he jerked his silver thumb up at his artificial eye “— would do the job just as well . No need , and no money .”
“ Why not now , then ?”
“ The accident that cost me my eyes also cost me nearly half my head . It ’ s stable enough now , but if I ever had it opened up , chances are my brains will start leaking right through my skull .”
“ And then , after the accident and your training , you came here ?” Malcolm was writing down the doctor ’ s words and his own observations as fast as he could .
“ And then I worked on Earth for nearly a decade ,” the doctor corrected . “ I was quite good , I suppose . Never an operation failed . Never a patient unsatisfied .”
“ So why did you come here ?”
The doctor snorted . “ So many questions . You would not understand why , not now . Perhaps one day .”
He pulled something from his coat pocket . A worn sliver of metal , a ragged mirror image to one of his artificial fingers .
“ I carried this since the day I woke up in the hospital ,” the doctor said quietly . “ I never meant to keep it , not really . But it has stayed with me since then .”
He passed the metal piece to Malcolm , who held it gingerly .
“ This is where I needed to be ,” the doctor said . “ It is where I can remember what I was , and what I am now . That is worth more to me than the blue seas and golden fields of the Earth . That is worth more to me than the wealth and glory of all the kingdoms of the world .” He tapped his eye .
“ I do not know ,” he said . “ When I first awoke in the hospital , I could not see at all . All I could remember were the terrible things I had done before — things that you would not believe if I told you of them . And then I was alone in the dark until my sight was given back to me . I do not know if I could be a doctor , had I not lost my eyes , and my hands . I do not know if the prisoner recovering in the inner medical ward would still have that tumor in his neck if I were still entirely flesh and blood . I do not know if I still would have drunk from this cup had it not been given to me . All I know is that I am a doctor , and there are men and women here in need of healing .”
Malcolm nodded . The doctor looked up at the glowing screen .
“ Curfew starts soon ,” he said . “ You had best be on your way , or the prison warden will have you sent back to the main colony in a waste container .”
“ Is there more to your story ?” Malcolm rose , keeping a firm grasp on the stylus and pad .
“ No ,” the doctor said . “ Write it , for your newspaper on the Earth .”
He held out his hand . Malcolm shook it , and turned to leave . The doctor ’ s voice froze him before he could step out in the hallway .
“ And remember , young man , to blink . You still can .”
David Ferranti is a junior concentrating in Biology .
“ It does not blink ,” the doctor continued . “ It can focus amazingly well , and see much better in the dark .”
The glowing red artificial eye dimmed , then intensified . The doctor looked down at his silver hands .
“ And these do not tremble .” The sharp metal fingers opened and closed . “ Not like my old hands . Even when I was young , I could not hold them so steady .”
“ Does it help with your medical work ?” Malcolm held the metal shard up . The doctor took it , and slipped it back into his coat pocket .
18 Spring 2018