Nineteen
Pain stabbed throughout Bas’s body, making him groan in his sleep. His eyes blinked open in a dimly lit room. Where the fuck was he? Last he remembered he was on the backseat of Ten’s car. Maybe the man had listened to him and dropped him off somewhere.
He glanced around, noting the open beam logs in the ceiling and walls. A cabin. He was in a cabin. Which meant….
“How’re you feeling?” Ten’s voice said from the doorway.
Just moving his head slightly made Bas wince. “Like I should’ve gotten the license plate of the fucking truck that ran over me…..twice.”
“I’ll bet,” he said then he glanced down at the tray he was holding, “I’ve got some soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. Do you think you can eat something? You need to take some pain meds and you shouldn’t take them on an empty stomach.”
Bas grunted slightly as he tried to move, “I can try but not sure I can sit up right now.”
Ten stepped forward to the edge of the bed, “I, uh, I can feed you if that would help. I don’t mind.”
Bas’ first instinct was to tell him no. Feed him? He wasn’t a fucking invalid. But, yeah, at the moment he kinda was.
“Yeah, okay,” he whispered and then he tried to turn on his side. Big mistake. It hurt so bad he saw stars. “FUCK!” he cried.
Ten quickly set the tray on the nightstand. “Here, let me help,” he said as he sat on the edge of the bed.
His body heat enveloped Bas as he leaned over to support Bas’s back and then gently turned his entire body at once until he was on his side. Then he grabbed a few pillows and tucked them against Bas’s back, so he wouldn’t roll.
“Thanks,” Bas mumbled, taking deep breaths as the pain slowly receded.
Ten’s thumb swiped across Bas’s cheek to wipe away a few stray tears that had leaked out as he said, “Anytime.”
He grabbed the tray and sat in on the bed then broke off a piece of sandwich and put it against Bas’s lips. Bas opened and then chewed as he and Ten stared at each other.
After a bite of soup, Ten said, “I still need to stitch up your leg. The wound doesn’t appear to involve any tendons or ligaments but it’s still deep enough that I’ll need to close it. I’ve got it bandaged tightly now.”
Bas frowned at him, “You’re going to suture it?”
Ten rolled his eyes, “Yes, Bas, I’m going to suture it. I am trained.”
“I didn’t mean that. I mean, do you have supplies? Or am I just going to bite on a stick while you butcher me?”
“Yes, you’re going to bite on a stick. And afterwards I’m going to throw it and tell you to fetch it. Do you think I’m a complete asshole?”
Bas opened his mouth but stopped when Ten put his finger against it, “Do not answer that,” he said and then he froze when he realized where his finger was.
His eyes met with Bas’ for a moment before they dropped back down to the man’s lips. Fuck, they were soft. He remembered just how soft they were the one time that he had kissed them. He wanted to do it again….so fucking badly.
He turned his head to the side, “Bas, I,” he started to say but when he tried to pull his hand away, Bas clasped his wrist, “Don’t run,” he whispered.
Ten turned back with a frown, “What?”
“Look, I get that you don’t want me, that you don’t want to kiss me and I’m okay with that but just please don’t run again.”
“Are you? Are you really okay with that? Because I’m not. I want to kiss you so bad it fucking hurts, Bas.”
“So, why don’t you?”
A tear fell from the corner of Ten’s eye, “Because I can’t! I can’t betray him like that, Bas.”
“Betray him? Do you really think he’d want you to live like this, Ten? Do you really think he wants you to be alone?”
“I don’t know what he wants because he’s dead!” Ten sobbed. He pushed up from the bed and started walking towards the door.
Ten paused, his palm on the edge of the wall, head hanging down.
After a few long, agonizing seconds, he turned back around. “I’m sorry too,” he whispered.
He looked so lost, so broken, so completely shattered. And all Bas wanted to do was wrap him up tightly in his arms and hold him until he could figure out how to put a smile on Ten’s face.
Bas opened his mouth to say something but Ten beat him to it.
“I’ll, uh, let me just finish up with your lunch,” he said as he quietly walked back over to the bed.
Bas knew that it was his silent way of pleading with Bas to drop this.
He would. For now.
He dutifully opened his mouth when Ten held the spoon to it or a bite of sandwich. When he had finished all of his food, Ten wiped his mouth and then held up a pill. “Oxy?” Bas asked.
Ten shook his head, “No. Sorry. It’s a Vicodin. Don’t have anything stronger.”
Bas lifted an eyebrow, “Am I gonna need something stronger?”
Ten palmed the back of his neck, “Maybe?” he said as he glanced at Bas. “I, uh, the only numbing agent I have is a spray. It works but it’s not as good as an injectable.”
“So, what you’re saying is it’s going to hurt like fuck,” Bas said.
“Pretty much.”
Bas grabbed the pill, popped it into his mouth, swallowed it down with some water and then said, “Do your worst, Pinkerton.”
Ten’s mouth quirked, “I’m gonna try, Monroe,” he said as he stood up.
“Careful there, Tenley. That’s almost a smile.”
Ten blushed, he actually blushed as he picked up the food tray, “I’ll give that about twenty minutes to work through your system and then I’ll get started.”
He turned and walked out the door but not before giving Bas a teasing glimpse of a smile.
Despite his pain, Bas grinned, “It’s a start, Ten, it’s a start,” he mumbled to the empty room.