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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
- 8
- 9
- 10
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The silence was as oppressive as the stagnant air of a humid
summer day. Tess was fighting hard
against her survival instincts that were demanding that she run. There was too much of the predator in her
patient; she was afraid that if she ran, he�d come after her, never mind all
that was wrong with him. Deep breaths, deep breaths. Stay calm.
�He took his vorpal sword in hand:/Long time the manxome foe he sought �
/So he rested by the Tumtum tree,/And stood awhile in
thought.� No, no. Focus.
She still stood by the sink, watching the man who sat across the room,
ready to bolt like a frightened rabbit should he give any sign of lashing out.
Nothing. Minutes went by, perhaps even hours, as they stayed
unmoving in their own private tableau. -Taptaptap, taptaptap, taptaptap- Tessa�s fingers rang out an
agitated rhythm against the porcelain without her notice or direction. All of her efforts were concentrated on
keeping her own �manxome foe� at bay while she dealt with reality. Later she would be able to collapse into a
puddle and recover from the tension this issue had created. But if
it worked, if he could see again . . .
The clock in her
living room struck the half-hour. Had
that much time already passed since she had broached the subject of transplants
with her guest? I thought time was only supposed to fly when you were having fun,
she thought distractedly.
//Se�ora Tessa? Tess turned from
her half-hypnotized study of her patient to find Alma
in the doorway to the bathroom.
//Yes, Alma. What is it? Even as she asked the question, Tess knew
what the problem was, having finally heard the thin wails of an unhappy baby
coming from the living room.
//I think Lena
needs to be changed.
The girl was
watching them curiously, aware that something was wrong but unsure what or who
had caused it. The look on her face made
it clear that she was uncomfortable � that the tension in the air was making
her just as tense as the two adults.
Tess didn�t question this � it�s how she would feel if she had suddenly
lost her home and the stranger she was dependent on was acting strangely. And I�m
not exactly helping her feel secure by just standing around like a
lackwit. Children can only feel safe if
the adults they�re around make them feel safe.
If she�s uncomfortable, it�s my fault.
So, fix the problem. Do something
that will take her mind off all the strange things going on in this house.
//I�ll be right
there, Alma. The
girl nodded and scampered off, apparently only too glad to escape the
room. Tess wished she could leave just
as easily, but knew she couldn�t. She
couldn�t leave until she knew what her patient�s state of mind was � until she
knew whether or not she had made things any worse by her unstructured
rambling. But how do you tell someone who�s lost their eyes that they can gain a
new set, but only if they volunteer for experimental surgery? There�s not exactly greeting cards for that
sort of thing. Ignoring her inner
doubts and conversations for the moment, Tess worked up the courage to address
her guest. Doing her best to infuse her
voice with all the calm she could muster, Tess quietly said, �Se�or?
If you like, I can ��
�What I�d like you
to do is go look after those brats and leave me the hell alone.�
< sty style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Tess was taken
aback by the vehemence in the man�s voice.
He still sat on the closed toilet lid, his shoulders slumped and his
head tilted forward, but his voice transmitted barely-contained rage. For the first time Tess wondered if his
silence had less to do with shock and more to do with the urge to cause her
bodily harm.
The thought was too
much for her fragile peace of mind.
Walking backwards so that she could keep Sands in her vision, Tess
backed out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. Once in the bigger room, she paused, unsure
whether she should stay and try to make amends, or if she should do as her
commonsense was demanding and run for her life.
�I don�t hear you
running, se�orita.�
Tess quickly left
the room, refusing in this last moment to give him the satisfaction of hearing
her flee.

