Colin lowered his head and pressed his lips to Joshua’s dark hair, drawing strength from the familiar scent.
They had almost reached the door when Nate scampered to his side and touched his arm. “Colin? Can I get you anything?”
Colin smiled down at him. “I wouldn’t say no to some lunch, buddy.”
“I want to get him back to our cabin,” Joshua said. “Can you bring it there, Nate? He’s really hurting.”
Nate bit his lower lip and nodded. “I’ll bring it.” His hand tightened on Colin’s arm. “Anything to drink?”
“Sure,” Colin said. “Coke, Pepsi, whatever’s in the cooler.”
Joshua got him to their cabin and helped him stretch out on the bed. He handed Colin a bottle of water and then shook two pain pills into his palm and extended them toward his husband. “Don’t even bother to argue,” he said, holding them out. “I’ll hold your nose and force them down your throat if I have to.”
Colin shook his head and accepted the pain medication without comment. He swallowed the pills and then fell back on the bed, clearly exhausted. “Not this time, bud,” he murmured. “You’ll get no argument from me this time.”
By the time Nate arrived with Colin’s lunch and drink, he was fast asleep. Exhaustion and the numbing effects of his pain medication had done their job. Joshua set the tray on the chestof drawers and motioned to Nate. “Let’s go sit on the porch,” he whispered. “Let him sleep.”
Nate nodded, looking down at Colin, and Joshua saw his chest hitch as a tear slid down his cheek. “He’s going to be fine, Nate. I promise you.”
Nate nodded again, then bent and kissed Colin’s cheek before moving onto the porch with Joshua. “I know I seem silly,” he murmured as they sat down together on the porch steps.
“You absolutely donot,” Joshua told him. “I know you love him … and he adoresyou.”
“He’s my big brother.”
“I know he is.” Joshua glanced at his watch and grimaced. “Dammit! He wants to do a baseball practice at 2 p.m. and it’s 1 p.m. now! That’s only an hour! He needs more sleep than that!”
“Screw baseball practice,” Nate snapped. “It’ll keep ’til tomorrow. Let him rest.”
Joshua picked up his phone and sent Trent a quick text message. “Maybe Trent can do it.”
“Of course, he can do it. And the kids will understand. They’re all worried about him.” He nudged Joshua’s shoulder and pointed.
Trent was walking toward them with Jeff at his side.
“He asleep?” Trent asked.
“Out cold. But he told the kids he’d do practice at two!”
Trent wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “Nah! Let him sleep. My guess is he’ll sleep the whole night through if you let him. His body needs it. I’ll handle practice.”
Joshua scrubbed his hands through his hair, then eased out a long sigh. Fighting off tears, he buried his head in his arms.
“You want my opinion?” Trent continued. “You need it as badly as he does.”
“I can’t stand it,” Joshua moaned, his voice muffled against his arms. “I can’t stand to see him hurt and broken this way. I’d a thousand times rather it was me. Amilliontimes!”
Trent laid a hand on Joshua’s shoulder. “Josh, you both had a bad night. Me too. Alex too. But by tomorrow, the light will be back in his eyes, and he’ll be up and rarin’ to go.” He gave Joshua a gentle shake. “I promise you.”
Joshua nodded.
“Now go in there and lie down beside him. Give yourself a few hours free of Camp Pride worry. You’ve got plenty of people here willing and eager to step up.”
Jeff ruffled Joshua’s curly hair. “Let your friends take up the slack … just for today.”
Joshua looked up at them, then nodded again. “God, you have no idea how good that sounds.”
Trent pointed to the cabin. “Go.”
