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More Than Eyes Alone Can See	By : Psnoo17 Category: M through R > Once Upon A Time In Mexico Views: 1450 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time in Mexico, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-More Than Eyes Alone Can See
- 2-2
- 3-3
- 4-4
- 5-5
- 6-6
- 7-7
- 8-8
- 9-9
- 10-10
- 11-11
- 12-12
- 13-14
- 14-15
- 15-16
- 16-17
- 17-18
- 18-19
- 19-20
- 20-Index of Quotes
- 15
- 16
- 17
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When Tess didn�t answer him the
first time, Logan repeated his
question. �What�s the allure, T?�

How far could she answer that question without making things
uncomfortable for any of them?
�Logan? Have you ever heard of a nahual?�

�No. Should I have?�

Tess shook her head. �Not many
people have. Long ago, before the Maya
came to power in the Yucatan Peninsula,
there was a race of people called the Olmecs.
No one�s quite sure what happened to them � there�s few traces of their
civilization left and most assume they were gradually swallowed by the Aztec
Empire to the East and the Mayan to the West � but there are a handful of their
myths and beliefs that got handed down through thousands of generations to
today. And one of those is that of the nahual.

�Nahual is translated into the
Spanish tongue as cr�o del jaguar.
Child of the jaguar, or more commonly, jaguar children. Not that this should be confused with nagual, or wizard, although the Central
America word may have some connection. But I get off topic.

�It was believed that these children were gifted with the intellect of
men, but had the ferocity, strength, and cunning of a jaguar. It was even believed that they could change
into the great cat if the need ever arose.
The Olmec priests, the shamans, were all believed to be nahuals, for the jaguar was a sacred
animal. Even the Maya believed this to
some extent, although that may have been a belief they absorbed along with the
Olmecs.�
s'>
She turned her face to Logan
without removing her eyes from the man she was talking about. �It just . . . if you had been there . . . if
you had been on the streets of Cul�acan that day as the sun beat down, and
explosions made the ground tremble . . . if you had seen him standing there,
dressed all in black with blood running down his face like the tears of the
gods themselves, maybe then you would understand. There was no reason for that man to be alive,
but he was. I know that I came closer to
believing the old myths that day, that I wouldn�t have
been surprised to see him shift into a jungle cat and run back to the lands
where his worshippers had dwelled.�
Finally she managed to remove her gaze from Sands. �I�m sorry, but I can�t explain things better
than that. It�s just . . . I feel that to leave him now would be a
great disservice. I�m not sure I could
do it. Not until I know whether there�s
still hope for him or not. I convinced
him to come . . . I made him hope,
and I can�t leave without seeing it through.
I can�t give up my duty without feeling as if I�m giving up on him as
well. And I don�t want to give
you-know-what that sword to hang over my head.�

Well. Apparently things were more
complicated than Logan had
suspected. �This isn�t going to be easy,
T. He�s going to be . . . difficult to
handle.� Tessa�s two gunshot wounds
seemed to burn with the echoes of pain, even though they were mostly healed. �And however much you protest against it,
you�re close to him. Maybe not in the
way that the word is normally meant . . . but I know you. If I know nothing else, I know you, and I know that once someone works
their way onto your list of people to watch out for, that you feel everything
they do. This won�t be easy, and I only
mention this at all because I know that you�re not even going to balk from the
pain this could cause.�

�I realize it�s not going to be easy, Logan. But do you think it would be any easier if I
turned him over to the care of someone else?
If I left details up to my imagination?�
Tess leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. �You�re right � I�m going to be there every
step of the way, but that�s only because I feel responsible for putting him in
this position. If it weren�t . . .
.� If
it weren�t for my family, he wouldn�t be here. �I just really need to see this through. I know Sands won�t admit it, but I think he�d
be more comfortable if he knows that at least one person who knows him will be in this to some capacity. If he knows he�s not just being abandoned.�

�Are you sure that�s it, T?� Logan
had never heard Tess use that tone of voice before, although he had wished to
hear her use it about him. But Tess . .
. Tess had notions. And nothing was
going to sway her from them. So he was
her friend. And confidant when she
needed one.

�Yeah. That�s it. That�s all I have to offer.� It�s
all I can offer with a free mind and a clear conscience.