*****************************************

Sands remained in
the cramped bathroom for several minutes after Tess left him. His head was pounding so severely that his
entire body echoed with the throbs. He
was hanging to control by a thread, slowly convincing himself that he couldn�t
simply kill people for being stupid. Stupid
and arrogant? Yes. Stupid and clumsy? Sure.
Stupid and treacherous?
Absolutely. But Tess was none of
those qualifiers � she was merely stupid.
Or perhaps stupid and too compassionate for her own good.
Then
again, maybe she�s just trying to justify moving you to another location for
her profit � trying to keep you from becoming suspicious over a sudden road
trip. You have only her word that she
didn�t meet up with the cartel last night.
Perhaps she did and now she�s been instructed to take the nosy,
incompetent, blind American elsewhere.
No.
Sands refused to give into his paranoiac nature. It was better to think things through than to
blindly believe what the darker, more cynical part of his mind tried to tell
him.es'> That
doesn�t fit in with any of her previous actions. The cartels would be just as happy with a dead
body as with an injured, breathing, interfering bastard. It�d save them the time and hassle of killing
me. No, she�s not the type to betray
anyone. If she told me about her
�friend� and his miracle procedure, it was with good intentions.
Yeah, well, the road to hell is lined with good intentions.
As she
walked down the hall, Tess heard voices coming from her bedroom. Unless
�Giovanni� is talking to himself, I�d say it�s a safe bet that Marcos isn�t in
the other bedroom. Just to make
sure, Tess did poke her head in, but the room was empty.
Carefully making
sure that she walked as silently as she could, Tess approached the open door to
her bedroom. Peeking
her head around the corner, she saw that Marcos was sitting on the stool she
had left by the bed, leaning against the bed, while her patient apparently
listened. She stayed standing still for
several minutes, listening as Marcos slowly and studiously made his way through
several sentences, his English accented but understandable. Eventually, he hit a word that puzzled
him. Watching his face carefully, Tess
smiled as he made a face and silently tried to sound out the word.
�Se�or?
What does b-o-r-o-u-g-h spell?�
To Tessa�s
amazement, not only was Marcos speaking in English, but
Sands replied in a voice that was only mildly caustic. If she had to bet, she�d say the harshness
was ed bed by pain, not by irritation caused by his young visitor.
�But what is a . .
. rougrough? Is it a donkey?�
Tess smiled again,
glad that Marcos had caught onto the similar sounding words. He was a smart boy, and she would be happy to
see that he got the education he needed.
One way or another, she would seeand and his family provided for. That�s
something I need to give some serious thought to.
�You can come out
of hiding, ni�a.� Tess brought her attention back to the room�s
occupants to find Marcos watching her and Sands calmly reclining against the
pillows she had scrounged from around the house and lazily smoking a cigarette,
his fingers holding the small roll of tobacco gracefully.
She shuffled her
feet nervously, embarrassed to be caught observing the pair. //Marcos, go wash up. Dinner�s ready.
The boy got up to
comply, glancing back at his chosen friend before looking back at her. From the look on his face, she�d have to
guess that Alma had been spreading
tales. Knowing that he probably didn�t
like the thought of having his two adult friends at odds,
Tess smiled reassuringly and tilted her head towards the bathroom connected to
her room, giving him permission to use it.
He nodded, set his book down on the nightstand, and went to do as he was
bid. Tess simplyod wod where she was in
the doorway and waited for him.
�What�s wrong ni�a?
Afraid I�m corrupting your young charge?�
Tess swallowed,
unsure of what she was supposed to say � so she fell back on habit. �In every American there is an air of
innocence, which seems to conceal a diabolical cunning.�
The corner of
Sands� mouth twitched as if he were amused before he replied, �And thus I clothe
my naked villainy with odd ends, stol�n forth of holy
writ; and seem a saint, when most I play the devil.�
�Se�or?�
Tess sounded confused.
�Shakespeare.� He thought he was finally starting to
understand Tess; whenever she was at a loss for what to say, or was nervous, or
surprised, she resorted to quotes to either cover what she was reallinkiinking
or express it in a way that she couldn�t.
The odd tidbits of literature seemed to help her bring order to her
thoughts. Now the question was, why did she need so much help? What motivated her massive amounts of
memorization?
�That�s not what I
wanted to know, se�or. I was wondering if you would like to get up
for a bit. Laying
in bed all day will make your wounds stiff and your muscles weak. If it doesn�t hurt too much, I think that it
would be a good idea for you to get up and walk around for a few minutes.�
Marcosrgedrged from
the bathroom just in time to hear this suggestion. His face lit up and he eagerly said, //S�, se�or.
Come join us for dinner.
Ok, that�s not quite what I had in mind . .
. Tess thought as Marcos went over to the bed and took the man�s hand. As she watched, she assumed that Sands would
refuse � that he might lash out with that acid tongue of his � but he didn�t. He allowed Marcos to pull him up out of the
bed, and even allowed the boy to guide him out of the room.
Tessa followed them
from the bedroom and down the hall to the kitchen, all the while trying to
understand what she was seeing. It was
almost as if there was too much cognitive dissonance in what she was seeing for
her mind to grasp it. Why would such a
hard man treat a boy he barely knew with this amount of mildness? What was the relationship that spurred the
gentleness between the two? Marcos had a
good heart; that explained why he had befriended this companionless man.
She needed more
information, and at the moment the only way for her to get it was by
observation.
Gently, she unwrapped the cotton gauze from around his head, making sure
that his hair stayed out of his face. If
a simple brush of her fingers - if the air itself - still caused him pain, she
didn�t want the strands to get inside and wreak havoc on his nervous
system. She turned on the bedside lamp
for a bit more light during her covert inspection.
�What was that
for?� Sands had heard the small click of
a light being switched on. It was bad
enough the woman insisted on baring the permanent badges of his failure over
and over again without having to shine a spotlight on them.
�I need more light
if I�m to tell if all is healing properly, se�or.� Please
go along with it. You may not want to
believe it, but there may be hope. Whether
he heard her mental cries or not, Sands made no more protests as she tilted his
head towards the lamp. �I�m going to
conduct a little examination, se�or,
so please try not to move.� Gently,
almost not daring breathe, Tess reached out and ran a light finger over Sands�
cheekbone. He flinched. �Almost done with this part,� she breathed,
next running her finger around the bony edge of his eye socket, moving the tip
of one finger counter clockwise over his lower temple and up over his
brow. She could hear his breath hitch in
his throat and could see his white-knuckled hands gripping the sides of the
bed. There
shouldn�t be this much pain if the procedure had been carried out correctly,
which means that old Guevera missed something.
But is it enough for Logan
to work with? �Ok, done with that
part.�
She could see his
face, could see the unasked, That part? Tess knew he�d rather have her wrap him back
up and risk the possibility of infection rather than have her spend more time
looking into the gory holes that dominated his face, but it was necessary to
confirm her suspicions. Guevera had been
so incredibly sloppy � probably due to time constraints � and while this was
causing more pain than necessary, it might also be a barely credible gift. There,
she thought as she looked into the pits, where
his optic nerve would have connected to the eye . . . .

