Indigo Road (8 page)

Alex rolled
his eyes again and mine closed involuntarily
, his concerned voice making me want to pay more attention.
“You sure you’re okay?”

“
Yeah, I’ll
be fine in the morning,
I just need some
rest.”

Before sleep
took me completely, Alex slipped his hand in
to mine, squeezing gently.

I WOKE
the next morning in a puddle of sweat with a wet
hand towel across my forehead.

“You’re awake.” Alex’s eyes were still filled
with worry.

“Ugh.” My head throbbed and my mouth was dry.
“Water,” I managed to squeak out.

Alex reached
behind him and
retrieved a bottle of
water from the fridge. Opening it, he lifted my head and held it to
my lips as I drank.

When did I become incapable of doing this
for myself?

“
Thanks,” I
murmured when he took the bottle away. My head
pounded and I lay back down, closing my heavy eyes. “I feel
like crap.”

“
I figured
that. I’ve made some phone calls and we need to get on the road if
we’re going to make it. Can you
get
yourself ready and get in the passenger seat, or do you need
help?”

I didn’t have the energy to ask what he was
talking about. “I can do it.”

I stumbled
out of the back of the van on weakened legs. The mottled sunlight
filtering through the trees made my head hurt so much I
almost vomited, and all I wanted was to lie back
down. Alex fixed me a bowl of cereal, and I ate a little while he
moved around, packing up and making sure everything was secure for
the road. He gave me some Tylenol and another bottle of water
before rushing off to the showers and returning with another cold
compress for my head. God, that felt good.

“Come on. It’s not too far from here.”

I climbed
in
to the passenger seat and rested my
head against the window. Before I knew it, Alex was helping me out
of the van.

“
I’ve checked
us in
to a room and the doctor will be
here within the next hour,” Alex said, his voice
strained.

I looked
around. Alex hadn’t checked us into a crummy motel on the side of a
highway
, he had checked us into somewhere
a little more upscale. “Doctors do house calls?” No clinics I knew
of did that.

“
Inn House
Doctor service
the Seattle area. I called
ahead and one will be here soon. Come on.”

Alex led me
to the elevators, carrying both
bags on
one shoulder while keeping me upright with an arm around my waist.
I leaned into him, taking comfort in his warmth even though I was
boiling hot. I felt his lips on my forehead again and this time it
didn’t feel like he was taking my temperature, but I wasn’t really
paying that much attention.

“Am I still hot?” I asked, my voice slurring
like I was drunk.

“
Hmm? Oh yes.
The doctor will be here
soon. I’m sure he
will.” He sounded a little panicky.

Once Alex got
the
keycard
inserted and the hotel room door open, he led me to one of
the large beds in the middle of the room. The coolness of the
sheets was welcome against my heated skin. I didn’t have a chance
to look around the room before my
eyes
closed.

Sometime later I woke to fingers running
gently through my hair. It had grown out some since we left home
and I relished the feel of fingers carding through it.

“
Josh,
the
doctor’s
here. Wake up for me, okay?” Alex sounded on edge and I
tried to wake up as best I could.

“
Josh
ua Simpson? I’m Dr. Isaiah
Campbell. How are you feeling?” I could only grunt in response.
“That’s what I thought. Can you tell me where it hurts
most?”

“All over,” I mumbled. “Head.”

The doctor
listened to my heart and lungs and the chill of this stethoscope
made me flinch. “Sorry, I know it’s cold. Probably feels a bit
worse
against
your skin because of your high temperature.”

When had he taken my temperature?

“
Open for
me,” he ordered, but when he held down my tongue with a
wooden
depressor, I coughed so much I
almost vomited on him. I rolled onto my side and tried to control
my breathing, but it was difficult to do.

“
What is
it,
Doctor? What does he have?” came
Alex’s tiny voice. I hated making him worry.

The doctor
prodded and poked me some more before answering Alex. “He has a
case
of influenza. Make sure you keep his
fluids up, and only clear fluids. I know the chef so I’ll make sure
he has a batch of clear broth on hand.” I heard the distinct
scratch of pen on paper. “You can fill this at the pharmacy around
the corner. It’s an antiviral and make sure you read this list of
instructions. Alternate Tylenol and ibuprofen every two hours
should help with the fever. Remember to push the
electrolytes.”

“
Thank
you
, Doctor. Thank you so much for coming
out.” Alex sounded relieved, but there was an underlying concern
there as well. I heard the door click shut, then Alex rummaging in
the duffel before sitting beside me on the bed. “Here, take this,”
he whispered, handing me two tablets and another bottle of water.
“I’ve gotta run to the pharmacy, but I’ll be real quick, okay?
Promise. If you need me before I get back, call me. I’ll come as
quick as I can.” Alex placed my cell within reach before testing my
temperature with his lips again.

I couldn’t
open my eyes thanks to the pounding in my head, but I heard his
footsteps hesitate before opening the door. I
didn’t hear it close.

THERE WERE
times I heard Alex’s soothing voice as he talked to me, but I could
never make out what he was saying. Every now and then I was aware
of fingers running through my hair, a press of lips to my forehead.
Once I could have sworn I felt his lips on mine, but I couldn’t be
sure.

I felt cold
towels running over my limbs and chest
,
and every now and then a fresh one placed on my forehead. Alex
would wake me up and spoon-feed me some soup, just like the doctor
ordered, before making me swallow pills that hurt my throat going
down.

I don’t know
how long I was asleep, but when I woke up next
, I was hot, though I didn’t think it was from the fever.
My head seemed relatively clear and I could breathe more easily.
There was something heavy
across
my chest, and when I opened my eyes, I saw Alex
curled up next to me with his arm around my waist, his hand resting
on my upper body. His brow was furrowed in concern, even in
sleep.

