“Starving, but I should probably pee while I’m up.I should be good to manage the stairs back down now.”JP did not sound enthusiastic about that.
“Do you want to sleep up here with me tonight?You could.We could share a pizza…” He wanted to, sort of.
“I would like that.A lot.And not just because it means no stairs.”JP looked right at him as he said it.
“You can take a shower even.I have the pull-down shower head and a built-in seat…”
“Tabernacle!Really?”JP’s eyes were huge.“I would like that.So so so so much.A shower.”He shook his head.“That would be heaven.Even better than this bed, which is a treat, Chou, I have to tell you that.”
“Well, let me set you up with that, then I’ll order a pizza, and get us both a Coke.”Ian grinned and went to put towels on the seat and in the floor of the shower so it wasn’t slippery, and then he pulled down the removable shower head.The tankless water heater made things so much easier, so he didn’t have to warm the water up.
JP came in, moving pretty well with the walker.“Would you mind getting new dressings for my leg?I’ll take these off.The wound is allowed to get wet at this point, as long as I don’t put hard spray on it.”
“No problem.I’ll get you some clean clothes, too.What do you want on your pizza?”He could get JP some freshly washed pajama pants, too.
“Meat, please.”JP grinned at him.“You know what I like.”
“I do.”He made sure that JP could move around pretty well.Then he got a carnivore pizza, a salad, and garlic bread.After that he gathered up dressings and clothes, along with JP’s toothbrush and meds, carrying them upstairs.
He could hear JP in the shower, making happy noises.He could only imagine how nice the flow of hot water would be after weeks and weeks of sponge baths.
He poked his head in the en suite.“I ordered the pizza, and I have your dressings and everything.”He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to look or not.
“Can you come in and help me, Chou?I’m a bit stuck here.”
“Of course.”He had seen every inch of this man.He could help JP out.“Let me grab more towels.”
“Yeah, the ones in here are soaked.”
When he returned with the towels, there was JP, in all his glory, one leg looking rather Frankensteinish, but everything else looking very studly.
He helped get JP dried and sitting on the toilet, before cleaning up the floor and taking the sopping wet towels to the washer.
JP had managed to get himself into the shirt and the pants of his pajamas up to his thighs by the time he got back.
“I know that made a big wet mess,” JP said.“But it was pure heaven.Thank you.”
“It’s fine.It cleans up easy.Let me doctor your leg, and we’ll get you settled.”He loved the way JP smelled, and he inhaled deeply, filling his lungs.
“You smelling me, Chou?”JP breathed in deep.“I know you smell good.I finally do too.First time in weeks.”
“You can shower anytime, love.”His cheeks burned.“I bet you feel amazing, though.A real shower.”
“It was pure heaven.And I really feel clean.”
He could tell that it had taken a lot out of JP, though, and the sooner they got him back in bed, the better.
He slathered ointment on the scar and then bandaged JP up before hauling him to the bed and getting him settled.
Then the doorbell rang, and Ian ran downstairs, taking a second after grabbing the pizza to have a minute to rest and breathe and focus.
JP was in his – their really – bed.Sitting there, looking like a stud in their bed.And he was staying the night.
Ian just needed to get everything closed up down here, take the pizza up, and try to breathe.
He locked all the doors, checked that the oven was off, along with all the lights, and then grabbed paper plates, napkins, and cups, along with their Cokes and the pizza.He headed upstairs, going straight to the bedroom where JP waited for him.
Please don’t be asleep.I’ll just cry.
