Page 50 of Blaze & Ajax

“I’m here to help,” I said.

His smile was tired as his shoulders sagged and he rubbed his neck. “Thanks. I haven’t slept much. Nate needs meds and to eat.” He started to look panicky and paced a bit. “When was the last time I fed him? Was it lunch? He had mac and cheese. Shit, that was yesterday, or… He loves mac and cheese. Imean, he loves nachos more, but I’m kind of sick of them. We went to this one place that had really good mac and cheese. They put bacon in it. It was a splurge for us, but we had to try it. I mean, you only live once, right? When was it? A few months ago, I think. It was cold out. There was snow, and we wanted to go play in it since we hadn’t done that in a long time…”

His ADHD was more pronounced today, probably from the stress. When I rested a hand on his shoulder, he stopped his rambling. “I’m here. Go take a bath or a shower or whatever, then grab a nap. I’ll watch over Nacho for a bit, okay?”

Pippin lunged at me and pulled me into a fierce hug. “Thank you!”

I hugged him back and patted his back. “You’re welcome. Go relax for a bit. Do you have your earbuds?”

He nodded.

“Good, listen to some chill music and just rest.”

“Okay.”

Alpha already gave me instructions on what I needed to do, so Pippin didn’t need to tell me what he needed help with. It would’ve taken thirty minutes just to get the answer while under this kind of stress.

Pippin wandered off as I headed back into the bedroom they both shared. Before they admitted their feelings, they lived as roommates. Now, they had one bedroom, and the other was converted into an office space.

When I stepped into their bedroom, I found Nacho resting in bed, looking through a magazine, with his broken leg propped up on a pillow. Because of the concussion, he wasn’t allowed to watch TV or use his phone. It was too stimulating.

“Knock, knock,” I said.

He looked up and gave me a tired smile. His dark curls were a wreck and looked a little tangled. I’d remind Pippin to help Nacho brush them out.

But what made him look terrible was the bruising and lacerations on his face from hitting the asphalt.

“Hey,” he said.

“How’s it going?”

“I’m bored as fuck.”

I smiled and lifted the bag. “A littlepresent.”

He rubbed his hands, still covered in bandages from the asphalt scrapes.

I sat on the edge of the bed, dug into the bag, and pulled out a Styrofoam container.

“No way! Nachos?”

“Yep, from your favorite spot a couple of blocks away… with extra jalapeños, right?”

“Sweet!”

“I grabbed some of their pralines, too.”

“Oh, Sam will love those. But he’s so tired of nachos. Who can blame him?”

“I brought Sam a personal-sized cheese pizza, but I sent him off to chill in the bath for a bit first.”

“You’re the best, Ajax.”

I handed Nacho a plastic fork, and he dug into the tortilla chips, smothered in melted cheese and refried beans.

“How are you holding up?”

Nacho shrugged. “I get headaches and shit. I’m uncomfortable and bored, as I said, but Sam’s been really great. He’s trying so damn hard. And I’m so proud of him fighting his fears of doctors by coming to see me at the hospital.”

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