The Ties that Blind

It all happened so quickly. Tyson lifted his mask to check on the weld and the shock of the exploding acetylene tank threw him backwards in a searing flash of light and heat. Instantly concussed he would later be thankful workmates were quick on the scene, dousing the flames, removing his smouldering clothing. The paramedics at the time were amazed he'd survived with relatively little injury, treating the burn to his forehead and cheeks. That he was wearing the full safety gear, gloves included, undoubtedly saved his life.

At the hospital an hour later however the news the doctor provided wasn't so glowing and to a bandaged Tyson and his boss, quite sobering.

"O.k Tyson it's like this," the doctor explained. "The burns on your face were superficial, the concussion minor but at this point we're just not sure if the damage to your eyes will repair."

The doctor continued. "You've severely burnt the cornea. The loss of vision I would equate to directly looking at the sun for an extended period of time."

Tyson threw his head back on the pillow in an exaggerated display of despair. The morphine was affecting his reasoning and he joked with his employer. "Well Bert. Looks like I get tomorrow off! Woohoo. Long weekend for me."

Bert touched his employee on the arm out of sympathy. "Buddy you just focus on getting better. Don't even think about work right now."

A commotion could be heard from outside the room. "Where is he? This one?"

"Uh oh!" Tyson observed. "Here she comes."

The woman entered the room like a hurricane. She held her hand to her mouth when she saw her son on the bed, the bandages wrapping his eyes and forehead. "Oh my baby. What have they done to you?" She ran across the room and threw her arms around the prone man.

Bert took a step back from the bedside to give the woman room. Although under the stressful conditions he couldn't help taking a moment to admire his employees' mother. Looking like she'd come straight from the gym (although women seemed to wear their gym clothes everywhere nowadays he noted) with ridiculously tight 3/4 yoga pants and a matching tank, he half wished he was the one injured on the gurney and receiving her breasts against his chest.

"Mom, relax I'm fine." Tyson tried to assuage her.

"No you're not. Look at you!" She bluntly stated.

The doctor held out his hand to the middle aged woman. "I take it you're the mother?"

Releasing her embrace but keeping a hand on her son, she accepted the doctors welcome. "Darlene Grace, yes I'm his mother. What happened?" She looked at Bert with a scowl. "Your secretary only told me there'd been an accident."

Before Bert could offer an explanation, the doctor continued. "I'm Doctor Wesley Fuller; I was in emergency when your son arrived. As I was just explaining to him, he's received damage to the cornea of both eyes. Now he had limited to no vision when we first examined him and this hasn't changed."

Darlene raised a hand to her mouth. "Oh my god!"

"Now I understand that sounds bad but be aware the body has a way of repairing damage of its own accord. I expect to see his vision return. If it doesn't, there can also be options."

"Options?" Darlene asked.

Dr. Fuller nodded. "I'm aware there are amazing advancements with laser surgery, even corneal transplants." He noticed her looking even more shocked at this news and quickly moved to re-assure her. "But these are down the road; it may not even come to that."

"Cool I'll have lasers shooting out of my eyes. No I want those X-ray eyes like in the movies!" Tyson cheered.

There was silence in the room as they all took in Tyson's comment. "He's had a lot of morphine!" The doctor quipped. "Mrs. Grace..."

"It's Ms. I'm not married!" Darlene quickly threw in and then felt foolish.

Wesley Fuller smiled. "Ms. Grace. What Tyson needs right now is rest. As I've said we expect his sight will return." He touched Tyson on the leg. "Just stay out of the sun for a few days, avoid flashing lights and no more explosions!"

"And the bandages?" Darlene inquired.

"They can be removed when you like. They're to keep his eyes closed; an eye mask will be suffice. The nurse will give you a cream for the burns, they're superficial, more like a sunburn. Ms. Grace, he's really a lucky young man. It could've been a lot worse." He touched the middle aged woman on the upper arm in a gesture of reassurance. "Now if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to call," he smiled. "O.k. I'll leave you to it."

Excusing himself, the doctor left Bert and Darlene alone with Tyson.

"Ah, obviously the company will be paying all of the medical Darlene. It's the least we can do under the circumstances." Bert offered.

Darlene Grace had relaxed somewhat with the encouraging news from the doctor. "Thank you Bert, I'm sorry if I was a little abrupt when I arrived."

