Dated April 15th

[leftwithmybones]

He has to stop putting this off.

There's a line he's been straddling where he wants to deliver a good product to Auggie, but he's not going to perfect it until he gets a few prototypes in testing and the best person to try them out is Auggie. He's managed to create an organism that supports the contacts and has matched it to Auggie's vitals so that it won't bother him. They're not permanent and they're definitely finnicky, but the big part of this is the brain implant.

"Once I put the implant in, it's basically a receiver," he explains, showing off the chip in a petri-dish. "Which means that on the off chance we ever get cable television here, you might flicker," he jokes in a deadpan. "Once it's in, you slip in the contacts and then you can turn them on and off. Black and white," he reminds him. "And yeah, for a while they might be a little fuzzy. There's some tweaks I might need to make and there's a solution you'll need to keep the contacts in to keep them healthy," he says. "I'll write it all down," he promises, eyeing Auggie and giving him some space to talk or ask questions. "You still want to move forward with this?"

Comments

[farmgrown]

It takes a moment for her own eyes to adjust once McCoy shuts off the lights; there in the relative darkness, she waits. She doesn't know how Auggie is going to be able to see, but maybe it's because these contacts are sensitive and the doctor wants to adjust it gradually. She can only hazard a guess as to how all of this works. Though her instincts are telling her to move closer, she knows she's needed here, to validate everything he sees once any adjustments are made.

The nerves kick in again, though now they're laced with something closer to excitement. She's hopeful, above all else.

[leftwithmybones]

It doesn't take much fiddling once the equipment is in. It's an easy process, but only if it works. If it doesn't, he's got a lot of long nights ahead of him where he makes very small tweaks. "Okay," he says, exhaling and gesturing for Annie to step forward into Auggie's line of vision, if she wants to be there when he opens his eyes. "We're doing this one by one," he says, holding his datapadd in his hand to monitor the vitals as they do this. "I'd like you to open your right eye and tell me what you see."

[theblindguy]

One at a time. Auggie doesn't actually immediately do what he was asked to do. It's really only after he took another breath that he opened it, unsure what to expect. There was a brief moment he thought he had set himself up for disappointment again when he saw a whole lot of darkness. It didn't take him long to realize it was a completely different kind of darkness.

He could see the outline of things. They were really out of focus, to the point he honestly had no idea what he was looking at except it was something. But slowly, very slowly, as his eyes darted around, it seemed to get a little better.

"Shapes," he breathed out, because even if it was just that, it was a huge deal. It was more than he had ever thought he'd see again. It certainly made him keep wanting to keep looking, even though he swore he felt like it was straining the eye he was using as he did. It was a little too dark to really tell, but some of the shapes were even things that he thought he could identify.

Maybe.

To say things were still fuzzy was an understatement, to the point he could notice it even without the lights on that things were off. It was sort of like he was trying to look at the details of something at a great distance even though it was fairly close to him. His gaze scanned the area slowly, trying to make out something more concrete. What he ended up stopping on was what was so obviously the shape of a person standing nearby, and he even gestured when he said, "Someone standing there?"

[farmgrown]

She doesn't want to breathe, doesn't even want to do as much as blink for fear she'll somehow ruin this thing in its testing stages, and she waits until he glances around, his eyes clearly adjusting to the contrast. She's almost positive he'd been able to hear her from her position against the wall, but before this he'd only be able to gesture in her general vicinity, and now he points straight at her with one hand.

She's unable to hide her smile as she nods - again, slowly, unsure if too much movement will have a negative effect.

"Me," she says, an encouraging murmur, acknowledging that at least this far, they're on the right track.

[leftwithmybones]

"Easy now," McCoy warns, his gaze constantly flickering between the readout and Auggie's person. The last thing he needs is for the contacts or the receiver to overload. He taps away and monitors the vitals, trying to get everything down so he knows what to watch for the next little while. "When you feel like you've acclimatized, close the one eye and open the other. Slowly," he adds again, feeling like he needs the extra reminder.

