Chapter Twenty-Seven #2
As Felipe laid down, Oliver grabbed a few handkerchiefs from his valise and arranged them under Felipe’s calf.
Going through his gladstone, he gathered tins of gauze, tweezers, alcohol, and anything else he might possibly need.
He quickly disinfected the skin around the wound before wiping down his tools with carbolic acid.
Turning back to Felipe, Oliver tried not to let his emotions show.
“I know what you’re going to say, Oliver,” Felipe said when Oliver swallowed hard, “but I don’t care about the pain right now. Just get that thing out of me.”
Nodding, Oliver steeled himself. Holding Felipe’s leg in his lap, Oliver carefully lanced the wound.
Felipe screwed his eyes shut and bit back a half-choked groan as blood welled from the incision.
Oliver had expected pus to come gushing out, but when he gently probed the wound with his finger, he found a pearl of tissue the size of a large marble at the center of the lump.
Leaning closer, Oliver could see something green sloshing on the other side of the thin wall of tissue.
Green residue leaked from the ball as Oliver carefully pried it away from Felipe’s flesh.
His partner curled his toes and winced before forcing his leg still.
“It’s burning again,” Felipe said between clenched teeth.
“Sorry, there’s... seepage. It looks like your body tried to seal off the creature. That might be why your healing has been so slow; your body was constantly trying to keep this thing at bay. I’ll have it out in a second.”
With a final swish of his finger, the ball of tissue popped out and rolled across the carpet.
Felipe made a disgusted noise and twitched as Oliver rinsed the wound with alcohol, but when he reached for his needle and thread, Oliver noticed the edges of the wound slowly knitting shut.
As he wrapped the gauze around his calf, Felipe stared at the thing that had come out of his leg.
His throat worked, and his skin had gone a sickly grey.
“Felipe?”
“I’m fine,” he replied tightly as Oliver finished wrapping the wound.
“Let me get rid of that.”
Grabbing his tweezers, Oliver picked up the pearl of flesh and was about to drop it into a piece of gauze when the creature within thrashed.
Green gunk showered onto the carpet as the tissue tore and a long, flat, flesh-colored worm slithered out.
Felipe ripped his leg from Oliver’s lap and scrambled away as the worm writhed between them.
“Christ almighty, what is that thing?” Felipe cried.
Oliver shook his head in wonder. It looked far too big to have ever fit inside the welt in Felipe’s leg, but Oliver had seen it with his own eyes.
When Felipe stifled a gag, the worm turned toward him and shot out a web-like proboscis.
It trailed along the carpet like green lightning, leaving behind a halo of ichor.
Before Oliver could move, the worm bolted toward Felipe.
His eyes widened as he yelped and leapt onto the bed out of the way.
Scrambling to his feet, Oliver dove in front of him.
The worm reared back, and Oliver grabbed its head with his tweezers.
“Felipe, get the alcohol!” he whisper-yelled as the worm writhed and thrashed like a caught snake.
Grabbing the bottle of alcohol, Felipe set it at Oliver’s feet, uncapped it, and backed out of the way.
“When I get it in, put the stopper on. Quick.”
When Felipe nodded, Oliver silently counted to three and stuffed the worm’s head into the alcohol as far as it would go.
As it struggled, he shoved the rest of it in with his tweezers inch by inch.
Dark green venom plumed out of it, but by the time Felipe got the lid on, the creature had fallen still.
The only sounds in the room were their huffed breaths as they stared at the bottle, waiting to see if the worm would come back to life.
A small laugh escaped Felipe’s lips followed by another, and in seconds, he and Oliver were pressed close, stifling laughter at the absurdity of their night.
“I hate this fucking place,” Felipe whispered as he sank onto the edge of the bed.
“I promise I will never ask to go to a murder town ever again. In all fairness, necromantic ribbon worms were not something I had anticipated.”
“Is that what it was? Christ almighty.” At Oliver’s nod, Felipe sighed and stared at the green stains on the carpet. “I think we may owe Mr. Allen a new rug as well. At this rate, the Paranormal Society may as well renovate the whole inn.”
Rinsing his bloodied hands at the ewer and basin on the dresser, Oliver replied, “After last night, I think he earned it. Well, now that the thing is out, the nightmares and sleepwalking will hopefully stop. We should still be cautious tomorrow just in case.”
From the corner of his eye, Oliver watched Felipe as he dried his hands.
There were so many things about his partner’s past that he didn’t know.
The things he had heard about the Galvans seemed to be the opposite of everything he knew to be true about Felipe, but after what he had seen this past week, things were starting to click into place.
Sitting beside Felipe, Oliver interlaced their fingers again and brought Felipe’s hand to his lips.
The tether pulled tight beneath their hearts as Felipe’s eyes met his.
He stared into their amber depths and thought of all the warmth and life Felipe had brought into his life since their lives intertwined that fateful night.
“I hope you know that I love you more than anything or anyone,” Oliver said softly.
“I love you so much that sometimes it overwhelms me. There are times when I wake up and see you lying next to me, and I wonder how I got so lucky to have you in my life.” Taking a fortifying breath, Oliver squeezed Felipe’s hand.
“When I told you about what happened to me when I was in medical school, you were so kind and understanding. I want to be that for you, Felipe, whenever you’re ready to talk about your parents or the demon or anything else.
I just want you to know that I will always be here to listen to you and love you no matter what. ”
Felipe gave him a watery smile and swallowed hard. “I love you too, Oliver. It’s not you. It’s just hard for me to talk about them for many reasons. I— I still worry you’ll find out more about my family or my past, and you’ll see me differently or love me less for it.”
“Considering my family made a deal with a devil, I don’t think I have much room to talk.
” At Felipe’s mirthless laugh, Oliver cupped his cheek and swept his fingers into Felipe’s curls.
“I love you, the man you are now and the man you’ll become as we grow together.
You. I didn’t know the young man you were in your nightmares, but I think I would love him too. I love all of you.”
Felipe’s eyes glistened with tears, but Oliver drew him in for a kiss before they could flow. He held him close and listened to the steady tattoo of his heart. There had been too many close calls.
“Tomorrow, let’s have a picnic in the morning. It was going to be a surprise, but after all this, I would rather you look forward to it.”
“That sounds lovely, Oliver. Does Gwen know?”
“It was her idea. We’ll finish planning after, but the morning will be ours.”
Wiping his eyes against his shoulder, Felipe stood and shoved the gun into the drawer of the nightstand. “Here, let me help you clean up.”
“Leave it. As long as the worm is dead, I would rather deal with the mess in the morning. I think we could both use the sleep.”
Felipe looked like he wanted to object, but he nodded and shut off the lamp.
Oliver tidied Felipe’s stack of pillows, and when the other man laid down, Oliver hunkered close to his elbow.
While they couldn’t lie intertwined like they did at home until his collarbone healed a bit more, Oliver could at least sleep with his arm around Felipe’s waist. A hum of contentment vibrated across the tether as Felipe rubbed his thumb across Oliver’s skin and shut his eyes.
Focusing on the tether, Oliver stoked his love for Felipe in hopes that his partner could feel it as he drifted off to sleep.
He held him close, relishing the solid warmth of the other man’s body.
No matter what monsters lurked in Felipe’s past, Oliver vowed to stand beside him and face them.