Cut and Run 4 - Divide and Conquer

preamble.
    “‟Til we know it‟s safe.”

    AFTER bumping into something hard for about the fifth time, Zane
    sighed and tried to visualize the first level of Ty‟s house again. It
    wasn‟t that complex a layout, being a long, narrow shape, but Zane
    would have to “learn” his way around, counting steps like he had at his
    own apartment. And that was frustrating.
    He heard something thump upstairs and relaxed. Ty was up there
    instead of watching Zane embarrass himself. At least there was that.
    Zane reached out to touch what was in front of him. It was an end
    table that stood by the arm of the couch against the wall of the narrow
    living room. He took a moment to orient himself, and then he turned
    left and took three steps, which—in theory—should put him close to
    the overstuffed chair he sat in a lot of the time while over here. When
    he reached out, his fingers jabbed into the soft fabric, and he cursed
    under his breath. He was closer than he‟d expected. He made an
    adjustment to the mental map, but before he could strike out in another
    direction, he thought he heard something odd too close to him, and he
    stayed in place, trying to identify the noise.
    It was silent for a few heartbeats. Then a hand touched his elbow.
    Zane flinched and inhaled sharply even though a split second later
    he knew it could only be Ty. A soft whiff of Old Spice confirmed it.
    “Sorry!” Ty said quickly as he snatched his hand away. “Didn‟t
    mean to scare you,” he mumbled as the hand returned to Zane‟s elbow.
    “Weren‟t you upstairs like… thirty seconds ago?” Zane asked in
    surprise.
    172 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

    “Yeah, I was putting on socks,” Ty answered with an almost
    audible shrug. “Feet are cold. Why, did you need something?”
    “No. I just didn‟t hear you come down.” Zane shook his head and
    crossed his arms, and he caught himself blinking against the utter
    darkness. His eyes were dry and scratchy, and he reached up to rub at
    one. The nurse had said it was because the eye could not perceive light
    to force dilation, so his eyes wouldn‟t produce protective tears as they
    normally would.
    Ty‟s hand caught his, pulling it away from his face. He felt Ty
    move closer, and the callused hand at his cheek moved to cup his face.
    “Don‟t do that,” Ty chided gently. “You want some more eyedrops?”
    Zane nodded, resisting the urge to apologize like he had the first
    twenty times. “Yeah. They‟re in that bag from the hospital,” he said,
    resignation swamping him again.
    Ty was silent as he moved away. Zane had to wonder whether it
    was because he didn‟t know what to say to him now that he was blind.
    It was possible that Ty had always been relatively quiet the majority of
    the time and Zane had never noticed it because of the spurts of rampant
    activity and rambling. He told himself that was just one more thing he
    was going to pay attention to if he ever got his sight back. There was so
    much he realized now that he‟d taken for granted.
    A few moments later, Zane heard the bag rustling, and then Ty
    pressed the eyedrops into his hand.
    “Need anything else?”
    Zane felt the childish desire for a kiss and hug, but that was a
    little much, even for him. He was already becoming a huge drain of
    Ty‟s time and patience. “No, thank you,” he murmured. “I‟m just going
    to bum around down here if you have something to do.”
    Ty made a frustrated noise. “You know what, sitting around here
    being miserable isn‟t going to do you any good,” he said abruptly. He
    took Zane‟s hand and gave him a small tug, guiding him over to the
    couch and unceremoniously shoving him onto it. “Sit here. I‟ll be right
    back.”
    Divide & Conquer | 173

    “What—” Zane cut himself off as he bounced on the cushions.
    There was no point in questioning Ty. It was a little refreshing,
    actually, to be called on his moping. Zane put some drops in his eyes,
    then leaned back into the corner of the couch and waited, brooding. He
    knew he was in a shitty mood, but he also was inclined to think he was
    justified.
    From somewhere in front of him there was a click, followed by
    soft music wafting from what Zane recognized as Ty‟s Bose iPod dock.
    It had been a gift from Deuce, something Ty rarely used, and it sat on
    one of the shelves along the brick wall of the living room.
    Ty‟s taste in music was eclectic, to say the least. He would blast
    classic rock and heavy metal