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Ben snorted. “Yes, your majesty.”
“No need for formality,” Simon joked back. “Sir will be fine.”
“Yes, sir.”
Simon’s heart jackhammered. He’d been joking, but there had been something about Ben’s immediate obedience that did… something for Simon. He couldn’t say what, exactly, and tried to put it out of his mind. Simon stood, with a minimum of crackling joints, and put a little distance between him and Ben.
It was just as well, because a few seconds later Hudson was at the door of the bathroom, his arms full. “Is there a party going on in here no one told me about?”
“You are hilarious.”
“Yes, sir. It’s why you keep me on staff.”
Curiously, Hudson’s “yes, sir” did nothing at all to Simon’s heart. It appeared to be unique to Ben. He’d have to consider the implications of that, but later. Much, much later. Now there were far more important things to do.
“You have Ben’s medicine?” Simon asked Hudson.
“No, I came up here without it.”
“Smartass.”
“You love my smart ass. I left the bag in the kitchen up here.”
“Okay.” Simon held his hand out to Ben. “You ready?”
The other man nodded his head and rose, using Simon’s hand to lean on. Simon was strangely reluctant to let Ben’s hand go, but he made himself release his hold.
“Great. Let’s see what kind of goodies Hudson got for you at the pharmacy.”
Simon opened the bag and dumped out the contents. There were four things. Two appeared to be inhalers. He looked at the leaflets and saw that one bottle of pills was Ben’s antibiotic and the other was a steroid. That one said to take in the morning so Simon set it aside. The antibiotic said twice a day and with food.
“I think you need to take the antibiotic tonight. Take a seat and I’ll get you something to take the medicine with.”
Ben sat at the small table for two that was placed just outside the small kitchen. Simon tried to remember the last time he’d been up on this floor and couldn’t. He had no idea where anything was, so he opened cabinets until he found a glass. In the fridge he found a few different types of water. Choosing one at random, Simon then looked for something Ben might want to eat. There wasn’t anything perishable in the fridge, but that would be remedied tomorrow. He’d have whatever Ben wanted to eat delivered. In the meantime, there was food in the freezer from the last time relatives with teenagers had come to stay.
“Let’s see. I have pizza, macaroni and cheese… oh! And ice cream. It looks like we’ve got Salty Caramel, Milkiest Chocolate, and Gooey Butter Cake.”
“Chocolate, please,” Ben said.
“Ice cream for dinner it is!” Simon found the silverware but got tired of looking for a bowl so he gave Ben the whole pint and a spoon. “There.”
Ben eyed the ice cream with a dubious look on his face, then he opened it up and took a bite. His eyes fluttered shut and he let out a low moan of pleasure that did unexpected things to Simon’s anatomy. Hurriedly he turned away and got himself under control. He supposed he was feeling nearly as emotional as Ben. It had been a very long day and Simon had gotten only snatches of sleep the previous night. He was also exhausted. His body was bound to feel peculiar.
He turned around and gave Ben the water and one of the tablets.
“Okay,” Hudson boomed, his voice bouncing off the walls of the short corridor from the bedroom. “Everything’s put away or at least stacked neatly. I put his clothes in the top drawer of the dresser.”
“Just the top drawer?” Simon asked absently, watching Ben swallow his pill then follow it up with more ice cream.
Hudson came closer and spoke quietly into Simon’s ear. “The kid doesn’t have much. I texted you his sizes.”
Simon met Hudson’s eyes, which were full of pity and concern. Simon nodded. He’d have things ordered for Ben.
Ben, who’d eaten the entire pint of ice cream yawned and then burped and looked incredibly embarrassed. “If you want,” Simon told him with an amused smile, “Hudson and I can leave you alone. What’s your cell number?”
“Why?” Ben asked, eyes wide.
“It’s so you can contact me without having to leave your room,” Simon said gently. “If you need anything—anything at all—either text or call and I’ll come right away. Okay? I’ll give you Hudson’s number, too.”
