Isaac let out another laugh. “A little. Though I think before you, Cade would have said it as a joke, and Clay would have too, but in a way he didn’t think was serious.”
“Is this your way of saying you knew about Cade?” I wondered, remembering how Cade had told him how insightful Isaac could be, even to the point of seeing things that person couldn’t see themselves until the last minute.
“No,” Isaac said quickly, and then made a soft noise. “Well…no, but there wassomethingthat was…I don’t want to say unexplored, because that’s giving me more credit than I deserve.”
“He said your instincts were sharp,” I said with a snort. “I suppose I should believe him more often.”
“I suppose it would help now and then,” he said, and I liked his laugh. He was clearly comfortable in his own skin. “I can’t see anything, obviously, but, uh, how is he doing now? I assume better.”
“Much,” I said as I watched him half slumped over the counter and talking quietly into the phone. “You three must be quite close if my call was all it took for you to understand what was happening. He’s usually reserved about sharing that he struggles with his dreams and memories.”
“I don’t know much about it, and from what I’ve heard, Clay is only in the know because he was witness to one of Cade’s…bad moments. I suppose even someone like Cade can’t bury what’s going on when the evidence is front and center to an observer,” Isaac said with a sigh. “And perhaps Cade found in Clay a kindred spirit, because the Clay I’ve known has always been stubborn about accepting help, let alone asking for it. Thathas changed a little, but well, they also share a great deal of pain in their past.”
“Tell me about it,” I said, closing my eyes and shaking my head. “I’m not sure what I would have done if it wasn’t possible to call you.”
“I’m sure you would have found a way,” he said softly, speaking with a confidence in me I envied. “And before you protest, he clearly trusts you enough to sleep beside you despite knowing that now and then, he’ll have one of these moments. Or at least, I assume you were sleeping with him.”
“Literally,” I said with a smile.
“Then I think it’s safe to assume he trusts you.”
“Or he just expects that I’m in the same boat as him and would understand.”
“That more or less amounts to the same thing, don’t you think?”
“Maybe, maybe not.”
Cade was nodding slowly to whatever Clay was telling him, his face narrowed into an expression of intense focus and then resignation. Part of me desperately wanted to know what they were talking about, but I knew it was better if I wasn’t involved. He had needed Clay, so that was what he was going to get. If there was anything I needed to know, Cade would include me.
He lifted his head, and when he spotted me watching him, he gave me a tired smile and motioned toward the phone and then back to me. My brow went up. “Your man wants to speak to me.”
“Sounds about right,” Isaac said in amusement. “Then I’ll get off this phone and let the two of you speak. I’m sure he’ll call me afterward to settle the emotions jumbled in his head and bouncing around.”
I winced. “Is it wrong to apologize again?”
“It’s unnecessary, is what it is,” Isaac said in amusement. “Now talk to Clay so you can offer some comfort to Cade; he’ll need it, even if he might be resistant. Take care of each other.”
“Sure,” I said, not all that confident that I could help take care of anyone when I could barely take care of myself most days.
Walking over, I took the phone from Cade, who walked off toward the bed where I’d been sitting. “Hello?”
“Please don’t let him out of your sight,” I heard Clay say urgently. “He’s being vague with me, but this felt like a bad one. He said he…attacked you?”
“Not on purpose,” I said quietly, turning my back on Cade to muffle my end of the conversation.
“Look, I’ve slept beside him several times and he’s never tried to attack me,” he said worriedly. “I don’t know what that means, but I know it means he’s going to be feeling guilty, and he doesn’t do well with guilt. I know you probably already know this, but please, keep an eye on him. I can’t do it, and he clearly cares about you.”
“I hope so,” I said with a chuckle.
“And if you two end up being a real thing, you’re going to have to tell me how you seduced him to dick, because I tried and it was like trying to seduce a brick wall.”
“That, uh,” I said, glancing over and seeing said brick wall bent over, his head in his hands. “It’s a great way to describe him.”
“Just…don’t leave him alone, not for a couple of days if you can help it. Sometimes after these freakouts, he gets confused and he can wander. Mentioned it to one of my docs once and they said that mental confusion after a breakdown isn’t unusual, but he might also disassociate? If we could get him to actually talk to a doctor, it might help, but I don’t know.”
“I don’t either,” I said. “Some things just…can’t be fixed that easily.”
“I know that, trust me,” he said with a sigh. “But I just wanted to make sure you understood what was happening, and how bad this can get if he’s not being helped. I’d say not to let him out-stubborn you, but from what I’ve heard, he’s not going to manage that easily. Well, and I would have already guessed someone that was into Cade would have to be pretty hard-headed. It’s not easy to get the big idiot to open up, so you must be doing something right.”
