'I want to fuck your mom.'
Those were the words Noah hoped to say when his best friend asked him a question.
His hand was busy adjusting his tie behind the steering wheel, using the rearview mirror. He wasn't even sure if he was doing it right.
"Dude, come on, answer me! I've got my insurance money, so I'll buy you anything you want." Freddy insisted.
Noah smirked as he looked at the back seat. "Save it for your ball. Didn't you say you wanted to milk it dry after graduation?"
Freddy slumped back in his seat. "Ah, right. That penile filler procedure costs three grand. Shit. I'm going to fuck Bella once I get it done and dump her right away. How dare she break up with me like that!"
"Save it well then." Noah sat up straight again, still unsure about his tie.
"But I can spare a few hundred for you. Come on, tell me."
"No need. What I want isn't something your pocket money can buy." His fingers tapped the steering wheel as he smiled bitterly, imagining Freddy's reaction if he knew what was on his mind.
In the rearview mirror, Noah could see Freddy roll his eyes and sulk.
A moment later, the passenger door opened.
A soft jasmine and mixed berries scent wafted through the car as Meredith got in. It was an aroma Noah knew well, one that made his dirty mind want to play a dangerous game with her.
"Finally, the day has arrived. It feels like just yesterday you were both freshmen, and now you're graduates. I'm so relieved," Meredith said with the softest, genuine smile.
"Mom, what are you saying? Four years wasn't like a day. We almost died finishing this degree. And now we might actually die entering the wild jungle of job hunting. Right, brother?"
Noah just gave a small smile and a nod while starting the car.
"Oh dear, don't say it like that. I'm so proud of you both. It feels like you achieved my dream," Meredith said. She then put her hand on Noah's arm, her pale fingers adjusting his tie.
Their closeness gave Noah a view of her deep cleavage, heaving steadily with her breathing, held firm by her maroon-sleeved cocktail dress.
It was a swell he wanted to leave a bite mark on. He worried Meredith could hear how hard his heart was pounding.
"I told you you should just go back to college," her son insisted.
"Should I? I think I'm too old for school." She paused with her fingers straightening Noah's collar. "There, it's neat now. You're good." She finished by stroking Noah's cheek with a warm, maternal smile.
Noah tried to control himself, cleared his throat, and focused on starting the car. It rolled forward. She was always like that. Did she still pity him? Still see him as an orphan boy and think of him as her own son?
And shamelessly, even though Noah was sick of Meredith seeing him as a little boy, he still enjoyed being treated like that while perversely daydreaming about fondling her round, soft breasts and fucking her senseless.
"Oh Mom, no! Dude, you tell her. Is 40 too old to start college?"
"Of course not. Forty is not too old to start your dream. No one would ever believe you're in your forties, anyway." Noah said with his eyes fixed on the street.
But his mind was wandering. He wanted today to pass quickly and for the night to come.
Meredith had promised to take him out to dinner, and Noah was going to confess his feelings—that he wanted Meredith to be his lover, his bed partner, the place where he could get warmth every time he came home from work. He had already thought this through for the past three months.
The car was still filled with Freddy persuading his mom to go back to college. It was a topic Noah had heard many times over the four years he'd known them.
The road was clear today, with no traffic, which made Noah press the gas pedal faster. The traffic light ahead was counting down, only five seconds of green left. Noah pressed the gas deeper, thinking he could make it through the light.
And he was right, as he reached the intersection, the green light slowly turned yellow.
But from the right, Noah saw a massive dump truck speeding towards them, its horn blaring.
'Fuck!'
CRASSHHH!
.
.
Noah panted hard as his body felt like it was being stomped on, sliced, and burned all at once.
His vision blurred, seeing the woman he was pinning, with blood streaming down her temple, calling his name. His trembling hand gave up, unable to hold his weight, and he fell.
His cheek landed on the soft, plush flesh of her breast.
Then everything went black.
.
.
"You can open your eyes slowly, Noah Snow. Slowly." The deep bass voice of a man who claimed to be the doctor treating Noah echoed in his ears.
Noah opened his eyes slowly as instructed. A blinding white light made him squint.
"Now, blink slowly."
He blinked as he was told, and the white light gradually faded, revealing a window with white curtains as the first thing his new eyes saw.
He turned his head and found a middle-aged male doctor and a nurse looking at him. The doctor immediately shone a penlight into Noah's eyes, making him squint again.
"It looks good. You should be grateful for this miracle, Noah Snow. If there hadn't been a brain-dead eye donor ready at that exact moment, your eyes might not have been saved. Now, you should rest more. I'll be back tomorrow."
The doctor and nurse left the room, leaving Noah alone in bed. That morning, Noah had finally woken up after being in a coma for a month.
From what the nurse had said earlier, the fatal accident on his graduation day had caused bleeding in his left torso.
But the worst injury was to his eyes, where the cornea damage was irreparable.
He needed a corneal transplant. The nurse said Noah was lucky because a patient on the organ donor list had become brain-dead that day, and Noah was the first on the list to receive their eyes.
Noah's guardian, who only had a light gash on her forehead, immediately agreed to the surgery.
'I'm so glad that you're safe, Meredith.' Noah smiled faintly, still holding his temple. He still felt a bit dizzy.
Noah wondered about Freddy's condition. During the crash, he had only focused on protecting Meredith. He had to wait for her to come because the nurse had refused to tell him.
Noah closed his eyes again to ease his dizziness. He kept them shut for a few seconds, then opened them again.
It was dark.
He blinked anxiously, squeezed his eyes shut, and opened them again.
But it was still dark.
Noah immediately sat up and fumbled for the nurse call button. His heart beat faster in fear that his eyes had lost their function.
Then, suddenly, he could see again.
But not long after, it was dark again, like someone was playing with a light switch in a basement isolated from sunlight.
Noah panicked, about to scream for the nurse, but…
[Calm down… Relax… We are adjusting the system. So you need to relax, please take a deep breath.]
A man's deep baritone voice caught Noah off guard.
"Wh-what… what the hell is that? Who are you?" Noah fumbled across the patient bed, searching for someone next to him, but found nothing.
His vision was a blurry mess of light and dark, like the flickering lamps of a cheap underground club.
[Me? I'm your guidance. Ah, no… more accurately, I am the guardian of your eyes. And you're so lucky. You just inherited the depraved eyes. Congratulations, Noah Snow!]