The full examination and meticulous preparation took three months. The operation itself lasted over forty-eight hours. Amy spent several days at the doors to the operating room — every exit of a doctor made her tremble with fear, but each time they repeated the same thing to her: "The operation is going well."
And finally, it ended.
Stopping the surgeon, Amy asked anxiously:
"How did it go?"
"As expected, we couldn't restore his vision completely. But, even if not perfect, he will be able to see. As for the ability to walk — there is a chance, but there is still a lot of hard work ahead."
A year and a half had passed since the operation. All this time, Ray worked stubbornly on learning to walk again. These year and a half became a heavy trial not only for him, but also for Amy, who never left her son's side.
Recently, a small joy had returned to her exhausted life: Ray had started cooking again. During the recovery, the entire kitchen had been her responsibility, but despite this, Amy was surprised to discover that she still fell short of her son in this matter.
The drugs he took and the grueling training sessions with Mikie led to the fact that the once short, chubby fellow had turned into a two-meter tall bruiser, second in size only to Frank.
Amy didn't like that their time together had significantly decreased, but she understood: having lost Lily and the girls, Ray had also lost a part of himself.
The first thing he did, as soon as he regained even a little of his sight, was to rewatch that video.
Amy didn't even try to dissuade him. Despite all her efforts, she clearly realized: the only thing keeping her son in this world was hatred.
When they sat down at the table, Amy said:
"I think you should take a break from training, or at least reduce the intensity. I don't know where you found this guy who's drilling you, but he scares me. I understand that you load yourself up as a punishment… And although I don't believe you're to blame for what happened, I won't stop you. Just take care of yourself — I don't want to bury you. Relax, meet up with friends, just take a rest."
Ray picked up the notepad and wrote:
"I'll think about a break if you go on a date with Gary. This cop is very persistent. I think he really likes you — and I'm sure something might come of it."
Reading the reply, Amy pondered for a moment, then said:
"Alright, I'll go. But you also have to try to find a new hobby — something besides these inhuman workloads. And note: it will just be a date. I'm not promising anything."
Hearing her words, Ray smiled — an event that had become extremely rare lately.
When they finished eating, Amy busied herself with cleaning the kitchen, while Ray immersed himself in reading crime news.
Ever since he had partially regained his sight, this had become his daily routine. Though the hope of finding the client had long since faded — especially considering all the executors were dead.