The Accident: Part 2

The doctor came into the room, and introduced herself.  She seemed nice enough.  I made sure to let her know that this was my first eye doctor appointment, for some reason, I felt that that was an important detail.  My gut was telling me what to say, and I tried to listen to it but told myself that I was going to be fine.  Sitting here more than five years later that rings true.  I am fine.

The doctor checked me eyes, and had me read various letters on eye charts.  It was pretty obvious that I needed some sort of corrective lenses, and I'm also quite sure that my mind was playing tricks on me.  I was reading letters out of order as if I was dyslexic, and that made my feel frazzled.  My heart beat faster.  

It came to that fateful time where the doctor said that she would like to administer drops to dilate my eyes.  I asked her what dilating my eyes would allow her to do, and she replied that it would let her see the back of my eyes.  I felt so good that I had asked a question, and in the end, I consented to the drops.  The doctor applied one drop of a numbing medication to each eye, and then added two drops of the dilating liquid to my eyes.  Then we waited while the drops went to work.

I felt my hands get clammy, my body got tingly and felt like butterflies were flittering through my veins, and heart began to race.  Faster and faster.  I told myself to be brave, and to take deep breaths.  The doctor said that I could walk out to the waiting area and that someone (a nurse, I presumed) would meet me at the doorway and would help me look at frames while the drops dilated my eyes.  So up I went.  I gathered my black North Face fleece and my purse, and began walking to the door.  

To set the scene, here is the layout of the office:  To get to the waiting room doorway, I had to walk straight out of the exam room, then turn left, then walk five feet or so, then turn right, and walk at least 10 feet. 

I remember walking out of the exam room, and walking down the shorter hall, and then I saw the doorway to the waiting room from afar.  I don't remember anything after that. 

My hearing went.  There was a loud ringing sound, and then I temporarily went deaf.  My vision was all fuzzy, and then it was black.  I was entering a nightmare.  And there was no turning back.