Page 29 of Blinded
"Nothing today. Sorry, got distracted. Let me finish looking, then we can talk options." Mike started probing again.
Bayne linked his hand with mine, giving it a tight squeeze.
"While he works, let me be the first to congratulate the two of you. I smell the mating scent is strong. You completed the ritual." Cohen still sounded as if he was across the room.
"We did, last night." Bayne sounded so happy it made my heart feel as if it was swelling.
"He's stuck with me now." I smiled.
"Congratulations. You both deserve this," Cohen told us.
"Did you meet before this happened?" Mike asked.
"No, the night they found and rescued him." Bayne caressed his fingers over mine.
"So, you've never seen your mate?" Mike continued to work.
"No." I pressed my lips together, hating that it mattered as much as it did.
"Well, let's see if we can do something about that." Mike stepped back. "Why don't you sit up?"
I did, still trying to understand what he'd said. "Did you say do something about me not seeing my mate? I mean, my eyes are gone. There's nothing you can do to make me see again since there's nothing there to fix."
"True, I might not be able to help you see your mate through your own eyes, but possibly, and I mean possibly, don't get your hopes up yet, but I think I might help you see him through another's eyes." Mike set something down beside me, causing a clang.
"I don't understand." Bayne gripped my shoulder from behind.
"I'm talking about an optical transplant. One eye, or maybe both. I'd take donor's eyes and surgically implant them, then I'd have you shift. Being a wolf, the shift would hopefully heal everything as if they were your own eyes. I mean, we do this on humans. It's not always successful, but we're getting better at it. I've done several in my career. Being a wolf, the chances of this working I'd say are up around eighty percent or better." Mike sounded as if he was now across the room with Cohen.
I bit my lip, emotion hitting me hard at the thought that I might actually be able to see again. I sniffed as my nose started to run. "I could see?"
Bayne stuffed a tissue into my hand.
"Possibly. As I said, we'd need a donor. The eyes would have to be viable. It's nothing for me to reconnect the vessels and muscle. Shifting would do most of the work in this case. Like any injury, you heal easily. Stuff that would kill most people heals for wolves within a single shift." Mike was by my side again. "Here's more tissue. Your nose runs because of your eyes missing. The tears drain down the sinus cavity."
I shook my head. "You're serious, right? This isn't some joke?" I felt a wave of hope come through my link with Bayne. This would mean so much to both of us. It would make our lives together so much easier.
"I'm serious. Because I'd need you to shift right after the implant, I'd have you awake for the surgery. I'd numb the area, but you'd be fully aware of what is going on. I can't promise it will be successful, but I think it's worth a try. The damage done now isn't as severe as it could have been. I'm hopeful that it would take," Mike told me.
I wiped at my nose, overwhelmed at the thought. "Bayne, what do you think?" I needed to know he'd support this.
"I say try it. I mean, what's the worst that can happen? It doesn't take and you're no worse off than you are now. This is more than either of us dared to imagine. If you have a chance to see, take it." Bayne kissed my cheek.
"Are there any side-effects, things that could go wrong?" I asked.
"No, as Bayne said, you'd be no worse off than you are now. If it didn't work, we'd get you the prosthetic eyes, but I'd like to try this first." Mike sounded as if he'd sat down across from me.
"Cohen, do you have thoughts?" Bayne asked.
"I trust Mike's opinion completely. If he thinks this could work, we should do it. I can either make sure we have only wolves working the surgery if we do it at the hospital, or we can do it here if Mike's comfortable. I'm not sure what he needs."
"Do you have a surgical microscope here?" Mike asked.
"I do," Cohen informed him.
"Then we can do it here. The only issue is I need the eyes viable. There is a short time frame."
"I work at the hospital. I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem. I'd have to look into the procedure for organ procurement, but I can't see this being an issue. There are enough wolves working at the hospital, we can make this happen." Cohen sounded closer. "Do you need size or blood type or any other match?"
