Page 23 of Haunted Mediation
“Leon?” he said.
Leon didn’t even blink.
“Leon?” he said, louder this time. “Baby?”
Huh. Who knewJameswas the kind of guy who used terms of endearment like “baby”?
Leon made a strangled noise, and James shook himself.
Right, not the time.
He brushed his thumbs across the pale slopes of Leon’s cheekbones. His skin was weathered right at the crest of his cheeks and then softer as it moved back towards his hair.
“J-James?” Leon whispered, slowly blinking as if out of a trance.
Their eyes locked, and there was something James had never seen in them before.
Fear.
“Tomato!” James yelled, and immediately, the room fell quiet.
“James?” Leon repeated as his eyes went out of focus again, and he grasped at James’ shoulders.
“Hey, is he okay?” a concerned voice asked from behind him.
James glanced over his shoulder to see the man on the gurney sitting up.
“Do you need us to call for help?” the nurse asked.
“Or we can give you the room for a few? The next group won’t be in for at least ten minutes. Maybe more,” the guy said.
Leon’s fingers dug into James’ shoulders. “I’m…okay,” Leon managed to say through gritted teeth.
“The room would be great,” James said firmly before turning back to Leon and ignoring the shuffling noises that followed.
Leon’s eyes were still glassy, and his grip on James’ shoulders slowly loosened, but James wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.
“Hey,” he said, moving his hands to Leon’s hips to try to steady him. James had never touched this part of him before. His hip bones were almost completely covered in sinewy muscle, and they tensed and bunched under James’ hands.
“I…don’t know what…happened,” Leon whispered, squeezing his eyes shut.
He began to lean dangerously to the side, and James pushed firmly on his hips until he was up against the wall next to the doorway.
James knew lightheadedness when he saw it, and right on cue, Leon slowly sank down the wall. James followed him down, squatting and then kneeling between Leon’s spread legs.
The second Leon’s butt hit the floor, his head drooped. James moved as if on instinct, bringing his hands up to the wallnext to Leon’s head and leaning forward, allowing Leon’s head to slump forward against James’ chest.
“Okay,” James soothed. “Deep breath in through your nose, then out through your mouth.”
Leon did as instructed, his hands sliding down James’ chest to land on his thighs.
“Good. Now again. Deep breath in.”
Leon took a shaky breath in.
“And out.”
Leon let it out.
