A/N: I know some of you have been waiting for this chapter...let's just say some things happen that had to happen.....enjoy!

Chapter 7: Behind the glasses

Nino was deeply concerned. For the first two months since he had come to live with Sands he had been afraid that Sands would not pull through his ordeal; he wouldn't sleep and his waking hours were spent in a feverish nightmare shifting from days of silence to sudden outbursts of fearful mutterings. The hospital had given his sedatives but Sands would still toss and turn in his sleep finding no relief from his torment. But slowly he had got better. The bullet wounds had healed and so had the extensive facial injuries caused by Dr Guevera's torture. Gradually Sands had healed mentally too, and although this process had been very slow Nino had been delighted to see Sands making such progress. But now he seemed to be declining again just when Nino had been sure things were going to be ok. Sands was sleeping now, his brow furrowed painfully. He groaned slightly then bit his lip to stop another sound escaping him. Nino gently wiped the sweat from Sands' forehead with a damp cloth.

"You'll be alright senor," Nino said knowing full well that Sands could not hear him, "I won't leave you."

Sands woke several hours later. He knew someone else was in his room, he could hear their soft sleepy breathing. It was Nino. Sands slipped out of bed and walked out onto the porch. It was beautifully cool outside. Sands found his hands were shaking so he gripped the porch rail hard to stop them. Why did he keep falling apart? Why couldn't he just pull himself together? He shivered unable to stop himself. He had probably scared Evelyn away or at the very least hurt and confused her. 'Still,' he tried to reason, 'Better for her to leave now before she discovered the truth.' This was such a horrible thought that Sands felt a sudden urge to reach for the tequila bottle, he stopped himself. The last thing he needed was to become an alcoholic. He didn't want to have to cope with even more pain.

Flowers were delivered to Evelyn's door. She had been in the middle of a new painting at the time, another moonlight scene. She took the bunch of flowers with that feeling of happiness that comes with knowing someone was thinking about you. They were beautiful, orange and pink roses, a pleasant clash, or at least Evelyn thought so. Evelyn was filled with a sudden sadness when she read the accompanying card, they were from Sands. The thought that he would never see how beautiful these flowers were made Evelyn's heart ache, she sighed deeply. After arranging the bouquet in an empty paintbrush jar, which was the closest thing she had to a vase, she admired them for a little while. Sands had only written his name, he had not included a message, but Evelyn knew what he wanted to say; he was sorry. He needn't have been, Evelyn had seen his pain, she was the sorry one.

Sands heard her coming; she trod lightly and quickly with a purpose. Sands turned and for half a second he expected to see her, the darkness startled him and then he cursed under his breath.

"Hello to you too," said Evelyn who had heard Sands' muttered obscenity. Sands smiled and then instantly turned serious again.

"Listen," he said, "About yesterday..." Evelyn cut him off.

"I don't need another apology," she said, "And I don't need an explanation if you're not ready to give one. The only thing I need is to know that you don't mind me being here, I don't want to be part of the problem." Sands nodded appreciatively.

"You're not," he said.

"Good," said Evelyn, "So do you mind if I stay awhile?" She found she felt inexplicably shy. Sands looked faintly amused.

"It's your choice," he said. Evelyn took a seat and breathed in the fresh air that Sands had yet to pollute with smoke. Nino appeared beaming as usual but even as he said hello to Evelyn he noticed Sands seemed more tense than usual.

Sands didn't understand. His mind seemed to be clinging to his nightmares despite the fact he was well and truly awake now. He was having to make a real effort to contain the horrors that stalked through his brain but even his best effort couldn't stop his hands shaking as he lit his cigarette.

"Sands, are you alright?" Evelyn asked concerned.

"Mm," said Sands with a tight lipped smile, "Fine." Ha! If only she knew.

Evelyn was in the kitchen fetching herself a glass of water when Nino joined her. He hurried up to her seemingly intent on telling her something.

"Senorita," he said urgently, "Can you stay the night tonight?"

"Um..sure," said Evelyn, "If Sands doesn't mind. Is there something wrong?"

"I am afraid for senor," said Nino honestly, "Perhaps with you here the nightmares won't come."

