Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 02 - Out of the Darkness (41 page)

Jeff seems to realize that Dan’s back to himself, and when he straightens up Dan does, too, shifting over to sit upright, careful this time to protect his wrist. “Shit.” He grimaces apologetically. “Ouch.”

That seems like all the explanation that’s really needed, and Jeff just nods, then reaches over to the bedside table and pops the lid on the Tylenol bottle. “Won’t do much, but it might take the edge off,” he suggests, and Dan reaches for the pills. Jeff grabs the glass of water and holds it within reach of Dan’s one good hand, and Dan realizes how gross his mouth feels. He swallows the pills and then a little more water and starts trying to build his strength for a trip to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Jeff apparently has different priorities. “Do you want to try coming out to the table? I can bring soup in here, but if you spill it, you’re gonna have to get up anyway for me to change the sheets.”

Dan nods regretfully. “Spilling seems kinda likely.” Dan’s stomach growls as a reminder that it doesn’t care where the meal is served, but it would damn well like something to eat, so Dan swings his legs around while Jeff carefully supports his shoulders, keeping the wrist protected. Once he’s up, he feels okay but a little chilly, and he looks down at his bare legs.

Jeff notices and makes sure Dan’s balanced before heading for the dresser. “Have you got sweats in here somewhere?”

 

“Middle right, hopefully....”

Jeff opens the drawer and pulls out a pair of navy sweat pants, then nods Dan back toward the bed. “Just to be safe, how about if you sit down for the foot-lifting stage?”

Dan wants to object, but he really can’t think of a good argument, so he shuffles backward obediently. Jeff crouches down and fits both of Dan’s feet through the pant legs, then pulls the waistband up to Dan’s mid-thigh. Then he helps Dan stand upright, and pulls the pants the rest of the way up. They end up standing pretty close, face to face, although Dan is a little too aware of the rankness of his breath to really enjoy the moment. Jeff backs away a little, looking down as he says, “This really probably is easier with someone closer to your size; if you can stand it, I’m happy to stick around and help as long as you need.”

“If I can….” Dan sits back down again. If they’re having this talk, or even
starting
this talk, he’ll need all his strength. “Jesus, Jeff, obviously I can
stand
it… that’s not….”

Jeff looks apologetic. “Yeah, sorry, I didn’t mean to get all melodramatic. We were heading for soup, right?”

And that’s a quicker shift than Dan was expecting, but yes, his stomach reminds him, they
were
heading for soup, or hopefully for something more solid, if the jaw will allow. So Dan heaves himself to his feet again, so determined to do it alone that he ends up overbalancing, stumbling forward so that Jeff has to catch him anyway. “Fuck.” Jeff’s right, though; the way he’s going, Robyn could get crushed if she tried to help. “Sorry. Everything’s a little… off.”

“Yeah, well, you’ve got another couple hours of that before I drag your ass back to the doctor. And as hot as the drawl is under other circumstances, it would be a good sign of your mental competence if you could de-Texas yourself just for now.”

Dan’s a little shocked at that and tries to think back over what he’s been saying. Damn, he
has
been drawling. “Sorry,” he says, making it clipped and distinct, and Jeff just shakes his head at him and then points him toward the main room.

Dan makes it to the table under his own steam, and as he pulls out a chair he realizes that he’s never sat there before; most of his meals are eaten on the go or on the couch. He feels a bit weird, like a visitor in his own apartment, but that thought leaves his head when Jeff comes over with a bowl of soup. It’s Dan’s left wrist that’s sore, which is a relief, because he’s really not up to struggling with a spoon in his wrong hand. He manages a few mouthfuls before his stomach tells him that actually, it’d like a little time to think about this new introduction, and he looks up to see Jeff watching him.
“It’s good soup.” That seems neutral enough.

Jeff nods. “Zio’s—they’re more than just paninis, you know.” Dan shrugs. “Soup’s okay when I’m off my game, but a panini is a meal!”

“Hey, you ditched the drawl. Good work.” Jeff smiles. “If you can make it back to bed without falling over, you’ll have escaped the return visit to the doctor.” He nods at Dan’s still full soup bowl. “But your appetite….”

“Dude, don’t start. Appetite isn’t one of the warning signs—I was listening.”

 

“No, but nausea is.” Jeff is watching Dan closely.

