Snow Lodge
Chapter 17
They reached the bed, and Brian sat AJ down slowly, watching as AJ's face constricted once again in pain.
"Let's get you out of those wet clothes." Brian told him, as he began to unzip AJ's jacket.
Slowly, and very, very carefully, Brian managed to remove AJ's coat, jumper and T-shirt. His eyes widened and he bit back a gasp as he took in the marks all over AJ's upper body. His chest was a mass of bruising, blues and purples mottled all over AJ's normally tan skin.
"Shit." Brian exclaimed.
AJ spoke, his voice low and raspy. "That bad huh?" He winced again as Brian began to ease him so that he was lying down. Brian didn't reply until he had finished.
"It's not very pretty." Brian admitted as he began to take off AJ's pants.
"Not a good look for me?"
"I much prefer you when you're your normal colour." Brian admitted, and then bit his lip as he realised how that sounded.
AJ didn't respond though, and Brian looked up at his friend, surprised that he didn't have a witty comeback for that.
AJ was just staring straight up at the ceiling, looking but not seeing. Brian frowned, and he finished stripping AJ as quickly as he could before moving pulling the covers over AJ and moving back up the bed.
"AJ?"
AJ saw the light dim as something moved into his line of vision. He knew it was Brian and tried to focus on his face as he replied. "Yeah?"
Brian frowned again. AJ's eyes had darted around, obviously trying to focus, but even now he could tell that AJ wasn't focusing on him, his pupils were dilated, and his eyes looked glazed.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" He asked, bringing three fingers up.
'Shit. Busted.' AJ thought as he heard Brian ask the question. He didn't want Brian to know. He was scared enough already after seeing the bruising- what was he going to do when he realised that AJ's vision was whacked? AJ knew that it could only mean one thing- that he had done some damage when he hit his head, and he knew full well that Brian would realise that too: and completely freak out. He tried hard to focus on the blur that was Brian's hand.
"Two?" AJ said, sounding more like a hopeful guess than an answer.
"Fuck" Brian swore under his breath as he let his hand fall. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, sounding desperate.
AJ reached a hand up to the blur that was Brian's face, trying to reassure him a little. Brian grasped the hand and held it against his cheek, needing the contact as much as AJ did. AJ's thumb caressed the soft skin as he replied.
"I wasn't sure at first, and I didn't want to worry you."
"You didn't want to... Jesus Alex! You're blind. You can't see anything and you didn't want to worry me! That's fucked up."
AJ tightened his grip on Brian's face, pulling him closer. "I'm not blind Brian. I can see you, it's just all a little blurry."
Brian wasn't entirely convinced, and decided to try something. He waved his hand in front of AJ's face, looking for a reaction. AJ smiled a little before he spoke.
"Rok. If you don't stop waving your hand in my face I'm gonna chop it off." Brian chuckled a little with relief and dropped his hand to mimic AJ's caress on his cheek.
"Sorry. Just checking." He told him, a little chastised.
AJ's eyes fluttered shut, and he leaned into Brian's caress a little, a small smile playing on his lips.
"I know. It's okay." His eyes opened again as he slipped his hand around the back of Brian's neck to pull him closer. Brian let himself be pulled down, and rested his hands on either side of AJ's head, careful not to put any weight on his battered body as he rested his forehead against AJ's.
"Rok, you're frozen." AJ exclaimed, as he brought his other hand up to touch the frozen skin of Brian's upper arm.
"I don't care about me. I'm more worried about you."
"Well I'M worried about YOU! You need to get warmed up as well."
"I will." Brian replied. "Just as soon as I get you sorted out."
"Fuck Brian." AJ sighed. "Look. There's nothing you can do for me at the moment, except take care of yourself. Cos you're not going to do me any good if you get hypothermia are you?" AJ retorted. Brian sighed. AJ was right.
"Okay, okay. Give me a minute. I'm gonna get the fire going in here, and make us both something hot to eat and drink okay?"
AJ smiled "Fine. But first change out of those clothes, they must've been as cold and wet as mine were."
Brian stood up from the bed and quickly stripped off, pulling on a pair of sweatpants and the thickest, warmest jumper he could find, before heading out of the bedroom to go and get started.
