Grace had fallen asleep in Sands' room and woke up paying for it the next morning.  Her entire body ached from sleeping upright.

            "Rise 'n shine, Gracie," Sands said.

            Grace rubbed the sleep from her eyes.  "How are you so…ugh."

            "Well, there are two factors.  Number one: pain meds.  Number two: I'm going to have a woman waiting on me hand and foot for a week."

            "I'm not your slave, Sands," Grace said sharply.

            "Not yet," he smiled.  "Doc says our ride's here."

            "Huh?  You get to leave already?"

            "No room at the inn.  Besides, there's not much else they can do.  Sooo…"  He attempted to get out of bed and almost fell.  Grace jumped to her feet and helped him.  "Aw, you care."

            "They won't pay me if I let you break yourself even more than you already are."  The traditional hospital gown then drew the attention of Grace's eyes.  She blushed as she caught sight of Sands' "assets."  She cleared her throat.  "Let's close this," she said, pulling the material together.

            "I'm not shy," Sands replied, a large smile on his lips.

             "Are you anything other than impossible?"

            "Nope."

            Damn…Why is it that I'm starting to…not hate him as much.  "Ugh…come here."  Grace helped Sands into a wheelchair that had seen better days.  She wheeled him out into the hallway, through the waiting room, and onto the sidewalk.  A town car with blackened windows awaited them.

            "You're my chauffeur and everything," Sands said with a sigh.  "This arrangement might not be bad at all."

            Grace groaned as she helped Sands into the backseat of the car.  "I'm not spending every minute of the next seven days with you – be aware of that."

            "Aw, come on, Gracie…"

            "And why do you insist on calling me that?  Gr-a-a-a-ce.  Say it with me now…"

            Bluntly, Sands said, "I like Gracie better."

            Grace slammed his door, then got in on the other side.  She tried to sit as far away from Sands as she could, but he moved closer to her.  Nonchalantly, he put his hand on her thigh.  He felt a cool material, which he guessed was silk, then bare, firm flesh.  Grace slapped his hand away.

            "You had your eyes taken out of your skull yesterday…yet I get the feeling you are – and always have been – a horny bastard!"

            "Ah ah…now I'm a curious, horny bastard.  Gracie likes skirts, hm?"

            An inaudible grumble came from Grace.

            "Me too."

            "Who the hell do you think you are?  You can't just…Just because you're…You can't!"

            Sands smiled and leaned in closer to Grace.  His voice was a husky whisper when he said, "The blind need to see with their hands, Gracie."

            As much as she didn't want it to, the tone he took caused her body to shiver.  "You…you haven't been blind long enough to have the need to see that way.  How is it that someone can have something horrible happen to them and still be so…you?"

            "I've been down here long enough to see – and cause – things you couldn't fathom.  I got off easy."

            "You have no eyes!"  She quickly bit her lower lip.

            "I'm perfectly aware of that!  Can we leave the gaping holes in my skull out of this?!"

            Grace's face turned red with anger.  "Isn't that what we're fighting about anyway?"

            Sands opened his mouth to say something, but paused.  "Uh…maybe?"

            Grace wanted to be angry – really – but at the moment, she couldn't do it.  She laughed…a lot.  "O.K., that was your one free feel, got it?"

            "What if I'm really really good?" he purred.

            "Sheldon," Grace said, warning in her voice.  He fell silent.  "I won!"

            Sands didn't say anything, but he mouthed, "No, you didn't."

***

Author's Note:  Yes, short, but I laughed quite a bit…heehee.  More to come!  I feel that I'm relieving stress by writing this – woohoo!