They awoke from their nap still wrapped in each others arms, having moved to the bed. She looked over at his still naked body and sighed, snuggling closer to him.
"Stitches still intact," he remarked. "That Dr. Vega was good." A smile spread across his lips.
"Yes, apparently," she said sleepily. "We should get up. I need to change your dressings."
She reluctantly got out of the bed, got dressed, and went to the bathroom to get some more gauze and antibiotic cream. She came back with that and gave him his pills slipping them into his hand to take with some water. He sat up and she began to dress his wounds again carefully. She finished his legs and arm and moved to his eyes.
He frowned. I'd rather you didn't touch those," he said.
"I have to. They'll get infected."
He sighed and allowed her to remove the old gauze pads and replace them. She tried not to feel sick to her stomach as she looked into the gaping holes that were left there. She covered them again with fresh gauze. It didn't matter to her. He was still beautiful, she thought. It was just so sad that this had happened to him. She couldn't help but feel that he had been marred this way by that demon woman simply because he was beautiful and in some sick way she was marking him. She hoped Ajedrez was burning in hell for doing this to him.
"We need to see an eye doctor, right away," she said.
"We can't, not now," he replied.
"Dr. Vega said we had to do it right away," she insisted.
"No, we can't go out and expose ourselves right now. We are being followed, remember?"
"I know, but, it's important…your sight…"
"No! Listen, it's already been more than a day, since it happened. It won't matter now how much longer I wait. If it can be fixed, they'll just have to wait to do it."
Sands, I just want you to…."
He cut her off. "What…be normal again? What?"
"No, I just want you to have the best chance possible to restore your sight. I would feel awful if we could have done it and we didn't do it in time. You would never see again and you could have."
"That's a risk I'll have to take," he said.
"Why are you being so stubborn!"
"Why do you care so much?" he said angrily. "It's my eyes!"
"Because I love you," she blurted out. "And I care about what happens to you and how you're going to spend the rest of your life."
He fell silent as he took in what she had just said.
"You shouldn't love me. I'm not good for you."
"It doesn't matter whether you are or you aren't. I love you anyway."
It grew silent again, then he said after a moment, "Don't. It's a mistake. I can't love you back."
She felt the pain of his words. He didn't love her back. She had hoped that he did deep down somewhere in there, but he didn't. Tears stung her eyes as she sobbed silently not wanting him to hear. She moved away from him and sat in a chair near the window and cracked the curtains open so she could look out. She noticed some men looking at their hotwired car. It was the same two men that had forced her car off the road the day before.
"Oh, no!" she exclaimed. "They found us."
She jumped up and ran over to Sands. "We have to leave, they're here in the parking lot."
"Who's here?" he asked.
"The men who ran me off the road."
She grabbed his clothes and began franticly helping him put them on. She shoved his sunglasses on and grabbed his guns and helped him put those on. She took the gun he gave her for herself and was starting to strap that on, when they heard a sharp kick to the door. It didn't give in the first time, allowing her and Sands time to drop down on the far side of the bed before it came crashing in. Samantha could see their feet from under the bed.
"Where are they and how many?" Sands whispered to her.
"Two, both still in the doorway," she replied.
Suddenly Sands jumped up from behind the bed as he pulled two guns out and started firing at the doorway.
Samantha heard return fire and then two thumps as the men's bodies hit the ground. She looked up at Sands, standing over her, feet splayed apart, guns drawn and smoking. There were bullet holes in the wall behind and beside him.
"Were you hit?" she asked franticly.
"No, they missed," he said as he reholstered his guns. "Well, that should buy us some time. Go check their pockets and find out who they were."
Samantha got up and went over to the bodies. Searching through their pockets and wallets she found CIA ID. She was shocked. Sands had thought it was CIA, but she didn't. Why would the CIA be after them? They worked for the CIA. This made no sense.
She said quietly to Sands, "CIA."
He nodded. "Well, now we know what we are up against and it's not pretty. Are you sure you don't want to get out now? This may not end pleasantly for us."
"No! I won't leave you alone. Besides I'm already in this. If they want you dead, they want me dead, too."
"I don't know Sugarbutt. I suggest you turn yourself in. If you leave now, you won't know enough really to help them. They'll interrogate you and I'll be long gone. You might retain your job, and at the very least, your life. "
"I said, No! I'm not leaving you."
"Not a good choice. I'd leave you, Sugarbutt, remember that."
"You keep saying things like that but I don't believe you. You aren't as heartless as you pretend to be."
"Yes, I am, don't kid yourself."
