FicWad

Sands sat in the chair by the window. He thought that the entire situation was pathetic. The worst part was, Lizzie had had to come in that morning and shave his face, showering was no big deal but getting dressed—now that was embarrassing. He had came to the conclusion that he had reached on The Day of the Dead; after smacking his head on the cement ledge—Being blind sucked.

He felt the sun on his face and leaked into the warmth. Feeling the warmth of the sun, if he ignored the sterile smells he could almost smells he could almost forget that he was in severe pain, sitting eyeless in a hospital, nervous, itching for a cigarette and waiting for his mother. In his mind he went back to happier times. Times when he felt as if he had the world by the balls and as if nothing could hurt him. He smiled.

He remembered the first time he left home (okay, maybe left was too strong of a word he had moved out). He was majoring in Criminal Psychology at the University. While there he had met a young man named Ricky. Ricky was everything he wasn't and they instantly bonded.

Ricky was the son of a rich man in Puerto Rico. He was smart, honest and handsome. Sheldon told him exactly what he had wanted to hear. For example, he told him that he was an orphan. He didn't want him to know that his parents were divorced and that he hadn't seen his father since he was 6. He didn't want him to know anything real.

But he had just been learning how to manipulate and he had miscalculated. He had been sloppy and that had gotten him caught. It all fell apart by a single phone call. He could remember it completely.

Ricky sat on his couch staring accusingly at him. "Sheldon, I thought you were an orphan."

Sands could tell right away that this was a trap and he had no way out. He had figured that telling more lies to try to cover the one he had already told would prove disastrous. So he decided to clear the air entirely. "Nope. I have a mother in Kentucky and a deadbeat father somewhere else. I don't have a sister and I've never been anywhere exciting."

Ricky was staring at him in disbelief. He was staring into what he once thought of as warm brown eyes and realized that they had turned icy. He used to look into Sheldon's eyes and feel warm. Now he looked into the brown depths and he felt alone. "Why would you lie to me?"

At that point Sheldon had stepped close to Ricky so that he was towering over him. "It's fun ad you were an experiment. I wanted to see how much bullshit one human being would accept. The answer is: a lot."

As Ricky stared at him his hurt and confusion showing in his eyes, Sands had laughed. In the end Sheldon's cruel nature had destroyed whatever future they might have had.

Lizzie's voice penetrated his thoughts. "Sands? You have a visitor."

"Let her in." He knew that it had to be his mother. After all, he never got visitors and the only person that he was expecting was Marie-Anne Sands. Just as Lizzie turned to leave Sands grabbed her arm. "Did you tell her anything?"

Lizzie read the panic etched on his face. "No." For some strange reason; he felt it important that he tell his mother. She thought that this was odd. If it was her in the same situation she'd be more than happy to let someone else explain things but this was Sands they were talking about; Mr. Independent.

Once released Lizzie walked into the waiting room. "Mrs. Sands?"

The woman with the dark hair and chocolate brown eyes looked up. Lizzie guessed that Sheldon's eyes had probably been that colour. When she asked what colour his eyes had been and all he had said was brown.

"Your son will see you now."

When they walked into the room she noticed that Sheldon had moved to the bed. Marie-Anne had guessed that something wasn't right; it wasn't overly bright in the room and yet her son was wearing sunglasses.

"Sheldon?"

He turned his head towards her voice. He could smell her perfume; it was the same one she had worn since he was little. "Hi Mom. I'm glad that you could make it. Lizzie, leave."

"Sheldon! I taught you better manners than that."

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "It's okay Mrs. Sands. I'm Sheldon's personal nurse, I'm used to his attitude."

Sheldon turned sharply towards her voice. His voice holding the edge of a warning. "You need to leave now."

"Okay." She left the two of them alone in the room.

After the door closed Marie-Anne stared in disbelief at her son. He had an acid tongue, he always did but the way he talked to that woman, nurse or not was inexcusable. "Shel. Why did you talk to her like that?"

"Never mind that. Mom," he ran a hand through his hair, careful not to knock the sunglasses. "We can discuss that later. Right now I need a favour."

She sighed. "I knew it. You got yourself into trouble and you need me to get you out. Is that it?"

He shook his head. "Not exactly. I need a place to stay for a bit. I've been forced into an early retirement by the CIA. So until all the paper work clears I need a place to crash. Before you say yes I have something you need to know."

She shook her head. She knew her son could be dramatic but this was ridiculous. "Sheldon. I'm your mother."

Sheldon shook his head. "Mom please. Just don't scream." Slowly he took his sunglasses off. It was the first time he'd done it without wanting it for shock value.

She put her hand over her mouth. His eyes were gone. In their place were dark, empty sockets. The edges were red, puffy and swollen looking. "What happened?"

Sands sighed. "I can't tell you. Not here, the walls have ears."

"I understand. As soon as they okay you to leave you're coming home with me. Then we're going to have a very long talk." To her relief he put his sunglasses back on. She couldn't imagine what he could have been through for that to happen. She felt disgusted with herself. This was her son. Her only child and she had cringed when he faced her.

He made sure the sunglasses were straight. "Mom, I really hate to do this but I'm tired and my head hurts. What I need right now is sleep."

She out her hand on top of his and she was saddened when he jumped and tried to pull away. She let go of his hand. "Alright Shel. I'll be back later."

He was grateful that she was leaving and that she hadn't tried to push the issue. He knew that once he was living with her than he would have to bare his soul. He settled into the softness of his pillows. He took a deep breath.

He was released three days later.