Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ethan
A few days had passed, and I was a little concerned that I hadn’t heard from Dr. Marchetti. I couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility of Aubrey getting her sight back. As I was on my way back from an important meeting, my phone rang. Pulling it from my pocket, I noticed it was Dr. Marchetti. I took in a deep breath before answering his call.
“Ethan Klein.”
“Ethan, it’s Dr. Marchetti over at Massachusetts General. How are you?”
“I’m good, Dr. Marchetti.”
“Listen, have you talked to Aubrey about signing over her medical records? I believe there may be something I can do to help her regain her sight. I’ve done some research, and if what happened to her is what I think happened, I am certain I can help her.”
I swallowed hard because I couldn’t believe it.
“That’s wonderful news. I haven’t talked to her about it yet, but I will tonight.”
“If she agrees, let me know as soon as possible. I will be in New York on Thursday hosting a seminar over at New York Presbyterian University Hospital and could meet with the two of you after.”
“That would be great. I’m sure she will agree to it. Just let me know what time.”
“The seminar runs until three o’clock. So how about three thirty?”
“We’ll be there. Thank you, Dr. Marchetti.”
“You’re welcome, Ethan, and I’m looking forward to meeting Aubrey.”
I ended the call and sat at my desk with a smile on my face. Hearing the door open, I looked up to see Charles walking in.
“What’s that smile for?” He grinned.
“Just got some good news.”
“Ah. Do tell, my friend.” He took a seat across from my desk.
“Remember when I went out to Boston on a business trip last week?”
“Yeah.”
“It wasn’t really a business trip. I met with a Dr. Marchetti to talk about possibly having Aubrey’s eyesight restored.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Very. I just got off the phone with him, and he thinks he can help her.”
“Wow. That’s amazing. I bet Aubrey is ecstatic.”
I sighed. “She doesn’t know anything about this.”
“Say what? You didn’t tell her you met with him?”
“No.”
“Bro, she’s your girlfriend, and this involves her. Why the hell wouldn’t you tell her?”
“Because I didn’t want to get her hopes up until I was sure that he could possibly help her. I’m going to tell her tonight.”
“Any idea how she’s going to react with you going behind her back like that?”
I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t go behind her back.”
“Yes, you really did. You met with a doctor about her without her knowing. That’s going behind her back, bro.”
“She’ll be okay with it. I’m not worried.”
“I hope so. Anyway, I came to see if you wanted to hit up that burger joint down the street for lunch.”
“Sure. Let’s go.” I grabbed my phone and got up from my desk.
Aubrey
I loved my job, and I loved my students. Teaching them about English literature was the best part of my life, as well as loving Ethan. I was so happy, and life was grand. When I walked through my apartment door, his scent was filtering through the air.
“You’re here early.” I smiled.
“I had a meeting not too far from here, so I just decided not to go back to the office.” He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a kiss. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too.”
“How about we order something for dinner? There’s something I need to talk to you about.”
“Okay. Is everything good?” I asked with concern.
“Everything is good, sweetheart. I promise.”
“Since we’re staying in, I’m going to take a quick shower.”
“Okay. I’ll pour us some wine, and we can decide what we want to order when you’re finished.” He kissed my lips once again.
As I stepped into the shower, I was curious as to what he wanted to talk to me about. Maybe he wanted to take a vacation and go somewhere. God, how I would love to go somewhere with him. Like a tropical island where it was just the two of us. A smile crossed my face the more I thought about it. I bet that was it. He wanted to go away somewhere.
After I was finished, I slipped into a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. Removing the towel from my head, I ran a brush through my long hair. Ethan came up from behind me, took the brush out of my hand, and started brushing my hair.
“Here, let me.”
“What did you want to order?” I asked.
“Anything you want, sweetheart.”
“How about pasta from Luigi’s? I’ve been craving their bread.”
“Pasta sounds good.” He set down the brush and turned me around so I was facing him. “You’re so beautiful, and I’m a very lucky man to have you in my life.”
“I’m a lucky woman to have you in my life.” I hugged him tightly.
He called in our dinner order as I took my wine and sat down on the couch. I was anticipating what he wanted to talk to me about, and I couldn’t wait any longer.
“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” I smiled.
“We’ll discuss it after dinner. It’ll be here soon.”
I heard his phone ring.
“Excuse me for a moment. It’s the office.”
While I sipped on my wine, there was a knock on the door. As I got up to answer it, Ethan ended his call and beat me to the door. Opening up the cabinet, I took down two plates and grabbed some silverware from the drawer, taking them to the table and setting them down.
“Sit down. I’ve got this.”
“Yes, sir.” I saluted him.
He let out a chuckle.
“The pasta is to your left and the salad is to your right.”
“And the bread?” I asked as I arched my brow.
“Shit. They didn’t give us any. I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
“Very funny, Ethan.” I smiled. “I can smell it.”
“I should know better by now, right?”
“Right.”
We enjoyed our dinner and talked about our day. Ethan helped me clean up and then poured me another glass of wine.
“Let’s go over to the couch, shall we?”
“Okay.”
The suspense was killing me. I wondered where he was going to take me. It didn’t matter, though. I'd be happy anywhere as long as it was just the two of us. As we both sat down, I heard him take in a long, deep breath.
“Remember how I went to Boston last week?” he asked.
“Of course.” I smiled.
“I didn’t go there for business.”
