“My place?!” Hank blurted, not too keen on having a stranger in his home. For all he knew, the man could be some meth head or worse.
“Yes,yourplace,” Henry repeated. “Bring round your truck and get someone to help you. Donot, and I mean it, Hank, donotlift him by yourself. You’ll bust your back again.”
“Yeah, yeah, I won’t,” Hank scowled at the stern edge of Henry’s voice. It wasn’t exactly great being reprimanded by someone almost thirty years his junior, but he knew better than to argue with Henry.
“Are his clothes wet?”
“Yeah, they’re pretty damp. Probably from his fever and the weather.”
“Yeah, makes sense. So, when you get him back to your place, you gotta get him out of those wet clothes and then in bed.”Fuck, this day was not how he’d planned it when he’d gotten up an hour before dawn. A naked stranger in his bed.Jeez.“You listening, Hank?” Henry’s voice drifted through the phone.
“Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. Then what?”
“Go to my clinic. Use the spare key under the mat—” Henry’s voice drowned in Colton’s deep booming, “What the hell, sweetheart! Are you serious? Under the goddamn mat!”And Hank could just see Colton before his eyes, all overprotective and shit. “Babe, relax,” Henry cooed before continuing with his instructions. “Get some antibacterial wipes, some disinfectant ointment, and some antibiotics, too. I’ll send you a text afterward with the name and the dosage, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.” So, he was gonna play nurse, now, too, aside from dog-sitter and seedling watcher? Great. Just great. An outdrawn whimper rang out from the shelter and Hank threw a quick glance at the slumped figure. Well, he obviously didn’t have a choice.
“You’re gonna have to rinse out the wound, Hank. Okay? It’s not gonna be pleasant—and it’s gonna hurt like hell—but it needs to be done.”
“Okay.”
“Do you have pain meds at your place?”
“I have some Tylenol, I guess.”
“Yeah, try that first. Or grab some ibuprofen from the clinic. It should do the trick. You wanna get his fever down. Plenty of fluids, okay?”
“Yeah, got it,” Hank murmured. “Thanks, son.”
“No worries. The fever should break within the next 24 hours once the antibiotics kick in, but if you start to worry—and I mean it, Hank—you drive him up to Whitney, okay?”
“Yeah, I promise.”
“We’ll be home tomorrow early afternoon and then I’ll check in on you guys.”
“Thanks, kid. Now get back to your… your fiancé? I assume he said yes.” Hank couldn’t help smiling at the image of the simple polished silver band now wrapped around Colton’s finger.
“He did.” Henry’s voice sounded breathy.
“Of course he did. Congratulations to both of ya. I’ll leave you to it now.”
“Sure thing, Hank. Good luck. And remember—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. No liftin’ by myself,” he chuckled.
“And?”
“And if I get worried, I’ll take him to Whitney. Got it.”
“Excellent. See ya tomorrow afternoon, okay?”
“Sure thing, kid. And Henry?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“Of course. Any time.”
