He watches her, on her little trip from the kitchen to the living room - carefully, shrewdly. She is reserved, contained. She must be annoyed at his blatant disregard for her preferences, but sheâs hiding it well. All professional on the surface, placid as can be. He appreciates it.
He remains still as she places the water, deciding to take it later - or perhaps not at all, since heâs not feeling especially parched. Eyes travel up her hand and follow her to her seat. Even her clothes are impeccable, not a wayward thread in sight. Itâs almost surreal.
"Exactly right. I was born with it."
The memory of one of his earlier hospital visits makes a ripple in the back of his mind. The doctor in his memory is older, a graying man with a stern look that asks him if he can read the first few lines of the chart on the wall. He canât. The woman in front of him may have a similar aura, but in all other ways appears to be the opposite of the man with the stethoscope.
At the question, his brow furrows. Heâs not entirely sure, at this point. Heâs been correcting and overcorrecting for so long that he canât accurately tell, himself. With his glasses, itâs better, but without them, heâs sure that itâs pretty spotty. So he reaches for the water bottle, decides his hand is a little too far to the right, and adjusts, picks it up by the top.
"Adequate with these on," he motions to the spectacles sitting on the end of his nose with a finger, and goes to work unscrewing the cap of the bottle out of habit, "But getting worse." He takes a drink, swallows, nods.
"I know. I wasnât expecting any serious care, to be quite honest," he says, "Thereâs no cure for this, thereâs no getting better, even with therapy. I just need you to examine me every once in a while and document things for me."
He spins the cap back on and sets the bottle back onto the table, maybe a little further away from the edge than strictly necessary. Now heâs a little too aware of his own movements. Heâs never liked talking about this.
"Not just my eyes, actually. I would be coming to you for other things - things I canât exactly patch up myself."