Chapter 8

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C H A P T E R  E I G H T

Zach's P.O.V.

The vibrations of the thick, metal guitar strings sounded against my fingertips once again.

I felt the smooth wooden body of the guitar gently vibrate under my shoulder and on my chest. I absolutely loved the feeling of creating music at my fingers that actually sounded decent to my ears. It filled me with joy that I could continue doing something I love, even without vision.

I laid down on my bed, cradling my guitar on my chest, and continued playing, shutting my blind eyes, which were dried from exhaustion of the events of today. I started to doze off, my fingers still running up and down the neck of the guitar, until a subtle knock at the door prevented it.

"Zach?" my mom's gentle voice asked. "Everything okay in here?"

I sat up, setting my guitar down carefully on the foot of my bed. "Yeah, I'm fine," I replied, rubbing my eyes gently.

"I wanted to talk to you," she stated warmly as I felt her sit down beside me on the bed.

"Sure, what's up?" I inquired, running my fingers through my hair.

"Me and your father have been talking," she began speaking, putting her hand on my shoulder. "And we've been doing some research."

My father?

Research? About what?

I haven't seen my father in quite a long time. He's in the military and got stationed here in New York. That's the reason why we had to move during the summer.

I sometimes talk with him on the phone, but I haven't been in the same room with him in about two months or so. He's been deployed for quite a while so I haven't been able to see him much at all. Honestly, I was a little confused, so I let Mom continue.

"There's a hospital about three to four hours away that has made a recent study about people who have sight impediments."

"Wait a minute, what?" I asked, trying to get an idea of what she was going to say. This was really starting to puzzle me, and I didn't know where she was going with this.

Mom continued gently, speaking a bit slowly, "Since you weren't born blind, there's an operation available that could possibly fix your eyes."

I froze, suddenly becoming overwhelmed. I thought that there was no chance of me getting my sight back, but apparently, there is. I blinked slowly, trying to process what had just been said. "Oh...Oh my G-God.." I stuttered, my voice too full of emotion to speak properly.

"Your father and I have been considering this, and I think we should go for it," Mom exclaimed with excitement in her voice. "But, I wanted to make sure you were okay with it."

"Would it be okay?" I asked with disbelief, a smile growing across my face. "Of course it would, why wouldn't it?!"

I have to admit that if we go through with this, I'm honestly going to be extremely nervous. I've never had an operation before, let alone on my eyes. I put my hands in my pockets because they were trembling from excitement, and nervousness at the same time. I felt my mom's smile, and it seemed to bounce off the walls.

"But what about the cost?" I then asked, realizing the expense of the hospital and surgery bills would be costly. I instantly started to panic, my voice wavering and stuttering. "C-Could I get a job or s-something to help pay for it? Would it be t-too much?"

"We've already talked about that," Mom reassured me. "Don't worry about it, please."

I threw my arms around my mom, my smile growing larger by the second. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, that I might be able to get my sight back after so many years of waiting.

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