It didn’t
take me long to realize I liked seeing him there next to me, curled
around me like a
worried… lover?
Boyfriend? This was what I wanted. I wanted my Alex to be… more. I
didn’t have a clue about being gay or what to do when it came to
another man’s body, but I didn’t care. No relationship I’d ever had
felt as right as this one. And if Alex felt the same, then he could
do to me whatever he wanted. Maybe the bout of flu had scrambled my
brain… or made everything clear; I didn’t know which. I cared only
that Alex was with me.

I gently
cupped his cheek with my hand, savoring the feel of his
stubble against my fingers. But before I could
place a kiss on the top of his head, he jerked awake and flew out
of bed.

“
You’re
awake? How are you feeling?” he asked urgently, his eyes shining
with relief
. But there was a look of
discomfort there too. Didn’t he mean to fall asleep next to me,
hold me? He fidgeted with the seam of his sleep pants and wouldn’t
meet my gaze.

I
frowned
. “Umm, better I think. Not
fantastic, but… better.” My head wasn’t throbbing anymore at
least.

“Okay, good. That’s good.”

“What time is it?”

Alex looked
at his watch.
“Ten o’clockish.
Wednesday.”

“
I’ve been
out for two days?” I asked, bewildered. I didn’t think I
had been that sick.

“
Yeah, I
know. If you hadn’t improved
by this
morning, I was taking you to the hospital.” Alex looked at me with
a small smile, relief etched on his features.

“I’m sorry I made you worry,” I said,
standing and testing my wobbly legs.

“You sure you’re okay?”

My head swam
a little, but not much. “Yeah, I am. Not at full strength yet
and
—” I sniffed. “I really need a
shower.”

Alex eyed the
bathroom door. “Will you be okay in there by yourself?” he
asked
hesitantly,
like he knew he should help me, but didn’t want
to.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

When I got
out of the shower, Alex was still in his
pajamas. He’d ordered room service for breakfast and was
sitting at the small table drinking coffee. I wasn’t sure how much
I would be able to
eat,
but it smelled heavenly.

“
Hey.” The
tension in the room had eased some
since
I’d been in the bathroom.

“
Horse. Feel
better after a
wash?” Alex smiled, but I
could still see the wariness in his eyes.

“Oh yeah, it’s amazing what a long hot shower
can do, especially in a place like this.” I looked around the hotel
room. “Can we afford this?” I knew what Alex was like with his
budgets and spreadsheets.

“
Even if we
stayed here all week, we’re still
okay.
We were well paid for working at the Bar None, and we didn’t have
any expenses over that time.” Alex grinned; he obviously liked
being ahead of his self-imposed budget.

“When do we have to check out?” Now that I
took in my surroundings, I wanted to enjoy them a little before
hitting the road again.

“
Not till
Sunday if we don’t want to. We can
relax,
watch movies, swim, use the gym.” He patted his flat stomach. “Even
order room service and watch movies in bed. Maybe pizza.” His eyes
danced.

“
Now you’re
talking.” My stomach rumbled uncomfortably as I took a seat
opposite him. “Ugh, maybe no pizza till I’m one hundred percent.
The last thing I want is to smell
pepperoni and not be able to eat it.”

THERE WERE two large beds in our hotel room, and
although we’d been here for two days, it looked like only one had
been slept in. That morning, since waking up, Alex had come and
gone. He’d done the laundry using the hotel’s facilities, worked
out at the gym, swam, and ran out to a deli for lunch.

I holed up in
our room, still not feeling the greatest, watched in-house
movies
, and napped. After waking a second
time, I walked around the room, checking out the facilities. It
wasn’t the Ritz, but it was clean and comfortable, easily three
stars, maybe four. Looking out the window, I tried to figure out
what town we were in. I didn’t remember leaving the last RV
site,
but it didn’t
take me long to see we were in Seattle. As I looked up and the down
the street from my perch at the window, I saw Alex heading back
toward the hotel, a plastic shopping bag in his hand as he was
jostled by the city crowd. He was talking on the phone animatedly,
and judging by his hand gestures as he swung the bag around, he was
frustrated and angry—with the person he was talking to or himself,
I couldn’t be sure. Pocketing his phone, he ran his hand over his
head and looked up at the hotel. I quickly jumped back from the
window before he could see me.

Although
I
’d thought he was heading back, Alex
didn’t show up for another hour. I wondered what he’d been doing,
but when he entered the room, he seemed happy and himself again.
Maybe I read his body language wrong when I saw him on the street.
It wasn’t like I had a clear view and he was surrounded by other
people.

We ate
dinner—I ate
only a little since I still
wasn’t feeling great—and watched a movie before Alex crawled into
the other bed and said goodnight. Did I really expect him to share
a bed with me?

Yes
, I did.

I wanted to hold his hand.

BOREDOM SET in and we left the hotel before the
end of the week. It was a nice
change,
but the road had quickly
become our home and we were eager to get to Northern
California.

We climbed
into Maude after checking out of the hotel
. There was a putrid smell coming from the
back,
but it was more
pronounced on the passenger side. When I mentioned this,
realization dawned on Alex’s face.

“The fridge,” we said in unison.

In the rush
to get me medical help, we’d both forgotten about the food in the
fridge and the fact that the battery needed charging every couple
of days. We didn’t dare open it until we could get someplace to
clean it out. I didn’t think the parking attendant at the hotel
would appreciate the
spoiled food in the
basement parking lot.