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Before centering him I laid the towels in the middle of the bed and then lifted him onto them, careful to keep his head supported. I’d removed the vest outside revealing he had on a thin black tank top and khaki shorts. Wherever he’d been, sloshing around in a river had not been on his agenda based on his simple clothing. He was bare foot when I found him and that only furthered my belief he probably abandoned ship somewhere and was blown up the river. I could be wrong but I knew these waters and I’d been through several storms. If he’d been on the open ocean, my land was a likely beaching point.
I stared at the handsome young man and wondered what would I want a stranger to do for me in his condition? He deserved privacy and modesty so that was my plan. I unzipped his shorts and tugged them down. His soaked Calvin Klein briefs clung to his narrow waist and hugged his outline. It was impossible for me not to stare at his attractive body while he was in his current state and I felt pangs of guilt when I did.
I slid my hand behind his back and pulled the wet tank to his neck and then carefully over his bloodied head. His upper torso was returning color and he felt warmer to the touch. I grabbed the bottom of the towel under his legs and draped it over his private area and then slid his underwear off, turning my head out of respect. Retrieving a smaller hand towel, I laid it over his cock and then pulled the towel out from under. Now I could wash him with a warm cloth while protecting his privacy.
I returned from the kitchen with a pot of warm and soapy water, setting the container on the floor. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. I studied his smooth skin and lean body. He had muscles in all the right places with a sculpted chest, albeit smaller than my own, but you could see he’d worked his body at a gym. There were too many tell-tell signs that he had a membership and used it.
I lifted his hand and held it up to wash. His nails were neatly trimmed and had a clear varnish or shiny substance on each one. I’m not sure how I knew he had money but his perfectly manicured fingernails and the way his toenails were also trimmed, gave the impression those things must’ve mattered to him. And of course, the Calvin Klein briefs revealed he most likely wasn’t local in my opinion. I suppose local guys might wear Calvin’s, but they sure as hell hadn’t purchased them anywhere around these parts. The nearest mall was at least a hundred miles or more away. There was something about him that spoke of wealth. He reminded me of Lucas’ husband, Perry, who was from New York City and was a bonafide millionaire who’d come to town a year ago.
I cleaned his face, taking my time around the swollen knot on his head. From there I washed his chest and flat stomach, careful to stop at the edge of the small towel hiding his privates. He was helpless and completely unaware of his surroundings. He was beautiful and I wanted to protect him. “I won’t hurt you,” I whispered, sitting alongside him and gently dabbing around his eyes. “You’ll be safe with me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Hayes
Iheard a voice coming from a long hallway. It was kind and soft in tone. I couldn’t see who the person was and yet I heard them speaking to me. I tried to focus on the tunnel when a shadow figure moved toward me.
“Hello?” I asked. “Can you see me?” The shadow moved and there was nothing. “Come back.”
I tried lifting my hand and waving to get their attention but I couldn’t move. I felt like a giant piece of metal lying on a magnetic surface. I couldn’t discern any source for the light but it wasn’t dark either. Maybe I was having one of those dreams where I think I’m trapped but every time I attempt to get away I’m not sure where to go. A rush of vertigo made me feel like I was falling and spinning like a pinwheel, moving further away from the mysterious figure.
Suddenly, the shadow was back and their voice was soothing to my ears. I tried hard to concentrate on what they said but the calming echoes were all I could discern. The same cadence repeated over and over with the voice warbling like a sweet melody on a record. I should have been afraid of the strange figure standing in the fog, but I wasn’t.
I reached out into the fog, grabbing at wisps of smoke. “Hello?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: Bo
There was no cell service, the power was out, and the radio was silent. Besides an occasional bird squawking in the distance, this part of the world was stunned into silence. We were in the calmafterthe storm. The stranger on my bed hadn’t moved in the slightest. After sitting by his side most of the afternoon and until the sun was dipping below the water, I made a bed for myself on the floor beside him. I wanted to sleep nearby to look after him but was afraid to share the bed.
I kept a glass of water nearby and gently opened his mouth in an attempt to keep him hydrated. Most of the droplets would leak from the corners of his mouth but some were going down. There were several instances of him swallowing when I dripped water in his mouth, his Adam’s Apple moving with each swallow. He didn’t appear to be injured anywhere other than the knot on his head which was receding in size. I used the remaining ice that hadn’t melted due to the lack of electricity and wrapped it in a dish cloth to help with the swelling. It was too soon to be firing up the generator when I had no idea how long the power would be out. Gas was expensive and I needed to save my fuel.
