“I forgot he had relatives coming to town. He told me, but I don’t remember irrelevant shit like that.”
“Oh cool,” the guy said and took another hit of his joint.
Day turned to go inside before backing up a step. “Yo, man, God told me to ask if y’all can make sure no one fucks with them when they get here. God’s on the phone handling business right now.”
“Tell God we got him.”
“Cool.” Day shrugged and strolled back into the apartment. He raced to the small linen closet that was right next to the kitchen and got a clean towel out. In the freezer he only saw two ice trays, but thank goodness they were full. He quickly dumped all the ice in the towel and ran back into the bathroom.
His chest hurt when he saw God panting heavily on the floor. He was drenched with sweat and his body was shaking violently with tremors. His eyes were closed tight as his body tried to fight the sickness coursing through him.
“Oh no.” Day dropped to his knees, not caring about the ache in them and made work of lifting God’s shirt up so he could get to his chest. “Hang on, babe, help is coming.”
He saw God open his eyes slightly, a look of obvious worry on his face. “I didn’t call 911, my brother’s coming. Try to relax.” Day began to rub the ice-filled towel all over God’s massive chest. God groaned, shook, heaved, and coughed over and over as Day tried his best to keep working on cooling God down.
Day was beyond frustrated. God’s temperature wasn’t coming down. He was still hot as an oven set on broil. Day’s eyes watered when God grabbed his hand and clenched his teeth when a coughing fit took control of his large body.
“It’s gonna be okay. My brother will be here any minute.”
God looked into Day’s eyes again. Their usual intense green was now red-rimmed and as dull as dying grass. But Day could still communicate with his partner, and he knew what God was thinking.
“I told your neighbors that you had relatives coming and to look out for them. They think you’re in here handling business.” Day held God’s hand tight while wiping at his brow with the cold rag held in the other. Day bent and kissed God’s forehead, just like he’d done to him before, letting him know how much he cared for him.
Day heard a light tap at the front door, before it opened and his brother’s voice reached his ears.
“So where’s the beer and the girls,” his brother yelled.
Perfect. The Day men were always quick on their feet, smart as whips. He knew Jax would catch on.
Day got to his feet and ran into the front room. He ran into his big brother’s arms. “Thank you for coming so fast. He’s back here.” Day took the small rolling suitcase from his brother and said a quick hello and thanks to his brother’s MAs before showing them back to the small bathroom.
“Damn, he is big,” one of the assistants said letting out a short whistle.
“I told you. Come on, fellas. I need to get him into a bed and get the IVs hooked up. I can already tell he’s severely dehydrated. So first things first,” Jax said to his assistants.
It was ridiculously hard fitting four men into God’s tiny bathroom to try to lift him, but somehow they’d done it. God hollered more than once as they gripped and pulled on him however they could to get him into his bedroom without dropping him. By the time they'd gotten him in the king-size bed that took up ninety percent of the space, everyone was breathing hard.
His brother was panting, but he immediately went about opening the luggage and laying out supplies. His assistants made quick work of removing God's sweaty T-shirt and sweatpants.
Day sat on the side of God’s bed and rubbed his cheeks and forehead gently with a cool rag.
“I’m right here, baby. You’re gonna be all right,” Day whispered, and saw his brother’s head shoot up at hearing his endearment for his long-time partner, but Day kept his eyes on God’s face. He groaned some more and would probably be writhing if he had the energy to move his limbs.
“Cash, can you hear me?” Jax spoke in his stern doctor’s voice. “Cashel, I need to know if you are allergic to any medications.”
It appeared God tried to answer, but as soon as he opened his mouth he coughed violently and was unable to mumble anything intelligible, slowly shaking his head no.
“That will have to do,” Jax said, digging out what he needed.
Day sat quietly, watching his brother and his assistants work quickly and efficiently. God was hooked up to an IV, and several vials of blood were being drawn while Day’s brother used his stethoscope to listen to God’s lungs.