Free New Lease of Life by Lillian Francis

pillow, presumably to stop Pip from jostling it in his sleep, and all but hiding the damaged joint from Colby’s view.
    From the information Pip had revealed about the incident and the date on the news article, that ankle should have been more stable than it currently appeared.
    He could do so much to ease Pip’s pain if Colby could only get his hands on that damaged ankle. Pip had all but melted into his touch earlier, but he’d been emotional and exhausted, his barriers crumbled to dust in the retelling of his tragic story. That thought gave Colby the impetus he needed. He swept his gaze back up to Pip’s face to ensure he was still asleep and then edged away from the door.
    Back in the dressing room, Colby checked that all of the drawers were shut and the wardrobe doors closed apart from one closest to the doorway. The space was made up of a set of drawers to about hip height and a hanging rail for shorter items. That very morning the rail had held an array of shirts. Now, not even a hanger remained.
    Colby slid the long, narrow purple and green gift box onto the top of the chest where Pip couldn’t fail to notice it when he entered the dressing room. He could have left the gift on the bed or down in the living room, but Colby wanted Pip to be confronted by the emptiness of the carefully designed room.
    Now he just had to get Pip to step foot in the room after he’d gone. He had a plan for that too. A plan that would undoubtedly ruin any fledgling friendship that had been developing between them, but Colby knew the chances of Pip making any attempt at contact once he stepped out of that front door were slim to none. He was on a hiding to nothing and hopefully his actions could drag Pip even a little way out of the low place the accident had left him. Colby would happily scupper his chances if his actions could be the reason for Pip to one day smile again.
    Mind made up, Colby took a final glance around the bedroom, regretting that he would never wake up to the room’s bright colors and the possibility of shared laughter. He closed his hand around the cold chill of metal and, tucking his prize under his arm, jogged down the stairs.

Chapter Eight
     
     
    WHEN HE woke from his nap, Pip felt better rested than he had in ages. He’d even entertained pleasant thoughts in his dreams rather than the normal nightmares of rabid dogs, withered limbs, and amputation. Nothing solid, but a comforting sense of somebody watching over him while he slept.
    Not just anybody either. Someone strong, patient, easygoing. Colby.
    Unfortunately the dream hadn’t quite gone the way he’d hoped. In the darkness of his dream, Pip had waited, listening for the telltale creak of the door, wanting to hear the soft impact of socked feet on the parquet floor as Colby padded toward the bed where Pip lay, shucking his chinos and then sliding into the bed beside him. Wrapping his larger body around Pip as he had on the landing earlier and just holding him.
    But dream Colby had stood at the crack in the doorway and watched. Nothing more, nothing less.
    Even without his phone or a clock, Pip knew he had slept far longer than he’d intended. The darkness that shrouded the room confirmed the lateness of the hour and the fact that Colby would be long gone. Nevertheless he listened acutely for several minutes, indulging a fantasy where Colby waited for him downstairs in the lounge, determined to stay until Pip awoke, just to say good-bye.
    The house remained stubbornly silent.
    He scoffed at the ridiculous notions and eased up onto his elbows. He couldn’t stay in bed any longer, or he wouldn’t be able to sleep later. Rolling up into a sitting position, he swung his legs over the side of the bed, reached for his crutch, and came up empty.
    Of course, he’d had no need of his crutch when he’d entered the room. Colby’s hand under his arm and the warmth at his side had been all the support Pip had required at the time. Now, once more alone and in