Love is Always Write Anthology Bonus Volume

helped Daren sit and then stepped out, knowing that it was the only tiny shred of dignity he was able to offer him at this point.
    When he stepped back into the bathroom, Daren was curled in on himself again, his eyes squeezed shut. Sebastian snapped on fresh gloves, then carefully picked him up and moved him to the shower. He set about removing all the elastic bandages, and wrapping all the gauze ones with plastic wrap. Sebastian was sure there were some jokes in there, if only Daren wasn't making a face like he was heading to the gallows.
    Sebastian had hoped that the warm water of the shower would help Daren relax, but Daren knew what was coming and just tensed up. Sebastian pressed his left hand to Daren's chest so he'd have something to lean against and tried not to think about what his other hand was doing. Daren's left hand clenched into a fist so tight that his knuckles began to go white. His whole body shook. Sebastian tried to get through the rest of the shower as quickly as possible. At no point did Daren move or even open his eyes. Sebastian got him dried, rewrapped, and without comment carried him back down the hall.
    Daren's fist unclenched as he was laid into bed. Sebastian examined his palm to make sure his nails hadn't drawn blood.
    ****
    Sebastian half wondered if he was ever going to get the smell of bleach and cleaners out of his skin as he scrubbed down the bathroom yet again and took inventory of supplies. He quietly thanked the Navy for putting the obsessive need to take exact inventory in his head.
    He really needed more antibiotics and stronger pain killers. As Daren started to sleep less, he'd start becoming more aware of how much pain he was in and how long it might last. Short of theft or an illegal drug deal, Sebastian couldn't figure out how to manage it. And he could not afford to be caught doing either of those things.
    Sebastian checked the time. It was afternoon, time for lunch.
    The rest of the day progressed much as the one before had and slipped into another night of thrashing, luckily without ripping anything open this time, and again into a morning of exhaustion. The shower was no better, Sebastian's stomach twisting with guilt. He told himself Daren would be going through all this in a hospital and with more of an audience to boot. That didn't stop the half-dead look that haunted Daren's eyes from hurting.
    He stripped off his gloves as he got Daren back into bed with more pain killers. His hands were starting to sting, between the gloves and the scrubbing. He was going through at least a half dozen pairs of gloves a day, making sure to always wear some whenever he was doing something vaguely medical. He hoped it was letting Daren feel a little detachment when Sebastian was forced to touch his body.
    He put some hand lotion on the shopping list for the day and made a mental note to check out some nursing blogs after Daren was down for the night. He also sat down for just a second on the couch to rest his back. He also blinked.
    The clock on the second hand DVD player told him three hours had passed when he opened his eyes from that blink.
    "Shit," he softly breathed and went to check on Daren. Daren was awake and his eyes followed him across the room. "Sorry, I just sat down for a second." Daren didn't answer. "Hungry at all?"
    Daren shook his head.
    Sebastian grabbed his stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. Daren's blood pressure was still a little on the low side. He knew that could just be Daren's default setting, but he was still keeping an eye on it. Daren winced as the cuff was pumped up. "Sorry, this'll just take a second." It was a bit of a Catch-22. Daren's right arm was broken, which made it hard to take pressure, and the cut on his left arm was just where the cuff had to go.
    "Still a little low," he commented as he pulled the cuff off.
    "You didn't take the money," Daren mumbled, a slightly quizzical look on his face.
    "What money?"
    "In my wallet."
    "I'm not a thief."
    "But you're poor." He said the word like it was a foreign concept, and considering the Dolce&Gabbana wallet, it probably was.
    "That doesn't make me a thief, and I get along just fine." It was a bit of a lie. His bank account was getting thin, and he really needed new roommates if he was going to make the rent. The battered-up kid might be a little hard to explain though.
    Daren gave him another slightly confused look.
    "I'm going to go get you some juice. You need to keep something in your