“Good.” Meridian lowered his voice even more and Ex’s eyes flickered open. “Now ease off the clutch and give it some gas.” Meridian felt the car jerk, but it didn’t accelerate. “A little more, Ex.”
Ex growled and gripped the steering wheel with both hands. His right leg bore down and the car sputtered up the rest of the driveway in second gear after it refused to go into third. No sooner had Ex got the car around the back of the house and put it in neutral, it cut off with a sad whine. Ex pounded the steering wheel.
“You were right, Mere. This thing is a piece of shit. I have enough money to buy Ev a hundred Jaguars and here I was about to give him this fuckin thing.” Ex got out of the car and slammed the door before Meridian could say anything. It was difficult but he didn’t follow his partner, feeling he needed the time alone.
Meridian closed his eyes and inhaled the cold air seeping into the car. He looked around the outdated interior, thinking Evan would’ve adored Ex giving this to him. Evan had loved anything his big brother did for him. Ex probably would’ve used this time after their Bolivia assignment to get the Hyundai in good running condition before the fall semester at Georgia Tech began. Maybe even worked on it with Evan like they’d once done when Ex was in high school.
Fuck. Meridian rubbed his palm over the ache deep within in his ribcage. He pulled open the glove compartment and shifted around the old junk, noticing there was a vehicle manual at the very bottom. Meridian flipped through the pages for a few minutes, then tucked it into his back pocket and got out of the car. Ex had a small tool shed just beyond the house. He’d go out there tomorrow and see what he had to work with. Meridian didn’t know much about vehicles, but he was always exceptional at following detailed instructions.
But first he needed to sleep.
Meridian bolted out of the chair he’d been sleeping in at the sound of a loud crash coming from across the hall. He grabbed his forty-five and listened, not hearing any signs of a break-in or struggle. Dismissing any thoughts of a threat, Meridian dashed out his door and into Ex’s room. The inside was dark except for the few glowing embers from the small stone fireplace across from the bed. He immediately saw what had caused the crash as he eased around the glass of water that’d once been sitting on Ex’s nightstand.
“Ex. Ex wake up,” Meridian said, easing onto the bed. It was hard to get close because Ex was thrashing, his arms flailing as if he was fighting someone off him. “Easy.”
“Fuck off,” Ex snarled, his voice sounding garbled with sleep, but Meridian understood him.
Shit. Meridian shot his forearm up and blocked another one of Ex’s wild jabs. He knew jolting him awake or trying to restrain him was the worst thing to do but he couldn’t listen as demons tortured his partner in his sleep. This was a bad one, he could tell. Ex was tensing and bucking something off, his mouth tight, his teeth grinding so hard Meridian could hear them.
“Stand down. I’m here,” Meridian said softly from his side. “We’re okay, Ex.”
Meridian darted to the left when the heel of Ex’s foot came towards him, knocking him off balance on the soft mattress. He tried to catch himself from falling but Ex pushed his other arm from under him, which sent his upper body crashing down on top of him. Fuck! Meridian struggled to get his arm out of Ex’s grip so he could stop smothering him and making his nightmare escalate, which was exactly what happened.
Ex yelled and thrashed under him, “Run, run, go Mere! Please.”
“We’re safe. Wake up. I’m right here, Ex. Stand down. Stand down.” Meridian breathed rapidly along Ex’s ear. He closed his eyes against the pain of restraining his partner, but he had no other choice. If he released Ex’s hands and released his legs, then he could end up doing some real damage. “Easy.”
“Off. Get off of him!” Ex growled.
“It’s okay. I’m okay. Wake up, now, Ex.” Meridian pushed Ex’s hard body into the mattress as he lay on top of him, the side of his face and his lips moist from where they were pressed against Ex’s cool throat. “Calm down.”
“Meridian,” Ex said but it sounded like murdering. Ex was still asleep but what Meridian was doing was working, was calming his partner, so he kept going.
“Yes. I’m here, Ex,” Meridian whispered. He parted his mouth, trying to catch his breath, and pressed his lips against Ex’s rapidly beating pulse. “That’s it. Calm down.”
Ex sighed when Meridian dragged his nose along the straining cords in his neck, murmuring the same thing he’d been saying. His partner continued to whisper his name in return as if he were lost and trying to find his way back to him.