Mira woke with the morning sun on her face, but its warmth wasn’t what struck her. She could see a burst of light flickering and waning.She could see. She bolted upright in response and angled her face towardsthe window where the sun was streaming into the bedroom.Was her mind playing tricks on her? Was this merely a desperate psychological reaction to her fear of receiving a damning diagnosis later this morning? Or were her eyes miraculously coming back to life?To test her ability, she hugged both hands around her eyes until darkness fell then drew them away fast and waited for the burst of life. It was slow, but came through. Why would it be slow? Frustrated to discover a surefire cause and effect, she kept covering her eyes then removing herhands, but the light burst was unpredictable. At times, it would comeimmediately. Other times, she remained in darkness. She didn’t understand the anatomy of the eyes or the brain behind them. Were neurons firing, alluding to sight that wa

Mira was seated in a chair and trying not to shift around, even though she felt uncomfortable lying back at a forty five degree angle with a metal plate pressed against her face. The plate was cold as ice, yet the light Dr. Fitzpatrick used to see through her left eye then the right caused the white starbursts to flare as they had that morning.“Right now, Mira , I’m taking images of the optic nerves,” he explained, and then she heard a series of faint clicks. “You may feel a little woozy, but that’s perfectly normal.”To say she might feel a little woozy was the understatement of the century. Prior to helping her into the chair, which she imagined looked just like one a dentist would use, Dr. Fitzpatrick’s nurse shot a numbing agent into each eye, and the second it hit her bloodstream she felt downright drunk“Okay, Mira , you are going to feel some pressure,” he said. A moment later, she felt the prick of his surgical needle easing through her right eye.Nate held her right arm, whi

With Layla out of One World, Mira couldn’t seem to get a hold of Carter other than a few briefly worded text messages. She wasn’t so naive as to think that she would retain Carter’s loyalty after having fired hisgirlfriend, but she thought he would at least resign by giving her a direct explanation as to why he couldn’t continue in his role with her organization.It had been three days of this. Nate had been in and out, working hard to get Starlight back on track but with materials that Mira would approve of. In the meantime, other members of One World had come to the. Escala to strategize with her, namely Hector and Jenny, who were certainly committed but lacked experience.If she were being honest, losing Carter and Layla was coming at a very high price.Nevertheless, they planned to meet their attorney, Harold, at the Starlight site and present their negotiation that the construction company dig a new trench eight miles out from the Bellevue town community, so any future natural g

His hands, gloved and unrelenting, clamped tighter around her throat. Mira slammed her fists down onto his forearms, praying she could break his hold, but the impact only incited him and he growled, shuffling sideways until he banged her head back against the glass window.Scrambling for a way out of this, Mira tried desperately to visualize the room. Were there any objects nearby she could use as a weapon? Soon her thinking became murky, as she struggled for air that wasno longer reaching her lungs. Refusing to give up and sensing where his feet were planted, where his legs held firm and met at the apex between his legs, she kneed him hard, driving her leg up and screaming.It was a good hit and he keeled over, releasing her, and she sprinted, rushing and tripping around the coffee table then the sofa chair as she made her frantic way to the bedroom.She could feel him on her heels, but just as she crossed the threshold and grabbed the edge of the open door to slam it shut, he caug

The next morning, Nate slipped out of bed without disturbing Mira , who was sleeping deeply. After making coffee and taking a quick shower, he dressed quietly in his walk-in closet before meeting a locksmithat his door at exactly 7:15 a.m.It only took twenty minutes for the technician to install another keycard lock. He gave Nate three copies and explained that he would still have to use his old one to get into the building downstairs, but that would only be in the event that the doormen weren’t standing post, which Nate knew wouldn’t be likely.After thanking the man and wiring the payment, Nate sent him on his way then peaked in on Mira . She looked like an angel under the covers, breathing softly. The gauze around her eyes was becoming a part of her, and Nate almost couldn’t remember what she’d looked like prior to the accident.Taking a moment to ride the swell of how intense his feelings were for her, Nate became all the more concerned that she had been attacked.His father’s t