It took two days for the storm to finally come to an end. The had been without power for two days, thankfully, they had enough gasoline for the generator for at least another day. Ellie looked outside, she had decided that she would take on the chore of cleaning the steps, porch and walkway off. Thankfully, the two guys she had hired to keep their driveway opened had done so.

As Ellie laced up her boots, she heard Joe yell, “I can’t see!” Ellie ran to their room, almost colliding with Alexandria. Joe was sitting on the side of the bed, rubbing his eyes and shaking his head. “I can’t see out of either eye.” He said, tears streaming down his face.

“It’s ok Joe, the doctor said that this could happen. Just relax, maybe it isn’t permanent. Don’t stress yourself out, you need to stay calm. I will call Doctor Anderson.” Ellie ran from the room, dialing the doctor as she went.

After speaking to the doctor, it was decided to take Joe in for a few quick tests. Ellie and Peter helped Joe dress; Alexandria had gone out to warm up the truck. As they made their way to the truck, Joe asked how much snow they had gotten. “About two feet, give or take a few inches.” Peter said. “Don’t worry, the driveway is already plowed.”

As they pulled into the hospital, Joe reached for Ellie’s hand. “I know our anniversary is in four days, I haven’t forgotten. I have our date planned already.” He said, a small smile on his lips. How could he be thinking about a date right now when he couldn’t see? Ellie just looked at him, a small frown on her face.

“The last thing on my mind right now is a date that you have planned Joe. We need to find out about your eyesight, then we can focus on whatever comes next. Come on, the wheelchair is here.” She said, opening the door and helping him into the wheelchair. Peter parked the truck as Alexandria and Ellie walked behind the nurse who pushed Joe right into the awaiting cat scan.

“Can you believe that he is more worried about some date that he has planned for our anniversary than he is his own health?” Ellie exclaimed, turning to Alexandria.

Alexandria sat, folded her hands in her lap and looked at her daughter-in-law. She agreed that Joe should be worried about his health, but she also knew how important the plans were that Joe had made. She sighed, she didn’t know how to answer Ellie, so she said nothing.

Peter walked in, sat down next to Ellie, putting his arm around her. “Ellie, I know that you are worried about Joe’s health, we all are. You have to let Joe do what he has planned, it means a lot to him. Trust me, I tried talking him out of all of this but you know my son, he is stubborn. He is doing this for you Ellie, he wants you to remember him having fun and making you smile. He doesn’t want you remembering him sick, too weak to do anything. If his sight is gone, then we will deal with it, together.”

Ellie couldn’t believe that his parents were backing Joe in going through with this date he had planned. Surely, they could see that Joe was in no condition to follow through with it, especially now that his eye sight was questionable.

Doctor Anderson walked in, “Well, Joe is settled in a room for now. Depending on what the cat scan shows, he will most likely be going home today. He is in the same room as last time, you guys’ head on down and I will be in when I get the results.”

They made their way to Joe’s room, walking in to find him looking towards the window, not saying a word. Ellie sat on the bed next to him, holding his hand, “Is there anything you need?” she asked.

“Yeah, there is, I need out of this bed and back home. I still have to finish a couple things. I don’t have time to sit in this bed and wait to hear that my eyesight isn’t coming back. Go find the doctor and tell him that I want to leave.” Joe said, anger evident in his voice.

“Joe, at least wait to hear what the doctor has to say, please?” Ellie begged, looking to his parents, shaking her head.

“Fine, I will wait but they had better hurry. I have things to do.” Joe said, pulling his hand from Ellie’s and crossing his arms over his chest. Joe had been having more outburst lately, forgetting things and just not being himself. Ellie knew that he couldn’t help it, that he had no control over it but it still broke her heart to see him act the way he did at times.

They sat in silence for the next hour, Joe growing more and more irritated as the time passed. Doctor Anderson walked in, “Joe, can you see anything at all? Color or shape?” he asked, although he already knew Joe would say no. Joe shook his head no, “I can’t see anything, it’s black.” Doctor Anderson opened the file, read over the results and closed it again. “The tumor is completely pushing against the optical nerve, you may see shapes or blurred color at times, but it isn’t likely that you will regain your vision. We also measured the tumor; it has grown in size again. I know you don’t want to hear this but if there are things that you need to do, I wouldn’t put them off any longer.”

“What do you mean? How long are you giving him? We still are within the six weeks that you originally said.” Ellie cried, standing up and stalking towards the doctor. “Are you telling me that I could wake up two days from now and be a widow? That my husband could fall asleep one night and never wake up again? Is that what you are telling me?” she screamed, her face red, her voice harsh, her hands clenched at her sides.

Peter stood and walked over to Ellie, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her back, out of the doctor’s face. “Ellie, calm down, you shouldn’t be getting so upset, it isn’t good for the baby. We knew this was a possibility. We will deal with it. The doctor can’t give us an exact date of when Joe won’t wake up. Only one person knows when that will happen.” Peter said, knowing that it still hurt Ellie to hear.

Ellie stalked out of the room, down the hall and out the main door of the hospital. Alexandria went to go after her but Peter stopped her. “Let her go Alex, she just needs some time and air. Doctor, can we take Joe home?” Alexandria just stared at Peter, Ellie was pregnant, she shouldn’t be out walking in this weather.

“Absolutely and again, I am sorry to be the barer of bad news. I will have the nurse come in with the paperwork. Joe, try and take it easy, things are only going to get worse, unfortunately.” Doctor Anderson left the room as Joe attempted to get out of bed. Peter rushed to his side, helped him into his clothes and shoes and waited for the nurse to bring the paperwork.

Ellie walked all the way home that day, she couldn’t believe what the doctor had said. And the nerve of Joe’s parents, helping him with this idea to take her on dates when he should be resting.