Lunch and dinner with Lev were ok. But here I was laying in the office bed unable to actually sleep. I could hear Lev sleeping. The man snored ever so lightly. So it wasn’t like that was the reason I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t know what the reason was. Tossing back the blankets, I knew letting Lev out tomorrow was risky. He could take a turn for the worst and it might be too late to get him back to the medic wing. His wound was deep, but also nothing he probably hadn’t dealt with before, hell the man had only taken a bullet to the gut a handful of weeks ago and ran away after that. So this was nothing.
The fact that this was a super clean knife wound played a major role in his healing.
Technically, Lev should be able to get up and walk around a bit. Though, it wouldn’t be a comfortable thing.
Leaving the office, I peeked through the closed curtain at Lev. He was sound asleep and looked pretty comfortable. I was jealous of him for being able to sleep. I doubted he was going to wake up anytime shortly, so that gave me plenty of time to work off what was keeping me awake.
The tank top and sweatpants were perfect for working out. I could stop by and grab clothing from Caleb’s before heading back here and showering and sleeping.
The workout room was bound to be empty at this time. Alexi gave me the pass to use the same room as him, my dad, and the rest of them. Not worried about my shoes, I just grabbed my phone and headed down the hall. The door popped open when I held my phone up to it.
The treadmill, bike and all that stuff were top of the line and definitely great, but the boxing stuff was where I was headed. When I had the time before I left, I was keeping in shape using it.
Taping up my hands, I took the time to make sure I did this right. I had to work with my hands, so this extra care was important. The first punch was a sobering reminder of how long it has been since the last time I took time for this.
By the fourth or fifth hit, I was pretty comfortable again. But it didn’t seem to help, If anything, this was making it worse. I groaned deeply in annoyance and left the gym. It didn’t take long for me to get back to the medic wing. I wasn’t sweaty, so I didn’t bother grabbing new clothing.
Stepping inside the medic wing, the door was open and light was on inside the showers. I could hear the shower running. If it was Lev, his bandages were waterproof, but why now?
He was probably going to sneak away again.
When he stepped out of the showers, he had a pair of sweatpants on. I didn’t give him those, and by his size, there were only a few people who could lend him pants. Creed was one of those people. He was dabbing the area around the bandage when I finally cleared my throat.
He looked up and sighed.
“Of all the times.”
“You were going to sneak off again.”
“You’re not wrong.”
“Then fucking go then. Don’t bother lingering. Let me go get your shit.”
“Alessio.. I think—”
I grabbed his things and shoved them in his arms, and he looked conflicted.
“You’re wrong about this. I was going to sneak off out of the medic wing, but not out of the complex. We had a deal.”
“Oh.”
I stood there awkwardly. He set his things down and continued to dry his torso off. I didn’t really look the man over before, but it was hard not to now.
“Where did you go?”
“The gym.” I showed him my hands, still covered in the tape.
I wasn’t looking forward to removing all the tape.
“Here let me help.”
He grabbed my right hand, his fingers brushing over some of my scars and tattoos as he peeled away the tape.
“I did not know you had tattoos.”
“I have a ton of them. I just keep them well hidden.”
“Apparently, that’s not the only thing you’ve kept hidden.” He said, his fingers brushing over and lingering on a single scar. The largest of all my scars.
I really wasn’t sure what he meant by that. Other than maybe he was talking about how I hid my scars. I didn’t enjoy talking about them. That was why they were covered in tattoos to begin with.
When he was done peeling the tape off my hands, he continued to look over all my tattoos, although I was trying to push him into getting back into the bed. He wasn’t budging in the slightest. I sighed loudly, getting his attention before he could slip his fingers under my tank top weirdly. He stopped and removed his hands from my skin.
“Sorry.”
“No worries, you really should get into bed. You shouldn’t be moving around too much.”
“Then let’s go. You can’t sleep here, or you would have.”
“Then where?”
The look he gave me reminded me of the deal we had. I said I would take him to Caleb’s with me. The only issue with that was I really didn’t know where he was going to sleep. There was the couch, but that would be no good for him. Then there was the bed. And well, I didn’t know how comfortable I was with having him in Caleb’s bed. It was the only place that smelled deeply of his scent. I didn’t want to part with it yet.
“Right. The deal.”
Lev stood around while I put things away and made sure that everything was cleaned. I was going to have to clean the bed tomorrow when I came back in the morning. Grabbing my things from the office, I also grabbed Lev’s phone from the table in the corner by the bed.
“Alright. Let’s go then.”
