Page 10 of Lay It Bare

Lisa sputtered, face flaming. He looked longingly towards Rei.

“Turn out the blasted light and get under the covers, cur,” Sevastyan ordered, no give in his voice. “If you’re going to be here, you can be where I can keep an ear on you.

Lisa turned off the light. A moment later, the bed dipped and another body stretched out on the mattress. Rei reached towards Lisa and pulled him close. Lisa growled but the sound was quickly muffled. Rei might have put a palm over the starving stray’s mouth.

Sevastyan closed his eyes. All he wanted to do was sleep. He was going to have to trust the depth of Lisa’s love for Rei.

A moment later, just as he was drifting off, he felt shifting movement and the touch of a too-slender arm settling around Rei’s body just under his.

Under the cover of darkness, Sevastyan pressed his forehead to the back of Rei’s head and held him close. There were too many thoughts, too many failures, too many dangers. Sleep did not so much come to him as take him and drag him under, choking him as he sank into nightmares where only his grip on Rei preserved his sense of self.

Sevastyan pulled out his phone and ran a search. “Thirty-eight-point-nine Celsius,” he muttered. “That’s too high.” He leaned over Lisa and rolled him onto his back. “Lisa, answer me.” Lisa tried to pull away. Sevastyan slapped him gently on the cheek with his fingers. “Lisa.”

Lisa’s eyes fluttered. He looked up, confused, tried to cough, and rolled to the side, choking. Sevastyan steadied him.

Rei’s shoulders tightened and his belly churned. His eyes moved from Lisa to Sevastyan and back.

“He’s weak. Probably caught something on the flights. Let’s hydrate him. Watch him. I’ll be back.”

Sevastyan left and came back with a cup of tepid water. Rei helped lift Lisa. Sevastyan cradled the feverish man’s head and held the cup to Lisa’s lips. Lisa turned his head away, twice.

Rei cupped Lisa’s cheek. “You need to drink, please, A-sa.”

Lisa swallowed mutely and opened his mouth, letting Sevastyan get some of the water inside. He swallowed, coughed, and tried again. Rei stroked his cheek to express his gratification.

Lisa twitched and held his stomach. Sevastyan snatched up the blanket and held it under Lisa’s face. In Rei’s arms, Lisa jerked and then heaved, emptying his stomach into the impromptu bowl of fabric. Rei turned his face away, his own stomach clenching against the smell.

Master?

Rei forced himself to look back. Sevastyan still held the blankets open, the middle sagging with vomit, waiting for Lisa to stop heaving. Without a word, Sevastyan gathered the blankets up and took the entire mess to the bathroom. Lisa slumped against Rei, shivering.

Rei stroked his back and held him, still breathing shallowly against the smell.

Sevastyan returned with a wet washcloth. He handed it to Rei and nodded at Lisa’s face. “If you can get him to rinse his mouth . . .” Sevastyan’s voice trailed off as he took in the way Lisa was almost pinning Rei to the pillows.

If his master ordered him to, Rei would try to escape. Rei held his breath.

Sevastyan shook his head. “Keep him there. I’ll find a bowl in case he vomits again. Maybe there’s a pot in the kitchen. Then we’ll get him to rinse his mouth and I’ll find a clean sheet. If he’s going to be holding you, no more blankets till the temperature comes down. He’ll burn himself out.”

Rei nodded. Sevastyan grimaced and set about handling his own list of tasks.

Lisa’s fever did not come down over the next hour. Instead, it rose to thirty-nine degrees Celsius. Sevastyan sat on the edge of the bed looking at the thermometer and shook his head.

“If he can’t keep water down, he won’t keep down medication. He needs fluids and we have to lower his temperature.”

“How serious is it?” Rei whispered. He had an idea, but he needed his master to say it.

“He’s weak from not eating.” Sevastyan sighed. “If we can’t control the fever, it’s very serious, but there are ways.” He stroked the hair back on Lisa’s face and shook his head. “I’m going to make some calls. I’ll be in the living room. Do you need the bathroom or food?”

“Water, please?” Rei said. “And the bathroom.”

Sevastyan helped Rei extricate himself from Lisa’s clinging limbs. Lisa muttered random words in German, Russian, and English, the English heavily accented. He wouldn’t let Sevastyan touch him but curled up into the empty space Rei left.

It hurt to leave him there. Rei rushed through brushing his teeth and using the toilet. He wiped away the worst of the sweat and hurried back. Sevastyan had put a towel down on the mattress and found a fresh sheet. Rei accepted his hand up onto the mattress. Lisa reached for Rei as soon as he was close.

“Towel under you,” Rei coaxed. Lisa allowed Rei to pull him to the side, and Sevastyan pushed the towel between him and the mattress. Rei settled with his back to the headboard, two pillows to support him from behind, and cradled Lisa between his legs. Sevastyan laid the sheet over Lisa. He leaned in and pressed his lips to Rei’s forehead. “I’ll bring water in a bit.”

Rei lifted his face and Sevastyan lingered, letting Rei brush a caress against the stubble on his cheek. He smiled tiredly and left the room, pulling out this phone.