The Pack by LM. Preston Page A

have, but it will be well worth it. Ready?” her dad asked. For once, Shamira was speechless. With all that her dad added to her eyesight, how could she not appreciate his thoughts? This would help her immensely when she got home, and she smiled at the thought and nodded for him to proceed.
    Her dad’s right hand was on the top of her head. He held her steady while he gently removed the tape from her eyes. She held her eyes closed and waited for him to remove his hands, and then she slowly opened both eyes. She marveled at the light peeking through her eyelids, and opened her eyes just a little. She breathed in deeply, then threw caution to the wind and opened them up to see her dad just an inch away from her. He had dark brown skin, a strong chin with a dimple in it, brown eyes, dark brown wavy hair, and a goofy smile on his face.
    â€œDaddy, you are funny looking!” she said. She reached out and hugged him and laughed out loud. She looked past him and jumped back. The wall of white appeared to be within an inch of her nose. She cautiously put her hand up to her face and then reached it out to the wall that seemed to move. She shook her head.
What kind of eyes did they give me?
“Dad, the room is moving! Ugh! Stop it!” she yelled. She placed her hands over her eyes to take her back to her place of peace, the darkness she had known for so long.
    â€œShamira, you have to open your eyes. It’s the only way youwill adjust and learn to use them,” said Dr. Hawkins.
    â€œHow long is this going to take? I want to get out of here and go home! This sucks!” she spat out vehemently and then banged her heel on the bed. The confused vision made her feel helpless all over again. For the first time in over thirteen years, she had no control. She had to start over.
    â€œIf you open your eyes, it will only take twenty-four hours for your brain to adjust. But, if you hide in the darkness, it will take longer. Do you want to stay with us for a week instead of just a few days?” the doctor asked in a condescending tone.
    â€œFine,” Shamira spat out. She opened her eyes to focus on her father’s angry face.
    â€œShamira, your attitude stinks. This is a good thing, and you should be more appreciative. Now, take it slow and concentrate on getting used to managing the images in this room. I hate to leave you, but I’ve got an important call I have to take in private. I’ll just be outside the door.” As he stood to walk away, Shamira tried to focus on him, but he appeared to be moving in a blur toward the door. The doctor was staring at her now with a stern look on his face, and she promptly stuck her tongue out at him.
    â€œYour dad is a good friend of mine, and I know he raised you to be better than this—stronger and willing to fight to improve. Let’s show him that you can make him proud. Open one eye at a time. Look at the wall with the open eye and concentrate on looking
through
it to the other side. Push your sight through the wall withyour mind, Shamira,” he said in a deep, forceful voice.
    Shamira concentrated with her left eye closed, and her right eye pulled the image of the wall closer. She commanded,
Go, push, go away,
and the image moved back to where it was supposed to be. Taking a deep calming breath, she told her eye to look past the wall, and she saw her dad looking like he was arguing with himself. She figured he was using his earlink, and he clearly wasn’t very happy with the way his conversation was going. Switching eyes, she repeated the exercise. Smiling to herself, she opened both eyes and could see through the wall and past her father. She thought,
Further, push inside him,
and she saw blood pumping. The nanonytes that roamed through his body, through his technosuit caught her eye, and she laughed and said, “This is sweet!” In a much mellower, grateful tone, she looked up at the doctor, and said, “Thanks. Thanks