Tender Love & Care
Iremia tends to his neglected best friend.
Checking your phone for the 20th time, you frown with worry. Actino hasn’t answered any of your texts, not for a few days now, despite you sending one nearly every half hour. Something’s not right.
You quickly send a text to Kryp, letting him know you’re heading out for a while.
‘Hey babe, gonna deal with some shit, see you later.’
He texts you back in a few seconds.
‘Ok, don’t be taking too long ;P’
You almost smile at that. However, you have important business to attend to.
Throwing on some sneakers and a shirt, you head out into the winter cold. His house is only a short jog away. You have no idea why you didn’t do this sooner, maybe because you thought he was just mad. Though, it’s been 5 days now with no word from him, something is definitely not right.
A little while later, you find yourself standing in front of Actino’s house. The curtains are all drawn and there’s mail jammed into his letterbox, almost overflowing at this point. You grab it all as you make your way into his yard and up to his front door. You don’t bother knocking, and instead just shoulder your way into his house.
The smell is what hits you first. It smells like unwashed dishes and clothes, like sweat and grime. A quick look around the room doesn’t give anything away, but as you check the kitchen you see that everything in his fridge has gone bad. Not bothering to touch anything, you close the door and continue through the house.
All the downstairs rooms look like they haven’t been touched in a week, so you head upstairs instead. You can’t hear any signs of life in the house, and your heart is slowly sinking in your chest as you fear the worst. Eventually you reach the end of the hall, Actino’s room. You slowly turn the door handle, pushing the door open with a bit of force when you notice there’s something blocking it from inside the room.
As soon as the door opens, you reel in disgust at the smell. The entire floor is covered in wrappers and week-old clothes. You look around the room and spot the bed, and in it, Actino.
At first, you’re sure he’s dead. His glassy eyes and sunken face stare blankly at you, showing not a single hint of resemblance. It’s not until you hear him take a ragged breath in that you realise he’s still kicking.
‘Actino…’
Not stopping to think, you stumble through the piles of rubbish and fall, eyes full of tears, onto his bed and crawl up to him. You cup his gaunt face in your hands and press your forehead to his, feeling his complete lack of warmth hit you like a hammer. He’s absolutely freezing.
When you pull back the covers you can see why, he’s clad in only a singlet and briefs. His frail body looks almost ghostly and he’s severely emaciated.
‘You…you fucking idiot. Look at you,’ you sob through your tears.
Wrapping your strong arms around him, you pull him close and try to warm him up. He doesn’t respond, only sags against you as you hold him. That breaks your heart. He’s usually cuddling against you and hugging you close, not lying there like a corpse.
‘I’m gonna take care of you dude, I promise.’
You slowly let go of him and slide off the bed. Leaving the room, you head to the bathroom and turn his shower on. It takes a few seconds, but slowly the water warms up enough and you leave the room again, heading back to Actino. Without warning, you pick him up bridal style, blankets and all, and carry him out of the room, back towards bathroom.
Setting him down gently, you peel his blankets off him, ignoring the stench of his unwashed body in favour of removing his clothes too. You keep a hand on him to help him stand as you too strip down to your boxers.
You help him into the shower, holding him close as the warm water runs over the both of you. He still isn’t acknowledging you, but you don’t care. You just want to get him clean and warm again.
He shakes almost violently as his body adjusts to the warmth. You simply hug him to you and stroke his back, praying you’re not hurting him. Eventually, he begins to relax and lean into you more. It’s only when you feel him rest his head on your shoulder that you feel as though you’re getting somewhere. The feeling is almost overwhelming, and you choke down the sensation of tears prickling at your eyes. You can’t believe you’ve let your best friend end up like this, alone and almost frozen.
After a while, you decide to leave him in the shower for a minute while you clean up his room.
‘Actino, I know you’re not speaking to me, but I’m gonna help you ok? Just wait here a minute, please.’
He just stares at you, but you know he’s ok.
Drying yourself off quickly and checking one last time that he’ll be ok to stand on his own, you head back to his room, garbage bags in hand. You pick up every single piece of trash on his floor, his bed, his desk, and jam them into the bags. Next, you gather all his clothes into a separate bag and toss them into the bathroom, along with his sheets and comforter. Once his room is completely bare, you remake his bed and grab the last clean clothes you can find.
Back in the bathroom, Actino is still huddled in the corner of the shower. You reach in and gently take him by the arms, pulling him out so you can wrap him in a towel and dry his hair. He leans heavily on you the whole time, still shivering despite the heat of the room. You swallow down the lump in your throat and continue to dry him the best you can. Quickly dressing him in a sweater, clean underwear and a pair of track pants, you pick him back up and carry him into his room.
Laying him down in his bed, you push his hair back from his face and plant a kiss on his forehead, letting your lips linger for a second before you pull away.
‘I’m gonna go make you something warm to eat, ok? I’ll be back shortly.’
You tuck him into bed and give him another kiss before leaving the room.
In the kitchen, you clean out all the rotten food and toss the bag outside, spraying the whole room to get rid of the smell. Then, you look through his cupboards and find a box of instant soups. Pouring the contents of two sachets into a bowl, you turn the kettle on and wait for the water to boil.
As you’re standing there in the empty kitchen, you finally allow the tears to fall. You slam your fists on the countertop, gritting your teeth hard as you feel everything finally hit you at full force. Your best friend almost died because of your selfishness, your hypocrisy. He probably hates you now. He might never speak to you again. You deserve it.
The click of the kettle snaps you out of your thoughts. So what if you’re right? That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you help him now, right now, while he’s still tolerating having you around.
You finish the soup and throw a spoon in. Hopefully he feels like eating.
When you get back to his room you see that he’s rolled over to face away from you. Ignoring the nagging feeling in your gut, you sit yourself on the edge of his bed and place a hand on his hip.
‘I have something for you to eat.’
He doesn’t respond, but he rolls onto his back and lets you prop him up a little.
Slowly you feed him, spoonful by spoonful. He only eats about a third of the bowl, but that’s more than nothing. Once he’s done, you set the bowl on his bedside table.
‘I hope you don’t mind if I uh…if I spend a bit of time with you,’ you murmur.
He just shrugs. Your heart sinks further, but you ignore the feeling and crawl into bed with him. Resting up against the headboard, you pull him against you, so his head is resting on your chest. You can still faintly feel him shaking, but it’s much less obvious than before.
After a while you feel him slowly starting to drift off. You wrap your arms around him tighter to keep him comfortable, and just as you also begin to drift off, you feel something that makes your heart swell a little.
His hands grasp at the front of your shirt, and he huddles closer to you as he falls asleep, just like he used to when you two were younger.