[theblindguy]

It still was all disorienting. Still, the moment he realized who he had been looking at - he'd suspected, but wasn't entirely sure - made it all worth it. McCoy's warning was enough to focus him on looking around a little more again (and not just at her), closing the eye a minute or so after. He didn't open the other again immediately (he did say slowly, after all), instead giving himself a minute to rest his brain.

"I thought that was you. Didn't think the Doctor had such a nice figure, No offense," he joked, letting out a quiet chuckle. It was a big deal - more than any words he could put together - but that kind of reaction could come later. When they were alone. For now, he slowly opened his other eye when he felt ready.

He knew what to expect more this time. It made it easier to take it slow, since his initial instinct to dart his gaze around wasn't there now. Instead, he tried to see if things were getting better or worse in terms of the blurriness - he figured that would be important for McCoy to know.

"It's a lot of the same," he said. He paused to keep looking around, then amended, "A little better actually."

[farmgrown]

"Is that good?" Annie asks, not wanting to distract from the task at hand but unable to stop herself from blurting out the question in her excitement, the anticipation growing too much for her to ignore it. She immediately moves to quiet herself afterward, biting down on her lower lip and steeling herself for the answer where she's being a little too nosy.

Still, the fact that he's making jokes is a good sign, a sign that things haven't gotten screwed up somehow. He's prone to making them during a moment of tension too, so maybe she can't trust that. But she knows him well enough now to recognize when he's teasing just to tease or quipping in a crisis. It's always in the smile he shoots afterward - this one in her direction now that he knows where she's standing.

[leftwithmybones]

"I'll have you know I've got a waist to die for," McCoy jokes dryly, but the arch of his brow proves he's not even close to serious. The vitals are tracking well and it looks like they won't have too much information assaulting the brain. So he's got to give thanks for that. "Your brain's got a lot of ground to make up for. What I'd like for you to do is wear these about six hours a day to start. We'll ramp up," he promises. "We don't want to run before we can walk."

[theblindguy]

Auggie closed his eyes again as McCoy explained how things were going to work. It seemed like an uphill battle, but he hadn't expected anything else to be honest.

"I'm fine with starting slow," he replied, honestly. He wasn't about to complain or do anything that might jeopardize what he made for him. If he had to take it slow, he could take it slow. Honestly, it was probably better he took it slow. Too long of what he was seeing right now would give him a headache. "Is there places I shouldn't use them right now, like outside, since it's bright?"

They had just been sitting in the dark, so maybe too much light right now wasn't a good idea. He just didn't want to do something he shouldn't, so getting the rules out of the way seemed like a good idea.

[farmgrown]

Annie does crack a smile at the joke, though manages to keep a relatively straight face as she listens to the doc's instructions. Six hours a day doesn't sound like it'd be pushing it, and considering there'd been what resembled minor brain surgery involved, she doesn't want Auggie to overexert himself in this area either. There's too much at risk, more than just his ability to see. She doesn't want to know what else they could be putting at stake by rushing into anything.

She takes a few steps closer, reaching out just enough to place a hand on Auggie's arm as he continues asking questions. She knows he might be able to see her approaching now, but the habit of wanting him to feel her close by is still a hard one to break.

[leftwithmybones]

"Don't stare at the sun," McCoy deadpans, his voice completely even. "And you'll want to stay away from flourescents for a while. Neutral, warm lights," he advises. "We're going to start from the bottom and work our way up. I don't have another set of tech to make a back-up pair of contacts," he warns. "This is all we've got."

[theblindguy]

Auggie let out a quiet snort, unable to resist rolling his eyes at the comment. He was pretty sure that was the last thing he was planning on doing.

"Well, there goes my first idea," he said, sarcastically. The reminder of it being the only of its' kind was enough to make him a little serious again, though. If something were to ever happen to them, it would mean he'd be right back where he started. He nodded his head to show he understood. "I'll take good care of them."

He had a chance he never thought he had. He wasn't going to blow it.