Bermuda Beginnings

by ScarFox9700

Chapter 28: Waking up, Long Talks, and Optometrist Eye Exams

"W-why, so, so d-dark?" Taylor whispered. "T-tell me J-James. W-why is is s-so dark?"

All eyes in the room were on James. He had no clue what to say, and the fate of Taylor's sanity could easily rest on whatever he said next. After a few more moments of careful thought, James sighed.

"Um, Taylor, before I answer that question, I have to know, um, h-how awake are you?"

In response, Taylor turned his head towards where he thought that James was. "F-fairly, w-why?"

"Because, what I'm about to tell you Taylor, is extremely important. So important, that the rest of your life may be dictated by it."

"U-um, wh-what do you m-mean? T-talk to m-me James, w-what's wrong with m-me?"

James had both hands over his face, with just enough of his mouth exposed so that he could talk. "The truth of the matter is Taylor, is that there are two reasons that you are unable to see. The first of course is that you have thick bandages covering your head, due to the severity of your burns."

Taylor then moved his exposed arm to his face, and began to feel around it blindly.

"Um, careful there Mr. Taylor!" Dr. Stables warned. "Your right arm, because it was mostly undamaged, currently contains several IV needles, as well as a couple of health monitors!"

Taylor froze. "O-oh. W-whoops. Sorry." He moved his arm back to the bed. "B-but James, y-you said that t-there were two reasons for my b-blindness. W-what's the other one?"

Here, all of James's courage failed him. "U-um, it's......well......" James started crying softly.

"Um, J-James? What's wrong?"

"Um, what he meant to say, Mr. Taylor, is that, well um..." Even Dr. Stables was struggling to find the right words, "Is that, well, um.....d-due to the nature of your....um, f-facial injuries, at least for the t-time being, y-you really are blind."

Taylor seemed to freeze. "W-what?! I'm.......I'm......b-blind?!"

I'm afraid so Mr. Taylor. At least for the time being. However, until you can be examined by an optometrist, the full extent of your blindness cannot be known. There is a chance that it is due to severe flash-burn, but we are not certain. I-I don't know what else to say."

Taylor's hand went to his face, and he began to cry. "B-b-blind????? H-how........w-why......??????"

James and Nurse Freckles began to notice the bandages on his face getting slightly damp. They pointed this out to Dr. Stables.

"Well", the doctor murmured, "He can cry. That's something at least."

"You were right James!" Taylor said suddenly, turning his head towards where he guessed that James was. "I was an idiot to keep using that fuel! You tried to warn me that it wasn't safe, b-but I didn't listen!!!! I t-thought that one more test wouldn't hurt anypony!" That seemed to restart Taylor's memory. "What about the others?! Are they all ok?!"

The doctor nodded. "Yes, to an extent. Two were completely uninjured, and two more escaped with only minor injuries. Two more required surgery, one was burned, and one more was like you, although he wasn't blinded."

Taylor sighed a bit. "Well, thank God that nopony was killed because of my idiocy." He then turned towards where he guessed that Dr. Stables was. "So Doc, aside from the blindness, how bad off am I?"

Dr. Stables sighed. "Well, aside from that, most of your face, head, and upper part of your torso were burned severely. Your left arm was broken, and you have some severely heavily bruising on your back as well. You were extremely lucky to have fallen onto a pile of lumber, or you might not still be here."

Taylor sighed again. "I wasn't really that lucky Dr. Stables. I was being foolish, and God was feeling merciful, so he didn't kill me outright. He let me live, although he did cripple me, at least......" Taylor paused for a moment. "You said that my blindness might not be permanent?"

"I said that I wasn't sure Mr. Taylor. Like I said, it is possible that your blindness was caused by flash-burn, but until you can be examined by an optometrist, we won't be sure."

"And, when will that be?"

The doctor looked over his notes. "Well", he said slowly, "We have one from Canterlot on standby, and another from Manehatten on their way as well, so maybe sometime later on today."

Taylor lay back down on his bed. "And just so I know, what time is it?"

James looked at the clock. "Well, it's now 5:05am, of what I guess would be Tuesday, Dec. 11th, 1945 by our standards."

James couldn't be sure, but if his senses were right, he could tell that Taylor was close to having a mental breakdown. He quietly pointed this out to the doctor, and aside from him and Nurse Freckles, everypony else in the room cleared out, and the door was shut. Nurse Starlight went back to her duty station, Dr. Stables went to talk to first the small crowd in the Trauma Ward, and then to the other crowds outside of the hospital, and Celestia returned to Canterlot, as it was getting close to the time when she would have to raise the sun.

---

While he was still sitting with Taylor, James slid two chairs together, so that he would have a better place to sit, where he could also lean back. Nurse Freckles also provided a him with a blanket so that he could keep warm.

"Thank you, Nurse Freckles."

