit. You should still be able to hear, and I’ll make sure to put the red button in your hand as well. If anything starts to go wrong, to feel uncomfortable, anything like that, and you’re feeling anxious about it, you can press that button and it will stop the scan.”

“Alright then, go ahead.”

Peter gingerly set the goggles and helmet over David’s head, then reclined the chair back into a more comfortable position. He found the red distress button on its wired remote and wrapped David’s fingers around it.

“Thank you, Peter,” Mary Shauna said from her chair, once David’s ears were covered. “I don’t know if you’ll be able to do anything to help him, but we so appreciate your taking the time to see us. I know it’s all a bit unusual, what with our being unable to pay you and all.”

“Of course. Happy to do it. The technology does no one any good if we keep it locked up and hidden away from those who need it most.”

“You’re a good man, Peter.”

“I try to be.”

Peter returned his focus to his computer, where an urgent alert was blinking on screen. He read it. Reread it. Glanced over at David.

“David, can you hear me? Are you okay?”

David turned and looked directly at Peter. If Peter hadn’t known better, he’d have said that David was making eye contact with him.

“Peter, I can see you!”

Mary Shauna leapt up. “What?”

David’s glanced now turned toward his wife. “Mary Shauna! My beautiful wife! Let me look at you!”

Peter watched the scene—a reunion, of sorts—unfolding before him, awestruck.

That wasn’t what was supposed to happen… how did that happen? This is just supposed to be a scan—how were his eyes healed?

His attention was drawn back to the happy couple by their sudden drop in conversation. Their tone had changed from joyful shouts to hurried whispers. Peter couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. Stunned, he completed the scan, made a few notes in David’s file, and watched as the couple walked, hand in hand, out of his exam room, with Astro following obediently behind them.

He knew miracles happened at the Institute, but he’d never had the pleasure of witnessing one. Dr. Pierucci would be thrilled to hear about this.

Two weeks later, David and Mary Shauna returned, the former once again guided by his trusted Astro. He was relating the story of the last time he had visited the clinic, when the treatment had restored his vision for almost a full week.

“And then the darkness returned like an old friend who you’d fought with so much that you never wanted to see them again. There was something familiar, even oddly comforting about it, but I would have been happy to go the rest of my life without it.”

“Of course. I completely understand. It’s promising that the initial treatment offered a short-term solution—it gives me a lot of hope that we can help you out in a more permanent way with extended treatment.”

David grinned. “That’s the hope, isn’t it? Give us more time to pull stunts like that one at the bank. Life ain’t cheap.”

Mary Shauna’s eyes widened in horror at his words. Peter, struggling to remain calm, continued setting the helmet and goggles on David’s head, but chose to fasten the arm and leg restraints as well. He was as much aware as anyone about the horrifying bank robbery gone wrong that had occurred just a day or two after David and Mary Shauna’s last visit.

“I wish you wouldn’t have said that…” he muttered as he stepped back to his computer.

“What’s that? I can’t hardly hear you with this gadget on my head.”

Peter shut down the console’s scanning program. Instead, he opened the browser on his laptop and googled, “who do you call when you have a tip for the police?”