Chapter Text
~
Learning new things is hard, a lot of hard work put in. It's even harder if you can't see. One of your senses are gone. After spending all your life reliant on it, it's gone.
Mark had been super patient with Jack and helping him along the way. Jack however, was more than pissed with his progress. He kept messing up. He needed to learn braille but it's just like learning a new language. But unlike other people, he had no choice but to learn it.
Without sight, he felt that his other senses had become more sensitive. It still took a damned long time to get the hang of it though.
Months. Years have passed without them noticing the changes around them. They were lost in their world. For Jack, Mark was his world now. Mark had helped him so much. Mark still helps him. With more dangerous tasks such as cooking, shaving. Mark is so protective over Jack it was ridiculous.
A few weeks into them living together, Jack had decided he was going to film his process of getting his life back on track. Posting vlogs of him learning slowly, giving talks about how it may seem hard, but he kept trying and eventually, he did bounce back stronger than ever.
His fan base shrunk but what can he say? People had stayed to watch gaming videos. It didn't deter him from posting his videos. He had a few reasons for doing so.
Firstly, he still wanted to reach out to people and make more friends. Making more connections. Secondly, he did not want to rely on Mark too much. He knows how expensive lessons and rehabilitation is and he wanted to pay for it with his own money. He is still partnered with Youtube and he still has revenue from his older videos but he felt that he was being lazy.
Being blind might not have been his idea of his future, but he was glad it was. He could reach out to a bigger audience, not just to the blind. Not that he wasn't already, but now he has the first hand experience of being lost and alone.
His friends all supported him through it all. His game developer friends also had made games especially for the blind to play. Everything relied on his hearing at first, then it became a more interactive experience with the virtual reality consoles that started coming out. He played a big part in the development of the game too.
This had kept his attention and his thoughts fully, not making time for anymore self doubt. He could do it.
When the game was finally done, he played it and posted it. More people knew about him, about his work, about his life. Many people supported him. Supported his projects.
He still went to conventions. Maybe once in a while. Since it was so crowded, he had to have security guards the whole time there. He didn't like the special treatment but maybe now he can savour this moment. He worked so hard. He couldn't stop himself from crying after meeting fans in person the first time he went to a convention.
Mark was so worried. Jack loved it.
Jack loved how Mark was towards him. Even though it had changed a bit from when he first came to live with Mark, he could still feel his love. It was wearing Mark down, Jack knew. Jack could hear the tiredness in Mark's voice. But not once did it lose the love in it.
~
One night, a phone call had disturbed the couple from their rest. They both whined as they were both comfy in bed. Jack quickly hid under his covers and pretended to sleep while Mark had nothing else to do but get up to answer the phone.
"Hello. Mark speaking."
On the other side of the line, there was a clearly not a native English speaker speaking fast in some language. Mark deduced that it was Japanese.
"Er. Hello. I am calling in relation to a Mister Sean Mac-Hog-lin" The speaker stuttered in trying to pronounce the name.
"Yeah. Do you need him to come to the phone?"
"Any family member above 21 is fine." The speaker continued, "Oh I am sorry. Where are my manners. I am a doctor at XYZ hospital. You can address me as Harry. Or Doctor Harry. Whichever you are comfortable with."
"Oh okay. I am Sean's husband. What is this call about Doctor Harry?"
"We might have found a way to return Mister Sean's blindness."
"Oh! Is this true?" Mark exclaimed.
"Yes. The details of the procedure is going to be emailed to the address that you had given us when you visited last. Think about it. Even if it's a small chance to get the whole vision back, it is good to give it a try. I won't take any more of your time at this ungodly hour. I'll be waiting for your decision."
Mark went back to the bedroom and saw Jack sitting upright, looking at him. Mark took a breath and told Jack about what the doctor had said.
Mark did not want to delay it any further and immediately went to his email.
They both had travelled to many different specialists the first few months of the incident and came up empty handed. But times have changed. Finally.
The specifics of the procedure was long and very technical. Apparently they had invented a new device and material that acts the same as the components in the human eye. It was a very delicate surgery, connecting all the capillaries and veins to the artificial eye. The chances of a full success is about 10 percent.