Lev looked mildly shocked, but followed me. He didn’t waste any time. I walked slower than normal for Lev to keep up with me. The halls were dead at this time of the morning. When we got to the door, Lev looked pained. I felt bad. I should have never agreed to let him leave from here.
“You’re in pain. I never should have let you leave the medical wing.”
“I’m fine, don’t worry.”
“I don’t believe you damn it.”
“You don’t have to, But it doesn’t change that I’m ok.”
“But you’re not!”
He sighed. Clearly frustrated with me. Ignoring me, he took my phone and waved it over the door lock. He didn’t open the door, he just stood there. He didn’t have a problem unlocking the door, but opening it, he did.
I opened the door and held it open for him to go inside. He walked in slowly, all the lights off so you really couldn’t see anything. I waited a moment before stepping inside. I expected him to be further up the hall, but when I bumped into him in the dark, I almost fell.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to stop.”
“No worries, there should be a light switch on the wall by us.”
I heard his hand running on the wall, and then light flooded the hallway. It was blinding. But now we could see where we were going. He casually looked around as he walked into the kitchen area. It was pretty plain. There was a toaster and a coffeemaker. That was it. Caleb and I pretty much bought frozen dinners. He wasn’t a fan of cooking, and I couldn’t cook. Though I tried really hard to find the time to learn how.
“I’ll take the couch. You can take the bedroom.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, you can’t take the couch. It won’t be comfortable for your wound.”
“Ok.”
I showed him to the bedroom, and he went back to bed. Though he didn’t seem like he wanted to sleep there, it was almost like he found it awkward. I could understand why. I would put clean sheets on the bed in the morning for him.
I looked around the living room, not sure what to do while he slept. I couldn’t sleep. I knew it would not happen right now. I was feeling pretty stable right now, knowing that if I broke down, I wouldn’t be alone. Even if it was just Lev.
Walking into the kitchen, I grabbed a black garbage bag. Repeatedly telling myself that I could do this, I could get rid of some of Caleb’s useless stuff.
Looking at the pile of magazines and books on the table, I glanced over them before shoving them into the bag. I would have donated them, but with everything Caleb was involved in, who knew what the books had written or tucked away in them? My next spot was all the strange things he had collected over the years on his dusty bookshelf. It was all junk.
Heavy feelings started inside of me, but I ignored them. Wiping a single tear away as I tossed all kinds of paper that were well over ten years old into the trash bag. Caleb had kept this bottle of alcohol that he never drank that was a gift from when he graduated medical school. I understood the ‘value’ to him, but it was another setback, the constant reminder of alcohol.
“I can’t wait to throw you out.”
I pointed at the bottle before cleaning around it. I cleaned everything in the shield underneath it. Reaching back, I grabbed a scrap of paper and whacked my head pretty hard on the bottom of the shelf. The bottle up above fell over and rolled off the shelf before I could stop it. Tumbling to the floor and hitting me square in my toes.
“You motherfucker!” I hollered at the top of my lungs, forgetting for that second about Lev sleeping on the other side of the far wall of the living room, in the master bedroom.
Not hearing him move, I brought my foot up to my chest the highest I could, still cursing quietly. Putting my foot back down, I reached down to pick up the bottle, but I noticed feet and legs behind me.
Slowly standing up, bottle in my hand, I turned around. Lev had his arms crossed, and a frown etched into his features. His hair was messy, and he looked like he might have been asleep when I actually dropped the bottle. Setting the bottle on the shelf again, I spoke.
“Sorry.”
“You are supposed to be sleeping. That is the whole point of this.” He said, his voice rough with sleep.
“I couldn’t sleep—-”
“Lets go, You’re getting some damn sleep. I’ll hold you in the damn bed if I have to.”
“Wait! What?”
Lev grabbed my arm and pulled me to the bedroom right behind him. It was dark except for his flashlight on his phone being on and resting on the nightstand.
“Get in that damn bed and go to sleep, Alessio.” He hissed.
Not wanting to find out what would happen if I didn’t, because he seemed pissed off, I climbed into the bed and under the blankets.
Taking the pillow behind me, it wasn’t mine, but Caleb’s. Lev had my pillow. He had to know it was mine, too. It didn’t have Caleb’s scent on it. But rather, it smelled of citrus. Just like the body wash I used. Ignoring that. I laid down and watched as Lev flicked off the flashlight. Fishing my phone out of my pocket, I turned the lights off in the living room from the app I had. Setting my phone on the nightstand, I closed my eyes and relaxed.
I felt Lev roll over and then I felt his breath on my ear.
“If you so much as get out of this bed before me, I will hold you down in the damn thing. Understood, Alessio.”
The tone of his voice gave me goosebumps with how threatening it seemed.
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