Maddie puts eye-drops in Danny’s eyes and they don’t react very normal...
Maddie is the worst parent ever in all of my fics.
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“Danny! How’d it go?” asked Maddie.
Danny approached her in the waiting room of the ophthalmologist’s office. “Good.”
Maddie held his chin and looked at his eyes. His brilliant blue irises were almost completely eclipsed by his pupils. “You don’t need glasses or anything?”
“No. He said my eyesight’s fine.” Danny squinted. “But everything’s kind of blurry now.”
Maddie handed him a pair of sunglasses from her purse. “Here. I brought these for you. Just wait here while I get you checked out.”
Danny put on the sunglasses and took a seat. Maddie headed to the front desk.
“The doctor wants to speak with you before you leave,” said the front desk person while processing the final details of Danny’s appointment. “Do you have time to talk to him now?”
“Is everything all right?”
“The note here says there was something odd about your son’s eyes.”
Maddie glanced back at Danny, who was now playing on his phone. “Yes, I can talk now.”
The front desk person directed Maddie to one of the back rooms where the doctor was waiting.
“What’s wrong with Danny’s eyes?” asked Maddie, her voice tense.
“All of the tests we completed went just fine,” said the doctor. “His vision’s great, fluid pressure is normal in both eyes, inside of his eyes look good.”
“Good, good.”
“But we were met with a little difficulty when checking the fluid pressure in his eyes. For that procedure, we must numb the eyes so that the tonometer can be placed right on the cornea. But your son’s eyes had a very...unusual reaction to the anesthetic.”
Maddie stuck out her bottom lip and crossed her arms.
“Your son’s eyes, they...glowed.”
Maddie stared at the doctor. “Glowed?”
“Yes. They glowed bright green. So bright that we had a hard time getting the tonometer placed on his cornea properly.”
“I don’t understand. Why would they glow?”
“I was hoping maybe you would have an answer for me about that,” said the doctor. “I know you and your husband are ghost researchers. You’re very well known in our town.”
“Yes, we are, but what does that have to do with anything?”
The doctor shrugged. “The glow just reminded me of a ghost’s glow. Mind you, I’ve only ever encountered one ghost, but I could never forget those glowing green eyes.”
Maddie looked up at one of the ceiling lines, trying to make sense of what she was hearing.
“Was this something you weren’t aware of?” asked the doctor.
Maddie shook her head. “No. I mean—no, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Are you sure? That’s just not even possible. I mean, unless—” She looked up again, raised her hands and let them fall with a slap against her thighs. “Unless he was being possessed by a ghost, but my ghost sensor would’ve detected that. I mean, this just doesn’t—”
“Could it be exposure to something in your home?” asked the doctor.
“No, no, I can’t even imagine.” Maddie sighed out a harsh grumble. “His eyes glowed, really? Green? But they seemed fine when I looked at them just now. They were blue.”
“The anesthetic only lasts about fifteen minutes,” said the doctor. “His eyes stopped glowing and returned to their normal color once it wore off.”
Maddie placed a finger between her lips and thought for a moment.
“Where can I get some?” she asked. “The anesthetic eye drops. Can I buy them somewhere?”
“No,” said the doctor. “You can’t buy them anywhere. And they’re not even something I could prescribe for you. They’re for use in ophthalmic practice only.”
The doctor picked up a small bottle from the counter and held it out to her.
“But I’m too curious to not give you some,” said the doctor.
Maddie took the bottle and read the label: fluorescein sodium and benoxinate hydrochloride ophthalmic solution.
“Do let me know if it happens again, won’t you?” requested the doctor.
Maddie turned the bottle over in her fingers and gave a tiny nod.
Back out in the waiting area, Danny was still playing on his phone. He stood when Maddie appeared.
“Everything good?” he asked.
Maddie cupped his face and moved the sunglasses up to his forehead. She pulled at the delicate skin around his eyes, studied the icy rings surrounding his dilated pupils, searched for any hint of a glow or ghostly presence.
“Mom?” Danny’s eyelids fluttered, begging to shut against her fingers.
Maddie lowered the sunglasses back into place and patted his back. “You have your father’s eyes.”
The next day, Maddie came home from the nearest floral shop with a bouquet of blue asters and peach dahlias. She separated the flowers and spread them out on the kitchen counter.
“What are those for?” asked Jack, peering over her shoulder.
“Just wanted to add some color to the house.” Maddie cut the stems of each flower. “I bought some fudge too. It’s on the table.”
Jack dashed to the table. Maddie left him to stuff his face while she went upstairs to Danny’s room and strategically placed the flowers in hidden areas, particularly around Danny’s desk. She added a couple blood blossoms for good measure, just in case he really was being possessed by a ghost.
She stood in the center of the room and took a final look around to make sure the flowers were unnoticeable.
She patted the numbing eye drops in her pocket.
Later that afternoon, Danny came home from school and retreated to his room to do his homework. Maddie waited an hour before knocking on his door. Danny looked up at her from his desk as she stepped into his room. His eyes were red, watery, tired.
“Danny, honey, you okay?” asked Maddie. “Are your allergies bothering you?”
Danny sniffled. “Maybe. I don’t know. I guess it is that time of year, but I felt fine at school.” He moaned and massaged the side of his head. “My head really hurts, too.”
Maddie sat on the edge of his desk and pushed his bangs off his forehead. Danny pressed a hand to his eye and rubbed it.
“Don’t do that, sweetie. You’ll just make it worse.” Maddie combed her fingers through his hair. “Let me get you something that should help.”
Maddie left the room and returned a few minutes later with a glass of water and an antihistamine. Danny downed the pill with a gulp of water and leaned back in his chair.
“And I brought some eye drops for your eyes.” Maddie pulled the bottle of numbing drops from her pocket and presented them.
Danny sniffled and shook his head. “No, thanks. Maybe I’ll just close my eyes in bed for like fifteen minutes.”
“Danny, it’ll just be two quick drops.”
“I really hate putting stuff in my eyes.”
“No one likes it. But come on, I’ll do it quick.”
Danny huffed. “Fine.”
Maddie pushed on the back of his chair. Danny grumbled but leaned his head back for her.
She held his eye open and squeezed a drop into it, then the other. Danny blinked several times and dabbed away the excess moisture with his shirt sleeve.
“Wait, why is it yellow?” Danny held out his sleeve, which was now stained with yellow patches. “What kind of eye drops are these?”
His eyes flickered, slivers of light snaking through the vessels in his eyes and spinning through his irises, breaking out in bright green. Â
The eye drops fell out of Maddie’s hand onto the floor.
Danny frowned at her, the light in his eyes narrowing as his brows drew together. “Mom? What is it?”
Maddie put a hand over her mouth.
“Mom?” Danny stood. “You’re starting to freak me out, Mom.”
She had seen these eyes before. That color, that shape. Where?
Phantom—
NO impossible—
She grabbed a blood blossom she had hidden around his desk. Danny cocked his head, the shine in his eyes following.
“What—is that—a blood blossom?”
Maddie held it out to him. Danny stepped back.
“Mom—”
She grabbed his arm and brushed the petals against it. Danny yelped and pulled his arm back, which was already breaking out in hives.
“Why don’t our ghost sensors detect you?” demanded Maddie.
Danny held his arm close to his body. His face blanched.
“What are you?” Maddie’s voice broke and shook.
The glow in Danny’s eyes oscillated.
Part 2
