Page 87 of Tumbling Hearts

“How am I supposed to play guitar like this?” Gene chuckles.

“Well, it’s your right hand. You just hold a pick and strum with that one,” Ray figures, securing the bandage in place. “And I can fix it up tomorrow, like put band-aids on each individual finger instead so you can use them. I don’t know, I just figured doing this would be good enough for now to stop the bleeding. I don’t think the cuts are that deep.”

“Alright, that’s good.” Gene lets out a deep sigh. With that, his heart rate seems to be returning to a steadier pace. Thankfully, Ray hasn’t asked why Gene took so long in the bathroom.

“Give me just a sec, I need to wipe the floor outside the door but I’ll be right back.”

“Sure thing.”

Ray gets up, grabs some tissues from the box on the nightstand, and heads out to the hallway. Gene tries to focus on him, but his head swirls again. It’s strange—the feeling is good, calming him. His body feels high, high as a fucking kite, and Ray is here taking care of him. Another blink passes, and Ray has shut the door and is now kneeling by Gene’s feet. Wait, what?

“I’ll take your shoes off for you, here,” Ray says.

“Oh, yeah, go ahead.”

Ray is careful, pulling Gene’s shoes off along with his socks and setting them down on the floor. It looks like Ray already took his own off. Once done, Ray rises and sits on the bed next to him. He rubs his upper arm tenderly.

“Um, thanks for defending me against that guy. I really appreciate it,” Ray says, looking down at Gene’s bandaged hand. “But you didn’t need to go all crazy like that…”

“I don’t know what came over me,” Gene says. “I just… I didn’t like how he said that to you. I didn’t want him threatening you or us or the band because of that. Then he was going to punch me, so I…”

Ray shakes his head. “I get it. Again, thank you Gene.” He gives Gene’s arm a gentle squeeze. “I hope everyone who’s still downstairs is calming down. But they should be.”

“Yeah. And we can just check in with them later. I bet I’ll get an earful from Dennis.”

“For sure. But it’ll probably be alright. I mean, we’re hardly the first band to ever get in a fight with another band.”

“Yeah,” Gene chuckles. “Man, I’m glad Carol left before she had to see any of that.”

Ray chuckles too. “Yeah. But I feel like she’s probably gonna hear about some of it, probably from Pat.”

“That’s true.”

They stay sitting like that in silence, comfortable with the other’s presence. Gene isn’t sure how much time passes. Everything is muddled in his head, the dresser in front of him moving even though he knows it’s not. Ray pets his arm, jolting something inside him, bringing attention to the touch—a sweet, steady warmth.

“Did you want to turn in for the night?” Ray asks. “You seem a little out of it.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” Gene nods. “And I’m fine, really.”

“If you say so,” Ray giggles. “I’ll get you your pajamas, if you want. And I don’t know if you think I should go to my own room, or…”

“No, please, stay here,” Gene begs. “I… I don’t want to be alone. The others will understand. I just want you here with me, especially after that…”

Ray smiles, his blue eyeshadow glittering. “Alright. Honestly, I didn’t want to leave. I’m just worried, so I thought I’d ask. But I wanna make sure you’ll be alright.”

“Thanks, Ray. I mean it.”

Gene brings his good hand up to Ray’s face, caressing his cheek, and he pulls him in for a kiss. Now, in the privacy of their hotel room, he can finally do what he wants. He couldn’t kiss Ray while downstairs lest there be even more of a scandal than what’s already happened. But here, after the adrenaline rush, after the confusion, the comfort of this kiss is everything Gene could ask for.

Afterwards, Ray grabs them both some pajamas, Gene slipping into his while Ray uses the bathroom and wipes off his make-up. It’s a shame he didn’t wear it for very long, but Gene knows he’ll put more on for their final show in a couple days. He’s glad they don’t have a show tomorrow—he’ll need that free day to relax. Especially so, when right after their final show they’ll be heading straight into the recording studio.

When Ray returns from the bathroom, he puts on the pajamas, shuts the lights off, and slips into bed with Gene. They cuddle up with each other, Gene grabbing Ray from behind like he usually does. It’s all such a risk, keeping Ray in here with him in the room, but Gene doesn’t care. No, not at this moment. He turns his mind off.

All that matters is holding Ray so close, hanging onto this bliss as he drifts off to sleep.

November, 1976

The Dusty Brooms’ final show of the tour is just amazing as all the rest. Gene does his best to avoid the opening band, but once it’s the Brooms’ turn, it’s smooth sailing. Well, aside from his injured hand, but prior to the show he’d discussed with Santiago that Santi will take over solos and Gene can stick to simply strumming rhythm. The cuts on his fingers are honestly not that bad, just broken the skin a bit. But it still hurts to pluck strings with his bare fingers, so strumming with a pick will have to do for now.