The sunlight filtered in, bright and blazing bright!
Aaron abruptly awoke with a sharp intake of breath, his body sitting straight up before his mind had time to process it. The air in the room reeked of sanitizer and stale air, with a low hum of a machine vibrating through the room. For a split second, he felt glamorous and glorious—which was illogical and irrational—before he then opened his eyes and was greeted with the same black nothingness that he had previously seen previously.
"No! No! No!" He buried his face in his hands, digging his fingers into his forehead, hoping that this would push back the reality around him to allow him to return back to normal. He was struggling to breathe, with tremendous panic, and his chest was rising and falling rapidly from the stress.
Strong arms held his shoulders.
"Take it easy," Brooks said in a calm, yet direct voice. "You're okay."
Aaron fought back, wildly and without sight, and said, "You took my kidney! I still can't see!"
Sasha was closer to the bedside and spoke with a calm and soothing tone of voice. "Calm down and relax. No-one is with you, and you are safe. No-one has harmed you."
Murph stood close to the door with a look of uncertainty on his face. "We didn't take anything from you," he said quickly. "You have your kidneys, and you are still whole."
When Aaron heard the word "kidneys," he froze; it was as though his breath momentarily slowed down enough for him to begin thinking again. After a few seconds of disorientation due to the effects of the sedative and subsequent feeling of shock, he swallowed hard and curled his hands around the edge of the very thin hospital sheet.
Brooks still studied Aaron closely, even if he previously had an air of calm.
"It's all right. You were in shock from being sedated. You'll get through this," Brooks assured him.
After several minutes, Aaron eventually stopped shaking and seemed to tilt his head again slightly at something that only he could hear.
When Aaron remained still, Sasha spoke up again. "How did you know that I have a cross tattoo on my lower arm?"
Aaron slowly, but deliberately, turned his head toward her voice, "Your hair is normally done in braids, but when you're anxious, (like you are now) you pull them back, and your sleeve goes up."
Sasha went rigid when Aaron said this.
Aaron looked again toward Murph, "Oh, and the back window of Murph's taxi has a poster of Al Pacino taped to it. The left top corner is crooked."
Murph lost all color in his face when Aaron said this.
Sasha whispered, half laughing, half terrified, "What the hell… are you God or something?"
Brooks snapped, "Enough," his tone sharp now. He stepped closer, crouching to Aaron's level. "Are you pretending to be blind?"
Aaron didn't answer him.
Instead, he turned back to Sasha, a faint smile touching his lips. "I'm the biggest jackpot of your life."
The room went quiet.
-----
Mano and Simi were seated across the desk from each other. A bandage covered the area on Mano's head where stitches had recently been put in. Simi was sitting back in her chair looking at the bandage when she asked with an uninterested tone, "What happened? Did your wife finally get around to beating you?"
Mano chuckled in a dark way and replied, "Your 'boyfriend' was the one who gave me this."
Simi's smile flickered ever so slightly. She asked in a softer tone, "Is he dead?"
Mano responded by tapping his bandaged head and stating, "No. He made a run for it right after he did this to me."
The look on Simi's face changed to one of coldness with a hint of something darker lurking beneath her composed exterior. She smiled again, but the smile did not touch the corners of her eyes, and she asked again in an ever-so-gentle voice. "So why are you coming to see me? Shouldn't you go after him?"
Mano answered, "He can't see. How can he go anywhere? Who is going to believe him?"
Still looking stern, Simi stated, "Get out of here! Look for him!"
Mano looked at her for a few seconds with clenched jaws before turning away with his head down as he left muttering under his breath.
-----
The sound of piano music was playing softly in the hallway at Simi's house when she got home that afternoon.
She stopped.
Sitting at the upright piano was Aaron, who was playing a beautiful piece with his fingers flying smoothly over the keyboard as Diane sat next to him with her eyes wide open and watching him intensely.
Simi was quick to recover. "Diane," she said in a friendly tone, "do you want something to eat?"