“You didn’t?” I cocked my head.
“No.”
“Then why did you go?”
“I met with a doctor. His name is Dr. Marchetti, and he’s a world-renowned eye specialist.”
Suddenly, my stomach dropped.
“Why did you meet with him?”
“I wanted to know if there was any way he could help you regain your eyesight. He just needs your permission to access your medical records from the accident, but he believes he can restore your vision. He took the wine glass from me, set it down, and grabbed both of my hands. “He said he wants to meet you on Thursday. He’ll be here in New York hosting a seminar.”
I sat there, my heart beating out of my chest. I couldn’t believe what he had just told me.
“Why would you do something like that without talking to me about it first?”
“Because I didn’t want to get your hopes up if he couldn’t help you.”
I was in shock that he would do something like that without talking to me.
“Aren’t you happy? Aubrey, sweetheart, there’s a chance you could get your eyesight back.”
I pulled away from him and got up from the couch. A feeling of discontent washed over me, not to mention an anger that ripped through my body at what he had done.
“You had no right, Ethan. No right at all. This is my life. Not yours,” I sternly spoke.
“Aubrey, I know it’s your life, and I’m trying to help you.”
“I don’t need help. I’m happy with my life the way it is!” I raised my voice.
“Don’t you want to see again? You said the other night that you wished you could see the ocean like you used to, the blue sky, and yourself. My God, sweetheart, if Dr. Marchetti can help you, you could see the world.”
“No. I don’t want to see. This has been my life for more years than I was born. I’m comfortable this way. You just can’t do that, Ethan. FUCK!” I yelled as I placed my hands on my head. “You just can’t go messing with people’s lives.”
“Aubrey, calm down.” I felt the firm grip of his hands around my arms.
“Don’t, Ethan.” I jerked away.
“I thought I was doing something good here. Why can’t you understand that? And to be honest, I don’t get why on earth you wouldn’t want to get your sight back!” he yelled.
“Because that’s for me to decide! Not you! And I suspect you want it for your own selfish reasons!”
“I want this for you, Aubrey!” he shouted. “I want this for us!”
“Us? I thought my being blind didn’t bother you. So, all this time, you were lying to me? You’re no different than any other guy out there!”
“Seriously? Your blindness doesn’t bother me at all. If it did, I wouldn’t be with you.”
“Obviously, it does, or else you wouldn’t have sought out that doctor! Just get out of here, Ethan. I don’t want to see you right now.”
“You don’t want to see me? Guess what, Aubrey? You can’t see me!” He shouted so loudly that I flinched. “Is it so wrong that I would do and give anything to have you see me? To see the way I look at you, to see my smile, and to see how much I fucking love you! Maybe I am being selfish because I want you to see me and see what I look like. Why live in a world of darkness if you don’t have to?”
“Because it’s the only world I know!” I shouted back.
“It’s not the only world you know, Aubrey. You’ve seen things before the accident, and you were forced to adapt to a world only people who are blind can understand. I’m giving you the opportunity to go back to that other world!”
The next set of words flew out of my mouth faster than I could stop them. They were out of anger because he didn’t understand.
“I’m not Sophia, Ethan. I don’t need saving! You can’t save me just like you couldn’t save her.”
There were a few moments of silence between us. I could just imagine the angry look on his face. The same look that my father had before the crash. I swallowed hard as the tears started to fall down my face.
“That was a low blow, Aubrey.”
“Get out,” I whispered in a low voice.
“I’m leaving, and I don’t know when or if I’ll be back.”
“Don’t bother.”
“Fine. Then it’s over. I thought I was doing something good. But apparently, I’m just a selfish bastard. Good luck to you, Aubrey.” I heard the door slam shut.
Falling to my knees, I held my face in my hands and sobbed. A few moments later, the door opened, and I heard my Aunt Charlotte’s voice.
“Oh my God, Aubrey. What happened?”
She wrapped her arms around me as I cried hysterically into her.
“It’s okay, baby. Tell me what happened.”
I couldn’t talk. My chest felt tight, and the tears wouldn’t stop falling. We sat on the floor for a while before she helped me up and led me over to the couch.
“I’m going to get you some tissues. I’ll be right back.”
She returned and dabbed the tissue around my eyes.
“There, there, sweet girl. Everything is going to be okay.”
“No. No it’s not.”
“Tell me what happened.”
After composing myself and blowing my nose, I began to tell her, and I instantly felt she took his side.
“He shouldn’t have done that without speaking to you first, but he did it for you, honey. I believe it was all with good intentions.”
“So you’re taking his side and saying that I shouldn’t have gotten so upset?”
“No. I’m not taking anyone’s side. When two people love each other, they want to do things to make the other person’s life easier.”
“No! He did it for his own selfish reasons. He wants me to see him. He can’t stand the thought of being with a blind girl the rest of his life who will never see what he looks like.”
“Aubrey.” She pulled me into her. “I don’t believe that’s entirely true. He was trying to give you a gift. The gift of your eyesight back. If this doctor can help you, I don’t understand why you won’t talk to him.”
“Because this is how my life was meant to be.”
“That’s not true.”
“Yes, it is. If you’ll excuse me, I want to be alone.”
“Aubrey.”
“Aunt Charlotte, I mean it.” I raised my voice.
She kissed my forehead and patted my hand.
“If you need anything, call me or come over.”
“I will.”