"You're welcome Mr. James. It's the least I could do. After all, you do seem rather cold in just your pants, that under-sized robe, and poorly-fitting slippers that you're wearing!"

James nodded. "Yes, and this blanket makes it that much warmer." He then leaned back in his chairs a bit.

"Hey James?" Taylor asked him.

"Yes Taylor?"

"So what does this really mean for us now? I mean, I'm blind, so how am I ever going to get by in life? I mean, I can't really work, or do anything that involves my being able to see, so how will this work?"

James shrugged. "I really don't know Taylor. Like Dr. Stables said, we'll just have to play it by ear."

"Living in a world of darkness. I heard stories of this happening to sailors and airmen during the war, but I never thought that it would ever happen to me."

"Neither did I. Heck, I was in the Pacific War long enough to see it happen several times. But the war was over, and we were just on a training flight. Who would have ever thought that that could have gone so horribly wrong?"

Now Taylor shrugged. "I don't know James. Even though that day was less than a week ago, it already feels like a lifetime has passed since then."

"No kidding! They've probably given up looking for us by now. We've probably been marked, 'Missing, Presumed Dead', or at the very least, 'Missing in Action'."

"Most likely. However, speaking of that, because of my current state, James, there is a task that I'm leaving to you."

"And what's that, Taylor?"

"Assuming that I never do regain my sight, I'm charging you with repairing Blue 1. Even if I never see it again with my own eyes, I want you, and the Airplane 8 if they are able, to restore it again."

James was surprised. "Are, are you being serious Taylor?"

"As serious as I can be James. It's too bad though, if only we had a User Manual or something, that would make our job a whole lot easier."

James was about to nod, but then he stopped. "Wait, you mean to tell me that you guys fully restored that thing, WITHOUT using the User manual?!"

"Um, yeah, we did."

"HOW?!"

As best we could. I had my memories, and we had all of the parts that we needed. We just had to take that part, and use it as a guide to make a new part. Still wish that we had the User Manual though. It would have made the work a lot easier."

James nodded. "Yeah, it would have been."

It was also right then that James remembered something. He wasn't sure if he bad brought it with him on the plane, and he didn't want to tell Taylor that he had it if he wasn't sure, but he made a mental note to check the back of the plane in a few days when he got the chance, assuming of course that the back of the plane was still intact.

---

After several hours of sleep, they were back to talking again. It was here that James asked Taylor a question that the answer to which would change both of their perspectives on everything.

"Hey Taylor? Are you awake?"

"Yeah, and I'm still blind, but what's up?"

"Well, at least he's trying to put the best face to this", James thought. Out loud, he said, "I was wondering, would it ever be possible for us to ever return to Earth if we so chose?"

Taylor was silent for a few moments. Finally, he said, "Actually, I've been thinking about this same thing. From what Celestia told me, the reason that either of us even came here in the first place was because of a spell that created a portal; a portal that was to be used to possibly explore Earth. However, there was a problem. Electrical discharge from the lightning, as well as spray from the ocean waves, in addition to the wind and rain, made the portal extremely unstable. The plane flying through it was the last straw. Celestia saw the danger, and closed the portal."

"Yeah, but that still doesn't answer my question. Could we ever go back?"

"Well, to be perfectly honest, I have no idea. To do so would have to involve several critical factors. First of all, the plane. I don't know how well the plane survived the engine explosion. Assuming that it did though, first we would have to fully restore it to flying condition once again. This in and of itself creates several sub-problems. First of all, manpower. It took me, plus the Airplane 8, the best mechanical engineers in Equestria to fix the plane last time. Now all of them are either injured, or extremely shook up.

But, assuming that they were all healed up, and willing to help me again, that leaves the problem of money. I don't know what it cost to fix the plane last time, but I know that it had to be an awful lot. I don't know if Celestia is willing to spend that kind of money again. If she is though, then comes the fuel. This time, we need proper, high-octane, 130/140 Avgas. Provided that we already have refining equipment, this shouldn't prove to be too difficult.

Finally, comes the last two factors, and these remain the most critical. The first one being, would Celestia be willing to open another portal for us to go back home? And lastly, assuming that she is, the most critical problem of all remains."

"And what's that?"

"Um, really James? How could I fly a plane blind?!"

"Oh yeah, duh! You were the only pilot. I don't know how to fly the plane. This would all be a serious problem. Plus, all of this plan rides on us even wanting to leave in the first place. I know that I would probably want to stay, but what do you want?"

Taylor sighed. "Right now, all I want is to be able to see again. Once I've gotten that out of the way, then I want to see my mother again. I don't have much left here in Equestria. I kinda want to go home."

James looked at him curiously. "Um, what do you mean by that Taylor?"

"I mean that because of an idiotic mistake that I made a few nights ago, I lost my dear friend Nurse Redheart. I haven't seen her since lat night, literally and figuratively, and she hasn't even come to see me at all since I've been here."