Diane shook her head. "No, Mama."
With a calm and friendly smile, Aaron said, "I was just about to leave anyway."
"I'll give you a ride," Simi said immediately.
Aaron replied with a nod, "That would be nice."
After saying goodbye to Diane and patting her on the shoulder gently, Aaron followed Simi out to her car.
As Simi buckled him in, she turned away for just a moment to make a call.
"I told you to find him," she said in a harsh whisper to the phone. "He's in my car now."
There was a pause.
"Bring him to the cemetery," Mano replied. "I will be there."
They drove in silence for a while.
Then Aaron spoke.
"I promised I'd leave," he said quietly. "And you blinded me anyway."
Simi kept her eyes on the road.
"That cop boyfriend of yours tried to kill me," Aaron continued, his voice rising. "Kill me. I've been sleeping in alleys for two nights."
Simi feigned surprise. "Mano tried to kill you?" she asked sweetly.
Aaron laughed, bitter and sharp. "Stop it. You know."
He leaned forward. "I want my eyes back. A doctor said it's possible. A transplant. It costs a million on the black market. Give me the money, and I'll disappear. London. You'll never see me again."
Simi said nothing.
They turned onto a deserted road. Aaron's frustration boiled over. "Can you even hear me? Why aren't you responding?"
A taxi roared past them, horn blaring.
Aaron clenched his fists. "Three million," he snapped. "Or prison."
Simi glanced at him. "Blackmail?"
"Compensation," Aaron replied. "I'll tell the press."
Simi sighed. "I don't have that kind of money."
"And why would you give it to me?" she added coolly.
They slowed near a railway overpass.
A taxi blocked the road.
As Simi was honking her horn while rolling down the window, Aaron was tilting his head while asking; "Is that an Al Pacino poster in the back of that taxi?"
When Simi heard that, she froze.
When he noticed that she had frozen, Aaron raised his hand up to cover her mouth with a handkerchief soaked in chloroform.
Simi began to fight against Aaron weakly before she finally slumped forward onto the steering wheel.
After Aaron honked his horn twice more, Murph and Sasha exited from the taxi.
----
Later that night, Mano walked into his house feeling very tense and tired. Rose was putting dinner on the table for him when he walked in.
He had tried calling Simi several times, but each time the call went unanswered.
Rose asked, "What is the matter with you?" before Mano could respond, the landline rang. Rose answered, saying, "Hello?"
The voice on the other end of the line said, "Private investigator Richie. I would like to speak to Rose."
The caller was Aaron, who was sitting in the taxi with Murph and Sasha.
"This is Rose,"
Aaron's voice was calm, professional. "Famous actor Ronan Lane hired me. He suspected his wife was having an affair."
Rose scoffed. "Not my problem."
"I followed her," Aaron continued. "I filmed her. Took photos. But Ronan is dead. Who pays my fee?"
Rose stiffened. "My husband's a cop. And how does it concern me anyway?"
"Because it's your husband who is having an affair with Ronan's wife, Simi."
Rose froze. Aaron continued, "Your husband and her killed Ronan for ten million dollars."
Silence.
"I'll call again tomorrow. I want that ten million," Aaron said softly. "The media pays well for stories like this. Good night."
The line went dead.
Sometime later, Rose burst into the bathroom, gun raised and fired. Mano crouched behind the door.
"You slept with her! That cheap actress Simi!" Rose screamed.
Mano pleaded. "Rose, it's a real gun—"
"Sixteen eggs a day!" she shouted. "For her?"
Mano broke. "I'm a fool. She trapped me. I hate her."
The phone rang again.
Rose fired. Mano ducked.
"It's my my junior's. Please don't fire! I will put it on speaker," Mano shouted.
The voice on speaker said, "Simi's missing. Her car was found near the bridge. Crocodiles everywhere."
Mano slowly opened the door and walked towards Rose, who dropped the gun, sobbing. Rose collapsed into Mano's arm, now openly crying while Mano held her close, a complex expression on his face.