"I didn't stop them before," pointed out Evelyn remembering Sands sat up in bed shaking like a leaf, mumbling incoherently while Nino hovered around him. And that scream, that terrible bone chilling scream.

"You don't understand senorita," said Nino struggling to convey what he wanted to in English, "Senor Sands is not well, he..."

"Don't worry Nino," said Evelyn putting her hand on the boy's shoulder, "I'll stay."

It was in the evening that Evelyn began to understand what Nino had meant by Sands not being well. Unconsciously Sands began to mutter things to himself, he did it so quietly it was impossible to hear the words but Evelyn could see he was speaking. Evelyn thought maybe if she read to him he would snap out of it to listen to her but he didn't. It was as if he was surrounded by ghosts that only he could see and they were tormenting him. Evelyn stopped reading when it became clear Sands was paying no attention to her at all. She leant forwards and touched Sands' foreheard. He froze and stopped muttering at once.

"It's alright Sands," said Evelyn, "I'm not going to hurt you."

"My name's Sheldon you know," said Sands in his normal voice.

"That's a nice name," said Evelyn removing her hand from his head.

"Don't patronise me," snapped Sands. He sounded ashamed and slightly bemused. Evelyn suspected his instinct was to flick back into defensive mode but she understood this now.

"I wasn't," she said calmly, "It is a nice name." Sands seemed torn between a biting remark and something kinder. He chose silence. Evelyn reached for his hand, it was ice cold. Sands let her take it without reaction. He was breathing rather fast and shivering like someone recovering from a bad bout of flu.

"Can I get you anything?" asked Evelyn. Sands shook his head.

"I don't usually go to pieces like this," he said. He needed to justify himself.

"I know," said Evelyn, "Nino told me."

"He's a good kid," said Sands leaning back in his chair.

Evelyn persuaded Sands to go to bed; he was exhausted and was asleep almost immediately. Evelyn left him and went to the spare room feeling oddly drained herself. She thought she wouldn't be able to sleep but that was the last thought she had before sleep wiped her mind mercifully clear.

Sands woke up screaming, his head on fire. He sat up and gulped fresh air. The voices faded and Sands remembered where he was. He was safe in his house, he wasn't in that room, with those people; he was safe.

Evelyn wasn't startled this time when she woke and saw him standing there in her doorway. He looked like he had been standing there for a while. He turned to her when she sat up. For a moment Evelyn and he were still, and the next second Sands had crossed the room. His cold fingers found her neck, her chin, her lips. She kissed his fingertips gently. He was suddenly very close to her, his fingertips resting on her lips right up until the moment he kissed her. When his lips found hers she thought she was going to moan aloud with pleasure. His kiss was intense, and there was a slight fierceness to it which Evelyn couldn't get enough of. She forgot he was blind, forgot he was unable to see her like she could see him; none of it seemed to matter any more. She knew then that she loved him, she might have even said it out loud between frenzied kisses, she couldn't remember. It was a long time before they stopped, Sands lay beside her. Evelyn was surprised to see him looking indescribably miserable. She felt a prickle of hurt stab at her.

"Was I that bad?" she asked in a crushed voice, "Maybe kissing's not..."

"Do you think that's why I'm unhappy?" Sands interrupted his eyebrows raised. He gave a short laugh.

"No," he said, "I'm not unhappy because of that. I'm unhappy because in a moment or two you will quite possibly, quite probably, quite understandably never want to see me again." Evelyn didn't understand and said so. Sands sat up slowly and leant his back against the wall.

"I should have told you before," he said dully, "I didn't want to face your reaction. But I can't put it off any longer."

"What are you talking about?" Evelyn asked feeling disconcerted. Sands turned to face her, Evelyn could just about make out her reflection reflected twice in his dark glasses. Sands raised his hand to his face and asked, "Have you ever wondered what lies behind the glasses?"

He removed them slowly. If Evelyn had ever thought she would be prepared for this moment she was gravely mistaken. She gasped and fell back in absolute shock, for where she had expected to see sightless eyes she saw two gaping black holes like those of an empty skull. Sands had no eyes at all.