Chapter 428: 428
Kaley and I went into panic mode and Tatiana realized that she misspoke. She rarely made a mistake and maybe the food that sent her here made her short-circuit. When the three of us looked at Cathy, she was just looking on the ground with a bitter expression. However, Mauricio was wearing a difficult expression. His eyes turned cold the mont he saw Cathy looking down but he took a deep breath and approached her.
“I deeply apologize. It was my fault for speaking without thinking.” Tatiana imdiately apologized.
“N-No… it’s okay… it’s been fairly recent since I beca l-like this… I’m still getting used to it but I’m doing okay now. I was just surprised, that’s all…” Cathy waved her hands, telling Tatiana not to worry about it.
“…” Mauricio was rubbing Cathy’s back.
“Excuse but we have real doctors in my place. I don’t know much about… partial blindness from what I think is due to acid burns or what exactly your condition is but it wouldn’t hurt to have soone take a look at it. All the facilities in my place are still working and maybe they could figure out a treatnt.” I decided to offer help.
“Y-You do?!” Cathy was about to cry as she hugged Mauricio tight.
“I couldn’t promise anything but if you want, you and Mauricio could co back with us and have you looked at. It would depend mostly on what happened after the accident. Can I get more information? I’m not an expert but it would be better to recall everything that happened so we could take the necessary steps. Did this happen when it hit or before?” I started.
“It happened just a month ago. That bitch splashed her with sothing. We thought it was just an accident before but it was deliberate considering what happened before. I was away when it happened but I was told she was given first-aid.” Mauricio answered.
“That f.u.c.k.i.n.g Karen?” I thought to myself.
“Umm- my e-eyes really felt like it was burning and I couldn’t open them. I was alone for a while but I just felt a few people dragging near a faucet and I heard them telling that they needed to flush my eyes with water. It just hurt a lot but we have no one here to check on . It took maybe 30 minutes before they stopped with making the water flow on my head then to my eyes. I still couldn’t open my e-eyes after that but when I did… I…” Cathy stopped talking as tears fell on the side of her cheeks.
“I see, do you have any idea what kind of substance was splashed on her? Did it co with a bottle at least?” I asked.
“I don’t really know. It could be bleach or any other cleaning products lying around this place.” Mauricio replied.
“Cathy, could you rember what it slled like? Does it sll like bleach, ammonia, battery acid, vinegar, fertilizer, or nail polish remover? Sothing along those lines.” I turned to Cathy.
“Umm, I- think it slls like a-acetone? The one in those small white bottles?” Cathy answered.
“Nail polish remover then. Yep, that’s the correct word as well.” I nodded a few tis.
“Nail polish? Hmm…” Mauricio beca silent.
“Will there be any difference at all if a different substance is used?” Cathy asked.
“Well, here’s a bit of a lesson. There are three types of chemical burns: Alkali, Acid, and Irritant. I could go with the exact asurents but it all boils down to the pH scale. If you’re sure that what has been splashed on your eyes was acetone, it could be categorized as an acid burn.” I started.
“And an acid burn is? It still sounds as grim as the other two.” Mauricio asked.
“It’s not as severe as Alkali burns but it is still dangerous. This kind of chemical burn doesn’t penetrate easily into the eye. Furth-” then Mauricio interrupted .
“Doesn’t penetrate easily? But this already happened, how is that not as serious as the first one?” Mauricio was wearing a difficult expression.
“Calm down. As Cathy said earlier, she was alone for a while so it ant that the acetone lingered for a ti and that’s why it caused vision loss. Now, this is where it gets tricky…” I trailed.
“Tricky?” the two looked at seriously.
“This is the part where I don’t know much. It would depend on how much damage was done in your eyes if an eye transplant is still possible.” I replied.
“W-Wait… eye transplant?!” everyone exclaid.
“As we all know, it’s not like in the movies where anyone could simply take an eye out and shove it inside a person’s eye socket, no. What our doctors could do as of now is more like a corneal transplant. It involves replacing the- well, the damaged cornea, the clear front layer of our eye with a new one from a donor. That is as much as I know from reading random books and shit but-” I was once again interrupted by Mauricio.