"I don't know about that Taylor. I did see her when Nurse Starlight brought me to come see you. She was obviously upset about something, as she did run off crying."

Taylor sighed. "Maybe, but I still want to go home."

He and James continued to talk about their possible plans for going home, completely forgetting about Nurse Freckles. She was still in the room as well, and was completely overhearing this entire conversation. She didn't know what to make of it.

"Wow, it sure would be sad to see them leave", she thought to herself. "I was just starting to get used to having Ensign James around. He seems like a nice guy. Definitely loyal; most likely somepony I would like to get to know better. It would be such a shame if he left."

Nurse Freckles didn't want to say anything, as the conversation taking place didn't involve her, but she still kept listening in nonetheless.

---

Later that day, while Ensign James was sleeping, the two optometrists arrived at the hospital. Dr. Stables showed them up to the Trauma Ward where Taylor was.

"Oh my goodness!" One of them gasped when they saw Taylor. "I knew that the patient's condition was bad, but you never said that it was this bad! How is he even still alive?"

Dr. Stables shrugged. "To be perfectly honest, I do not know. I have never seen a burn victim case like him before."

"And his eyes were damaged during his accident, correct?"

"Yes, that is correct. That is why you were summoned here. Both to determine how serious his blindness is, and if anything can be done about it."

The two doctors nodded. "Yes, and we'll get to work right away, after he is moved out of here!" One of them said, pointing at James, who was sleeping on his chairs next to the bed.

"No", Taylor told them. "He stays. I was always there for him while he was in the hospital, now it's his turn to be here for me."

The optometrist from Canterlot turned to him, surprised. "Wait, you're awake Mr. Taylor?"

"Yes, I am. and I would like to get this exam underway if you don't mind, because I too would like to know how bad my blindness is, and if anything can be done about it."

The Canterlot doctor nodded. "Yes. We'll get to work right away."

After the doctor from Manehattan used his magic to slide Jame's chairs away from the bed, with help from both Dr. Stables, as well as nurse Freckles, they all got to work.

First, as gently as possible, they unwrapped the gauze from around Taylor's eyes. (Taylor had been given a dose of a numbing drug before this, so he was feeling no pain, but he was still nervous.) What they found underneath was rather unnerving. Parts of Taylor's skin were still there, but other parts was just nasty burns. Finally, the gauze was all unwrapped, and with the greatest of care, the final bandages were removed from Taylor's eyes, exposing them to the light of day once more.

"Hey, did it just get lighter in here?" Taylor said softly.

"Wait, you mean that you can see light?" Dr. Stables asked him.

"Possibly. I think I can, but it also feels like my eyes are on fire, so it's hard to tell."

"Your eyes feel like they're on fire?" the optometrist from Canterlot asked him.

"Yes, they feel like they're burning."

The doctor put some eye-drops into Taylor's eyes. "Is that better Mr. Taylor?"

"Somewhat. They still hurt, but not as bad as before."

"They don't look so great either." The Canterlot doctor pointed out. "You're eyes have definitely been burned Mr. Taylor. However, we won't know for a little while longer just how badly."

Taylor sighed. "Just do whatever you guys have to do to find the results."

The optometrists nodded, and then returned to work.

---

After another two hours or so, the examinations were done. After adding more eye-drops to Taylor's eyes, fresh gauze was added, as well as new bandages.

"Ok, we're all done Mr. Taylor."

"And, what are the results?" Taylor asked nervously. "And please, before you tell me, could somepony please wake up James? He needs to hear these results as well."

"Who's James?" The doctor from Canterlot asked.

"He's the guy sleeping on those chairs over there." Nurse Freckles answered. "I'll wake him up." She got up, and walked over to James. "James! Mr. James!" She began to shake him, "Wake up!"

After a few moments, James woke up. "Eh, huh? What's going on? What did I miss?"

"You were sleeping, and while you were, the optometrists arrived, and examined Mr. Taylor."

James sat up. "They did? What did they say?"

"I don't know, they haven't told us yet. Mr. Taylor told me to wake you up, as he said that he wanted you to hear the results as well."

James then turned to the doctors. "Well, what are the results?"

After a few moments of silence, the optometrist from Canterlot spoke. "Well, after the examinations, we've both come to the same conclusions."

"Which are?" Dr. Stables asked.

"Well, there's good news, and bad news."

"What's the bad news?" Taylor asked.

"That's the thing", the doctor answered. The bad news won't make sense unless the good news is said first."

"Well then, what's the good news?"

The doctor sighed. "Well, the good news, is that your initial hunches were correct, Mr. Taylor's blindness was caused by a severe case of flash-burn."

"And, is this treatable?" Taylor asked.

"Yes. Your blindness is only temporary, and can be treated. One day soon, your vision will be restored. However, therein lies the bad news."

