AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They wouldn’t let me unpack any of the things that were coming off of the truck downstairs and had left me to decorate the canopy bed that served as my nest. Back when my vision was good I loved looking up at the swathes of dark silk and how they boxed in the space, making it feel safe.
Now they were just a black tinged blur.
Sometimes I wished that my blindness had been instantaneous. Just take it all away so I wouldn’t have to watch the slow disintegration of my vision until things finally closed in on me.
In the three months since the Olympics it had only gotten worse.
Both my doctor back in Edinburgh and the new one in Seattle kept telling me that everyone was different when it came to losing their sight.
For some with open angle glaucoma, it was a slow creep from the edge of their vision until everything went completely dark one day, and for others it was spotty and random.
I thought I would be a part of the former since, up to last month, my peripheral had been slowly deteriorating with some blurring in the center of it.
But then I’d woken up to find black spots leaking in, I’d panicked. Enzo and Leith had immediately upped our moving date and now we were in our new apartment situated in the building where the rest of the Seattle Sports Complex athletes lived.
It was a surprisingly spacious place, much larger than our flat back in Edinburgh. During our walk through yesterday, the property manager had explained that all of the hockey players from the Seattle Stallions lived a few floors up in two-bedroom apartments unless they had families of their own. In that case they lived on the same floor as us in the family apartments.
The rest of the athletes were sprinkled throughout the five-story building, but we had yet to meet any of them. The manager told us that most athletes left early in the morning and came back late at night, only using their space to eat and sleep.
I’d been like that too before the Olympics, but I’d promised Enzo I would slow down once we made it to the states.
I understood where he was coming from—really I did—and that he was concerned about me. The doctors advised against continuing my skating for a plethora of reasons, but the first and foremost was that if I fell and hit my head it could exacerbate the pressure on my eyes, speeding up the inevitable.
But I didn’t want to be swaddled in bubble wrap by my packmates or doctors for the rest of my life.
A sour feeling filled my gut at the idea of my impending blindness and I quickly shut down both of my bonds with the two men in the living room. I didn’t need them both barreling into my room to ask me what was wrong.
Thankfully Charm, who had been sleeping next to me, seemed to pick up on my distress and she let out a plaintive whine before pressing her nose to my thigh. It was the universal guide dog sign for ‘you okay?’
I gave her ears a ruffle.
“I’m all right, little lady,” I whispered. “Just the usual.”
Charm didn’t understand a lick of English, but she still put her head in my lap anyway and let out a comforting huff.
I’d been reticent about getting a seeing eye dog when, technically, I didn’t quite need one yet. But as soon as Charm, and eventually Lucky, came into our home I realized just how much I relied on her.
Not only did she make sure that I didn’t bump into anything when we were out and about because it was hiding in my blackened peripheral, but she was also always there when I started to spiral and panic. She was truly a godsend.
And then there was Lucky who was there to make everyone laugh.
Case in point the scolding that was currently coming from the other room.
“Gods dammit you infernal beast!” Leith’s bellow was followed by a crash. “Just because we’re in a new house doesn’t mean you need to open all of the cabinet doors!”
“Uh-oh,” I told Charm with a grin, “Looks like your brother is up to no good again.”
Getting up, I gripped Charm’s harness and let her lead me back into the main part of the apartment. Eventually, I’d be able to navigate without her, but I was still learning all the twists and turns of the new place and I really didn’t want to end up with a bunch of bruises because I couldn’t see a corner or counter.
Enzo was wheezing with laughter by the time we made it into the main area only to find Leith sprawled out on the ground with Lucky licking his face as an apology for clearly knocking him over with one of the kitchen cupboards.
“Are you all right?” I asked standing over Leith and peering down at him with a squint until I could make out the smile on his face.
“Yeah,” the Scotsman grumbled as he sat up and pushed Lucky away. “This damn mutt is too smart for his own good. Why did we bring him home again?”
It was the same line that Leith used at least once a week when the wily golden retriever misbehaved.
Enzo snorted in the same way he always did when Leith asked that question and held out a hand to the other alpha. “You were the one who felt bad when we went to pick up Charm.”
