The light Tap, Tap, Tap, resonated off the walls of the long corridor as the slim young woman made her way along.
Rose's thin staff reached out, moving from side to side testing her forward progress for obstacles, as her eyes could not see such things. This was not an unusual trip as she traveled this quiet part of the hospital each night. It was kind of a short cut to the bus stop on the far side of the hospital grounds that allowed her to bypass crossing through busy doors and walkways. What she did not know was that on this night a power outage had turned off all the lights. She would not have cared as passage for her didn't require lights.
A strained voice rang out, "Hello! Hello who is there".
To Rose the voice seemed to come from the far end of the corridor. She replied "Hello, is someone there?"
"Yes hello. Who is that? "
"Do you need help? My name is Rose, I work for the hospital. Where are you?"
The far more relaxed voice replied, "Rose, Rose, I'm glad it's you. It's me Fred from maintenance, I was working down here and all the lights went out and I couldn't find my way back, the exit doors on either end won't open with the power off."
Rose continued forward toward the voice, with the steady movements of her cane making a firm taping on the floor.
"I'm here Rose; I can hear you coming closer".
In a few more steps Rose felt her cane strike a soft object and she said, "Fred is that you are you alright?"
With a slight jitter in his voice he replied, "Oh sure, I'm ok, just a bit flustered being in the dark and not sure how to find a way out."
"Well your just in luck Fred, I know the exit is just ten paces from where we stand, I might be blind but I see in the dark better than you," and Fred heard her laugh. "What did you mean about the doors not opening?"
Rose could sense Fred's closeness and she reached out and up with her hand to where she thought his shoulder would be, but making contact with his face. "Oops sorry Fred just wanted to find you."
He reached up and took her hand in his and said, "That's fine Rose I feel better with you near me. What I meant about the doors was the end corridor doors are electric. Don't you just hit the wall plate when you come through at night?"
"Yes that's true, it is easier for me that way, but I thought they could be pushed open too."
"Well', Fred went on, "once you unlock them with a key they can then be pushed open, but I don't have the keys with me. We need to reach a phone and call upstairs to get some help. I think one of the rooms down here may be open and just might have a working phone."
Rose placed her other hand on top of his and said, "Ok Fred you have now become part of my world, hold onto me and we will work our way back and see if we can find a phone."
Fred released Rose's hands and moved his to her side placing it on her waist. She turned back in the direction she had come from, and for the next few minutes they moved back down the corridor looking for an open office and a phone. After two locked doors they came upon one that opened, and like a small train with two cars attached, went in.
Fred spoke, "If I remember correctly this should be the old records office, I think there was a wall phone in here somewhere." He turned to Rose placing both hands on her chest and said, Stay here near the wall and I will work my way around and see if I can find a phone."
Rose smiled and said, "Fine be careful Fred."
Rose wondered if Fred had realized that when he placed his hands on her chest he had covered both of her breasts and now her nipples had come alive making her warm and moist. With a clunk and a bang Rose heard something strike the floor.
"Damn, ouch, shit! Oh sorry Rose, I am alright." A moment or two passed and Rose heard the click and a dial tone as Fred called for help. He spoke for a few moments and ended the conversation with "Right, Ok, we are fine and will wait for the power to come back on, thanks."
"Well Rose It may be a while, all the power is off, the hospital generators are running but this old part of the building is not powered by the same system. We will have to wait until the power comes back on. My boss thinks it will be about an hour or more before the power comes back on. What do you think, is that ok for you? I am sorry you're being caught up in this mess."
"That's fine Fred I don't mind, stay where you are and I will come to you." "Be careful Rose there is a chair between you and me, I tripped over it. I don't smoke so I don't have a lighter or match to light so I'm not sure where it is." Rose made her way down the wall and found the tipped over chair, turned it back upright and continued to where Fred stood against the wall.
As Rose moved closer to Fred, she could smell a faint scent of after shave lotion and could hear his soft breathing. She reached out and with her hand, gently touched his face. "There you are. I am glad you were down here as if I got to the end doors and they didn't open I would have been lost."
Fred's breath brushed against Rose's cheek as he spoke, "I can't imagine you being lost. In all the time I have seen you make your way around the hospital you never seemed flustered, or not in command of where you were going."
"Well," said Rose as she moved close enough to Fred to feel her thigh touch his body, "I'll tell you a secret. Most of what you see is what might be called whistling in the dark."
With a slight giggle Rose continued, "Sorry for the pun. What I mean is moving around in my world takes lots of practice, and there are lots of times I feel lost, but know if I am to function here I need to learn to be mobile, and also communicate with the sighted world. It is difficult for many folks to realize some of the problems the blind have."
"When did you lose your vision?"
"Actually Fred I never had it, I was born without sight. Fred If we are to be here for an hour or so we should make ourselves more comfortable."
"Oh yeah, right," Fred said with a slightly nervous edge to his voice. "Let me find that chair and you can sit down, and he started to move away.
With a firm grip on Fred's arm Rose spoke, "Stay here Fred, the chair is just behind me, but we can just sit down on the floor right by this phone. I have a rain coat in my bag that we can spread out to sit on."
"Yeah that would be good, let's do that, so if we need to call someone we won't have to find the phone again."
Rose knowing Fred was a bit uncomfortable in the dark, spoke in a soft voice saying, "It will be just like having a picnic, I even think I have some cookies with me. Stay still for a moment and I will spread out our picnic table and then we can sit down."
Rose moved back a bit retrieved the rain coat and spread it out next to the wall. Moving back to Fred she spoke, "Fred for me the world is shaped by touch, smell and sound, I have a good memory and create maps that take the place of sight. For example let me touch you so I have an idea of what you look like."