Bel wakes up with Kam's arms around him.
He can tell they are Kam's arms because of the snake tattoo around the right wrist.
Sunlight pours through the bedroom window. Bel blinks. This is definitely not his bedroom. The bed he's lying in is bigger, the sheets and comforter covering him are softer and the walls of the room are paneled in dark wood. His body still aches, but not the way it used to. The pain is a dull throb and the fire that was burning inside him before seems to have gone out. He shifts in the bed, trying to figure out where the hell he is, and how the hell he got here.
"Don't move around too much," Kam's voice sounds just above him.
"Kam?" Bel tilts his head back so that he can see Kam's face. "Where are we?"
"Silo's place in Pattaya." Kam's lips twitch a little bit. "With just about everyone else we know. you had a lot of people worried about you."
That figures.
"What time is it?" That's just the first of many questions that are buzzing around in Bel's head. But this seems to be the safest one.
"Eleven a.m." Kam is definitely smiling now. "On Wednesday."
"Huh?" Bel bolts upright. Or tries to bolt. Kam's hands tighten around him as lines of pain shoot through his body and he winces aloud.
"Careful. You've got twenty-one stitches in you, and if you move around like that you could pull them out."
"You counted?"
"I did, when I sewed you up." Em crosses to the bed from the armchair where she had been sitting and puts the back of her hand to Bel's head. "Your temperature's gone down a lot. How do you feel?"
"Besides the obvious?" Bel raises his eyebrows. With twenty-one stitches in me, how the hell am I supposed to feel?Well...actually... "Hungry?"
This makes Kam chuckle. He kisses Bel's forehead and climbs out of bed.
"I'll get you some food."
The smell of rice and spices leads Kam to the kitchen where the French press is steaming, which means coffee is brewing, and there's another steaming pot on the stove. Nina is the only one in the room. She looks up from her coffee as Kam goes over to the cupboard.
"You're downstairs," she says, just to break the silence. "Does that mean Bel's awake?"
"He's hungry." Kam pulls a bowl from the cupboard and crosses to the stove.
"It's khao tom," Nina says, even though Kam can clearly see what's in the pot. "I made it this morning. It's Bel's favorite."
"I thought that was eggs with chili peppers."
Nina smiles just a little bit. "He likes that, too."
She takes another sip of her coffee. Kam spoons the rice soup into a bowl, making sure there's plenty of meat and vegetables as well. He even takes a spoonful for himself.
"It's not bad."
"I put lemongrass in it. But there's no Crio Bru, so Bel will have to do without."
"Ok."
Nina hasn't spoken to him much since he talked about That Night other than to ask after her brother or if Kam has slept, so their conversations have been short, or awkward, like this one. Kam isn't sure if that's a good thing or not. He replaces the lid on the pot and turns to go back upstairs.
"Thank you," Nina says before he has a chance to leave the room. "For taking such good care of him."
"Why wouldn't I?" Kam knows Nina is being sincere, but still can't help needling her. "It's what you're paying me for."
