“I have an idea. You take the day off. Smoke one of your sleepytime cigarettes and I’ll stand guard.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I told him.
“I want to. It’s not good for you to go without sleep.”
“What about your brother?”
“The search can wait until tomorrow. Let me take care of you. I’ll be right back.” After making himself decent, he left and returned a few minutes later with a bagel, toasted and slathered with some kind of oil and spices, likely one of Artemis’s creations.
“Where’d you get this?” I asked, sitting up on one elbow.
“The girls’ room. We went shopping. They’re keeping the food in there, since the rest of us are slobs. Also there’s no room in Gizmo and Macon’s room because his workshop exploded. You should see all the projects he’s working on.
I smiled and opened the covers for Kitten to slide in beside me. He fed me the bagel, taking only a couple of bites for himself, which was a feat of restraint on his part. “Today you’re going to sleep,” he insisted, “and I won’t leave the room, I promise. I’ll pee in the sink if it’ll make you feel better.”
I smiled at his bossiness. “I’ll try, but wake me in a few hours, okay?”
I attached my leg, grabbed one of my sleepytime cigarettes, and smoked it outside. I was frustrated with my lack of progress. In the woods, I could build a fire or hunt. I could slay Rabids and scout a path for the others. Here, my skills were wasted. I couldn’t even track down one missing person.
“Back to bed,” Kitten said, herding me back inside. He pointed to our tiny, single bed still rumpled from the night before. The drugs were beginning to take effect, making me sleepy and loopy all at once.
“Come cuddle up to me, Kitten. Let me pet you as I fall asleep.”
Smiling wide, he snuggled up against me, so warm and so soft. His hair smelled like strawberries–how was that possible? A familiar contentment enveloped me. Even on the nights when I couldn’t sleep, just holding and smelling him made me feel more at ease. I couldn’t believe I’d ever considered leaving him behind. Only a dumbass would do that.
“You did?” he asked. I must have said it out loud.
“I was wrong. Don’t leave me, okay?” My voice–it didn’t sound like me, too needy, too desperate.
“I won’t leave you, tough guy, I promise.”
He thought I’d meant right then, but I might have meant forever.
* * *
I woke up hours later,early afternoon judging from the slant of the sun. It shined in through the window and lit up Kitten’s curls where his head was bowed slightly over a book.
“Whatcha reading, cutie?” I asked.
“You’re going to laugh at me,” he said without glancing up.
“Maybe. Tell me anyway.”
“Twilight,” he said as if it were a question.
“The book about vampires?”
“And werewolves,” he said defensively. I chuckled and he shot me a look. “What? It’scompelling. Teresa and Artemis are working on getting the whole set. There are movies too. Have you seen them?”
“No,” I said, but I appreciated the normalcy of it all. He should be getting lost in fantasy worlds, not dealing with our bleak reality. “No judgment here, Kitten. Read whatever makes you happy.”
“Do you need anything right now? I’m kind of in the middle of a good part.”
“Oh yeah? What’s happening?”
“Edward is telling Bella about when he was made into a vampire, during the Spanish Influenza.”
“Do you think vampires are sexy, Kitten?”