*****************************************

�So doc, in your professional
oon, on, if the eyes are indeed the windows of the soul, does a man without
eyes still possess a soul?� Sands could
tell the question had caught her off-guard when the hand on the side of his
face twitched. �Of course, now we�re
assuming that I had a soul to begin with.�
�Don�t say things
like that.� Tessa�s voice was
surprisingly fierce � almost protective.
What have I done to make her feel protective
of me? he wondered bewilderingly. �Rile your feathers, did I?� No answer.
He had asked the idle question merely to take his mind off the pain that
Tessa�s little examination was causing, but now he found himself oddly
captivated by the topic and her reaction.
�But this is a serious question.
I mean, without a soul, someone might as well be dead, right? Or does losing your soul mean you can no
longer die?� He didn�t think he could
bare an eternity of darkness.
There was more
silence for several minutes, the quality of which made him think that Tess was
gathering her thoughts. Sands thought
she would respond, little angel of death that she was, and he wasn�t
disappointed when she slowly replied, �I�ve met people without souls, se�or.�
Her hands left his face as voi voice became quiet with contemplation and
echoes of private horror. �Barillo,
Ajedrez, Guevera . . . others like them . . . people with no respect for life
or guilt for what they do to the living.
When I think of someone as being soulless, I think of them, of the qualities they had: power,
influence, tempting figures, persuasive and convicting words, great talent �
and all used to the wrong ends. Gifts
twisted and made perverse by greed, corruption, and arrogance.� She let out a breathy laugh, �I knew Celia,
Ajedrez�s mother. She was a sweet,
gentle woman. Too gentle for the family
she married into. It�s the memory of her that makes me
sometimes wonder if it was entirely Ajedrez�s fault that she ended up the way
she did. Perhaps she had no choice;
perhaps the child of a monster has but half of a soul and that half a soul
isn�t enough to save anyone. I wonder if
blood and heredity can overwhelm free will and compassion. And almost every time I come to thonclonclusion that it can. But at other
times I decide that you can only lose your soul if you stop fighting to keep
it.�
Sands hadn�t
expected this to become a philosophical discussion, but at least it was giving
him some insight into the woman. �If
you�re right about that, then it�s just as well that I lost my eyes � they had
nothing to show.�
�NO.�
Again, the vehemence in Tessa�s voice gave Sands something to think about. �That pack of
jackals that raised me . . . they
were soulless, caring only for themselves.
You may think yourself damned, but at least you still care.�
�Ah, now that�s
where you�re wrong, ni�a. I don�t care.� He had no idea why he was keeping this
conversation going, but he was.
Resignedly, he blamed it on the drugs she was giving him; surely this
conversation couldn�t be an actual search for validation.
That�s
right . . . why should you care? Just go
settle somewhere in the US and
be the perverse blind guy who tries to grope women as they help you cross the
street.
And that�s what you call a purpose in life? That�s just really sad. Sands realized that his thoughts were going
uninterrupted. �Ni�a?�
�Yes. Sorry.
I�m done. Just let me rewrap your . . . your . . . .�
Her voice trailed off and as Sands waited for her to finish, he felt his
eyes being covered in cotton once again.
�I�ll be out of your hair in a moment, se�or.� She was giving
up? Just
call for me.� And with that she was
gone, and Sands was alone.

*****************************************

-Ring- Tessan>
supposed she ought to answer her cell phone.
-Ring- The
problem was that she didn�t want to. �-Ring- She
had spent the last hour or so crying; the last few days had been long and full
of suffering for those she knew. -Ring- Marcos
and his siblings had lost their parents, her patient had lost his eyes and
given up not only on hope but on himself as well, the voice in her head was
struggling to feed off the chaos around her and take over . . . . And she was contemplating something
incredibly stupid. -Ring- But mostly her tears had
been for the man in her bedroom � for all that he was suffering because of her
family, because of her. -Ring- �Hey.� While she had muffled most of her sobs into a
pillow, she hadn�t tried to contain them.
She had allowed herself to sob herself hoarse so that she could move
past the pity and grief. Those weren�t
constructive emotions.
�I didn�t think you
were going to answer.� The harshness of
her voice mush have finally registered, because he asked, �Tessa? Is something wrong?� Logan�s voice was full urprurprise at hearing
her sound as if she had been crying. The
woman he knew never cried.
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More Than Eyes Alone Can See