Page 13 of Lay It Bare

Lisa was coughing again. Rei used all his strength to pull him upright. He braced the other slave there and held the washcloth over his nose. Lisa turned his head left and right and then—finally—breathed through the warm cloth. He coughed harder, and then sagged against Rei, breathing easier. Rei kept the cloth against his face, moving his fingers to let air in more easily every second or so, until the washcloth felt cool. Lisa turned into Rei, pulling his knees up and bundling himself against Rei’s chest. Rei pushed back against the headboard. Lisa was so much taller than him. Whatever genetic mix of eastern Russia and northern Asia that Lisa had, he was much taller than Rei. Only his severe lack of weight made it possible to handle him.

“So cold,” Lisa whispered in Russian, shivering. “Clothes, please. Please clothes. Just for night. Please.” He repeated himself in German and broken fragments of English.

Rei closed his eyes and squeezed Lisa against his chest. “Clothes. Yes. You can. Look, you have clothes.” He pulled on Lisa’s shirt and tugged on the waistband of Lisa’s sweatpants. They were Sevastyan’s and the drawstring was the only thing keeping them near Lisa’s hips.

The exterior door of the condo opened and closed. Lisa flinched and pressed deeper against Rei, his fingers gripping at Rei’s shoulders. He covered Rei’s mouth with his other hand.

Rei squeezed Lisa back and waited, listening. It sounded like his master was taking off his shoes and coat. A few minutes later Sevastyan appeared in the doorway of the bedroom. He looked cold and his eyes were dull. There were several bags in his hands that he put on top of the low dresser on the far side of the room. He pulled saline packets out of his inner shirt and held one out to Rei. “How do these feel? They can’t be too cold, or it will shock his system.”

Rei held the bag to his cheek. “They feel like nothing. Like me.”

“Good.” Sevastyan sighed. “They were cold when I put them in.” He shook his head and started opening up the package of tubing. Removing a picture from the hook in the wall above the bed gave him an anchor point. He hooked the saline packet over the nail, creating a gravity feed. “We need to get the acetaminophen in him first. It’s a suppository.” He held up one of their bottles of lube and a packet of medication.

Rei grimaced. Lisa fought Alexi about being fucked at least half the time. In his current state, violence was certainly an option, unless he trusted the one handling him. “I’ll do it.”

Sevastyan nodded. “Let me wash my hands and I’ll get the packet open. It’s small. You just have to get it all the way inside.”

“I remember.” Rei grimaced again. “You’ve done this for me.”

Sevastyan nodded and went into the bathroom.

Rei wiggled his way down to the mattress, bringing Lisa with him. He stroked Lisa’s face. “A-sa.”

Lisa grunted.

Rei kissed his cheek. “I need to check your ass.”

Lisa groaned.

“I’ll be gentle. Please.”

Lisa grabbed Rei’s hand. Rei let him. He pressed a kiss to Lisa’s shoulder. “It’s just medicine.”

With Sevastyan handing him the necessary items from a distance, Rei did what had to be done as quickly and gently as possible.

Lisa hugged Rei’s knee with both arms, while Rei worked. When everything was finished, Sevastyan handed Rei a medical wipe for his hand. Lisa blinked slowly, eyes unfocused. He pulled Rei down with surprising force. Sevastyan reached for Rei.

“It’s okay,” Rei said. His back hit the bed and he blinked. Lisa covered him with his body. “He always does this.”

“I know.” Sevastyan looked away and started fussing with IV supplies. He went into the bathroom to wash his hands again and returned, pulling on latex gloves. “He still needs fluids. Can you hold him like that?”

Rei nodded. He unfolded Lisa’s arm and tangled his fingers with Lisa’s, then stretched both their arms out on the bed. Sevastyan gripped Lisa’s arm, turning it so that the veins were visible.

“He’s probably better at this than I am,” Sevastyan muttered.

“Why?”

“According to the records Alexi sent over this morning, he was a paramedic.”

Rei looked down at Lisa. It was hard to imagine, but when he really thought about it, he could see.

Sevastyan slid the needle into the vein in Lisa’s elbow, keeping a firm grip even as Lisa cried and pulled away. Rei gripped him with his arm and both legs, keeping his fingers tight on Lisa’s hand. Sevastyan hooked up the IV and slid a pillow under Lisa’s elbow, keeping a firm grip on Lisa’s arm as well.

“The shivering is going to get worse,” Sevastyan said, sitting down and getting comfortable. “But the fluids should help bring down the fever. They’re cooler than he is.”

Rei nodded and dared to stroke his palm against Lisa’s back. “I think he thinks he’s back in the kennels. He keeps asking for clothes.”

Sevastyan lifted his hand as if to touch Lisa’s head, then drew back.