Taylor was about to cheer, but then he heard that. "Um, well then, what's the bad news?"

"The bad news is that even when your vision is restored, your eyesight will never be what it once was. Due to the nature of your flash-burns, you'll most likely need the aide of glasses. Also, around your eyes, the skin has turned purplish. This is due to the flash-burn, however, this is not treatable. To put it gently, you will have marks around your eyes that will have you looking like a raccoon for the rest of your life."

Taylor didn't know what to make of that. Instead, he asked. "How bad will my eyesight be?"

"Well, what was it before?"

"Well, if I remember correctly, it was 20/35."

"Well, now, and this is just an estimate, but it may end up being something like 20/45, or at the worst, 20/55."

When Taylor heard that, he knew that he was going to have a lot to think about. "So, I am going to be able to see again one day soon", he thought. "But the question remains, "How bad off are my eyes going to be when I do?"

For the moment, Taylor had no answers. Right then, the most important thing on his mind, was having his eyesight restored.

Author's Note:

Well, this was quite the development, wasn't it? So Taylor really was only flash-burned, and he will see again soon, but his eyes will never be the same again. How bad will they end up being? How long will Taylor's recovery take? Does Nurse Freckles have a crush on Ensign James? Will Nurse Redheart ever see Taylor again? Most importantly though, Will Taylor and James ever try to return to Earth? Well, the only way to have these questions answered, is to keep reading!

Meanwhile, as always, comments, feedback, as well as sharing this story, are always appreciated, and I'll see you all again in Chapter 29!

ScarFox out for now!

Comments

[Starscribe]

I'll be brief with this one, since it's the kind of issue that's more subtle, but also serious. It's good advice for an author to stay away from very serious, personal issues unless you take the time to genuinely understand them. What I mean by that is the treatment of severe burns in the story thus far (narratively, not medically).

I'm guessing you aren't familiar with any severe burn victims. Let me be as brief as I can: Given what Taylor suffered, blindness is the least of his worries. Skin that's very badly burned doesn't really grow back properly. It isn't just horribly disfiguring--which it is--it's also agonizingly painful. Many victims of such burns who end up surviving describe pain that literally _never_ goes away for the rest of their lives.

Also, the only treatments we have aren't really available to Equestria, particularly at this period in time (we didn't have them either back then, to be fair. These days, we harvest skin from a healthy part of the patent or a donor, do some good old-fashioned genetic engineering, and grow ourselves sheets of fresh skin using advanced laboratory techniques. We then graft these thin, delicate sheets to the person, replacing their burned skin, generally in small sections at a time. Let one heal, then graft another to replace more burned skin, repeat. It can take many months, or years. And when it's finished, the person is _still_ disfigured for life. Not to mention much more delicate.

I wonder if you understood the gravity of what you were doing to Taylor. He isn't going to have purple eyes for life, he's going to have a monster face for life. And a monster rest of his body. He's going to be hideous. Remember the phantom of the opera? That's just from one small burn.

There is a way you could get around this in a pony story, one you haven't invoked yet: magic. Maybe there is some kind of healing magic they can use? There better be, for Taylor's sake, because they sure as heck don't have the technology for skin grafts.

[ScarFox9700]

8554574
Hello again Starscribe.

Well, i see that everything all lumps together into one point, so here we go.

First of all, yes, I am familiar with burn victims, as least from my studies of WW2. I know how severe it can be.

Next, although I've implied it numerous times, I've never actually fully shown just how bad Taylor's burns really are. For the most part, it's his head, upper torso, and left arm. Most of these burns are something between second and third degree burns.

Also, yes, I was thinking about skin graphs, however, that technology really didn't exist in 1945, on Earth or Equestria. I knew that this wasn't going to work, so I knew that I was going to have to find an alternative.

I really do understand what I'm doing to Taylor. All of this plays into the plot of this new story arc. I knew that this was going to be rather dark and sad, but it had to be done.

For now, yes, Taylor is in trouble. He's in severe pain, and his head, upper torso, and left arm will never be the same. However, all is not lost. Most of Chapter 29 will be about the treatment to try and heal Taylor's burns. What is this treatment, and will it work? And what about his broken arm and heavy bruising on his back? Well, stay tuned for Chapter 29, coming either tonight, or tomorrow night, and you'll find out.

[harts fire]

flash burn sucks i had it in the past from welding.
and as a result i have 2 small spots that if i turn my head just right i have black hols or blind spots.

this is a good chapter and your writing is improving, keep up the good work.

[ScarFox9700]

8555488
Hello Harts Fire.

Wow, yeah, that must suck. I've done some welding myself, and while I may have not been flash burned, when I wrote this chapter, I did some research, and I can definitely say that flash burn is definitely not something that you want.

Also, thank you for reading my story, and I'll be sure to keep writing it!