Page 58 of Laying Low

“Reynaldo?Reynaldo, are you there?”

As the three of them struggled to sit up andwakeup, Adelle rushed in, pointed unerringly toward Reynaldo’s cot.“Oh, baby boy,” she sobbed.“Sweetheart—look at you!”

“The doctors said I’ll be okay,” Reynaldo mumbled.“The antibiotics and stuff—it’s working.Just, you know….”He gave Reg, Anthony, and Ilia a quiet smile.“It was sort of a sucky road trip.”

Adelle turned her attention from her nephew, after a few kisses to his cheek, and took in the three of them, still road-weary and—Reg could admit it now that the sun was slanting into afternoon—hungry.“And you three,” she said, holding her hand to her mouth.“God, Ilia.All of you.What you have done.”She gave a little sob and then came to hug Anthony first, then Reg, and then Ilia.Ilia she clung to, kissing the boy’s head and rocking him back and forth.“Thank you,” she murmured.“Thank you, thank you.I’ll be your family as long as you need me, sweet boy.Thank you.Thank you.”

And that was when Dean and Val poked their heads in, and Anthony shoved Reg gently from behind so he could go greet his own family.

He found himself sandwiched between Val and Dean, hugged so tightly he couldn’t breathe, and then they pulled Anthony into the embrace, and then his mother and Anthony’s father arrived and it was all of them, and his head spun because his family always did that to him, and he couldn’t remember much after that because everybody was speaking at once.

THE HOTELcame first, and Reg was bemused to see that his mother grabbed Ilia as a roommate—she would switch with Adelle at the hospital later that night—and Dean opted to room with Val and Rory.Nobody actually looked at him and asked, but apparently the idea that he and Anthony would be in the same room—and the same bed, judging by the room key Dean slid into his hand—was a done deal.

The first thing they’d done was fall upon the takeout that Dean had bought them on the way to the hospital, and the second was to hit the shower, Anthony first, while Reg charged Anthony’s phone and booted up the new one Val had brought him.

Both the brothers seemed to need to say something to him as they’d given him food and—oh thank God—electronics, but neither of them had the words for it.

For his part, Reg was just… exhausted.With worry, with emotions, with everything.

He barely noticed as Anthony emerged from the shower wearing his last clean T-shirt and briefs.Reg could only be jealous that he was clean, with brushed teeth and hair that didn’t cling to his scalp with oil.

Twenty minutes later Reg came out of his own shower feeling more human—but more embarrassed.

“What’s that look?”Anthony asked from the bed.He was propped up, sitting on top of the covers, wearing a crisp pair of sleep pants and an unfamiliar T-shirt with a fish emblazoned on it, along with the words Sooke Harbor.

“Where’d my clothes go?”Reg asked, puzzled, clutching the towel around his waist firmly.“I… I left out my sleep pants and some underwear and—oh.”

Anthony winked at him and nodded to a similar outfit laid out on the dresser.“Your mother stopped by with a bag of new clothes.And other stuff.I think there’s an outfitters nearby, and she guessed at the sizes.She also,” he added, grimacing, “stole our backpacks for laundry, leaving only the shaving kits.And brought us snacks.”

Reg blinked, trying to clear the fog out of his head.“Why would she do that?”

“Well, she had strict instructions for neither of us to leave the hotel room until the continental breakfast was available in the lobby.I don’t know if she knows exactly how thatsounds, but since I know we both need some of that time to actually sleep, I’m going to take it at face value.”

Reg was awake enough to smile at that at least.“Here, let me—” He picked up the bag of clothing, only to feel Anthony’s eyes on him.“Uhm….”He turned and met Anthony’s gaze, and the moment changed.

“Uhm,” he said again, right before a yawn took over his entire body.When it was done, he was aware that Anthony’s steady regard hadn’t changed one bit.

“I want to sleep too,” Anthony said softly.“But I want you in my arms.I’ll take off my T-shirt and pajamas if you leave yours off.Is that a deal?”

Reg nodded, knowing that Anthony could see the uneven blush that worked its way up his entire pale body.But still when he rifled through the bag, he took one of the pairs of underwear—briefs—and left the sleep pants alone.

In a moment he was dressed, his teeth were brushed, and he was ready to crawl into bed.He half anticipated, half dreaded Anthony’s touch on his skin—he was so tired.But so was Anthony, and after he’d rolled to his side and curled up into the self-protective little ball that knew it was safe in the world, Anthony made himself comfortable curling behind Reg, his arm reaching around his stomach, much like he had when they’d slept in the same bed before.

The only difference was intent, Reg thought muzzily.This wasn’t just sleep.It wasn’t just huddling for comfort.

There was sex here, when they both were ready.

For the first time in his life, he didn’t worry about the consequences of being this close to a human being he cared for.After the last four days, there were so many worse things to fear.

SOMETIME INthe night—after the sun had gone down, although Reg didn’t check the phone he’d left charging by the bed—he got up to use the bathroom and to brush his teeth, because he’d been sleeping with his mouth open and his tongue was dry.It was something he’d done since childhood.

When he came back to crawl into bed, Anthony was awake, gazing at him in the faint ambient light that edged the curtain.

“What’s up?”Reg asked as he scooted back into their warm cocoon.

“Me,” Anthony said, smiling a little.“Have you had enough rest?Did you catch your second wind?”

Reg smiled back shyly.“Maybe,” he answered, licking his lips.