"No that's fine." He had the opportunity now to appreciate the woman from the front and wasn't disappointed. Her nipples pronounced, a strip of tanned skin at the midriff and a wonderful bulge of pussy. This he was careful to not be caught staring at but his cock was responding favorably. "I'd be the same if it was my boy!"

"So can I get out of here now or what?" Tyson asked.

Darlene looked to Bert for help. "You know what, I'll leave you two alone and I'll go find out." Bert responded and went to seek some assistance.

Darlene lifted her son's hand and kissed his knuckles. "Don't you ever scare me like this again, you hear."

"Hey I didn't mean it to happen. Although it was worth it for these drugs. Trust me those doctors don't know what they're talking about. My vision's fine. I can see a unicorn and all these little fairies. Oh look, there's a rabbit!"

"Ooh Kaay! I think we'll be following the doctor's advice though honey, you just have to rest. I'll make sure of it." Darlene assured him.

Bert returned with a nurse and medication. He could be released straight away and Darlene was given instructions as to the application of eye drops and lotion for the burns. While awaiting an orderly Bert took care of any payments and met up with them as Tyson was being pushed to the exit on a wheelchair. "I really don't need to be in this thing. I'm telling you, I can fly." Tyson proclaimed. He looked around blindly, feebly flapping his arms. "Mom, tell them."

The orderly looked at Darlene. "Drugs?"

"Ooh yeah!" She smiled.

At the car Darlene waited for a women wearing a satin robe with bound wrists to be loaded into the passenger seat in the car beside hers by a younger man, probably her son she thought. When they'd departed Bert helped Tyson into the car and again assured Darlene of any assistance she needed, financially or otherwise.

"You just get some rest Buddy, you hear," Bert told him, patting his employee on the shoulder. "And do what your mother tells you."

* * * * *

At twenty three, Tyson had been searching for a place of his own. Most of his friends were renting but he considered it throwing away money. Why pay for someone else's mortgage when I can pay my own, he reasoned. Therefore since obtaining a full time job he'd been living at home with his mother until he saved enough for a deposit and repayments. Darlene was now thankful he hadn't already found something. She could look after him herself for however long it took while still continuing her work from home gift basket business.

By 3pm that afternoon the drugs were starting to wear off and although Tyson assured her he wasn't in physical pain, the emotional pain had started.

"What if I don't ever see again Mom?" Tyson asked.

Darlene had made him comfortable, helping him into a t-shirt and track pants and setting him up in the darkened living room. "Well we can't think like that yet. The doctor said they have high hopes you'll recover. We just have to take it slow." She looked him over and couldn't help but feel sympathy. His shoulders slumped and his head in bandages, she herself had thought the same thing. I just have to be positive for him, she told herself.

"Did Bert give you my phone?" He asked as she made her way back to the kitchen.

"Oh yeah." Darlene opened her handbag and removed his phone and wallet. She walked back into the living room and sat down on the arm chair beside her son. About to hand him his phone she realized there wasn't much he could do with it without his sight. "Do you want me to unlock this for you?"

"Yeah if you could, just to check for messages." He paused and Darlene waited for him to give the code. Tyson was stalling. He was attempting to recall if he had anything that wouldn't be fit for his mother to see on his phone and it didn't look good. That very morning he'd been watching porn. Had he closed the screen? What if she opened the media folder? There he knew for certain were countless pictures of naked women. Fuck, he thought. Even his wallpaper was porn.

"Tyson? What's the p.i.n?" She asked.

"Um actually Mom, it's not important right now. I'll worry about all that later. As you said, I should be resting." He reached out, his palm upwards to take the phone from her and misjudged her distance from him. In his mind's eye he held his hand between them. In reality he perfectly cupped her right breast.

"Ooh!" Darlene recoiled instantly as Tyson himself realized what he'd felt and withdrew his hand.

"Oh shit sorry Mom." He blurted out embarrassed. "I didn't know."

Darlene smiled at the comedy of the situation. "Honey it's no big deal." She reached out for his hand and placed the phone securely in his grip. "I think there's voice recognition stuff on them isn't there? When you're ready we'll try and set it up if you want."

