A short time later there was a sharp rap at the door. She looked out the peephole and saw a rather short Mexican lady outside. She wondered if it was a maid or hotel employee. Leaving the chain on the door she cracked it open. The woman said something in Spanish that Samantha didn't understand.
"No Espanol," Samantha said hoping the person spoke English.
"You're American?" Came the short reply in perfect English.
"Yes," Samantha said.
"I'm Dr. Rosa Vega. You requested a doctor didn't you?" she said, her eyebrows raised.
"Oh, yes, yes, please come in," Samantha said unchaining the door and opening it to her.
"I won't ask any difficult questions of you and I won't report anything to the police. I'm just here to help you. What medical help do you need?" the doctor asked opening her small medical bag and putting her stethoscope around her neck. She looked at Samantha pointedly waiting for her reply.
"Well, my…friend…over there, has some…wounds that need fixing."
Dr. Vega walked over to Sands. "May I examine him?" She asked.
"Yes, of course," Samantha replied.
Dr. Vega pulled the covers off of Sands. Sands shuddered from the sudden cold and woke briefly. He uttered some curses under his breath.
Dr. Vega did a quick examination of his arm and leg wounds. "Bullet wounds," she remarked. "No exit. The bullets will have to be removed."
She looked at his sunglasses and the blood pooled underneath. "What happened to his eyes?" She asked Samantha.
"I don't know. I haven't looked," she said honestly.
The doctor reached up to take Sands sunglasses off his face but Sands grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"No! Don't touch them!" he hissed at her.
"OK, we'll leave them for now, but we will have to look at your eyes sometime," she said.
"I have no eyes," he replied bluntly. "There's nothing to look at."
Samantha looked at him in disbelief. He has no eyes, she thought to herself? How could he have no eyes? What could have happened to him? Fear and sorrow gripped her as she thought of the implications of what he had just said.
"There are injuries. That is obvious, Mr….?" Dr Vega replied.
"Sands," he said.
"Mr. Sands, we need to prevent infection. We will have to examine them. For now, I will get to work on these bullet wounds. I am going to give you a shot of some pain medication. It will make you sleepy. It might even put you to sleep while I work on them."
She did a quick heartbeat and blood pressure check to make sure his heart was beating strongly before administering the pain medication. She waited a few minutes for it to take effect. Sands appeared to have fallen back unconscious.
She turned to Samantha. "His heartbeat is strong. He seems to be in relatively good shape considering the circumstances. He may have lost a lot of blood and there may be infection setting in. When I am done I will prescribe some pain medication and antibiotics to give to him. I will remove the bullets and stitch up the wounds. When I'm done with that I will inspect his eyes and see what damage was done there and decide what needs to happen. OK?"
Samantha just nodded her head. She was still reeling from Sands saying that he had no eyes. No eyes? His beautiful brown eyes were gone? Could that be possible? She was hoping he was mistaken and something could be done to save his eyes.
The doctor quickly got to work with Samantha's help getting water and towels. Dr. Vega seemed sufficient enough at her job. Samantha was impressed with her quick work.
"Why do you do this?" she asked the doctor. "Why aren't you working in a hospital or something?"
"I like to help people and I could work at the hospital but the hours are long and I have children who need their mother. This way I can still help those people who need help. I don't care how a person gets hurt. If they need medical attention, that's what I do. It's not my job to judge."
"Oh, I see. Well I for one am thankful to you," she replied.
Dr. Vega smiled at her and finished stitching up the last bullet wound. When she was done wrapping the wounds in gauze, she reached up for Sands sunglasses again and removed them.
Samantha gasped as she saw that there was truly nothing left of Sands beautiful brown eyes. Two bloody gaping holes were all that were left in their place. She gagged and turned her face away trying not to sob. Her breath caught in her throat.
Dr. Vega paused, obviously also taken aback and whistled slightly through her teeth.
"Who would do something like this to you?" She said quietly.
"A doctor," Sands replied, startling the women who thought he was still asleep. "One of your kind," he spat. "And, you'd better do a good job fixing me up because if you screw me up in any way I will hunt you down and kill you, savvy?"
"Yes, Mr. Sands. I understand," she said, pity in her voice, as she began to clean and disinfect his eye wounds.
"And cut the pity crap! I don't need it," he retorted.
She finished her work in silence.
"Well, there isn't much left of your eyes," she said frankly, when she had finished covering his eyeholes with gauze patches. "I'm not an eye doctor and I recommend that you see one right away to see if they can repair and possibly restore your sight. Time is of the essence. There may still be nerves that can be saved if you hurry, but I don't know."
She turned to Samantha. "Make him see an eye doctor. It really is important that he go immediately. Change the gauze every day. Keep his wounds covered when he bathes. Give him these prescriptions as prescribed," she said writing out two prescriptions. "If you need anything, my number is on the prescription," she got up to leave.
Samantha paid her and she left wishing them luck. She closed the door and turned to Sands. She didn't know what to say.
"I'll…go…get these prescriptions filled," she said quietly.
"It really is that hideous isn't it?" he asked her flatly.
"Um, no…I mean…I'm sure it can be fixed…somehow." She replied.
"Cut the crap, Sam. They left me a hideous monster. I'm blind. I can't see a thing. Why are you even still here? Why haven't you run away in horror? Or, maybe that's what you're doing now, eh? Are you even going to come back?
"Yes," she snapped. "I would never leave you like this. I'm going to help you. Do you really think so little of yourself that nobody would want to help you?"
"What's in it for you? I'm certainly no prize," he spat out at her.
"Why does there have to be something in it for me? I'm sure if I were the one hurt you'd help me," she replied.
"No, I wouldn't. You'd be on your own," he said flatly.
"You'd just leave me to die? You wouldn't. You couldn't. That would be heartless," she said the shock evident in her voice.
"Yes, I would," he said quietly.
"Well, then I guess it's a good thing I'm not you!" she snapped anger filling her voice. "Now, I'm going to get these prescriptions filled and I WILL be back."
She left slamming the door behind her. The nerve of that guy. He would really just leave me to die? What kind of person is he anyway? She thought to herself as she made her way to the nearest pharmacy.
