Page 13 of Unicorn Unashamed

Chapter Five

It was a relief once Raymond agreed to come rest at Josh’s apartment, but watching him stumbling through the door was disconcerting. Josh had never seen someone get sick so fast before, and Raymond had always been the picture of perfect health.

He pushed Raymond in the direction of the couch and went to the kitchen to grab him a glass of water. This Josh shoved into Raymond’s hands before heading to the bathroom to snag him a towel.

“Favor for favor,” Josh tried to joke, handing the towel over. “It’s only fair, since you let me use yours before.”

Raymond stared at the towel for altogether too long before he took it. “Thanks,” he said weakly.

Thinking about a towel reminded Josh of something else kind of important. “Be right back.”

He made a beeline for the bathroom again, this time with a different purpose. Sure enough, sitting innocently on the counter was his stupid extra-strength scent blocker. Grumbling to himself, he grabbed it and applied the spray, taking the time to check his absorption pads while he was at it. His slick hadn’t yet soaked them—he’d always been a light leaker—but he felt cleaner doing so anyway. He stuffed the used ones in his trash and sprayed them with the scent blocker too.

When he came out of the bathroom, it was to find Raymond hunched over on the couch, head in his hands. He looked up when Josh approached and then immediately dropped his head again. The water glass was empty on Josh’s coffee table.

“You really don’t look so good,” Josh said, trying not to let too much worry show. But inside he was kind of panicking. Raymond had been totally fine. What had happened? Did people get sick that fast? The only time Josh had ever had gotten so sick so quickly was when he’d gotten food poisoning. “Did you eat anything weird recently?”

Raymond shook his head. He took a deep breath, then instantly looked like he regretted it. “I’m feeling better.”

“Are you kidding me right now?”

“No, no, I really am. It’s getting better. I just...” He abruptly stopped talking.

“What? What is it? What happened?”

Raymond glanced away and muttered something too low for Josh to hear.

“One more time,” Josh said, trying not to sound exasperated. Raymond was sick. Be patient.

“I underestimated being in an enclosed space with you.” Raymond was fully concentrating on the floor. “I’m fine. I am. I just needed to get some distance. And you, um… you smell different now.” He sounded unhappy about it.

Still, that was a relief to hear. Josh breathed out. “That’s all? Okay, good. I thought there was something to worry about for a minute.”

Raymond stared at him. “No,” he said at last. “I’m fine. Thanks. Sorry. I’ll just—” He stood up, wobbling a little, and headed to the door.

Josh dove in front of it. “If I’m not bugging you, you can stand to rest for a little bit longer. You seemed really out of it for a while there.”

“But I’m fine to drive now,” Raymond pleaded. “I’m feeling a lot better.”

Josh crossed his arms. “Just because you aren’t dying doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to go right back out into a torrential downpour and try to drive when the visibility is nil. You might as well wait until it lets up a little.”

Raymond nodded, still looking a little dazed. “I guess that might be a good idea.”

Josh snorted. “‘Might be,’ he says. But yeah, okay, just wait a few more minutes and get your head clearer and then you can head out. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Josh grabbed his duffel. “I’m going to take care of my wet stuff. Might change too, since I’m soaked again.”

Raymond nodded.

“I can try to find something for you too,” Josh offered. “So you’re not sitting in wet clothes.”

“O-only if you want to,” Raymond stuttered. “But the towel helped a lot.”

Josh eyed Raymond critically. “I’ll see what I can do. Be right back.”

“Okay.”

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