Page 4 of Blinded
"No, don't touch it. It's going to take some time to heal. Shifting tried to heal your eyes, but in doing so, it caused some minor bleeding. I wanted to give you a minute to get settled before I cleaned your face up and looked at the actual damage." Cohen forced my hand back to my lap. "I know it has to be scary, but we're going to get you through this."
I shook my head. "Let me die. I heard you say the eyeballs are gone. It won't heal. I'll never see again. I don't want to depend on anyone. Just let me die." My nose suddenly started to run. I sniffed hard, lifting my hand to wipe my nose only to have Cohen grab my hand again.
"Easy, I got you." He took something and wiped my face gently. "I'm not going to let you die, and neither will your family. As soon as we can contact them, we'll get them here for you."
"No, I don't want anyone. Just leave me be." I shook my head.
"Other than your eyes, you're going to heal fine. You're going to be sore for a few days, but you're going to heal."
"Not if I can't see. What can a wolf do without their sight?" I held up my hands. "Not now, okay? Just not now." I hated how stuck I felt. I was still weak, so weak I didn't think I could stand, and even if I did, I wouldn't know where the hell I was going. I couldn't even find a bathroom to take a fucking piss if I needed to.
"Will you lay back down and let me check your leg bones to make sure they healed correctly?"
"Whatever." I eased back down, actually thankful to be able to relax again, but I wasn't about to tell him that. "Did I hear right? Bridger is dead?"
"I'm sorry. They found him several feet from you, I guess. He was already gone. There was nothing anyone could do."
I nodded. "I thought so, but I was so confused I didn't know what was real or what wasn't."
"You were drugged by something. I'm not sure what yet." Cohen ran his hands over my legs, then lifted one and bent it at the knee.
"The pain was worse than the drugs. I fought to stay awake. I have no idea how long I was there. What time is it?"
"It's almost four in the afternoon on Monday," Cohen told me.
"Fuck."
"What?" Cohen worked his hands over my hip.
"Bridger and I left Saturday afternoon to go run. We were headed to the lake. Promised his girlfriend we'd be back by eight to pick her up and go to the bar." I reached up, running my fingers over my cheek.
"Nuh-uh…" Cohen caught my arm again. "Give your face time to heal."
"You just don't want me to feel it and freak out." I sighed.
"That might be some of it, but honestly, I need to inspect the damage. I don't know how bad it is. I'm not used to injuries like this. I know a pack doctor who might know more. I'll call him later tonight."
"Don't bother." I turned my head to the side. As soon as I was alone, I was going to end it all. I couldn't live blind.
"Give yourself some time. You're in shock."
"Listen, Doc, don't tell me what I am. I know what I am. I'm fucking blind. The bears should have left me up there to die. Since when do bears save wolves anyway?"
"We've always gotten along with the bears here. I know it's not that way all over, but it's worked for us. Helps to have friends when you need them. Where are you from?"
"If I tell you, you'll just call my alpha and tell him."
Cohen sighed. "Bridger's family will be here soon enough, and they'll tell us if you don't. Honestly, Brett, don't make this harder than it already is for you. We want to help."
"Well, I don't want help. I want my sight back."
"I'm going to look at your eyes, then bandage them until I can learn what we need to do, okay?" Cohen touched my cheek.
"Whatever." It wasn't like I could stop him.
As he worked on my eyes, I tried not to let my mood deteriorate even more, but all I could see was darkness, and that's all I would ever see again. Was it even seeing? It was nothingness. I didn't have eyes to see the darkness. The moment I had a chance, I was ending it all, because I wouldn't go through life blind. I couldn't bring myself to live that way.
