“Coming!” they both called.
Dakota smiled.
Lightning flashed in the sky and they ran back toward the cabin.
“Hey,” Dakota said, leaning over Jamie’s sleeping form. “Wake up, sleepy-head.”
“What time is it?” Jamie asked, setting an arm over his eyes.
“Ten, I think.”
“Shit. I slept in today.”
“You sure did,” Dakota laughed, pressing a kiss to the man’s lips.
“What’re you doin’ up?”
“The kids woke me up earlier. The older boy wanted me to walk around the property with them.”
“How come?”
“I dunno. Just for something to do, I guess.”
Jamie threw his legs over the side of the bed, grabbed his shirt and tossed his head back, a yawn escaping the expanse of his chest as he pushed his arms into the air. He smiled when he caught Dakota’s gaze. “What?”
“Nothing,” Dakota laughed. “Just watching you.”
“I can tell.” Jamie stood, knocking Dakota’s shoulder with his own. “We supposed to go downstairs?”
“I guess. I thought I heard someone moving around down there. That must be where Kevin and Eagle are sleeping.”
Jamie tapped on the support beam. “Hey, kid, wake up. We’re goin’ downstairs.”
“For what?” Desmond yawned.
“To eat, most likely.”
Desmond shimmied down the ladder and started to get dressed.
“You feel comfortable here?” Jamie asked.
Dakota smiled. “I do.”
“Gonna rain again today,” Eagle said, parting the curtains in the living room’s bay window to watch a flash of lightning crest the sky. “No cigarettes until tonight, Jessiah.”
“But… Eagle, it’s only one.”
“Listen to him,” Kevin said, pressing a hand against his oldest son’s back. “I don’t want you getting any sicker than you are.”
“Dad—”
“I’ll take your cigarettes away if you don’t listen to me.”
Jessiah said nothing. He bowed his head, reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the carton of cigarettes. “It’s more tempting if I have them on me,” he said, passing them into his father’s hand.
Kevin offered a nod and a pat on his back before looking up at Jamie, Dakota and Desmond. “Good morning, gentlemen.”
“Morning,” Jamie smiled. “Still raining?”
“Sadly,” Eagle said, pulling the curtains back into place. “You don’t want to send them off in this, Kevin. It’s going to get worse.”
“I didn’t plan on sending them away,” Kevin replied. “They can leave when they’re ready to.”
“We won’t keep you,” Jamie said. “We know you have a family to take care of. Your hospitality is much appreciated.”
“I feel at ease with more people around us, Jamie. Don’t ever feel as though I think otherwise.”
“You’re welcome to come with us when we leave.”
Kevin sighed. “I appreciate it, but it’s not right for us to leave. Not now, not when my family’s safe here.”
Jamie seated himself at the dining room table and kept silent as Kevin went about his business, gathering the morning’s breakfast and making his way to and from the kitchen. Dakota watched his frantic scurrying for a brief moment before settling into the chair to Jamie’s right, allowing him a perfect view of the curtained-off windows and the occasional flash of lightning that managed to pierce through them.
“How you doing?” Jamie asked.
“Huh?” Dakota asked.
“You look pale,” Desmond added. He took his place in the chair opposite Dakota and set an elbow on the table.
“I do?”
“Yes, you do,” Jamie said. “You sure you’re ok?”
“Might just be the lighting.”
“Could be the weather too, I guess.” Jamie set his hands over his head, turning his attention toward Jessiah. “Where’re your brothers?”
“Who knows?” Jessiah said. “I told them to come in, but they never listen to me.”
“That’s brothers for you.”
The door burst open. A gust of air tore through the house before it slammed shut and the boys came tearing into the house.
“Shh!” Jessiah hissed, jabbing a finger to his lips. “You guys gotta be quiet.”
“We are being quiet,” Mark said.
“That’s not quiet enough.” Jessiah raised his hand and started to cough. When the fit didn’t end for a good three minutes, Eagle stepped into the room with a glass of tea and pressed his hand to the boy’s upper back.
“There,” Eagle said, kneading the bones at the base of Jessiah’s spine.
Jessiah coughed three more times. He slipped the glass off the bowl in Eagle’s hand and downed a few swallows of the contents within. “Thank,” he coughed, “you.”
“Drink. Slowly. Then suck on this.” The Indian set a cube of caramel before him. “It’ll help your throat.”
Nodding, Jessiah bowed his head and took a moment to regain his composure. When he tilted his head up, Dakota caught tears rolling down the sides of his face and lines crossing the surface of his eyes. Blood trailed down one side of his lip.
“Jessiah?” Dakota frowned.
“I’m fine,” Jessiah said. He reached up to brush the blood away from his lip. “Really. I am.”
Dakota cast a wary glance in Jamie’s direction, receiving a shrug in response.
“Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes!” Kevin called out.
“Thank you,” Dakota called back.
He caught sight of Jessiah’s bloodshot eyes as he rose and made his way out of the room.
“You don’t think he’s got it, do you?”
“Got what?”
“It.”
Jamie paused in midstride. He laced his fingers behind his head, turned, then gave Dakota an uneasy look that could have easily broken a mirror into three pieces. “You think he got bit, don’t you?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking you.”
“If he got bit, he’d have died a long time ago.”
“Maybe he only got nicked.”
“What?”
“You know, nicked. Only just barely bitten or scratched.”
“Where the hell did you get that from?”
“I heard it on the radio back when me and Steve were still in his apartment.”
“It’s an infection, Dakota. It doesn’t matter if you get only a little nick or scratch. It works all the same.”
“I don’t know,” Dakota sighed, seating himself on the bottom bunk. “Goddammit. Now I’m worried about this.”
“It’s a good thing to be concerned about.”
“But these people opened their home to us.”
“It’s not like we’re staying forever.” Jamie fell to his knees in front of Dakota. He braced his hands against the younger man’s thighs and leaned forward to look at him. “It’s gonna be ok. I swear.”
“You’ve never let anything happen to us.”
“And I never will.” Jamie paused. “Look, if something goes wrong, we’ll just leave, simple as that.”
“Maybe you should get the map from Kevin tonight.”
“I will.”
“Just in case we have to make a quick exit.”
“I get the impression that Kevin’s not a bad man. Concerned for his family, yes, but not bad.”
“I didn’t think he was bad either. I’m just worried about Jessiah.”
“We’re behind a locked door every night while we sleep. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“I know,” Dakota sighed. “I just…I just don’t want anything to happen.”
Jamie wrapped his arms around Dakota and pulled him close. “I know,” he whispered. “Neither do I.”