Chapter 7 Chapter Six

In order to return to the army as soon as possible, Aklan decided to give up further surgical treatment.Robert Willis was not surprised by this.Since the day the Lieutenant returned from London, his "fuse" had been shortened, and it got worse when minor surgery to create bags under his prosthetic eyes had only minimal results . What he has now: a hollow, misshapen eye socket, irregular migraines, persistent low-level tinnitus and a blade-shaped scar on his cheek.However, there is no guarantee that further surgery will produce obvious good results within an acceptable time frame, and he would rather choose to live with this face from now on.Mr Galbraith warned he might not be able to avoid negative reactions in an image-conscious world, but not only did he reject the surgeon's advice, but he chose to draw attention to his face to combat image-conscious discrimination .

On the day he was discharged from the hospital at the end of April, he had his hair cut to size, put on a black eye patch, and went to find Robert Willis to test the effect of the new look.Psychiatrist is in the office with intense focus on the computer screen. Aklan knocked on the door of the doctor's room, and Willis looked at the man at the door in shock, but did not recognize him right away.But the surprised expression on the doctor's face made Acland very happy.He is more willing to face surprise and fear than sympathy and disgust. "Am I bothering you, Doctor?" "Do you mean I'm busy... or am I intimidated by the way you look?"

"Two meanings. Take your pick." "Of course you surprised me." Willis motioned him to sit down across the table, "Sit down for a while, wait for me to finish this sentence." He turned his gaze to the monitor, continued typing some text, and clicked to save , "So what would you like my reaction to be?" he asked. "Shock and fear? Or just shock?" "Better than pity." Willis studied Acklan's thin, expressionless face.On the one hand, the image Ackland created for himself is remarkable, ruthless, tough, and sophisticated beyond his years; but on the other hand, it is just a sad loss of youthful innocence.The heartless man in front of him had nothing in common with the boyish, handsome young man in the photo before his injury.

"You needn't be afraid of pity, Charles, but I can't say anything about loneliness. You don't make many friends in this way . . . but I guess that's what you meant too." Akram shrugged, "A glass eye won't help me see better...the surgery will only delay my return to the army." "You feel confident about returning to the military." "My commanding officer supports me." "That's good." Aklan almost laughed, "If you have something to say, you can speak directly, doctor. We are very familiar with each other now. The Medical Council will not be as easy to talk to as my boss."

"Yes." Willis sighed. "I'm afraid they'll give you a clerical job, using your blind eye as an obstacle. But that's not what you want, is it?" "Then I had to prove them wrong to the medical board. Everyone else did. Nelson was the best admiral this country has ever had and he was one eye. If one eye didn't stop him, won't stop me." "In Nelson's day, everything was much slower ... including the speed of ships. He had a lot of time to make decisions, and today's air, sea and air commanders simply don't have that condition."

"What about Moses Dayan? He managed to become a general in the Israeli army." Willis refrained from giving him another negative answer, "Yes...and there are more contemporaries. Are you hoping the blindfold will evoke some positive memories from the Medical Council?" "And if so? Will it work?" "I don't know," Willis replied bluntly, "but I guess you'll find that the computer ultimately makes the decisions. You'll be asked a series of questions, and your answers will trigger another series of questions you won't. Questions being asked."

"Like what?" "Can you see to the left without turning your head? No? Then the computer will answer every other question about vision in the negative. Like, 'Can you monitor radar screens?' You'll say yes— — if it was manual, you could even convince a military medic to tick the box — but the computer program would automatically give you a no, because you've already shown that you're blind on one side." "You don't need two eyes to see a screen." "If it's in combat, when you're giving coordinates to the artillery, you do. A sighted person can see two things at once, a person with one eye can only see one. You won't know if the artillery has received the instructions unless your eyes take your eyes off the screen."

"I don't need to. He can confirm by radio." "A doctor might agree with you," Willis said mildly, "but a computer wouldn't. Programs written into the software would confirm that accidents would happen, the intercom might malfunction... the artillerymen might have misheard the order... ...You could also mishear his confirmation. But either way, you won't be able to stop your eyes from taking your eyes off the screen, double checking is human nature. Every soldier - even the lowest private - needs to rely on sight Make sure everyone around him knows what he's doing. It's a necessary urge when your life depends on it."

Akram stared at his hand. "Did you design this procedure, doctor? You seem to know a lot about it." Willis shook his head. "I don't even know if it exists, I'm just making a guess based on the facts. The government uses a similar system for evaluating disability certification applications because they think doctors are more compassionate than computers. Decision-making "Cheaters work on the principle that if you take the human element out of the equation, it's much harder for cheaters to succeed." "What if I lied and said 'yes' to the original question?"

"You can't. It's not you typing in the answers, it's a doctor who has your medical records in front of him. Even without the blindfold, he'll know you have one side you can't see." Akram turned his head to the window, purposely turning his blind side toward Willis, "So, you're saying I have no hope of ever getting back into a Scimitar again." It was a statement Not a question, as if he was confirming something he already knew. "Not necessarily," answered the doctor, as gently as possible, "I mean it is possible." He saw the young man flick a tear from the good eye with his fingers, "but, If you know the issues you’re going to face, you’ll know how to respond better and defend your case. No decision is final...and the support of your boss is very influential in any appeal you make.”

After a long silence, Aklan spoke again: "What about yours, doctor? Does your support have any influence?" "I hope so, I've given you a positive review." "Did you mention Jane?" "No." "my parents?" "No." "Then, I should be fine." “It’s just that it’s not your mental health that the committee assesses, it’s your physical impairments, like your partial blindness, persistent tinnitus and chronic migraines, and those are the things you have to minimize.” He smiles reluctantly , "In the medical committee, no one will be interested in your failed love experience." "Thank you doctor." "why?" A distorted smile appeared on Aklan's face, "Recognize reality...control expectations. At least I won't make a fool of myself. It's useless to cry in front of the retired colonel." The smile suddenly disappeared, "Still... I will never be able to Get that lost eye back, so I'll do my best. If they abandon me, I have to learn to accept it." His tone hardened, "It's something I'm getting better at... Learn to accept reality." Willis opened a drawer and took out a business card. "You have two choices with this thing, Charles," he pushed the card across the table, "throw it in the trash or put it away. It's an agency phone number, the agency can help you find me any time of the day or night. I hope I don't get a call from you for months...but if I do call, I will respond right away." "What if I call you next week?" "I'd be very surprised," the doctor confessed, "whether you stay in the army or not, I'm afraid you lose friends faster than you make friends. You'll walk away, shut the door behind you, Rather than trying to maintain some relationship that you think is meaningless." It wasn't the first time Willis wondered if a female psychiatrist would have been a better choice for the lad.That way, without the formal mental baggage between man and man—the instinct of reluctance to express affection, the necessary distance between aggressive men—she might take a softer approach, and this In such a way as not to suppress one's emotions, one might allow the Lieutenant to shed tears for himself. Abibola Oshodi, 72, was treated in hospital last night.She was punched and kicked by two attackers for refusing to hand over her mobile phone.The attack is the latest in a string of similarly violent robberies in south London over the past few months. Police have warned of the dangers of exposing mobile phones too clearly."Having a mobile phone in your hand is tantamount to giving a green light to a suspect with intent to steal," a spokesman said. Abibola Oshodi's attackers are described as: two young Caucasian men, a male, of slim build, approximately 5'10", with blond or ginger hair, and a female, approximately 5'4" , with dark hair; both wore hoodies and Doc Martin boots.