Cassandra awoke from her anesthesia, unsure of what was dream and what was reality. She heard voices, but they seemed to be far away, and she couldn’t make out what they were saying. Finally she realized they were calling her name. She heard them tell her to wake up.
Cassi tried to open her eyes but found that she couldn’t. A sense of panic gripped her, and she attempted to sit up only to be immediately restrained.
“Easy now, everything is okay,” said a voice by her side.
But everything wasn’t okay. Cassi could not see. What had happened?
Suddenly she remembered the anesthesia and the operation. “My God! I’m blind!” shouted Cassi, trying to touch her face. Someone grabbed her hands.
“Easy now. You have patches on your eyes.”
“Why patches?” Cassi yelled.
“Just to keep your eyes quiet,” said the voice calmly. “They’ll only be on for a day or so. Your operation went smoothly. Your doctor said you are a lucky woman. He coagulated a troublesome vessel, but he doesn’t want it to bleed again, so you must stay quiet.”
Cassi felt a little less anxious, but the darkness was frightening. “Let me see, just for a moment,” Cassi pleaded.
“I can’t do that. Doctor’s orders. We’re not supposed to touch your bandages. But I can shine a light directly at you. I’m sure you’ll see that. Okay?”
“Yes,” said Cassi, eager for any reassurance. Why hadn’t she been warned about this before the operation? She felt as if she had been cast adrift.
“I’m back,” said the voice.
Cassi heard a click and saw the light immediately. What’s more, she perceived it equally with both eyes. “I can see it,” she said excitedly.
“Of course you can,” said the voice. “You’re doing fine. Do you have any pain?”
“No,” said Cassi. The light was switched off.
“Then just relax. We’ll be right here if you want us. just call.”
As Cassie let herself relax, she listened to the various nurses as they moved about their patients. She realized she was in the recovery room and wondered if Thomas would come down to see her.
Thomas finished seeing his office patients early. By 2:10 he had just one appointment left at 2:30. While he waited he checked the OR to see which attending was on call that night for the thoracic service. Learning it was Dr. Burgess, Thomas gave him a call.
Thomas explained that he was planning to sleep in the hospital anyway to be near Cassi and suggested he take call as well. Dr. Burgess could pay back the favor when the Kingsleys were away.
Thomas hung up and, seeing he still had fifteen minutes to spare, decided to visit Cassi. She had just been brought up to her room, and Thomas could not tell if she were asleep or not. She was lying quietly, her face covered with bulky eye patches secured with heavy elasticized tape. An IV dripped slowly into her left arm.
Thomas went silently to the side of her bed.
“Cassi?” he whispered. “Are you awake?”
“I am,” said Cassi. “Is that you, Thomas?”
Thomas grasped Cassi’s arm. “How do you feel, honey?”
“Pretty well. Except for these patches. I wish Obermeyer had told me about them.”
“I talked with him,” said Thomas. “He called me right after the surgery. He said everything went better than he could have anticipated. Apparently only one vessel was involved. He took care of it, but it was a large one and that made him opt for the patches. He didn’t expect to use them either.”
“It doesn’t make this any easier,” said Cassi.
“I can imagine,” said Thomas sympathetically.
Thomas stayed for another ten minutes, then said he had to get back to the office. He gave her hand a squeeze and told her she should get as much sleep as possible.
To her surprise Cassi did doze and didn’t wake up until late in the afternoon.
“Cassi?” someone was saying.
Cassi jumped, startled by the unexpected voice so close to her.
“It’s me, Joan. I’m sorry if I woke you.”
“It’s all right, Joan. I just didn’t hear you come in.”
“I heard your operation went well,” said Joan, pulling up a chair.