“N-No, Mr. Ishiyama that’s already enough good news for one day. One more and I’ll think I’m dreaming. We’ll co with you after we eat with everybody, the food is getting cold.” Mauricio gave a bright smile.
“W-Wait- you still have sothing to do later, right? I could wait for a few more h-hours… I have to prepare us a bag too…” Cathy was already crying.
Then the loud Texan showed up.
“The f.u.c.k is everyone crying here?! You cut a sack of onions or so shit? At least have them… them… kid, what the f.u.c.k do you call those shit in a bowl where it’s soft like a soup?” Oscar’s entrance lighted everyone’s expression up.
Jared, Lois, and Mikhail ca with him and they brought the food we also prepared for ourselves. Everything was placed at their dining table and everyone had a nice al. They discovered what we talked about earlier and Oscar told them a few reminders.
“It’s a particularly safe operation but your eyesight would still be a bit blurry in the early weeks. You could do normal tasks maybe in a month but you should always have a talk with your ophthalmologist. Also…” Oscar explained a few more things.
“…” everyone else besides .
“What?” Oscar was confused.
“I sotis forget that you also have dical training… it’s different from what combat dics are trained for but still…” Jared chuckled.
“Bah! F.u.c.k all of you! This curry is really~ f.u.c.k.i.n.g good. Lem have another serving!” Oscar bellowed.
It didn’t take long before so of the people that Mauricio was waiting for arrived. Not everyone from his list ca and so people that were shopowners here also didn’t bother to co. Since the number was already adequate, everyone gathered inside his office. It was a little cramped but I was introduced to new people and so people that I rember from coming to this place last ti.
I beca the representative of my group but the rest of them were just upstairs.
“So, now that everyone was introduced. I would like to start our eting.” Mauricio started. He was giving off a different vibe compared to when we were all with Cathy. The cold eyes weren’t present but his presence was almost commanding.
“Can I say sothing first?” a bald guy nad Jason that ca from a few barangays over.
“Yes, you may-” Mauricio didn’t even finish his sentence when Jason put his feet over the coffee table.
“Mauricio, the f.u.c.k are these other people in here? I tho-” Jason was about to talk trash then a woman nad l wearing soft armor and had short hair interrupted him.
“Jason? What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to take care of those f.u.c.k.i.n.g chickens in your little coop? Why don’t you drop your supplies here so the people with the funds to trade properly could have more space?” l scoffed.
“Jesus Christ, can we have a proper eting and let these two animal f.u.c.kers take a hike? It slls like chicken and cow shit over here. Mau, I just sent you the sacks yesterday, right? Are they all done milling? I could grab a few so I could cook so at ho.” a built guy nad Noah was already shaking his head.
“THE F.U.C.K DID YOU SAY TO ?!” the two ‘animal f.u.c.kers’ according to Noah bellowed.
The other representatives were all sorts of confused or fed up but soone’s voice the followed made everyone pipe down.
“People, we’re all here to talk about what we could do to help each other but most importantly, what we could do to this place. This place has walls high enough to protect us from the dead and this place was the closest place each one of us could et face to face. Granted I’m one of the outliers because I ca from another province but I ca first than all of you f.u.c.kers. If you keep on blabbering bullshit like little kids, we wouldn’t get anything done.” Jessica, a tall woman with a commanding voice spoke out.
“Yes, that’s right!”
“Could we please get anything done?”
“Do we have snacks?”
“F.u.c.k.i.n.g glutton.”
“Who’s that kid next to Mauricio? Is he a soldier? likey~”
“Your late-ass wouldn’t be able to know. He’s one of the top players from what I’ve heard.”
“Well, shit. That kid? First ti I’ve seen him.”
It was about to go downhill once more but Jessica slamd the table to get everyone’s attention.
“I’ve talked with Mauricio before, I’m in.” Jessica stated.
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