She heard them coming. She could hear the footsteps and the slight squeak in the shoes he wore. They were different from last time. Last week they were heavier, she remembered that. And they had made a tapping noise...

And then she heard hers. Her heels (which were actually thick, contradicting her first guess) seemed to be pounding on the ground. And then a knock.

"Em?"

"Still here."

She could tell that he would be smiling, even if she couldn't see him. She slid down from the bed as he spoke,

"Emily, I would like you to meet Dr. London."

Emily timidly held out her hand, and Dr. London grasped it warmly.

"You can call me Elizabeth when there aren't any doctors around. Joe doesn't count."

She smiled at Joe's chuckle, but dropped her hand.

"So what are you going to teach me?" She asked cooley, telling the doctor that this friendly chat was over.

By the pause, she could tell that Elizabeth and Joe were exchanging glances.

"Well, Emily, you're going to learn how to depend on your other senses, how to walk-"

"I know how to walk."

"-with a cane." Elizabeth finished. "I understand that you may feel uncomfortable with that, but I promise you-it will make your life a whole lot easier. What are your interests, what do you like to do?"

Emily thought for a moment before picking all of the visual things she enjoyed.

"Read, write in my journal, go to concerts, dance...I can't very well dance with a cane, can I?"

Another pause. That exchange of glances again...

"Emily you can do all of those things. You can still hear the music, concerts would be a blast. And once you get used to the balance, I promise you that you can pick up dance once again. And as for reading and writing-there is a class that you can take once you are feeling better. Have you ever heard of braille?"

Emily nodded. She had heard of it, of course. But she never imagined having to use all of those dots and reading with her fingers.

"But first, as I said earlier, we are going to help you enhance your other senses. We have an appointment schedualed for tomorrow at noon. Will you be up for it?"

And let her think that she was helpless? Emily thought.

"Of course."

"Wonderful. It was very nice to meet you, Emily. I'll see you tomorrow then."

Her shoes pounded on the tile as the woman left, closing the door behind her. Emily turned her head.

"Joe?"

"I have something for you."

She heard the rustle of his coat as he reached into his pocket. The rest was silence.

"What is it?"

He reached for her hand and placed a plastic object into it.

"Sunglasses?"

"The bandage can come off today Emily. Go ahead and have a seat."

And so she propped herself up on the bed again and listened as Joe closed the blinds. The familiar sound of metal meant that he was pulling a stool over.

She waited patiently while he unwound the bandage, thinking about other things...thinking about what had happened earlier in the room, of that boy.

As the bandage fell free from her eyes, she opened them and looked around.

"Now, tell me what you see."

"Joe-" she said quietly, her voice timid.

"What is it?"

"A few weeks ago when I was here, I saw shadows. And you said that I could get better...."

"What do you see now?"

Emily's shoulders trembled. "The shadows are smaller, I can't see them as well."

Joe placed a hand on Emily's arm. "Emily," his voice was soft and gentle, "you're not getting worse. The tests we ran indicate that. It is quite possible that you're having a harder time today. There are days when you might not see anything at all. But by seeing at least an inch of that shadow means that you are healing. Okay?"

Emily nodded and reached for the sunglasses. Joe placed them in her hands, wondering if she would accept what he had said, or if she would be saddened at the thought of moderate progress. But Emily put on the sunglasses and turned Joe's way.

"Well?" she asked expectantly, "how do I look?"

Joe let out a laugh. "Very in." he promised. He patted her leg as he shook his head and stood. "I bought only the best, I promise you that. Come on. I'm off in a few minutes, I'll give you a ride home."

Emily hopped down from the bed and began to walk towards the door. Pausing in the doorway, she tilted her head as she heard the distinct squeaking sound again.

"Joe?"

It stopped.

"Yeah?"

Emily smiled. "Are you wearing sneakers?"

There was no rain today.

Because of this, he drew the blinds, blocking the sunlight from streaming across his bedroom. The images were gone...for now. Each night he would hear the sound of the skidding car, see the flames as debris flew everywhere.

But not now....Now, he was given a break from that memory. And he used that break to think about how she was doing right now.

She was blind. This he knew by the papers. And the fact that the Quartermaine's had called to see how he was doing himself. Surprisingly they had not called to blame him. No, he was doing enough of that himself.

"Nikolas?"

He ignored the knock at the door.

"Nik-come on, man, let me in."

This had been going on for the past thirty minutes. Giving in, Nikolas stood from his desk chair and walked over to the door. As soon as he unlocked it, the door was thrown open. His brother looked around at the drawn shades and Nikolas' growing facial hair.

"What the hell are you doing? You haven't been outside in weeks, you sit up here in darkness..."

"Don't, Lucky." Nikolas warned.

"You have Mrs. Landsburry bring up all of your meals, you won't talk to anyone...Nikolas. She's alive. Don't you understand that? She's alive. So, she's blind. She's strong, Nikolas, you and I both know that. She'll get through it but she needs help. Just because all she sees is darkness doesn't mean that that's all you should see too."

Nikolas stared at his brother. "Please leave."

"Okay, man, but you have to get out of this mood sometime and see her."

"Lucky..."

"I'm going, I'm going." The door closed behind him as he walked out.

Nikolas stared at the back of the wood door a long time before turning around, and when he did he caught sight of a picture on his bedside table. A picture of Emily and himself. Reaching up, he ran a hand over the tiny hairs that were growing because of his lack of care.

Nodding to himself, he reached out for the window before hurrying to his bathroom to shave.

On the grounds of Spoon Island, Lucky Spencer looked up towards the house. He smiled in satisfaction as he saw a change in it. Stepping onto the launch, he rode away from the island where, in the house, one room welcomed the sunlight.