"Yeah, um that'd be good." As he listened to her move back into the kitchen he could still smell her perfume next to him. Are my other senses developing? He joked with himself. Am I becoming Daredevil? He laughed and his mother yelled back asking if he'd said anything. "No Mom, it's all good." He lay back on the couch and as he fell asleep he thought of the feeling of his mother's soft breast, heavy in his hand. And it was a pleasant thought.

* * * * *

"Honey...Honey; it's time to put the drops in." Darlene held her hand to his bicep as she rocked him awake.

Tyson went to open his eyes and unable to do so immediately remembered the situation. "Oh shit. I was dreaming I was in Walmart and I was nak..." He stopped before he discussed his naked Walmart sex dream with his mother. "Oh it doesn't matter. What time is it?"

"9:30pm. You fell asleep straight away, it's probably the drugs. I didn't want to wake you but it's time to do the eye drops."

"Oh O.k. Yeah. Is there dinner? I'm starving." He stated, rubbing his stomach

"Uh huh. I can reheat some quiche but first the eye drops O.k."

The removal of the bandages at the kitchen table wasn't as dramatic as Darlene had imagined. The burns to his forehead looked not much worse than a severe sunburn. Darlene herself couldn't notice any difference in his eyes either. "Are you faking mister?" She laughed and flicked her hand quickly towards his face. When he didn't flinch she immediately regretted her action.

His face said it all as he looked through her with unseeing eyes. Eyes that began to well with tears. "Mom. I can't see!"

Darlene's heart broke to see her son in such emotional pain. Dropping the bandage she needed to embrace him, to tell him it would be O.k.

Without a second thought she climbed onto her sons lap on the dining chair, her arms wrapping his torso. "It'll be alright baby," she whispered into his ear, her cheek against his. "We'll get through this."

The reassuring words were comfort. Tyson stared straight ahead into complete darkness, no, not complete he noticed. There were pinpricks of light. Faint stars, blinking as if billions of miles distant. Where there's light, there's hope, he reasoned. Something else he noticed. His mother's body.

Her climbing upon him hadn't factored against the weight of his blindness but now he felt another weight. That of her bottom pressing to his groin. He'd placed his hands on her legs as she mounted the chair and only now did he perceive just where they were positioned. He could feel the silky spandex or lycra material of her leggings as he held each outer thigh. So pleasant a feeling he allowed a hand to caress its way slowly back towards the curve of her buttock.

"...I'll make the house safe for you to walk around."

She'd been talking, whispering into his ear while he was thinking and he hadn't heard a word.

"What?" He asked. He had moved the hand from her buttock to the bare patch of skin on her lower back above her pants. It was only then as he felt the hem of her similarly feeling top did he ascertain the clothing she wore. Gym gear, he thought. I love girls in gym gear. He scolded himself for thinking it at that moment. She isn't a girl Tyson, she's your mother.

"I was saying the world is a lot easier for the blind nowadays. Like your phone, everything can be voice activated. You love reading, there are talking books..." Darlene continued but Tyson again found it hard to concentrate. Aware now of her breasts against his chest, her hot breath on his neck and most of all, her groin pressed hard on his penis.

How was she not aware of the position they were in, he wondered? All he had to do was lower his hand again it would be on her ass. If he delved down he'd be able to touch her pussy! That did it. He felt his cock begin to swell. If there was no contact, it would've been possible for him to will it away but his mother's vagina was pressing against him. There was no way he could prevent this happening. He had to do something before she felt it.

"...has a guide dog. I know it's too early to think..."

"Um Mom, what about these eye drops!?" Tyson abruptly broke into her one way conversation.

"Oh of course." She placed her hands on his shoulders to help herself up off him and her weight lifted from his groin. He heard her walk to the bench. She's barefoot, he thought and return to him.

"O.k. Head back and look up."

Tyson did as instructed and Darlene stood behind the chair looking down upon him. She applied the drops to each eye and replaced the cap. Looking back at her son her eyes strayed down his body and were caught by a sight she at first couldn't quantify. The gray loose fitting track pants she herself had helped him into that afternoon stood out in a tower at his crotch. It was undeniable; it wasn't a fold in the material or something in the pocket. Her son had an erection. She turned her gaze, her face, away from the image, reddening before realizing he couldn't see her reaction. Did she dare look again? She asked herself. Her eyes returned immediately. It twitched and she jumped and tried to stop the smile that spread across her face. My son has an erection and I'm looking at it! She told herself and then another thought entered her mind. A thought so loaded with contention. He has an erection because of me!

