"Well, I have some good news and bad news," the doctor replied. "The good news is that the operation went pretty smoothly."
"You mean she's alive?" Meg asked.
"Yes."
With that one word they were all very relieved and the three of them collapsed into one big group hug.
"Thank God!" Meg praised wiping tears of happiness from her eyes.
"Unfortunately there is some bad news," the doctor said interrupting their joyous celebration. "The tumor was in a very bad spot and although we managed to remove it, the tumor had already had a major affect on her vision. In other words Melissa is now blind."
They were all so happy that she was alive that it took awhile for the last bit of news to sink in.
"But she's alive?" Nick asked.
"Yes, but she may be blind for the rest of her life." "Aren't there surgeries you can do to restore her vision?" Meg asked. "Right now it's very unpredictable. we could try a type of laser surgery but its very expensive and not very dependable but if she really would like to try it she can, its just that she shouldn't get her hopes up to high."
"Can we see her now?" Nick asked.
"Right now she's really tired from the surgery. She's still not awake yet but if you'd like to hang around you can see her later."
"OK. We'll do that," Meg told him.
"Oh yea, one more thing. She doesn't know that she's blind yet so when you break it to her do it gently. It's very hard to accept.
"OK I will," Meg promised.
Two hours later they finally were allowed to go see Melissa who was still sleeping.
"OMG. She looks terrible," Meg cried.
"Well, I don't think any of us would look so great after brain surgery," AJ told her.
"Her hair..., Meg murmured thinking about how her sister's beautiful, long, thick, light brown hair now all gone. They had to shave her head in order to reach the tumor.
"Shh. It's going to be okay," AJ told her putting his arm around her.
They both looked over at Nick who had remained quiet ever since they first entered the room. He had a stunned expression on his face and they could both see the sadness in his blue eyes. He looked like he was about to cry any minute.
AJ kept looking back and forth between Meg and Nick. He almost felt guilty that he wasn't more upset but then again he had never been to close to Melissa.
Suddenly Melissa opened her eyes. "Am I alive?" she asked hoarsely.
"Oh Mel! You're awake!" Meg said running towards her wrapping her arms around her in a huge hug.
"Yea I am but I can't seem to open my eyes."
Meg, AJ, and Nick exchanged a glance. They had to tell her the truth. Slowly Meg started to say, "Mel, your eyes are open."
"Then how come I can't see?" she asked.
Meg took another deep breath, "The operation caused you to become permanently blind."
"You mean I'm going to blind forever? I'm never going to be able to see you or Nick or anyone else?"
Meg couldn't answer because she was crying. Dammitt, this is so hard, she thought.
Nick took over and kneeled beside her bed taking her hands and slowly bringing them up to his face. As her hands traced the outline of his face she realized immediately who it was.
"Nick?" she asked.
"Yea its me," he told her.
"You promised me that I'd see you again," she told him.
"I'm just thankful you're alive."
"Yea, I'm alive but I'll never be able to see your face again."
"Well, think of it this way, you're always remember me as being cute even when I'm old and gray," he told her trying to make a joke.
Melissa didn't smile. "What if I forget what you looked like?"
"You won't. I promise."
"Yea just like you promised I'd see you again right?"
"Mel! C'mon! Its not Nick's fault! Just be happy that you're alive," Meg told her.
"Oh yea! I'm really happy that I'm blind!"
"Well, I seem to think its a small price to pay to just be alive," Meg said.
"What's wrong with Mel? Why is she so bitter all of a sudden? Meg asked that night. They were back at the apartment and Meg and AJ were sitting at the kitchen table talking.
"I have no idea. I guess maybe its just that she's kind of shocked about finding out that she's blind and is taking it out on everyone," AJ suggested.
"Maybe, but still. Why did she treat Nick like that? It's like she blamed him or something."
"I don't know but he seems to be taking it pretty hard."
As soon as they got home from the hospital Nick had immediately went upstairs saying he was tired. It definitely had been hard for him. The whole visit after Melissa had yelled at him she hadn't said a word to him. Meg could tell he was upset.
"I just wish Mel would just be normal again."
"Just give her some time. Nothing happens overnight."
"I hope so because I miss the old Mel."