THE FIRST WEEK FOLLOWED a regular pattern for Zach. He encouraged Dylan to sleep as much as possible, feeding him painkillers every twelve hours or and making sure he ate regularly. He redressed his burns and made sure he ate.
At night he touched Dylan as much as possible, but he couldn’t get close enough. Dylan’s injuries made it difficult to hold him, and Zach was going crazy with only a few kisses and the occasional hug.
On the eighth morning he watched Dylan roll slowly out of bed himself.
“Feeling better this morning, babe?”
Dylan nodded and began to unwind the white bandage that was wrapped around his ribs. “Yeah, I need a real shower, though.”
Dylan had been washing himself daily but hadn’t yet had a proper shower and his hair was pretty bad. His normally healthy dark blond cur