"Did you say something about quiche?" Tyson asked, unaware his mother was staring at his cock.

"Oh. Of course. I'll heat it up."

As Darlene microwaved the plate she leaned against the bench, her eyes on her son. She bit at a fingernail as she watched the lump in his pants diminish. It was an aberration. She told herself. Like a morning erection after his afternoon sleep, it happens. Nothing to do with me. She looked at his muscular arms, his chest beneath the tight white t-shirt. His short dark hair, his handsome face, the stubble. Nothing to do with me! She again told herself and as the microwave bell rang she felt the dampness between her legs as she retrieved the plate.

* * * * *

Tyson maneuvered around the house extremely well. Not so much different than walking the house at night. One level and relatively small, Darlene supervised his navigation through the rooms, moving objects that impeded easy transition. Come 11:30pm they were still wide awake and testing their new reality.

"Maybe sit down on the toilet next time!" Darlene quipped as she entered his room. They'd both changed for bed, in Tyson's case just down to his boxers and t-shirt and Darlene in a short satin robe.

"Oh sorry." Tyson apologized, his face blushing.

She laughed and sat on the bed next to him, "Oh I've seen worse. You don't remember when you were little? More out than in."

Tyson himself laughed at this and Darlene was relieved to see him relaxed.

"Mom about my phone." Tyson began. He'd given her the code to unlock it and they'd gone through and returned messages to a couple of friends but in doing so she'd seen his dynamic theme wallpaper of porn. "I don't want you to think I'm obsessed or anything."

Darlene smiled and placed a hand on his leg in comfort. "It wasn't that shocking honey. I've seen naked women before. I just have to look in the mirror remember." She didn't know why she added the reference to herself. Suddenly her hand on his leg didn't feel as innocent. She left it there though, not wanting to act as if she was affected by the subject.

"I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight. I'm so not tired!" Tyson stated, stretching.

"I'm a bit the same. What do you usually do if you can't sleep?" Darlene asked him.

Tyson immediately thought, masturbate but wasn't going to tell his mother that. "Just read I guess."

"Do you want me to read to you?" Darlene offered, her voice excited. "It'd be just like when you were a toddler." She was already reaching for the book she saw on his bedside table before Tyson had a chance to object.

"The Coming of Them by C.D. Sunbury. Sounds scary!" She opened to the bookmarked page and climbed up on the bed beside her son.

"Yeah Mom, I'm not sure you want to read this, its horror!" He proclaimed but it wasn't the horror content he was thinking about. "And other stuff..."

"Oh I'll be alright. Come on get comfy."

'Arabella broke from the cavern into the raging storm. Lightning illuminated the forsaken landscape before her. The devastation they'd wreaked upon her home, her families land for one moment made visible then plunged into darkness. The moaning emanated from the bowels of the mountain behind her. They were aware of her absence. She had to run.'

"Ooh you're right. I'm going to have nightmares. What's in the mountain?" Darlene asked but went on before Tyson could answer.

'The rain fell sideways with the furious wind. Her white dress made transparent with the inundation. Barefoot, Arabella hastened her descent. If she made the river, could they follow? Branches of trees reached for her as if conspiring with the dark ones to slow her progress. Tugging, snagging until she was caught. "No," she screamed. "Not here." Her dress tore from her body and she carried on naked.'

"Oh my goodness. Does she get away?" Darlene asked, not expecting an answer.

Tyson was suddenly aware how close his mother was. His forearm lay along her side. He sensed she no longer wore the gym clothes but could only imagine what she'd replaced it with. One of her nighties, he guessed. Was it the pink one? It was threadbare for memory; she commented on it herself in the past. Her underwear would be visible through the material. He tried to concentrate on the novel.

'The dark ones burst from the cave entrance and stopped as they observed her escape. Arabella sensed their eyes on her back, felt them lusting after her nudity. The river neared. It was sanctity. They detested the water, they would not follow, she told herself over and over. Her feet met the slippery bank. She fell and righted herself, her body now slick with the dark mud. On she labored, crawling through the quagmire. Her hands touched the water. Safety.'

"Oh thank God she made it. What would they have done?" Darlene commented.