[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] imagined.  College honour, academic rigour had been the creed he lived by, nothing more important to him than a beautiful thesis perfectly proved. Now, Owens could have all the coded letters, tied up in tinsel with a bow on top, if he could only have his friend well again. The crisis came the third night that Jonty lay on the little bed that bound all Orlando s hopes and fears. His fever seemed to deepen and no amount of sponging could stop the sweating. Miss Peters had sat with them until the wee small hours, bringing drinks for both men, trying to coax the patient and his carer into taking at least a little water in.  Tonight will see a resolution one way or another, she d said with an honesty and simplicity that Orlando appreciated. The odd occasion when she was out of the room had seen him take the opportunity of grasping Jonty s hand, of whispering urgent pleas in his ear. Once he d just leaned over and kissed his brow, demanding that he come back to him. On this occasion he hadn t let Jonty s hand out of his grasp even when Miss Peters returned to the room. 78 www.lindenbayromance.com Lessons in Discovery As the bells of Bride s chimed three o clock, the fever broke and subsided, leaving Jonty s breathing clearer and easier than it had been these last few days. At last Orlando could be persuaded into his own bed for a well-earned rest. Orlando still managed to be awake early enough to watch Jonty regain consciousness. He felt a knot in the base of his stomach as he realised that the first words would be,  Hello, Orlando. Lovely to see you, and was then proven correct. The double joy of knowing that he still retained some memory, deeply buried somewhere, of an incredible twelve months and the fact that his special friend looked as if he might be making a recovery almost brought him to tears. But he was determined that Jonty wouldn t see him cry yet, and made do with ruffling the man s hair, upbraiding him for having worried them all so and saying that he would go and find a pot of tea. They drank the brew in peace, the only interruption being Miss Peters bearing buttered toast, a thermometer and a broad grin. She was bold enough to pinch Jonty s cheek, calling him a silly goose, and offering Orlando a place on her team of amateur nurses. After Jonty had eaten some toast, drunk some tea and demanded more of both, he asked for a full rundown of the last few days, posing question after question and barely sparing Orlando s blushes.  Bed bath, eh? That was a bit daring, even for you.  Will you ever stop that mouth of yours? Anyone could hear you!  If I had a pound for every time you ve used that expression or similar I d be as rich as Croesus. People could quite easily hear and take no notice whatsoever if it weren t for the song and dance you make of things. www.lindenbayromance.com 79 Charlie Cochrane  Jonty Stewart, I haven t nursed you for three days just to end up in a flaming row. If you won t stop your mouth, I will. Orlando leaned over from where he sat on the bed and pressed his lips to Jonty s. It wasn t as clumsy as his first attempt at a kiss had been, back in January. In fact it was almost acceptable. Weak and strange as Jonty felt, he couldn t resist lying back, pulling Orlando closer to kiss him passionately in return. With apparent reluctance, Orlando broke the embrace and pulled away.  Sorry, Jonty. Shouldn t have done that here. I should have waited. Couldn t.  It doesn t matter to me, Orlando, the sooner the better as far as I m concerned. You have no idea how much I ve missed kissing you. Orlando smiled, gently brushing his hand along Jonty s arm.  Think I must have missed kissing you as well. Is it always as nice as this? Jonty laughed, regretting it straightaway when the activity ended in a coughing fit, something that made Orlando fuss over him like a mother hen. He got his breath back and flapped his friend away.  I m fine. Honestly.  You need to take care. I shouldn t have been making you frolic this early in your recovery.  Bit of frolicking is just what the doctor ordered, or if he didn t, he should have done. Can t think of any better way to improve my mental state. He stopped, full of suspicion.  Have you been here all the time? Orlando nodded, rather shamefacedly.  Well that was daft of you. You could have caught this yourself. I was laid out three days, you reckon? Nasty business.  It was, Jonty. Very nasty. Orlando touched his friend s arm again.  May I ask you something?  But of course, anything. 80 www.lindenbayromance.com Lessons in Discovery  You must have been the first person I ever kissed.  As I understand it, yes, or so you told me. There may have been droves of them, I suppose, and you kept me in the dark.  Idiot. You can take it as read that you were. What I would like to know, and I assume that you ve told me before but it s lost to me now, was I the first person you kissed? Jonty considered for a moment. He remembered what wonderful consequences had occurred when he d first discussed his previous love with Orlando. They could hardly repeat them here.  No, I m afraid not, although it would have been quite nice to have been in the same boat. When I was first at Bride s there was a boy called Richard Marsters. We were very close. He watched Orlando colour, begin to study his hands, but pressed on.  He didn t love me like you used to. Jonty saw his friend s face lift, look into his eyes. He had the distinct impression that the man was going to say something I still love you, hopefully but the scene was interrupted by Miss Peters, who had arrived to scoop up the breakfast things.  I think you could do with another bed bath, young man. She beamed at the fact that Jonty had managed so much to eat and drink and then positively smirked at his embarrassment.  Oh, it won t be me doing the bathing. I ll leave that to your very able nurse here. I ll just go and get some warm water. The two young men were left with a distinct cloud of awkwardness hanging over them.  You don t have to bath me, not if it would make things embarrassing. I could submit to the iron fist of Miss Peters.  No! No, it s all right. I can manage. Orlando studied his hands.  I d like to. I didn t mind at all looking after you.  I know that. You tended me in the aftermath of the first set of murders and it was pretty gruesome at the end. I would very much like you to help me now as I trust no one in the world as I trust you, not even Mama, although you mustn t tell her that or www.lindenbayromance.com 81 Charlie Cochrane she ll cuff me. I suspect that you ve been worrying yourself sick these last few days and I don t blame you. I would have done the same myself if the situation had been reversed. I ll submit to you bathing me like a newborn infant, only I shan t cry or be sick.  You d better not be. The hot water arrived, Miss Peters departed and the operation began. Jonty tried hard to avoid Orlando s gaze, simply enjoying the experience without wishing to discomfort his friend. Orlando had set to work in a brisk and efficient manner, mopping Jonty s back and chest, drying as he went, getting not a drop on the bed. Legs, arms, face, neck were also tackled, although he was beginning to slow down once every area bar one was almost done. With a noticeable sigh, he reached for Jonty s underwear, but was [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl blacksoulman.xlx.pl