“I’m not sick; I’m just taking a break. It’s been a while since I had….” Dan was going to say “anything to eat,” but he’s not sure he wants to set off that conversation, so he thinks fast. “… soup. It’s kinda an old person food, huh?” He gives it just enough of a pause so that he can pretend to be innocent. “Do you eat it a lot?”

Jeff looks a little surprised, then grins. “Damn, didn’t take you long…. If I hit you in the head again, will you go back to being sweet, sleepy Dan? The one who
doesn’t
imply that I’m old?”

Dan smiles smugly. “Oh, did I imply that? I guess maybe I did… sorry ’bout that.” He takes another mouthful of soup and lets it sit in his mouth for a bit before swallowing. His stomach seems okay, but there’s no point in pushing things.

Jeff’s still watching him closely. “You looked in the mirror yet?” Dan shakes his head a little, and it only sets off a rumble of pain rather than an explosion. “No, not yet. Pretty bad?”

 

“The whole side of your face is bruised. Looks like you should have been wearing a motorcycle helmet.”

 

“I should have stayed on the damn horse. I’m still not sure how I did my wrist
and
my head.”

“Robyn said the wrist was from you putting your hand out to break your fall, and then Winston plowed into the jump, knocked it over on top of you. She
thinks
it was the standard that got you, but Winston was tangled up for a bit, so it might have been his hoof....”

“Winston, right.” Judging by Jeff’s quick look, Dan should have kept that realization to himself. “I mean, is he okay? Has Robyn called to say anything?”

“She hasn’t called. I’m sure she’ll have checked on him, and she knows where to find you if needed.”

Dan nods and has some more soup. It’s nice, sitting here with Jeff, talking about the day, even if the day was a little more messed up than most. “Your show’s almost done, right?”

Jeff nods. “Yeah, it closes Friday night.”
“Is there a party for that too?”
“Nah, not really. Just a lot of packing up and hopefully a check.” “Did you sell a lot?”

Jeff nods. “Yeah, it wasn’t bad. Didn’t sell out or anything, but… yeah, enough to keep going, at least. And I got some interest, some people saying they aren’t going to buy right now, but they’d like to see my work in the future.”

“Cool. So… are you out of the riding business, then?” Dan grins. “No way I can convince you to come back and help me with some of these horses? I can probably do exercise riding with a cast, but I’m not gonna be much use for schooling unless I can use my fingers.”

“My mom’s still interested. Last I heard she was seeing if she could rent out her place up there—you know, move down for a trial run.”

“That’d be great. There’s some great horses out there that we could be buying, if we had people to work them—I mean, it seems a bit nasty to take advantage of the bad economy, but….”

“You don’t help people out by
not
buying their horses.”

“Yeah, right.” Dan thinks about bringing up Taylor’s name as a possible hire but decides against it. He’s enjoying the peace too much, and he likes seeing Jeff’s face all warm and relaxed. He has another spoonful of soup, and that’s it. His stomach is on the edge of complaining, and he’s starting to feel his energy flagging too. If he wants to have enough left in the engine to get his teeth brushed (and he very much does want that), he’d better not overdo it.

Jeff notices, of course. “I can put the soup in the fridge, heat it up again later on if you want more.”

 

“I can put it away,” Dan starts, but Jeff just laughs.

“Remember that we were trying to
avoid
spilling the soup?” He shakes his head. “You can start doing chores once you’re a little steadier on your pins.”

Dan doesn’t argue, and Jeff ducks into the kitchen and then comes back and stands in front of Dan. “Back to bed?” he suggests. “Bathroom first—my teeth need brushing.”

“You should pee too. And you’re supposed to watch and make sure there’s no blood, although she didn’t seem to think there would be.”

Dan makes a sound to reflect his disgust at his body’s fragility and then uses the back of the chair to lever himself to his feet. He heads to the bathroom slowly but without help, so Jeff can just forget about Dan going back to the doctor’s any time soon.

Jeff seems to be planning to follow Dan right into the bathroom, but there’s really not a lot of space in there, and Dan doesn’t think he needs help to pee. He gives Jeff a look, and Jeff’s return look is full of doubt.

“Okay, I’ll stay outside, but you leave the door open, okay? And don’t be proud about asking for help.” Jeff looks like he knows how likely Dan is to follow that advice.

Dan takes a quick look at himself in the mirror and then looks away. Jeff was right; the whole side of his face is bruised from the temple down almost to his chin. He looks like he got into a fight or took a beating, and neither is a look Dan really likes to see on himself.