The two friends were silent for several minutes before Logan
broke the silence. �I�m going to have to
conduct my own examination. You know
that, right?�

�I know, and I did mention it to him on the way over. Just . . . try not to let it show that it,�
she waved a hand in front of her eyes, �that it bothers you. He�s self-conscious enough about it as it
is.� The two nurses were finishing up
and preparing to leave the room. �If he
doesn�t mind, I�ll probably stay in the room, although I don�t think I�ll make
any comments. We can conference later,
although I think I�ve mentioned everything I noticed.�

�I think I�d feel better with a consult anyway. You never know when something might occur
that would be pertinent to treatment.
And you�re still his main physician unless he�s claimed another on his
records.�

�You got his records?�

�No, that�s what Ashley was doing in there.�

�The one with the black hair?�

�Yeah. She�s also one of Merrie�s
friends.�

�Ah . . . sharing the wealth, eh?�
Tess shook her head, trying to act as if their earlier conversation
hadn�t happened. The mood could only
stay somber for so long before her voice started searching for a
distraction. �Stupid girls.�

Logan grinned at the
oft-quoted phrase from their college days.
Tess had never been one to put up with the constant games of flirtation
that other people their age engaged in. But then the two women emerged from the
room, bringing Sands� chart with them.

�Here you go, doctors.�

�Thank you, Merrie, Ashley.� Logan
started to look at the charts, then looked up. �Did you get the blood sample?�

The two women looked at each other.
�No. We didn�t.�

�Why not?�

�He said he didn�t want any more holes in his hide and if anyone was
going to come near him with a . . . a �f�in� needle,
then it had better be someone who knew what to expect.�

Tess shook her head. The man
never gave up. �Well, I guess that
settles the matter of whether I�ll be going in with you or not. Shall we?�
Logan looked at her as if
she was nuts (which they both knew she was), and went in ahead of her. Tess followed after hesitating for a
moment.spanspan>

Even when we act for the noblest reasons, the
last link of the chain all too often drips with someone�s blood. She sincerely hoped
she wasn�t getting in over her head.

Sands
heard the chatty nurses leave. It�s about damn time. Small doses of pep he could handle, but he�d
been cloistered with a peppy nurse and an inquisitive something-or-other for
nearly half an hour. It was a good thing
Tessa had taken his guns or he might have put the fear of god in them. Or fear
of me � either one would be good.
The room wasn�t silent for long though . . .
the sound of an expensive pair of wingtips sounded on the tile of the
room. It was a sound Sands had heard
often enough at Company headquarters.
He�d never gone for that himself � too conspicuous. Must be Pierce.
�I hear you were terrorizing my staff.�
�Nah � just refusing to cooperate. It helps the bad-boy image.�
�May I ask what made you balk at getting
some blood drawn?�
Sands resisted the urge to growl. If this man wasn�t careful, he was going to
end up on Sands� bad side, and that wasn�t a place anyone wanted to be. But despite his irritation, Sands� voice was
bland as he replied. �Let�s just say
that I�ve had some bad experiences with needles of late.� only overly attached to quoting people that the general public has
never even heard of, but you�re delusional as well. An elephant gun has more subtlety than you
do.� He grinned, but it was
brittle. �Those nurses that just left
could teach you a thing or two about a decent bedside manner.�
Tess knew he was simply going with the game
she�d set up � neither one was going to mention anything about cartel henchmen
who came armed with hypodermic needles filled with various sedatives. �Well, I suppose that means I need
practice. Wanna be my guinea pig?�
�Why not?
Seems to be all I�m good for at the moment.� Sands heard the woman � Tess � rummaging
around. There were several clinks as she
set vials on the table and a snap as she pulled on a of of rubber
gloves. �Enjoy snapping the latex, do
we?�
This was just another instance that Tess was
extremely gladt het he couldn�t see her, because her face was most likely
showing bright red under the natural tan of her skin. Damn
him for always knowing what to say to overset me. �I suppose that�s for me to know, and for you
to never � and I do mean never � find
out.�
�I think you just flattened my ego.�
�You don�t give yourself enough credit,
se�or. I think you have more than enough
ego to survive my trivial comments.
Which arm?� Sands extended his
right arm.
Tess was very careful not to look at either Logan or Sands as she folded the sleeve of Sands� shirt back and
fastened the tourniquet around his upper arm.
Paying complete attention to what she was doing, she probed for a
vein. �Make a fist for me?� His veins were playing hide-and-seek,
determined to keep as much blood inside his body as possible, but she found
one. Qly sly she smeared a bit of iodine
over the site, then said, �Little pinch.�
The needle slid in and her syringe started filling.
Once she had enough blood, she pulled the
needle out, let the tourniquet go loose, and taped a cotton ball over the small
wound.
�What do I get for being so good?�
�A lollypop, the same as all the other good
little boys and girls.� Tess knew Sands
was being so flippant because he was nervous about the upcoming examination.
�Well, damn.
If I had know that was all I�d get, I would have misbehaved.�
�There�s always next time.� Needle
in hazardous waste bucket, gloves in trash, label vials. �There someone waiting outside for these?�
Logan looked up from his study of Sands� chart and nodded. �Merrie should be waiting.�
Tess went the door where the woman was
indeed waiting, handed off the vials, closed the door, and then pulled the
shade that was there to provide privacy from those passing in the hall. Things were about to get ugly.

