Chris Karlsen - Knights in Time by Knight Blindness Read Free Book Online Page A

chirped removed. No more bruised ribs from it, thank the saints. The pole with the bag was also gone.
    The open door led to a peculiar cold room with a basin and the oddest of pisspots made of
    the same ceramic as the basin. The man who brought his food tray called it a bathroom. Together they went into the room. He ran Stephen’s hand over the most miraculous of spigots secured to
    the basin, then put his fingers on a small, metal pedal and told him how to adjust water which
    actually came out hot. And, he’d shown him where to stand in order to use the pisspot.
    Two steps and the sink is to your left. Then, one small step more, make one turn to
    the left again, raise the seat— the man set his hand on an oval-shaped device and had him lift it.
    Aim straight and down and you’re good to go.
    “I need no instruction on how to piss. Not since I was a tyke,” he told the man.
    The man took no offense and then told him when he finished, he should always wash his
    hands in the basin.
    “To what purpose?”
    “It cuts down on your risk of getting sick.”
    “Ah, with my ogre’s scarred face and sightless eyes, I wouldn’t want to catch a fever too.
    Now that would be awful.”
    “No, you don’t. A good sneeze can ruin the reconstructive work to your nose and
    cheeks.”
    Stephen hadn’t considered that. Since then, he’d tried to remember to wash his hands.
    Juliette interrupted his thoughts. “You’ve gone very quiet. I suggested we walk in the
    garden.”
    For all the strangeness of his now small world, at least he had learned it. The garden was
    unseen treacherous ground for him to trip and fall, again and again, like a clumsy oaf. Clumsy oaf.
    Two words he’d never have associated with himself.
    “You hesitate, Stephen. Don’t. I’m here to show you that the world is still a place to be
    enjoyed. You can have a full life.”
    Juliette stood and tugged him up by the hands. “There’ll be a robe and slippers in the
    cupboard. I’ll hand them to you.”
    Hinges squeaked and a moment later she put a lightweight garment over his arm and he
    heard the slippers drop at his feet.
    He fumbled trying to find the robe’s armholes but managed to get it on without help. The
    slippers were a decent fit, which surprised him.
    “I wish I’d known about the robe sooner. This surcoat they gave me to wear is drafty in
    the back, if you take my meaning.”
    “I do. Bum coverage is never good with those gowns.”
    Two snaps. Then, two more snaps. Another cane? He was blind not crippled.
    She placed the cane’s curved top into his palm. “This is a white cane. It tells others that
    you are blind. It also helps you find a clear path so you can maneuver about without injury.”
    He slid his hand down to the floor. The cane was made of a lightweight metal, with two
    joints where it folded, and had a round, cushioned tip at the bottom.
    “Are you ready for your first adventure?” she asked.
    “I don’t know that I’d call this endeavor an adventure. I suspect it will be more of a
    misadventure,” he said in a humorous tone but with a bit of seriousness.
    “Which hand holds your cane?” she asked.
    “My right.”
    She looped her arm through his left. “Think of your cane as an extension of your arm.
    You’re reaching out and sweeping the area in front of you in a half circle motion, finding a clear path.”
    He did as she said and found the cane blocked on both his right and left but not directly in
    front of him. The doorway . He let her go first then stepped through and waited while she captured his arm again.
    They continued forward, their two canes making a soft rubbing sound as they went. After
    they’d gone about fifteen strides by Stephen’s reckoning, the noise of talk and hustle and bustle grew loud.
    “Where are we now?”
    “At the edge of the nurse’s station.”
    ‘Nurse’s station.’ No music came from this station, onlythe chatter of feminine voices.
    “We’re almost to the door to the