The room is empty. The windows have their blinds drawn, but a sliver of light reaches the linoleum floor of the office. In the middle of the space is a mahogany desk, reflecting the professionalism and old-fashioned nature of the owner. He is sitting in his stately chair, with his spectacles hanging low on his hooked nose. With fleeting eyes, he reads the patient’s file.

“The steady rhythm of my heart was stolen from me, replaced by a frantic, intermittent pulse, throwing itself against my ribcage in a frenzy as I had never known before. The whites of my eyes seemed to disappear entirely as my pupils dilated. They were so filled with rage - red and filled with rage. A terrifying strain was upon them, as if my very eyelids could not contain the monsters within. I willed myself to shut them close. Beneath the black expanse that now arose, I was saved. No fear if you cannot see - no fear at all.”

“I understand,” the doctor states, encouraging her to continue. There is a detachment in his voice: a pure objectivity that shows both his experience and apathy.

“No - wrong! How could I have been so reckless! Without my sight, the world crumbled around me. No feelings but fear, for I could not see. The murk of the world shrouded my vision like ink. The creatures, that come so silently. What if they creep… slither their sordid way into the mind… corrupt the heart? Slowly… I wouldn’t hear, would I? Yet they could seize me - grab my ankles , bind my wrists - what then? What if?”

“What happened after these… thoughts?” the man asks, scribbling a few short diagnoses on his yellow notepad.

“My vision returned: crimson blotches engulfed everything, caressed the walls, floated about the table-tops. Patches of red. Within the second, my lids were fluttering so dementedly that the room looked like an old motion picture - those things that one would often find to be the elegant medium for displaying the beauty in our lives. But as I was standing, or crawling, or just lying there - it didn’t make much difference now - the slow, agonizing minutes were ticking by, with only my own breath determining my existence in this place.

“I had heard of the Cimmerians: an ancient people living at the door of death, clouded by the ever-growing perpetual mist above their heads. “

The doctor coughs; he has a cold today. No matter, though, he thinks to himself. It will clear up soon enough.

“At this moment, I was finally completely and truly alone. By myself, in the dark. Let me tell you this, it was utterly peaceful; for the first time in my life, I could focus on my actuality. I was here, in this horrible, god-forsaken place, with nothing but the stuff of nightmares that keep you awake at night, but I was at peace. It did not require my courage. Surprising, I know. Somehow, in some way, the black expanse did not seem so caliginous, as it once had. Its unyielding grasp on me released until I was free of the chains keeping me back.

“A glimpse of a far off blaze - the kind that my sister and I used to see below the stars on Bonfire Night, as the tips of the vermillion flames licked the sky, fading into a soft kind of dark. I had not imagined there to be a softer dark, but I could see it now… It was so different from the brooding dark I was so petrified by: it was a dark that held beautiful mysteries within it.”

“Interesting… What did you do next?” the man in the white coat queried.

“I walked towards the glimmer with growing strength. Soon, my crawling turned into steps, and my steps turned into strides; ever reaching, ever running to that light. It was Hope - I could smell it in the air as I came closer. Stretch my arms a little farther…

“I had already collapsed before I felt the grab. Winded, and sobbing, my body hit the pavement as a rag doll plummets to the ground: motionless; defenseless; lifeless. I could feel the rough texture of the cobblestone against my cheek as I was pulled into the dark. Through the veil upon my drooping eyes, I tried to make out Hope, but hope was not there. The soft, tender glow was gone, hidden behind the horizon, or not there at all. And I could feel it, Doctor; I could feel as my heart was stolen from me.”

“I understand. However, I am going to need some more information before I make a formal diagnosis, so a second appointment is in order.” With this, he led her through the door. Which tie should I wear for the wedding? was his final thought as he turned off the lights, and walked to his blue car.