A Subtle Breeze by Bailey Bradford (libby ebook reader .txt) 📕

on the back a few times before letting go. Brendon looked at the man, confused as hell.

Nick grinned and took Brendon’s elbow once again. “I’m not gay, buddy, but you can’t tell me you didn’t need a hug. And I’m secure enough to give you one. Went to school with Ezekiel, you know.”

“No, I didn’t know. He, uh, doesn’t talk about the past much.” Brendon figured that was as much of an explanation as he could offer right now. Forming coherent sentences was struggle enough.

“Yeah, well, maybe you could let him know that he still has friends. Some of us miss him like hell, ya know.” Nick nodded at Brendon’s surprised look. If they had missed Zeke, why hadn’t they visited? Called? Broken Eva’s kneecaps? The other man must have seen the doubt in Brendon’s face, known where his thoughts were at—mostly.

“We tried, you know. He wouldn’t let us in when we came over. Hell, most of the time, he wouldn’t even answer the door, or take our calls—nothing. I don’t know if it was because he was protecting himself from more rejection, or if he didn’t trust us not to…well, act like some of the other people in town. But the fact is we wanted to be there for him. I wanted my friend, and I wasn’t the only one. So, just let him know, will ya, that he has friends, okay?” The serious look in Nick’s eyes as they walked through the hospital doors told Brendon what he needed to know.

“All right, yeah, I’ll tell him. Thanks.” Brendon nodded at Nick then headed over to the nurses’ station, everything forgotten except Zeke.

* * * *

Jesus, fuck, he hurt like a mother. Why’d he feel like this? Oh. Yeah. He was pretty sure he would never forget again. The vision of his insane sister steering her big old car, loving husband at her side, right toward him and Brendon— Brendon! Zeke tried to crack an eye open, failed and tried again, biting back a groan as light battered his poor eyeball. He blinked a few times until his vision cleared, panicking until he spotted Brendon dozing in a chair pulled up to the bed. Zeke studied his lover closely, trying to pry his other eye open, settling for the one when he couldn’t. Other than the bruising under his eyes from lack of sleep, Zeke was guessing, Brendon looked fine. Rumpled, stubbly, and exhausted, but still fine as hell.

He told himself to push aside his selfish need for comfort and go back to sleep, but figured some part of him somewhere must have disagreed, or else Brendon had some built-in lover-alert radar, because that man’s eyes shot open— Oh. Zeke could smell it now, just barely. Seemed like his mama wanted to make sure Brendon woke up. His lips twitched in a grin as Brendon gasped and leaned forward, holding Zeke’s hand for dear life.

“Zeke?” Brendon’s voice was quiet, and Zeke could hear the tears and strain buried in there. He looked into Brendon’s soft brown eyes and felt his heart melt all over again. Jesus, what would he have done if he’d lost Brendon?

“S’okay, babe,” Zeke tried to reassure him. Brendon’s tears were breaking Zeke’s heart—he couldn’t stand to see his lover hurting in any way. How bad did he look himself, and how much was Brendon hurting for him?

“Come here.” Zeke hoped Brendon knew what he meant, because his strength was fading fast. When he felt Brendon gently place his head on his chest, Zeke finally allowed himself to rest again.

After letting the nurses know Zeke had come around, Brendon sat back and watched him sleep, feeling a little better now Zeke had woke up, even for a few brief minutes. Looking at the damage done, Brendon knew Zeke was lucky to be alive. His knee was torn to hell, femur snapped like a twig, and his hip had been banged up. That was just the lower half. For that, Zeke had plates and pins, a rod in his thigh for the shattered femur. Above the belt, Zeke had bruised ribs, bruising to his spleen and liver, and cuts and stitches a few places on his face, including one by his eye which had resulted in a great deal of swelling.

The concussion Zeke had sustained had been more worrisome—he’d been unconscious for two days. Even though doctor’s tests had shown that there shouldn’t be any long-term damage from Zeke’s head injury, Brendon had worried about him regaining consciousness. As for the stitches in his lover’s face, Brendon didn’t care. He didn’t think he had ever seen a more beautiful sight than when Zeke had finally come to.

He heard the door open and glanced up to see Enessa and another woman poking their heads in. Guess the nurses passed the information on. He gave the women a tired smile and nodded for them to come in. Enessa’s face was lined with worry—she’d stayed up at the hospital with Brendon almost the entire time they had been waiting for Zeke to wake up, only leaving to shower and grab clean clothes. The other woman, though… Brendon narrowed his eyes at her. The resemblance between her and Enessa was clear. She approached Brendon and offered her hand.

“I’m Elizabeth. Uh, nice to meet you?” Her voice was timid and her introduction came across more as a question than anything else. Brendon considered ignoring her outstretched hand. After all, where the hell had she been for the past few years? In the end, the sadness in her big green eyes, so like Zeke’s, had him caving. He reached for her hand, figuring he could wait until he heard from Elizabeth herself why she’d pretty much abandoned her brother before passing judgment. Sort of. He’d try his best, anyway.

“Brendon, and maybe under other circumstances, I’d agree.” Well, that was as nice as he could get right now. Elizabeth pulled her hand back as if she’d been burned then turned to