Page 42 of A Quiet Man

"Tomas? Cody? What's wrong?"

"We're going to take Cody home and drop off his car, okay? Cody, can you give me your keys and I'll drive you home, and Tomas can follow and pick me up so you'll have your car, okay?"

Cody nodded slowly and fished in his pocket.

Riley met Tomas's eyes, worry written all over his face. Tomas shrugged slightly, indicating he didn't know what was going on either.

They got busy taking Cody home. On the ride, Cody rested. He didn't have much to say, and Tomas didn't feel it was right to pry. He wanted to take on whatever had hurt Cody and beat it into submission, but he also realized it might be something he couldn't do anything about. The one thing he could do was try to take care of Cody now, till he felt better.

Cody roused himself a little on arrival and managed to get out of the car on his own. He seemed embarrassed and kept saying, "Thanks, guys. Sorry about this."

"It's no problem," said Riley. "Is it okay if I come in with you, or just Tomas?" He searched Cody's face. He was such a considerate guy, unwilling to intrude on another shifter's home territory unless he'd been invited.

"It's...no. I don't need anybody." Cody turned away. "I'm going to lie down for a while. Thanks." He patted Tomas's arm awkwardly. "But you guys can go. Things to do, and..." His voice broke. "I gotta go."

He bolted for his front door, and Tomas followed quickly with his keys. Cody tried to open the door, then looked around vaguely. "Keys. Where did I leave my...?"

"Here you go." Tomas moved up beside him and opened the door for him.

"Thanks," Cody mumbled in embarrassment, and hurried inside, head down.

Tomas cast a look of silent communication to his partner, who nodded, and then he went inside, leaving Riley to call the captain if he chose, or just keep watch for a bit.

He followed Cody to his bedroom, where the fox shifter was standing quite still, staring at his neatly made bed with tears in his eyes. He put a hand on Cody's arm. "Cody, did somebody hurt you?" He was afraid of the answer, but he had to ask — and he had to follow up on whatever Cody told him, not let the precinct sweep it under the rug.

"No, not me."

Tomas's mind churned — and then it clicked into place. Cody was the homicide shifter; he had up-close-and-personal access to death as the main part of his job. Today, something about that had gotten to him in a very big way, and he was either in shock or close to it. Nobody had hurt him; it was just the job. And that was bad enough.

Tomas wrapped his arms around Cody. "I'm sorry."

Cody relaxed into the hug, but he didn't say anything. His hands clenched and unclenched slowly. Then his phone rang, and they both jumped. "Oh, hell, it's probably the captain. I'm probably fired." His little broken laugh hurt to hear as he fumbled for his phone.

"Here, let me handle it. You won't get fired."

Cody relinquished his phone without protest, not even looking at the name of whoever was calling him. Tomas let go of him and moved away from him slightly so he could deal with this; a glance at the phone showed it was Justin calling. Probably wanting to know what was wrong. Tomas rejected the call and muted the phone and pocketed it.

"It's only Justin. He can wait." All that stuff could wait. Besides, if Justin would just call or text his husband, he could find out as much as Tomas knew. "You want to get into pajamas and go to bed? Or eat something, or shower? Or have me get out of your hair?"

"I don't think I could eat." Cody shuddered. He looked at the bed indecisively. "I guess I'll rest." He moved to sit down on the bed, smoothing the covers with absent fingers, still troubled. At least he was no longer shivering. Then he looked up at Tomas, his gaze vulnerable and weary. "Can you stay? Just for now? I — I don't want to be alone."

"Of course I'll stay." Tomas sat down on the bed beside him and put an arm around him again. He didn't know what to do, but he wasn't going to flee, even if this was awkward and difficult.

Cody leaned against him and closed his eyes, his breathing erratic.

Was he crying? Maybe. Tomas held him, and neither of them talked. After a while, Cody lay down on his side and closed his eyes, his breathing growing shallower. Tomas stayed with him on the other side of the bed after making sure Cody was covered with enough blankets to keep him warm.

He spent a few minutes texting the captain, Justin, and Riley, explaining as best he could that Cody was dealing with some shit and Tomas was looking after him at the moment. He also texted Auden that he couldn't pick him up tonight; something had come up. He wasn't sure how specific he dared to be, and whether he'd be violating Cody's confidence sharing details, so he was vague about what exactly he meant. If Cody was okay with it, he'd share later.

He ended up telling Riley to go home, that he'd get a ride or take a taxi, and he was going to stay for now and keep an eye on Cody. Riley didn't need to wait for him in the driveway. Riley was reluctant to abandon them but finally realized there was no sense in staying when he couldn't do anything anyway.

At some point, between the softness of the bed and the mental exhaustion of the day, Tomas fell asleep.

He woke sometime later, thirsty and bleary and wondering where he was. Cody was watching him, his face looking aged and sad. "Hey," he said.

"Hey," Tomas said, blinking, trying to wake up. The events of the day flooded back with an unpleasant intensity, and he felt guilty and off-balance, wondering what he should be doing, what he should ask, whether he should insist that Cody talk about it. He shouldn't have fallen asleep.

Cody reached out and touched the side of his face. "I thought if I ever got you in my bed, it wouldn't be like this." The ghost of a smile touched his face and reached his sad eyes.