Disclaimer: I lay claim only to my family, cat, house and car.

A special thanks to Ken who pointed out my HUGE mistake with the direction I was taking this story. I have to say, once it was pointed out I felt pretty stupid. I navigate my own house and get dressed in the dark all the time so I shouldn't have painted Heero in such a helpless manner. So I had to do a bit of a rewrite and that's why it's taken me longer to post the latest chapter. Although I will say this: I tried eating blind and it is not easy.

I really do appreciate all the reviews and comments. Yu guys are awesome! And I've gotta say, I had no idea that Heero putting his shirt on backwards was going to be such a hot topic. I love it! So I guess you should read on to see what happens, right?

Blind

Chapter 5

Wufei placed the two plates on the table and sat down with a sigh. He knew what was coming. The whole time he had been preparing breakfast, Heero sat at the kitchen table and only spoke when questioned. And even then they were very Spartan answers. Wufei knew they were both thinking the same thing while the smell of eggs and bacon and toast filled the small room: How was Heero going to eat?

"How would you like to do this?"

"With my own eyesight."

Wufei rolled his eyes and pushed his chair back, getting up to stand behind Heero. He reached out with his right arm and guided Heero's hand to the fork. Once the utensil was within Heero's firm grasp, Wufei guided his hand towards the plate, touching each type of food and identifying it.

"Would you like me to guide you a few times so you can get your bearings?"

"Let go."

Wufei returned to his seat and began to eat, trying not to pay too much attention to the fumbling actions of the man sitting next to him. He really did understand Heero's need to do as many things for himself as possible. But at some point the prideful man was going to have to realize he needed-----

"Help."

Wufei looked over to see pieces of scrambled eggs littering the table around Heero's plate. No doubt the floor and his lap look the same. Oh well, at least he's asking for help before it gets any worse.

"Where's the juice?"

Wufei visibly cringed at the thought of the blind man reaching out and trying to drink on his own. But he's not a child. I have to let him try, right?

"One o'clock."

Wufei's entire body was tightly wound like a coil ready to spring into action the moment it looked like the juice would go the way of the scrambled eggs. But slowly and hesitantly Heero's hand found the glass and brought it up to his lips for a drink. Maybe I'm not giving him enough credit. This is Heero we're talking about. Wufei slowly exhaled and went back to eating his meal with a newly gained sense of hope that things would go better than he thought.

Suddenly the sound of glass hitting wood and liquid sloshing jerked Wufei's head up.

"Shit."

"Stay. I've got it."

Wufei quickly stood up and grabbed the kitchen towel, mopping up the juice from the table before worrying about the floor. As he grabbed some paper towels to finish cleaning up the juice Wufei berated himself for not paying better attention.

"Sorry."

"Not your fault. I should have been paying better attention."

"You're not my babysitter."

Wufei ground his teeth and stood from cleaning the floor, slamming his fist on the table.

Yes, Heero, I am."

Wufei saw Heero's body go completely rigid and his cheeks flamed up with embarrassment and Wufei instantly felt guilty. He sighed heavily and hung his head, unsure of what to say. When neither offered any words to diffuse the tense situation, Wufei went back to cleaning the floor and the pair continued their breakfast in complete silence while thinking the same thing: I can't do this.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After a mentally exhausting morning Wufei and Heero sat down in the living room to recover. Wufei turned the TV on more for background noise than anything. Neither man was really one for watching TV so he found the news station and sat back in the cushiony chair.

"When is the first dose of medicine?"

"I thought we would do that tonight."

"You already have the schedule memorized, don't you?"

"Enough."

"And you have it printed and posted somewhere, don't you?"

"The kitchen."

Wufei smiled and was glad to see that Heero's mouth wasn't turned downward anymore. He may not be smiling, but he's certainly not frowning anymore. This was his and Heero's relationship. They knew each other and their habits very well because beneath it all, they were the same. They lived for order and routine. But after that morning's rather disastrous start Wufei was worried that their similar personalities would make this more of an ordeal than he had anticipated. We just have to work out a system. Once we have a system, things will run smoothly.

"Heero…..I'm sorry…..for this morning. I didn't mean to yell at you. I just….."

"I'm not exactly innocent either. Let's just forget about it."

"No. You asked for my help but…..I don't know what to do."

"Just…..be you."

Wufei regarded Heero's words for a few moments as he blatantly stared at his friend who was just sitting on the sofa, looking like a lifeless doll, hands just falling to his sides, lying on the cushion, palms up, fingers curling up slightly. Be me? What the hell does that mean?

Heero could sense Wufei's eyes on him and he felt his cheeks getting warm under the perceived scrutiny. In all the years we've known each other, not once have I ever felt nervous around him. But now…..being so weak in front of him…..but isn't that why I asked for him? Because I trusted him to understand?