Similar to my observation about his fingernails, I noted that he had a perfect set of teeth. I was fortunate to have good teeth despite the lack of dental care, but his teeth were the result of quality oral hygiene and a talented dentist in the contact list. There was no way he was poor like me. I had a knack for reading people and was seldomly wrong with my assessments.
Knowing if he woke up he’d need clothing, I washed his three items of clothing and hung them out to dry on the front porch. I’d checked the labels out of curiosity and to verify my hunches about him, and the shorts were simply The Gap but the tank said Gucci on its label. I couldn’t have been farther away from the fashion scene if I’d lived in Antarctica, but I’d seen the skinny dudes wearing that brand on the pages of magazines and knew it was pricey.
As I gathered my intel about his identity and what type of person he might be, I worried he’d be one of the rich types from the city. Even though I owned waterfront property like the fancy folk, I was lower middle class and always had been. Memaw scraped her way to keeping a roof over our head and a meal on the table each night, but I knew my station in life and it wasn’t at the ritzy country clubs. This man looked like private golf lessons and fancy club houses. Hopefully I was wrong.
I was standing at the kitchen sink with the water running when I thought I heard something, so I quickly turned the faucet off and stared at a window that was still boarded up, listening intently. Nothing but crickets and frog noises filled the air from outside so I reached to turn on the faucet again when I heard the sound once more. I startled and turned toward the stranger in my bed. Nothing from him that I could hear, but I moved across the room anyway and stood over him. His eyelids were moving rapidly and his lips trembled. I leaned toward his face, tilting my head to the side and lowering closer to his mouth.
“Jump,” he muttered.
And jump I did, nearly tripping over the chair I’d sat on most of the day.
I moved closer, sitting on the edge of the bed and placed my open palm on his bare chest, waiting nervously for the steady drum beat of his heart. He was still alive and wasn’t mumbling in a fit of death like I’d just thought. My imagination desperately needed to check itself. The insane thoughts occupying my mind were a result of some impending doom I feared was coming my way since discovering him.
“What did you say?” I asked, finding myself gently caressing his chest. “Are you in there?” He was warm and I felt connected to him through my touch. “I have you now and you’re going to be safe with me, okay?” I whispered, feeling overcome by the sleeping angel in my bed.
His mouth opened and I damn near screamed from the surprise. But he didn’t make any noise, so I leaned closer and willed him to speak.
“Jump,” he moaned. “Run. Jump,” he repeated. I moved back and watched his eyes as they continued to scatter like marbles behind his lids. His arms suddenly shot up toward his face, causing me to jump off the bed. “Run, Hayes. Run,” he whispered harshly, pulling at his hair. His voice was haunting and sent shivers down my spine.
I grabbed his hands and lowered them to his sides. He didn’t fight me or give any indication he was aware of what he’d just done. After placing the hand the furthest away from me to the bed, I held the other one to see if he might squeeze or send me a signal. He was in there for sure. How far in, I couldn’t be sure, but he could speak and that was a good sign.
“Who is Hayes?” I pondered out loud, wondering who this man was and how he’d ended up in my bed. “Is your name Hayes?” I asked.
After an hour of holding his hand and gently caressing his skin, nothing had changed since his outburst. I wanted to comfort him and hoped my touch wasn’t creepy. I thought about what I would appreciate if I were alone and unable to communicate; a loving touch. So I stayed close to him and tried my best to soothe whoever was inside the unconscious body.
Eventually, I took a quick shower and slipped on a fresh pair of boxers before heating a can of soup for dinner. If the stranger didn’t wake up soon I’d try to spoon feed him soup with the water. As I ate the lukewarm chicken noodle soup I gazed at my guest while trying to imagine where he may have come from and what kind of life he led. Maybe he was a golf instructor at a country club or a school teacher at a private academy. What if he had a wife and some kids? The possibility of him being straight hadn’t crossed my mind. Maybe I should stop caressing him if he’s married because he could be freaking out inside.Holy shit.No more inappropriate touching.
My heart broke a little at the thought that he was probably straight. I hadn’t planned on that outcome and wasn’t sure why. From the moment I noticed how handsome he was I immediately assumed he was available. How incredibly naïve I was to automatically think he could be gay like me. This was the rural Low Country of South Carolina, and I was in the deep south where gorgeous strangers don’t wash up on my shore and announce they’re there for my desires.
