“We’ll be there.” He got up and went to the door, nodded at Makai, and left.
Emil swallowed audibly in the quiet room. Makai turned his attention back to him.
“I’ll ask the nurse what time she thinks you’ll be released in the morning and come before that, okay?” Emil smiled hesitantly, but there was something akin to daring in his gaze.
“Absolutely. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Makai wanted to touch Emil’s hand again, for reassurance, but he couldn’t initiate these things, at least not yet.
“And I’ll go by your place and feed Mouse and clean the litterbox when we get back to Acker tonight.”
“Thank you.”
Emil ducked his head, he seemed to be trying to decide on something. The decision was made, and he walked around the bed to get to the door but touched Makai’s sheet-covered foot on his way.
“Bye.”
“Bye, Emil.”
MAKAI DIDN’Tsleep well, mostly because the bed wasn’t meant for a man his size, and then because of the nurses who came to check up on him intermittently. The doctor had decided he had a minor concussion.
In the morning he got to take a shower to wash the dust off his skin and hair, and a lovely middle-aged nurse came to help him protect the stitches. Since he didn’t have his phone, he couldn’t call Emil to bring him fresh clothes. Luckily the weather looked like it would be nice, so wearing yesterday’s clothes wasn’t such a struggle, even if he’d have to walk out of there in a slightly tight-for-him scrub top.
Makai wondered if they’d have the talk today, maybe during the drive back to Acker, or not. He wasn’t sure he felt ready for it. Only part of that was the niggling headache he still had.
He should’ve known Emil was more thoughtful than Makai gave him credit for. When he appeared in the room where Makai had been transferred for the night, he had a bag in hand and a coffee in the other.
“Oh my God, Emil.” Makai groaned when Emil handed him the large latte.
Emil blushed. “Thought you’d need that. Here’s some clean clothes. I hope you don’t mind I went through your stuff?”
“What? Oh no, not at all. I would’ve called you if I’d had my phone.” Makai took a sip of coffee and made a happy sound.
Emil handed him his Nokia with clear distaste in his gaze. “This was in your kitchen. I think it’s yours.”
Makai laughed. “Yeah, that’s the one that needs replacing, badly. I don’t know which smartphone to get, though, or the laptop. They’ve changed so much in the last decade.”
“I can help you with that,” Emil said brightly. “I assume you’re not against dropping some money on them if they’ll last you a while?”
“Not at all. I’d rather do that, especially living in Acker, than have to find someone who can fix them or replace them.”
“Okay, so I’ll suggest an iPhone, and you can get an Otter Box for it, that’s this fancy cover that’ll keep it safe, and then maybe an Acer laptop, a bit more expensive one so it won’t be old next week, you know?” Emil spoke as he walked to the window to look out.
“I understood about half of that, but okay, whatever you say,” Makai teased, making Emil laugh.
“What else were you thinking of getting?”
“The cat tree, if we find a nice one. Some clothes, new pillows and blankets and stuff like that. And I’d like to stock up on food, too. Canned goods and other stuff that doesn’t spoil. It’s not like I can’t get it from town, but I’d rather have something at the house. There isn’t a real pantry, but there’s a closet in the kitchen corner that I think was used as one.” He drank his coffee and looked at his phone for the time. The nurse should come by with his paperwork and instructions on the stitches soon.
“Did you get paint for the house yet?”
“Yeah, a light yellow, it should look nice. I should probably paint the walls inside as well, but I just think I’ll get posters and things. Maybe do the walls if there needs to be any other bigger renovations at any point in the future, you know?” He slid off the bed and picked up the clothes. “I’ll go change.”
Emil nodded and looked out of the window, but Makai could see the flush rising on his cheeks.
Half an hour later, they were in the truck and heading to Target. Makai could tell Emil was a bit nervous about being in the truck cab with him but tried not to show it. Luckily the first bit of driving wasn’t long, and they got to the store fast.
Somehow they ended up having a lot of fun. Emil was funny when he relaxed after noticing that there weren’t that many people around.
“Okay, you gotta get a laptop with a DVD player and then a HDMI cable so you can hook it up to your TV,” he said, going through the laptops on sale. “This one is good. Are you a gamer?”