"Having you treat me as normally as possible….that's what will make this bearable."

Wufei swallowed hard at Heero's words. Not because they shocked him, but because he knew without a doubt that somehow Heero knew he was staring and knew what he was thinking. Are we that much alike that he can read my thoughts, even when blind?

Wufei saw Heero move his head around as if working kinks out of his neck and then he brought his hand up and pulled on his collar. Oh yeah. I guess I should tell him.

"Heero."

"Hm?"

"Your shirt. It's----"

Suddenly Wufei's attention was captured by the TV as words started registering in his brain. He reached for the remote, turning the TV up to catch the news story.

"……according to official reports, the explosion of the fireworks warehouse in Lacao last week was not an accident as previously reported. It was a raid by the Preventers Organization in an attempt to shutdown a drug trafficking operation. Sources from the organization call it a success even though several injuries were reported from nearby civilians. We have obtained exclusive footage from an astronomer who was taking pictures of the night sky when the explosion occurred."

Wufei watched as a dark picture with just a few specs of light suddenly lit up with an orange fireball.

"Heero…..by the gods…."

Heero clenched his fists having a good idea of what Wufei was seeing on the TV.

Wufei turned back to Heero and he suddenly felt a spike of panic in his chest. He survived that. Even though he saw his friend sitting across from him, and even though he knew that blind or not, Heero would be fine, he couldn't quite banish the sharp feeling in his chest. He's safe. He's home, and yet…I still feel this fear…what if he had been killed? What if….I'd lost him?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

For the most part, the day had been quiet with the exception of a momentary difference of opinion as to whether or not Heero should eat lunch. Eventually they reached a compromise and Heero ate an apple. After that it was an uneventful day of reading as Heero listened to the TV and took a nap.

But the sun was just starting to set and soon it would be dinner time so Wufei decided it was time to give Heero his first dose of medication.

"Ok. I think the easiest way to do this would be for you to sit on the sofa and lean your head completely back."

"I think I can manage to get some drops in my eyes."

"This has to be precise, Heero. The eye drops could irritate the raw skin around your eyes. Now do as I say. Please."

Heero remained unmoving, standing on his balcony and staring out into blackness and Wufei thought he was going to have a fight on his hands. But Heero did eventually turn and slowly and cautiously walk towards the sofa from the balcony, almost toppling a lamp as he hit the side table with his knee before reaching his destination. Wufei already had the clean bandages sitting on the table next to the sofa and so he stood behind the sofa and watched Heero do as he instructed while clenching his jaw shut and clasping his hands together in tight fists to keep from reaching out and grabbing hold of Heero and leading him around.

Wufei carefully removed the bandages and let them fall to the floor as he gazed down at Heero's face for the first time. His eyes were still closed, but most of his face, even the skin on his eyelids, was various shades of red from burns he received in the explosion.

"I need you to open your eyes, Heero."

Heero swallowed hard, ready to open his eyes to more darkness. He was surprised at the fact that he had to concentrate to open his eyes. He winced at the pain as his burned eyelids protested at being folded under his brow as he opened his eyes. Since the blackness never faltered, he wasn't convinced he'd succeeded, but when he heard the quiet gasp, he was certain of his accomplishment.

"Tell me."

Wufei started as Heero's eyes suddenly opened and he was faced with dead blue eyes. These were not the vibrant cerulean eyes of Heero Yuy. These were the eyes of dead fish.

"Tell me, Wufei."

"Y-your skin….most of it is red from the burns. But they appear to be healing nicely."

"I know this. Tell me about my eyes."

"They…..they're….." Wufei took a deep breath and spoke honestly to his friend in a quiet, almost apologetic voice. "They look dead to me."

Wufei saw Heero's body stiffen and his hands clenched tightly into fists on his thighs.

"Thank you."

Wufei nodded, not thinking that Heero couldn't see the gesture, and then prepared to administer the eye drops.

"I'm going to put a drop in your right eye."

With controlled precision Wufei slowly squeezed out one drop to coat Heero's eye. He was awed at Heero's self control over his impulse to blink. Unless…

"Did you feel that?"

"Yes."

Relief washed over Wufei and he readied himself to do the left eye.

"Good. Now I'm going to do the other eye."

Once Wufei had dispensed the medicine into Heero's eyes, he retrieved the clean bandages and began to wrap Heero's eyes again. The whole process took about ten minutes and when Wufei returned from putting away the medicine and marking his schedule, he found that Heero remained unmoved.

"I thought I'd start dinner soon. Would you like fish or chicken?"

"Just leave me alone."

Wufei was about to argue, but gave in to Heero's request, going back into the kitchen to begin preparing dinner. Heero stayed in that position until it was time for dinner, Wufei's words ringing through his mind, becoming a mantra of impending doom.

They look dead…..

They look dead….

They look dead……

To be continued…..