Maybe one eye would be colourblind, maybe one eye would not be able to handle the devices. What Mark got from the email was that they would be performing a delicate removal of the actual eye components and replacing them with the gadgets.
Even thinking about freaked him out.
As with every surgery, there is always a risk of failure. Even worse than being blind.
Thinking long and hard about it, Mark and Jack had came up with pros and cons of the whole thing.
Jack thought that nothing could be worse than the moment he realised he was blind, now there was a chance of him getting back. He was excited and nervous.
Telling doctor Harry about their decision, the surgery was scheduled.
~
Jack was in surgery. Mark was in the waiting room. They had said the surgery would take at least four hours. At most it could last eight hours.
Doctor Harry came up to Mark and started talking to him, most likely to relief the stress Mark was feeling by distracting him.
"Jack is the first person to go through this procedure. It's not going to be perfect. But with this, he could be helping other patients with his data. I am sure that he would like that. Helping people was always what he wanted to do, right? Didn't you say that yourself?" Doctor Harry had said and kept his eyes on Mark, observing his behaviour.
"Yeah. I'm still very nervous. Let's talk about something else. You're a Japanese right?"
"Ah yes. I am Japanese. I came to America quite some time ago. My English is not perfect and my accent is still strong. Hopefully you did not have any trouble understanding what I say."
"Ah it's no problem at all. What did you do before coming to this hospital?"
Their conversation went on. Mark had stressed so much he fell asleep after the first few hours of waiting. He came back to the world of living when someone shook him awake.
Jack was out of the operation room. And it only took... ten hours. Oh.
JACK!
He was still in the drug induced state and his conditioned had stabled. They had a hard time with him, he was told that Jack had flat-lined in the middle of surgery but he managed to pull through.
Jack was strong.
Mark stayed in the hospital. Even though the nurses told him to leave. He kept by Jack's side, holding his hand. Jack's head was covered in a bandage which prevented light from reaching his eyes. His 'new' eyes were still a little sensitive. Too much light might damage it at this point in time.
The night was cold and silent. The only sounds were the dripping of the IV drip beside Jack's bed and Jack's and his quiet breathing.
He did not know how long it has been. He feel in and out of sleep along the way.
The hand holding Jack's hand was numb. Mark released his hold on Jack's hand to stretch a little, but was stopped by a small clench of the other's hand. Mark Looked at Jack. His heart pumping loud and hard in his chest.
"Jack?" Mark whispered.
His voice sounded like it was amplified a thousand fold in the quiet room.
"Mark" Jack replied, his voice hoarse for not being used in the coma like state.
"Jack," Mark released a breath he did not know he was holding, "You're awake!"
It took a while, but Mark eventually called the nurse.
The nurse had came and took some tests before heading to remove Jack's bandage.
"Please keep your eyes closed. When I remove the bandage, at your own time, slowly open your eyes. Okay? I'm going to dim the lights."
The nurse slowly unwrapped Jack's head. Once it was fully off, Jack obeyed his instructions and slowly opened his eyes.
Mark saw the clear blue-ish green eyes he had missed so much. He stared at his eyes, lost in them.
The first words out of Jack's mouth had caused the both of them to laugh, a hearty, loving laugh.
"You really had let yourself go since the last time I saw you."
Jack was back. He was never gone but it seems like their whole ordeal was over. It only took what- ten years.
And that wait was worth it. Always. It was always worth it. For Jack. For Mark. The couple took their time not rushing anything.
Things seemed different. But they were the same. In time, everything would fall back into place again.
~End~
A/N:
@BunnyAuthor831 Thanks for wanting to read more of my story. So this is dedicated to you. Sorry it took so long. Inspiration only hits when I'm in bed or smth HAHAHA
This is the last chapter. I tried to make it end as smoothly as possible xD
I don't know if my writing style had changed since I last posted something. I have a lot of works in the making but I really don't want to post it until I know I'm going to continue. I keep starting new works with my old works like half a chapter in. The one with the most chapters is currently 3 1/2 chaps. xD
Starting a new school and new work to do. I'm dying. It's late and I have tests on Monday-Thursday. I'm so good at procrastinating. XD
Well have a good day and hope to see you whenever I post anymore stories.
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