Part 4: The Blind Doctor

The sun was slowly setting the distance. The day had become twilight. It came faster than anyone expected. It was an eventful day after all.

Tony massaged his eye. It was starting to hurt worse. He knew there were small glass shards still in his left eye and if he didn’t get them out soon, he’d run the risk of being blind in both eyes. Eddie hadn’t moved. Yolanda rested up against a tree. Her friend Marita was still unconscious. Tony didn’t mean to scare Yolanda but he warned if she didn’t wake up soon, then she may not wake up at all.

Yolanda then turned to see John approaching them with a stack of wood in one hand and a torch in the other. He grunted, dropping the wood in front of them. Then he set down the torch on top of them. John starting pulling out piece of paper from his back pocket and piling them on the fire. “Hang on, guys,” he said, “I’ll have a fire for us in a moment.”

“We are sitting on dried grass of some sort, John, “ Tony said, taking a handful, “Use this to fuel the fire.”

“Thanks, “ he replied, taking it from him.

“Where did you get the fire?” asked Yolanda.

“There is a guy down there, an Australian. He’s got a zippo and he’s been building fires for all the people.”

“I take it, no sign of rescue.” Tony mentioned.

“Not yet.” John quickly replied.

“But they are coming,” Yolanda mentioned, “They have to be.”

“As far as we know. But there are things we may not know.” Tony put up his hands, “It’s highly likely they will not be able to mount a rescue immediately.”

“So you think we are gonna be here a while?” asked Eddie.

“Yeah. I think so, Eddie.”

“We should start looking for supplies.” John commented, “Anything we can make of use.”

“Agreed. We’ll have to start rationing medicines, water, any type of food we can find.”

“Peanuts.” Marita whispered.

“Marita?” Yolanda exclaimed.

“I got some peanuts.” Marita said, opening her eyes.

The young Latina stewardess reached into her gown pockets and pulled out four bags of peanuts. Yolanda laughed over the fact her friend was finally awake. Tony gently helped her leaned up. Marita moaned over the pain in her head. “How are you feeling?” asked Tony.

“My head hurts.” She moaned, “like a migraine.”

“Then the concussion wasn’t that bad. The pain will eventually go away but you must rest.”

“Who are you?” she promptly asked.

Yolanda did her the favor of supplying introductions all around, especially that of Tony. “He’s a doctor, “ she said, “You should listen to him.”

Yolanda began to explain to her friend everything that had happened. Tony advised that a temporary lost of memory was common for people suffering from a concussion. John sat down with Eddie and Tony. Little Eddie was eating away with the bag of peanuts he had. John slowly began to munch on his. Tony could still feel the silence coming from his friend. “Eddie?” Tony said, “We’re gonna need some supplies soon. Why don’t you go find us a luggage and we’ll search through it?”

“Which one?” Eddie munched on his peanuts.

“Any one will do. Hurry back now.”

Eddie took his peanuts with him as he left the group. John watched the little boy leave, being reminded of his nephew. He enjoyed Jacob’s face as it was filled with pride, watching his uncle from the stands. He admired Tony and his treatment of the boy. “You’re good with kids.” He mentioned.

“You have to be, when you are a family doctor.” Tony replied.

“Yeah, I guess,” John munched on his peanuts.

“Was someone on the plane with you, John?”

“Yeah. My friend, Ramon Vega. Known him for over 13 years.”

“Known?”

“Yeah. He’s dead.”

“I’m sorry, John.” Tony whispered.

“He’s . . .he’s up in a tree. Damn it, “ John stifled his tears, “He’s up there but it’s too high. I can’t reach him. I can’t . . I can’t just leave like that.”

“And you won’t. We’ll find a way to get him down. You’ll see.”

John laughed slightly, as he wiped his tears. “Even blind, you are not giving up the doctor routine, are you?”

“No, my friend. I can’t.” Tony coughed.

Eddie then finally arrived with a suitcase. He was dragging it by him, with all his might. It looked heavy from a distance. John then got up and walked to Eddie, helping him carry it the rest of the way. As they arrived, Yolanda and Marita took interest in what they were doing. John then opened up the suitcase and began to look through the contents. It appeared to be a woman’s suitcase. He found a small cosmetic bag and handed it to Yolanda.

He then pulled out the clothing, looking for anything in particular. He found a hairbrush, toothpaste, a box of tissues and unopened bag of panty hose. “Damn,” he muttered.

“Nothing useful?” asked Tony.

“Not really. Did you find anything in the cosmetic bag, Yolanda?”

“Cosmetic bag?” gasped Tony, “Yolanda, please . . .see if it has any tweezers and hopefully a pocket mirror.”

“Okay,” she said, searching through the bag.

“It feels wrong searching through this person’s belongings.” Marita mentioned.

“It’s a survival situation.” John commented, “If the woman is alive, we’ll ask for forgiveness.”

“There are some tweezers. “Yolanda pulled them out, “No pockets mirrors. But she does have a compact.”

“Please, let me have them.” Tony held out his hand.

Yolanda placed the items in his hands. Tony shifted them over. He held up the mirror and opened up his left eye to the best of his ability. He then started to pick the small shards of glass from his eye, grunting at each moment. Marita turned away, unable to bear watching. Yolanda couldn’t help but stare, as did John. Eddie had his hand on Tony’s leg the whole time, letting him know he was nearby.

Tony took a deep breath. He got the glass out of his left eye to the best of his ability. Then he began to work on the right eye. It was much more painful than the left eye. He could feel the tweezers digging into his eye socket to retrieve the debris. He gritted his teeth each time. After a few minutes he was done. “Tony?” John was amazed at his strength.

“John, “Tony took a deep breath, “I need . .you to get out pieces of cloth from that woman’s luggage. I need to bandage this eye and stop the bleeding.”

John immediately began to work. Yolanda stepped over and helped him. Marita stayed with Tony, making sure he didn’t lose consciousness. He just sat there, taking in deep breathes as blood ran down his face. John then ripped up a cloth t-shirt and started to fold it into the shape of the eye socket. He walked over and placed it again Tony’s wound. Tony immediately placed his hand over. “We need something to hold it in place.” He mentioned.

“Here.” Yolanda said, pulling out a silk scarf.

She walked over and tied around it around Tony’s eyes. He smiled over the comfort. He never expected to be wounded this comfortably before. Shifting around the scarf to make it comfortable, yet hold in place, he smiled at the help of his new found friends. “Thank you.” He told them.

Before anyone could say anything, a loud roar in the distance echoed through the valley. John, Marita, and Yolanda stood up, looking in the distance. The roaring sound continued, following by a loud screeching sound, like a guttural in the stomach of a giant beast. John couldn’t see a thing. Only the trees were moving as if some thing was walking among them. Yolanda and Marita couldn’t hear anything either. However, Tony could easily hear it. “WHAT IS THAT?” he demanded.

Then Eddie collapsed into the doctor’s arms. Shocked, Tony held onto him. The boy was trembling as if he had just seen the devil himself. “It’s the Polliwog.” He stuttered.