Claude leaves, and Louise is almost relieved. He kept telling her she was still sexy, her physical changes hardly noticeable. He was either lying to her or lying to himself, but either way, he spoke fiction. She wonders what else he is lying about.
Warner takes Louise to the optical shop. She needs glasses for her double vision: Walking around makes her so nauseated she rarely wants to go outside. Warner picks out a frame because Louise refuses to, and asks the employee to cover the left eye with tape. “No prescription?” the guy asks.
With her new glasses, Louise can write emails without every line blurring into the next. She can climb the stairs without getting dizzy. The doctors say Louise’s eye could straighten out at any time—she could wake up one day and discover both her eyes gazing at the same thing. There is no way of knowing if this will happen for sure. All she can do is wait.
Because of damage from the surgeries, she also has nystagmus, or involuntary eye movement. Her left eye moves up and down very quickly, while her right eye moves with grace. The result is that everything appears bouncy. It worsens in darkness, and with alcohol consumption.
The covered eye is a mystery to people. Some people might think she has just had an eye surgery or some kind of temporary injury, and they will not stare or wonder. They will not guess she has had brain surgery. If they do not see Louise try to smile, or walk, if they just see her sitting in a car, they will just think she is a girl with a vision problem, nothing more.
She calls Claude after dinner. He is in his car, on his way to LA to see some band. Yesterday he was night fishing with friends. The day before that, at a bonfire, drinking. Louise can’t imagine herself doing any of these things. She can’t even drink without her left eye leaping up and down violently. Claude says he does not want to give up on their relationship, but to Louise, him saying that means that he already has.
Louise goes back to a mirror and turns so only half her face shows. She puts on a necklace Claude gave her five months ago, a thin gold chain and a pretty brown stone. She applies lip gloss and mascara and ruffles her hair. She looks at that half in the mirror. There is still hope, she thinks.