Love's Retaliation

Chapter 2-1

CHAPTER 2

The hospital door opened, and Dr. Drake entered followed by another doctor. He nodded hello to everyone. “Mr. and Mrs. Murdoc, this is Dr. Judy Loren. She is an eye specialist. She is going to check on Will’s eyes when we remove the bandages.”

Dr. Loren came to Will’s bedside and shook hands with Lucy and Cam. She nodded to the three men present.

“These are Will’s brothers, David and Mike, and his best friend, Tim,” said Lucy when she noticed Dr. Loren looking at the men. Dr. Loren nodded and smiled at the guys. They all smiled back at her with a nod. A nurse came in with an instrument tray and the guys moved over to the window, out of the way.

“Could one of you close the window shade?” asked Dr. Loren. “The light may be too bright when we take off the bandages.” David turned and closed it. . Cam and Lucy moved back out of the way, but stayed close to the end of the bed, so they could see what was happening.

The nurse raised the head of the bed so the doctor could better reach Will’s head and handed Dr. Drake the scissors. He carefully cut the bandages around Will’s eyes and started unwrapping them from around his head. Dr. Loren held the pads in place under the gauze. When the gauze was out of the way, she, carefully, removed the pads.

Will blinked and stared toward the end of the bed where his parents were standing.

“What can you see, Will?” asked Dr. Loren.

“It’s very blurry, but I can just make out my parents,” said Will.

“Good,” said Dr. Loren. She started studying Will’s eyes with her instruments. “Will, you have a very bad flash burn. Your eyesight will get better, but we won’t know how much for a few days. I’m not going to wrap them up again, but I am going to give you these dark glasses. I want you to wear the glasses at all times except when you are sleeping. It’s very important to keep bright light from your eyes. I am also going to have the nurse administer some eye drops to keep your eyes lubricated. I will check on you tomorrow. We need you to stay in the hospital for a couple of days.”

“Okay, Doctor, thanks,” said Will. Dr. Loren turned and nodded to everyone as she left.

Dr. Drake moved up to the place vacated by Dr. Loren. He and the nurse applied cold compresses on Will’s face to help with the burn. “These compresses need to be removed in thirty minutes. You can wait an hour and apply them again for thirty more minutes,” Dr. Drake instructed the nurse.

“Yes, Dr. Drake,” said the nurse.

Dr. Drake reassured the Murdocs and left. The nurse left to get more cold compresses for Will’s face. David and Mike came over and each gave Will an awkward hug.

“I’ll see you later. I have to get to work. You do what the doctor says, so you can get out of here,” said Mike.

“Yeah, no getting up and chasing after these pretty nurses,” said David as the nurse returned and grinned at him. “I’ll see you after work.”

After Mike and David left, Tim came forward. “Don’t you have class?” asked Will.

“I just have one class today. I can get the notes from Penny,” said Tim.

Will turned to his dad. “You don’t have to stay, Dad. I’ll be fine. There is nothing you can do, but sit here,” said Will.

Cam looked thoughtful for a minute, then, shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe you are right. I know it can be irritating to have someone sit and stare at you.”

Cam turned and hugged Lucy. “You call me if there is any problem,” he said.

“I will,” promised Lucy.

After Cam left, Will looked to where Lucy was sitting. “You can stop right there, Will Murdoc. I’m not going anywhere. You are just going to have to put up with me,” she declared.

Tim laughed and Will joined in. “I wasn’t trying to get rid of you Mom. I hate being such a bother to everyone. I don’t know what I was thinking to pull such a stupid stunt.”

“We all pull stupid stunts in our lives, Will. The trick is to realize how stupid it was and correct your mistake,” said Lucy.

“How do I correct the mistake? I can’t turn back time,” said Will.

“No, you can’t, but you can apologize to everyone involved, including the magic mirror, and offer to make up for what you did,” said Lucy.

“You want me to apologize to the magic mirror?” exclaimed Will.

“Why not?” asked Lucy. “You were trying to interfere with it doing its job. Don’t you think it deserves an apology?”

“I suppose so, but I doubt the museum will let me anywhere near the magic mirror,” said Will.

“You never know unless you ask,” said Lucy with a faint smile. “One of life’s most valuable lessons is learning to face your mistakes and to make things better by making up for them.”

* * * *

Dr. Marcus Drake was keeping his wife Valerie updated on Will Murdoc’s condition. He told her what he had overheard about why Will had broken into the museum and tried to take the magic mirror.

“There has been a lot of attention shown to the magic mirror since the news articles were published,” said Valerie.

“It has stirred people’s imagination,” agreed Marcus. “Most of them don’t really believe in the mirror, but they can’t resist checking it out.”

“It seems a shame for Will to have his life damaged because of his bad judgment,” said Valerie.

“What can you do about it?” asked Marcus.

“I don’t know. The police have been after me to press charges. I told them I would think about it. I need to talk to Will. I can’t make a decision until I understand him better. I need to know if this is a one-time thing or if he makes a habit of pulling stunts such as these,” Valerie said, thoughtfully.

“He seems like a good kid to me,” said Marcus. “I think he deserves a second chance.”

“How long will he be in the hospital?” asked Valerie.

“At least a couple more days,” said Marcus. “Dr. Loren wants to check on his eyes a couple more times before he leaves the hospital.”

“Maybe I’ll pay him a visit,” said Valerie.

“Let me know when you want to visit, and I’ll take you by and introduce you,” said Marcus.

“Alright, let me know when you think he is ready for visitors,” said Valerie.

Marcus pulled Valerie into his lap as she passed him. “I’ll keep it in mind. Right now, I have other things on my mind,” said Marcus, pulling her close for a kiss.

“My favorite way to pass the time,” agreed Valerie, returning his kiss with a smile.