Tess
hadn�t said anything when Sands had lit a cigarette on the way home. She hadn�t said anything when he�d asked if
she would pull over at a convenience store to buy a carton of non-lite cigarettes and a pack of beer. She hadn�t said anything, but Sands had
seemed to know what she was thinking anyway.
�Last day of freedom, ni�a. Might
as well live it up.�
�You�re going to smoke a carton of
cigarettes in a day?�
�No, those are to keep my trigger finger
happy while I can�t drink.� He�d tossed
his wallet in her direction and she�d gone inside. She�d noticed while she was paying that he�d
removed his ID.
They�d gotten home, Tess had relieved Tina
of her charges � although she and the children seemed to have formed a mutual
appreciation society � and Sands had gone outside. She�d checked on him once or twice to find him
puffing like a chimney. She left him
alone with his thoughts. If he wanted to
talk � which she sincerely doubted � then he knew where to find her.
He didn�t come find her.
She colored with the kids, fixed dinner,
reminded Sands to eat, translated a showing of Beauty and the Beast, got
everyone washed, brushed and into bed.
She went back downstairs, cleaned up from dinner, checked on Sands (who
was still outside but drinking a beer now instead of smoking), worried about
whether she should do something, decided not to. Went back inside, sat down, started reading .
. . .
�Gee, Ma.
Didn�t know I was out past curfew.�
That made sense. �I fell
asleep.�
�You fell asleep in the living room when you
have a bed waiting for you in the other room?
Makes sense.� Sands sat down
across from her; the scent of his cigarettes drifted over to her. �You�ve been hovering all night, se�orita.�
�It�s hart tot to when we�re stuck in the
same house. Besides, I�ve been killing
time until Logan calls.�
�Going to reassure the good doctor now that
he�s had time to calm his nerves?�
�You do have that affect on people.� They both knew he wasn�t what Logan had needed to recover from. �You reek of smoke � you should go shower.�
�No sponge bath, ni�a? I�m disappointed.�
�You�ll live. There�s clean towels in the bathroom.� Tess closed her book and stretched. �This may be the last time you feel like
showering for awhile.� Sands shrugged,
but moved to get up anyway. He was
almost to the kitchen before her curiosity got the better of her. �Wait.
I d need to ask you something.�
Sands paused, but he didn�t look as if he were going to wait around
forever for her to say what she wanted.
She got to it. �I was wondering
if you wanted to list Logan as, umm . . . as your main physician. He is
the one who�s going to be overseeing your treatment.�
The question took Sands off guard.do this.�

I can�t do this, Sam. �I . .
. I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are.
It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the
end. Because how could the end be
happy? How could the world go back to
the way it was when so much bad had happened?
But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the
clearer. Those were the stories that
stayed with you. That meant something,
even if you were too small to understand why.
But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand.
I know now. Folk in those stories
had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.� Tess squeezed the hand that still hadn�t
pulled free of hers. �I�m holding
on. Don�t you dare let go.� Sands was still sitting without answering
her. She hoped he was thinking and not
blocking her out. �Who is more foolish,
the child afraid of the dark or the man afraid of the light?�

What was it about quoting smart people that made even complete idiots
seem more intelligent? And the woman had
to be an idiot if she was going to cry over him. He could hear the tears lurking in her
voice.
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More Than Eyes Alone Can See