It was 8 pm, right after dinner...

XLIII

Eddy arrived out of breath and drenched in sweat.
"Where is he?", Brett heard him ask through the ringing in his ears. A shop assistant quickly led Eddy to where Brett had sat himself down.

"He said, he didn't feel so good", the other worker, who had found Brett on the ground, explained. Brett heard a rustling sound and a pair of hands grabbing his shoulders.

Big, gentle hands.

"Brett?", Eddy said softly. Brett opened his eyes he hadn't dared to use since they'd been visited by darkness and thanked the heavens and LingLing that he was able to make out Eddy's sillhouette.
"Eddy...", he groaned
"Shh... Don't talk. It's all good, I'm here!"
"I'm sorry, Eddy. I'll be good in no time. I just need some food I think..."
"Let's get you off the floor first. Can we bring him to somewhere more private maybe?", Eddy asked the shop assistant and together, they managed to drag Brett to a storage room, where they sat him down on an empty fruit basket. It was cold as fuck though and Brett started to shiver immediately.

Eddy crouched down before him.
"The guys are getting you something to eat. What happened?"
"Don't fucking know. Low blood sugar and big temperature difference or something...", Brett breathed. His sight was coming back and his heart rate slowed down. Knowing Eddy was here seemed to help a lot.
"Mmhh... Yeah, guess it's not a surprise, with that fucked up morning you had so far", Eddy said and stroked Brett's upper leg, but stopped when he noticed Brett trembling like a leaf.
"Bro! You're freezing!"
"Well, aren't we in a fucking fridge or something?"

Eddy took off his shirt and put it over Brett's shoulder like it was the most natural thing to do. The necklace with the rose pendent dangling from his neck and the subtle sweat shimmering on his skin made him look like some Asian version of Michelangelo's masterworks in Italy Brett had seen when he had the school tour there. It took Brett's breath away.

"Dude!!! What the fuck?", Brett yelled nonetheless and tried to return the clothing, but Eddy wrapped Brett in it and held it in place.
"You're freezing!", he repeated.
"But, you're shirtless now!"
"I'm not cold. It's like 40 degrees outside."
"Don't try to be a hero!"
"I AM a hero. I came to save you, didn't I?"
Brett shook his head in disbelieve while Eddy chuckled.

"Why did you even go off to get groceries by yourself? I could have done that!", Eddy said after a while. He had enveloped Brett in a sideways hug and his smell from the shirt AND his naked upper body were not exactly helping Brett's dizziness. One of the shop assistants had come by a minute ago and had brought an apple and a bottle of cold, sugarless greentea. He had just eyed Eddy curiously, but hadn't said anything.

Brett took a bite from the apple.
"Just thought I make myself useful." He didn't have to tell Eddy about himself spiraling before he had headed out, did he?
"You don't have to be useful, just be safe and recover." He squeezed Brett's shoulder.
"Well, looks like I'm not even good for running some errands", Brett sighed, "You even had to come and get me like I'm a two year old unleashed."
Eddy snorted. "Unleashed? Bro! Children aren't on the leash."
"You know what I mean..." He finished his apple. "I think I can walk now. Shall we leave?"
"You sure?", Eddy said, carefully eyeing him.
Brett slowly got up, one hand at the stack of fruit boxes nearby just in case.
"Yeah, think I can manage." He returned Eddy's shirt to it's owner and they both made their way out of the freezing cold room.

Back in the store, they quickly got what they needed, thanked the shop owner and left.

"Hey, can I ask you something?", Eddy said on their way home through the humid heat of Singapore at noon.
"Hmm?"
"Why is it so important to you to be... useful?"
Brett frowned. "Who said it's important to me?"
"Well, you're doing stuff you shouldn't just because you, quote unquote 'thought you made yourself useful'. And you're taking great risks for that."
"Bro! Getting groceries isn't a great risk!", Brett laughed half heartedly, not liking the direction this conversation was taking.

Eddy rearranged the bags he was carrying, including the ten kilo rice bag he hadn't let Brett hold. "In your case, it kind of is..."
"God damn! How could I've known I'd black out doing something even a ninety year old lady can do by herself!?"
"Hmm... Fair point", Eddy said, unfazed by Brett's loud tone, "But still..." He suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, forcing Brett to turn around.
"You could have just chilled out like I told you to. Why didn't you?"
"Why are you questioning everything I do lately?", Brett asked back, getting more irritated by the minute.
Eddy looked at him with serious eyes. "Because everything you do lately affects me."

The annoyance vanished into thin air as fast as it had taken over Brett's mood and his face fell.

Eddy was right! Every time Brett got into trouble, Eddy had to bail him out. And just because he wasn't able to stay in bed like a good sick person, the other had to run around and safe the day.

Brett looked down at his sneakers.
"I'll tell you at home", he simply said, turned around again and lead the way.
He owed Eddy this much, he knew. Even if it meant facing yet another weakness of himself.

As if Brett didn't have a fucked up day already.