The peeing goes okay, but Dan’s energy is leaving him fast, and he puts the lid down on the seat and sits on it after he’s flushed to take a little break. He doesn’t even notice that Jeff’s come in until he feels his fingers being shaped around the handle of his toothbrush. He lets Jeff guide the toothpaste-covered brush to his mouth, and then manages to take over for himself, only feeling a little foolish. It hurts to stretch his cheek out on the injured side, but not enough to suggest a serious injury, and he manages a pretty good cleaning, under the circumstances. He makes it to his feet to spit and rinse in the sink, and then looks at Jeff. “Thanks. Back to bed?”

Jeff nods and shifts out of the way, letting Dan shuffle by him into the bedroom. The bed is just as comfortable as Dan remembered, and it’s nice to have Jeff nearby.

“Jeff?” Dan isn’t sure if he wants to know this or not, but since the idea has popped into his head, he thinks he’d better ask. Jeff comes closer, waiting for Dan to continue. “Robyn said you called the barn— said you were looking for me. What did you want to talk about?” Dan’s lying stomach-down on the bed again, and he wishes he could turn his head in the other direction so his face won’t be visible if Jeff says something bad, but there’s really only one side of Dan’s face that’s suitable for bed contact right now.

Jeff comes a little closer and sits gingerly on the side of the bed. He takes a deep breath. “I wanted to… I wanted to tell you not to give up on us yet. We’ve got stuff to work on, obviously, but… I don’t want to give up.”

Dan lets the words sink in for a few moments, makes sure that he understands them. Maybe he waits a little too long, because Jeff is shifting, getting ready to move away, and Dan almost bangs his hurt wrist again reaching out to stop him. “I don’t want to give up, either,” he spits out in a rush.

Jeff freezes, and then sinks back on the bed. “We don’t need to decide anything right now, Dan; you’re not at your best.”

“
You
are, though.” Dan isn’t sure if that makes sense. “I mean… I could have done this on my own or with Robyn, or whatever… but… I’m glad you’re here.” He thinks for a second. “I don’t just mean that you’re good at being a nurse… I mean, you know….” He needs to simplify this, go back to before he started blathering. “I don’t want to give up, either.”

Jeff pauses and then exhales. “Yeah, okay. We won’t give up.”

Dan tries not to think about Evan, about how his opinion on the matter might complicate that little plan. Instead, he smiles sleepily at Jeff. “You want to lie down? Sleep a little?”

Jeff looks doubtful. “I don’t want to jar your arm or your head.” “Dude,
sleep
—not fool around. How much jarring can you do in your sleep?”

 

Jeff looks tempted, and Dan nods to the far side of the bed. “You can even be the big spoon—how’s that for an offer?”

 

Jeff grins and moves around the foot of the bed. “Yeah, that’s pretty tempting, all right.”

Dan carefully rolls over onto his side as he feels Jeff’s weight dip the mattress, and then there’s warmth and solidity behind him as Jeff eases in. Dan feels a kiss on the nape of his neck, and for a short second he’s tempted to roll over and get something started, because damn, it feels good having Jeff so close. Common sense wins out, though, and Dan contents himself with wrapping his good hand around his waist to grab Jeff’s arm and drag it over to its rightful place by Dan’s chest. Dan laces his fingers with Jeff’s to make sure that the arm can’t escape.

Dan can feel the gust of air from Jeff’s laugh. “Damn, Tex, when you cuddle, you don’t mess around.”

 

“Damn straight,” Dan mutters, and then he lets himself fade off to sleep.
Chapter 25
D
AN
wakes up and feels like something’s missing, and it takes him a few moments to figure out that all that’s missing is Jeff.

Dan stretches cautiously and notes a few sore spots where he probably pulled muscles or hit something during his fall, but his wrist has settled into a slow throb instead of shooting agony, and his head… his head actually doesn’t feel too bad, just a little tender.

He tests his recovery by carefully swinging his feet over the side of the bed, and there’s no wave of dizziness to greet him, so that counts as a win. He’s not exactly overwhelmed with energy, though, and he’s still sitting there when Jeff comes into the room carrying his cell phone.

“Oh, good, you woke yourself up. I was just coming in to do that. Oh, and Robyn’s on the phone—she wants to know if you need her to rescue you.”

Dan reaches out for the phone. “Are those the words she used?”