Page 60 of Love in Tandem
“Food,” he mumbled, rubbing his bloodshot eyes. His hair stood on end. He wore a sock on one foot, a shoe on the other. And based on the flash of ankle she saw beneath his wrinkled pant leg, he’d lost the sock for that foot. “Food,” he said again.
“Yeah, food.” Sophia glanced to D’Artagnan as if to ask Is he okay? D’Artagnan stared back as if to say About that hamburger . . .
“Joshua, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re a mess. Let’s get you something to eat.” D’Artagnan scampered to the kitchen in full agreement. Joshua, not so much.
“I can’t. I’m still trying to find it.”
She really hoped the it in that statement referred to his missing sock and not the money.
“Well, you need to eat and sleep or you’re never going to find anything.” They’d address the it later. She marched to the kitchen and returned with a milkshake. Pressing the straw to his lips, she said, “Drink this.”
He sucked down half the container. “Good job,” she said in the same tone she might use with a toddler. Joshua must have noticed. He frowned. But at least a little spark had returned to his eyes.
“Eat this.” She shoved three fries into his mouth.
“Why are you feeding me?” he mumbled around the food.
“Because french fries help everything. Eat some more.” But he was already falling asleep midchew. Maybe she should stop force-feeding him. Maybe she should just get him to bed. Especially when she noticed the bottle of pills perched on the edge of the desk.
“Melatonin? Isn’t that to help you sleep? Did you take one of these?” No wonder he was so out of it.
He nodded like a drunken sailor in turbulent seas. “Meant to grab the caffeine pill bottle.” He swung his arm toward the hallway bathroom, nearly smacking himself in the face with his own hand.
“Okay. My initial statement stands. You’re a mess.” Thankfully sharing a dorm room last semester with a roommate who had tried making that old John Belushi movie Animal House her own personal college experience had given Sophia plenty of experience leading a half-conscious person to bed.
Swinging one of Joshua’s arms around her shoulder, she wrapped an arm around his waist. “Okay, soldier. Lift those feet. Hup, two, three, four. Hup, two, three, four.” Unfortunately Joshua carried a few more pounds than her petite roommate had. His weight sagged further against her with each hup.
“Dude, unless you want to sleep on the floor, you’ll pick up those feet.” She grunted. “Joshua, I’m serious.” She groaned. “You’re turning into dead weight.” She dropped him.
Oomph. His body thudded against the hardwood floor at the bottom of the staircase. She braced her hands on her knees, catching her breath. “Did you just die? Because I do have a knack for being with people as they take their final breath.” If only she’d been with Hopkins before his final breath, maybe they wouldn’t be in this mess.
She nudged Joshua’s foot. He snorted. Well, not dead at least. Just exhausted and slightly comatose.
Arching her back, she looked around for something to prop his head on. “Don’t move.”
He answered with a garbled response and another snort.
A quick glance in the kitchen told her D’Artagnan had located the hamburgers on his own. Great. She’d deal with cleanup in a minute. Climbing over Joshua, she took the creaky stairs to the top and searched for his bedroom. The rumpled sheets and unmade bed in the bedroom next to the hallway bathroom suggested that’s where Joshua had been sleeping. Or rather, not sleeping.
She grabbed a pillow and a blanket, then creaked her way back down the wooden stairs and tucked in Joshua as best she could. He was already drooling, so she didn’t think he was going to complain about whether his pillow was fluffed or not. She started to rise, then noticed his glasses smooshed against his nose.
She tried sliding them off gently. When they refused to let go of one ear, she became less gentle. “What’d you do? Superglue these on?” She managed to free the glasses, but not without losing her balance and sailing backwards. D’Artagnan appeared the next instant, licking her face with his hot hamburger breath.
Well, at least she had an excuse to continue missing her parents’ phone calls. Because she wasn’t going home until she got an answer about that money first. And based on the snores, that answer wasn’t coming soon.
The following morning, settled on the porch swing, Sophia still didn’t have an answer about the money. But the fact Joshua was finally awake made her think she might be a step closer.
“Good morning,” she said as he stood in the doorway, blinking. “How are you feeling?” She steadied the porch swing. D’Artagnan rose from his spot next to her feet and trotted over to Joshua.
Patting the dog’s side, Joshua squinted against the late morning sunlight. His hair stood up on one end. A crease ran down one cheek, disappearing into his unshaven scruff. And he wore the same rumpled shirt and jeans from last night. The same rumpled shirt and jeans from the first day they’d met, to be specific.
Hopefully they’d reached a level of friendship by now where she could start making personal hygiene suggestions, because she certainly had a few thoughts on the matter.
“How long have you been here?” He straightened from petting D’Artagnan.
Sophia glanced at her watch and pressed her foot to the floorboards to resume her gentle swing. “A little over fourteen and a half hours.”
“Where are my glasses?”
