Page 54 of Should the Sky Fall

Dawson twirls the card between his fingers for a while before he finally makes the call.

When he arrives at the hospital, Cal is already waiting for him. It might be just his overactive brain imagining things, but he swears Cal’s face lights up when Dawson walks in. He’s been reading something on the e-reader Dawson had lent him, but he drops it in his lap and gives Dawson a wide smile.

“Hi.”

To his surprise, Dawson finds himself smiling back, despite having been a ball of anxiety since yesterday.

“Hey. So, today’s the big day.” He takes a seat. “Ready to go home?”

“You have no idea,” Cal says with a huff, kicking the blanket off and moving to sit on the edge of the bed. “I can’t wait to get out of this bin bag.” He pulls on his gown, and Dawson laughs.

“Speaking of, you’ll be happy to wear some pants for a change.” Unzipping his backpack, Dawson pulls out the clothes and the pair of shoes he packed for him. He tried to choose something that would be easy to put on and take off, so as to not aggravate Cal’s wounds. “Hope these work for you.”

Cal looks at them like they’re a gift from heaven. “Yes. Definitely.” Carefully, he slides off the bed and picks up each item one by one, inspecting it.

Dawson stands up. “So, I’ll step out for a bit and let you—” He chokes on the rest of the sentence when Cal unceremoniously pulls the gown over his head one-handed, grunting a little as the movement pulls on his stitches. He drops it on the floor and reaches for a pair of simple, black boxer briefs, then bends over to put them on. He hisses in pain and holds himself up with a hand on the bed.

“Shit,” Dawson yelps, jumping to Cal’s side, holding him up around the waist. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I just moved too quickly,” he says through clenched teeth.

“Here, sit down and try it that way.”

He averts his gaze when Cal sits on the bed and, instead of bending over, he brings his legs up one by one. Dawson’s eyes are automatically drawn to the large square of gauze covering his abdomen and a smaller one placed over his ribs close to his underarm. Dawson’s chest aches with sympathy pain and he looks lower, away from the wounds. Which reminds him that Cal is sitting there mostly naked.

“Um, I can wait outside,” he mumbles, warmth rushing to his cheeks. Jesus, what’s wrong with him? He’s seen Cal naked countless times—the man’s not exactly body-shy.

“Why?”

“T-to give you some privacy.”

Cal looks down at himself, as though he didn’t register his undressed state. “There’s no need. I don’t mind.”

Good for you, Dawson thinks hysterically. Once he’s fairly sure the underwear is securely in place, he turns his gaze back to see Cal fiddling with the T-shirt, then proceeding to put it on the wrong way.

“Wait.” He takes it from him and turns it over. “Like this. The tag needs to be in the back.”

Cal nods like he’s filing the information away for some important future task, his expression serious. Lifting both arms up tears a noise of complaint from him, so Dawson helps him put the T-shirt on. He tries and fails to smother a smile when Cal’s hair comes out in disarray. He looks different without any kind of product in it.

It makes Dawson want to run his fingers through it.

Which he doesn’t do. Obviously.

“Is it comfortable?” he asks, desperate to fill the silence.

Cal tugs on the hem, pinching it between his fingers. “Yes, very. Thank you.”

The heat in Dawson’s face intensifies. “No problem.”

Thankfully, Cal manages to put the pants on himself, after a little guidance from Dawson. The socks and shoes, Dawson has to help with. Holding the bent-over position for too long would only make the pain worse.

He sits cross-legged on the floor in front of Cal, tying up the shoelaces. He’s aware of Cal’s eyes on him. It makes his fingers uncoordinated, and it takes longer to get it done than usual.

“All done.” Dawson looks up, taken aback by the way Cal is watching him. His eyes are soft and a little hooded, his lips slightly parted. His expression is nothing like Dawson’s ever seen, but…he kind of likes it.

“Thank you,” Cal says.Again.

“You’re welcome,” Dawson manages, standing up on shaky legs. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here.”