Luis snorted and swung his attention back to the window.
Paolo nudged him. “Why the cynicism? Are you up to no good when you’re not in my bed?”
“I’ve been in your bed once. That leaves plenty of time for trouble.”
“I still don’t believe it.”
“Doesn’t matter what you believe. It doesn’t change who I am.”
“Then you should’ve said that to me when I was judging you just for existing.”
“Would you have listened?”
“No, but that says more about you than it does about me.”
Luis said nothing for real this time. Paolo leaned on him but resisted the urge to close his eyes and doze. He’d made that mistake before and missed his stop by fifty miles.
Nonna’s nursing home was in a leafy commuter town, attached to an Anglican church. The entrance was next to the graveyard, and Luis froze at the gate. “I hate graveyards.”
“Then don’t look.” Paolo grabbed his hand and tugged him forwards.
He didn’t let go, and neither did Luis.
At the reception desk, a nurse glanced at their joined hands and smiled. Paolo ignored her and signed him in and Luis as a guest.
Nonna’s room was on the second floor. “She doesn’t walk anymore. Sometimes I take her out if there’s a wheelchair knocking about, but she hates them, so we don’t do it much.”
“How often do you come here?”
“Twice a week, sometimes three if I can manage it. I see Toni more because he’s closer, and...”
“And what?”
Paolo pressed the button for the lift with more force than strictly necessary. “He knows I’m there.”
Luis squeezed his hand. He offered no bullshit words of comfort, and Paolo’s affection for him expanded its reach, etching a permanent place for itself on his soul.
“I’ve never done this with anyone else,” he said.”
“Done what?” Luis squeezed his hand again. “Rode in a lift?”
“No, I’ve never brought anyone here. My cousin comes once a week, but I don’t see him cos sometimes it’s the only night I get to myself, you know? I can’t be arsed to talk to him.”
“I feel like that about most people.”
“Even your family?”
“Especially my family.”
“Sorry. I’m full of stupid questions today.”
“You look tired.”
“Yeah, well. I’m not used to running around the cafe by myself all day anymore. A month with you has erased three years of stamina.”
Luis smirked, but the lift arrived before he could say whatever was on his mind.
They rode it to the second floor. Nonna’s room was right in front of the lifts. Her door was open. Paolo could already see she was fast asleep, and he was glad of it. Luis’s hand in his made him feel strong, but he wasn’t in the mood to talk in circles with an audience. It begged the question of why he’d brought Luis along at all, but he wasn’t in the mood to contemplate that either, so he busied himself straightening Nonna’s room.
