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“What’s the problem? I thought you liked them.”
Theo didn’t say anything.
“They’re doing us a favor,” Auggie said. “They just want to make sure we’re ok.”
“Right,” Theo said. “Because I can’t.”
“Hey—” Auggie said.
But Theo left before he could finish. He left the door open behind him because he didn’t trust himself to shut it quietly.
In the combined living space at the back of the house, Tean sat on the couch, paging through a book of poetry Theo had picked up—Frank O’Hara. He looked up when Theo entered the room, one finger marking his place in the book. Jem leaned against the counter, a White Rascal in one hand. His lips moved silently as he read something on his phone.
“You’re all set,” Theo said. “The guest room is at the top of the stairs.”
“I’m sorry we’re intruding,” Tean said.
“Don’t apologize to him,” Jem said without looking up from his phone. “We’re doing him a favor.”
“I’m apologizing because of the circumstances,” Tean said.
Jem made a noise, but he didn’t reply.
“Do you need anything?” Theo asked. “We’ve got spare toothbrushes—”
“We’re fine, thanks.” Jem swiped on his phone. “We’re going to stay down here. Keep an eye on things.”
Tean gave his husband a look, which Jem either didn’t see or ignored, and then turned to Theo. “Do you need anything? Is your head ok?”
Theo nodded. “I’ll be in our room.”
In their bedroom, he stripped and examined each article of clothing before dropping it into the hamper. He expected to find blood. He expected to find oil stains. The knees of his jeans were a little scuffed, and a dirty patch marked the back of his shirt. He found himself waiting for the smell of smoke, but there was nothing but sweat, a hint of detergent.
He showered, and after, he opened the door to clear the steam. The bedroom was empty. Theo put on deodorant, found a pair of sleep shorts, and stumbled putting them on. His knee was always worse when he was tired, and worse still when he’d been skipping his exercises. He caught a stranger in the mirror, and his pulse spiked before he realized he was seeing himself. He turned and looked again. Hair wet from the shower. A long red mark ran diagonally across his shoulder and back where the bat had connected. When he moved that arm, it still pinged at him. On his chest, a triangular bruise was already forming, shaped almost like an arrowhead, and Theo guessed he’d taken a punch that hadn’t registered during the chaos of the fight. But it was the eyes, really. He looked away from his eyes and got busy finding a shirt.
By the time he’d pulled on an old Wroxall tee, there was still no Auggie, so he let himself out into the living room. He found him on the couch. Auggie’s sleeve was rolled up, and Tean was applying a clean bandage while Auggie furiously wiped away tears.
“It’s going to be ok,” Tean was saying in a low voice. His bushy hair gave him a slightly wild edge, but the way he moved, the way he touched—he was always, as far as Theo could tell, so gentle. “Everyone’s been through a lot—” He stopped when he saw Theo.
Auggie looked up and wiped his face again. He met Theo’s gaze and held it, and Theo looked away first.
“Is your arm ok?”
It took a moment too long for Auggie to answer. “Fine. The bandage kept coming off, so Tean’s fixing it.”
“All done,” Tean said, rolling down Auggie’s sleeve. “Keep this arm dry while you shower, though. I can help you tie a garbage bag around it if you’d like.”
“I can do it,” Theo said. He got a garbage bag from under the sink, and by the time he stood up, Auggie was gone again.
Tean gave a significant look at the doorway to their bedroom.
“Where’s Jem?” Theo asked.
“He wanted to look around outside.” Tean offered a small smile. “I know that doesn’t mean anything to you, but it’s a sign of how seriously he’s taking this.”
“Thank you. Again.”
“You can trust him,” Tean said. “He won’t let anything happen to your family.” Then he gave another small smile. “Plus he knew I’d be suitably impressed. He did undermine himself a little when he made me list every snake in the state, even the non-venomous ones, before he’d go out there in the dark.”
