Chapter Text
What is worse than being Blind?
Slowly going blind. Watching your world fade away. Piece by piece, colour by colour.
Until nothing remains but darkness.
Liam Dunbar had been a happy kid, full of energy, always running around and playing outside. The moment his illness was discovered in what should have been a simple routine check up with the eye doctor, his life was turned upside down.
Everything changed for the twelve-year-old. Instead of having fun with his friends and enjoying the notoriously good Californian weather, he was stuck inside of hospitals. Endless conversations with doctors and professors, countless theories and therapies, but nothing seemed to change the fact that Liam would be blind before he reached his sixteenth birthday.
At first he didn’t completely understand what was going on. Blind? Sometimes his eyes hurt a little and his vision went blurry, sure, but he could see.
After a few month, the blurriness at the corners of his vision was Liam’s constant companion.
After a year, his colours began to fade.
When he couldn’t read the history book his aunt gave to him for his fourteenth birthday, he cried, finally realizing, this was something that would change his whole life.
It was on a autumn morning when Liam opened his eyes and his world finally stayed dark.
Seventeen year-old Liam sat in the backseat of his mothers car as his stepfather drove the family to the animal shelter. Today was the day they would bring Liam’s new guidance dog home.
After over two years of blindness and having to learn basically everything, from reading to simply walking around the house, again, his parents had decided it was time to get Liam to leave the house again. Liam had screamed and cried – he didn’t want a dog, he wanted his sight back again! – but it was no use.
The boy turned his face towards the window and despite not seeing it, he was sure the day was wonderful. Sunshine fell on his once tanned, now nearly snow white skin and warmed his cold bones.
The noises in the shelter were overwhelming. Being blind Liam’s other senses seemed to went on overdrive – he heard barking, tweeting, meowing, sniffing and growling in a cacophony of animal sounds; he smelled the food and the excrements of cats, dogs, birds and rabbits.
His hands held onto his mothers arm tightly as he wished once more that he had stayed at home.
“Hello! You have to be the Geyers!” a cheery woman's voice chimed, causing Liam to jerk violently.
Jenna patted his hand, that felt like a iron vessel around her forearm, as she answered.
“Yes, I am Jenna, this is my husband, David, and at my side Liam, my son.”
“It is so nice to meet you all, please, call me Ann!” there was a pause in which Liam heard her shaking his parents hands, then Ann continued.
“Please follow me, the dog we have selected for you is already in the meeting room, Liam. “
Even though Liam was still annoyed with the whole situation he couldn’t help but like Ann, she had spoken directly to him, not like the doctors who always seemed more comfortable to pretend he wasn’t even in the room.
“Liam”, Jenna said, “we are here. Do you want to meet your new dog?”
Slowly letting go of his mothers arm, the blind boy stepped further into the room before sinking down on his knees. Nearly immediately he was greeted with a warm and wet dog nose, sliding over his open hands, while he carefully searched for the dog’s head to pet him. Liam always liked animals, especially big dogs like this one. In his dreams, where he could still see, he owned a black Labrador that he took with him on all his journeys around the world.
“Teddy is a special dog”, Ann brought him back to reality, “we only give guidance dogs like him to hand selected costumers.”
“He really looks special”, why was David sounding so scared? “Are you sure this is a dog? Looks almost like a wolf to me...”
Liam’s hands continued to explore the warm body in front of him. Soft fur, big ears, a lean muscly body. The dog, Teddy, slowly shifted closer, leaning into his touch.
“I like him.”
“Honey, are you sure? I mean he seems friendly enough, but I am sure we can find a nice Golden Retriever for you, or a Labrador. You like those, remember?” Jenna didn’t seem to be convinced with her son’s choice.
“No. I want Teddy.” Liam’s hands closed around a bit of fur on the dogs back, causing the animal to shift even closer, trying to calm the human down with his warmth.
“I think Teddy already decided for you”, Ann's cheery voice sounded though the quiet room “just look at them. I am sure Teddy will be a great help for Liam.”
Two month later even David, who had been the most sceptic, had to admit that Teddy was a wonderful guidance dog. He lead Liam through the house and garden as if he lived his whole life at the Geyer’s. Even on an experimental walk to the nearby park and under the watchful glances of Jenna, the boy and his dog had worked together flawlessly.
Liam, despite still surrounded by darkness, found his life to be brighter and he caught himself smiling whenever his hand was in touch with Teddy’s fur.
Everything went in fact so good that Jenna and David decided to do something they hadn’t done in over three years: going out on a date.
And that was the night everything should change.
After one last worrying glance and Liam promising for the fifth time to never put his phone down, so they could always reach one another, the parents had driven of.
And for a moment the house seemed almost too quiet, as Liam stood in the kitchen, trying to decide on something to do. Teddy appeared next to him, gently nudging at his hip.
”Hey buddy, do you want to go for a walk?” Liam knew fully well that despite being allowed to walk outside just accompanied by Teddy, his mom would freak at the thought of him running around in the dark (not that being out in broad daylight made any difference to Liam). Teddy nudged him again, harder, trying to guide him back to the stairs, to his room. Situations like this weren’t uncommon, Liam felt like the dog could really understand him most of the time.
“Okay, okay, I got it. No adventures today...”
After two hours of listening to brain-dead comedy on TV, Liam’s bladder made itself known, so he got up from his bed, earning a questioning whine from Teddy, who layed next to him.
“Don’t worry T, just going to the toilet.” A huff told him that the big dog had accepted his answer.
Slowly the blind boy made his way through his room, towards the door. He knew the house like the back of his hand, every corner, every piece of furniture.
He had almost reached the bathroom when his foot crashed against an unexpected barrier, letting Liam sway uncertainly, his hands searching for support, but finding nothing.
A single, nearly soft ‘Fuck’ left his mouth, then he falls and when his head hits the corner of a unfortunately positioned drawer, everything goes black.
The first thing Liam feels when he wakes up again is hand, softly petting his head, gliding through his hair. The motions are slow and somehow he feels safe and warm.
“Dad?”, he croaks out.
“No Liam, David is not here.”
Immediately, Liam sits up. “What? Who are You? A robber? How did you come in here?”
“Calm down, little wolf, I am no burglar. And I was, in fact, already in here.”
In the house? But the only living beings inside the house right now are he and... “Teddy?!”
“Well, my real name is Theo. But yes, you know me as Teddy.”
“How is that possible? You are a dog? I must have hit my head pretty hard...” Liam’s confusion grows with every second.
“First of all: I am not a dog. My animal form is a coywolf, a mix of coyote and wolf. And Ann told you, I was a special guidance dog, didn’t she?” Teddy’s - no Theo's - voice is deep, slightly rough as if he hadn’t used it for a long time. Oh.
“How is that possible?” Liam asks.
“So you believe me?”
“Yeah... I mean, what choice do I have? I mean, if you didn’t break in here and killed my dog and know through a weird coincidence the name of the shelter lady and my own, then your version is actually pretty believable. “
Theo laughs and Liam realizes that the warm feeling he had while waking up, still swirls through his body. Then another thought hits him.
“Theo? Are you going to leave me alone now?”
“Do you want that? I wouldn’t hold it against you, now that you know my secret...”
“No!” Liam’s hands search around uncoordinated until they find Theo’s arms. “Please! Please don’t go! I need you!”
A warm hand cups his cheek and the save feeling intensifies.
“I will stay by your side as long as you want me to.”
And from that moment on the blind boy and his guidance wolf never left each other’s sides, and sometimes, the wolf was replaced with a second boy who's eyes glowed the same forest-green as the wolf's. And even though the blind boy would never be able to see again, he now had new eyes to look at the world around him.