Taking In Strays by Kracken Read Free Book Online Page B

his mind had played a large roll in his latest string of bad decisions and, he felt, the flu was punishment enough.
    “I’m awake,” Donny called back weakly, coughed, and tried again. “Something light would be good.”
    “Oatmeal? Toast?” Peter suggested.
    “Toast with jam,” Donny decided.
    “As long as you eat something better, later,” Peter admonished.
    “Okay,” Donny replied and then rubbed at the dopey smile that threatened to bloom on his lips. The man had sounded like a concerned lover, just then, or someone’s worried mother. Donny wasn’t sure that he liked the two images coming together at the same time in his mind. While he didn’t remember the mother that had passed away shortly after his birth, he could still get uncomfortable thinking about one and a sexy oversized god in the same instance.
    The door opened a short time later and Peter came in holding a tray of toast slathered in jelly, steaming coffee, and a glass of orange juice. He placed it on the side table as he looked Donny over critically.
    “You look pale and red around the eyes,” Peter observed. He held out a digital thermometer and placed it near Donny’s ear. After a moment it beeped and he checked the reading. “Not terrible,” he announced, “but you should still stay in bed.”
    “Yes, sir,” Donny replied with some amusement.
    Peter smiled as he placed the thermometer alongside the tray. “I have an afternoon shift, today. I’m not sure about leaving you alone, though. I might ask Dan to stay here, while I’m gone.”
    There was a tone to his voice that told Donny that the man wasn’t just concerned about Donny’s health. When Donny thought about it, he found that he couldn’t blame the man for not trusting him. Still, the thought of being assigned a babysitter was too hard to accept.
    “I’ll be sleeping,” Donny argued. “This bed and I will be inseparable for the next few days. Dan will only get to watch me snore and wipe my nose.”
    “What if you need something?” Peter pointed out. “What if you get worse? I really should take you to the clinic before I go to work.”
    “Leave a sandwich, some ice water, and some extra Kleenex, and I’ll be fine,” Donny replied firmly. “As for the clinic, they’ll just stick a finger up my butt, prescribe me some antibiotics, and condoms. I’d rather have that done by someone I know.” He chuckled at the dirty joke, but then stopped when he saw Peter’s frown. Recent history should have made cracks like that one off limits. “Sorry,” he muttered. “That was stupid.”
    “If you realize that, then you’re ready to get help,” Peter told him and then tried for an expression that was more light hearted, “At least that’s what Dan tells me.”
    “Must be nice having such a great brother,” Donny said wistfully, wondering what it would be like to have the support of siblings who might not have agreed with his father.
    “The need to serve the community must be genetic,” Peter joked as he began gingerly cleaning up some used Kleenex with a fresh one and tossing them into a small wastebasket, one Donny had failed to notice. “My little brother wants to be a fireman. My older sister is a nurse.”
    “And your mother is a saint, like you?” Donny chuckled.
    Peter looked embarrassed and said in a muted voice, “Well, I can’t say anything about myself, but I think she deserves at least sainthood for raising us.”
    “Did she take your coming out as hard as your father?” Donny asked and then tried to take the question back. “I’m sorry! That’s really none of my business.”
    Peter seemed lost in memory, though, looking at the wall with troubled blue eyes as he replied, “She cried. I thought, at first, that she was rejecting me, like Dad, but then she took me aside and told me that life was going to be so hard for me. She’s always been there for me, but she still worries about me and she does wish that I’m not gay.”
    “These idiot