Sweep Me Off My Feet Ch. 02

Zayne looked over at Brinxton, an amused look on his face now. "Possibly, but I'd like to make sure first. Besides, the trade off is worth it. We wouldn't be spending quite as much time with Brinxton here if not for this wedding."

Zach looked sideways at his twin. "I don't think that's so true for you..."

Brinxton gave Zach a sympathetic look. "You don't have to be jealous, Zach. I mean, you guys are identical twins..." Brinxton said with a wink.

Zach laughed at that and gave Brinxton a knowing look while Zayne was shaking his head at the two of them. Then Zach turned his attention back to his twin, his expression getting more serious again. "What did he even want, anyway?"

"Who? Daniel?" Zayne asked, and then sighed when Zach nodded his head. "Oh, he's just not thrilled I'm boning his brother-in-law."

"Future brother-in-law," Brinxton corrected, "the abomination has not yet come to pass."

"My man, the only way it won't is if Daniel dies," Zach said with a laugh. "But on the actual issue, that isn't any of his business."

"Which is what I told him," Zayne replied. "Let him be pissy about it for a bit. He'll get over it."

With that, they headed back to the get together, though Zach did make a comment to Daniel later about his lack of awareness when it came to Zayne's difficulties. He didn't make it a big confrontation, just to the side with Elias, but it left Daniel quiet the rest of the night. When they went to leave, Zayne made a quiet comment to Brinxton that he should come over later that night if he was free.

That night ended up being the first time Zayne topped Brinxton, and the reality of having Brintxon coming undone, needy and begging for release, underneath him was so much better than the fantasy had been. Zayne was getting the idea now that anything he could fantasize about with Brinxton could never hold a candle to the real thing, and that was thrilling.

Over the next few weeks, they met up multiple times, usually spending some time just talking and hanging out as well as having amazing sex.

Normally, Zayne worked remotely from his home office. Part of that was to make up for his more limited mobility, but it was also meant to help keep him safe from other people, as germs were everywhere and it was fall now so the flu and colds were everywhere. So it was the odd time when Zayne went into the office to get signatures, but he found himself in that position within those first few weeks of being with Brinxton.

Brinxton hadn't seen him since he had to go into work, which had been a few days before, and now Zayne woke in the middle of the night with a feeling like something was wrong but he couldn't quite place why. Eventually he felt his stomach lurch, and he quickly got up and stumbled into the bathroom where he started to throw up. He was hoping it was a one off, but it kept happening, and by the time it hit four AM and he was getting worse, he finally pressed a button he had in both his bathroom and room that connected to Elias and Zach's rooms to alert them to a problem.

It wasn't long after that that they came down to see what was going on and found him lying next to the toilet, with his body shaking and his face pale and covered in sweat. They hated having to take him to the ER like this, because usually they didn't help him much, especially once his back started to hurt like it always did when he got sick, but now they didn't have the choice.

In the end, the ER was only marginally helpful. They gave him a toradol shot in his ass for the pain, and gave him IV fluids as well as nausea medication. Elias ended up calling Zayne's pain management doctor while they waited to be released so he could call in his muscle relaxer to help with the pain. Zayne was still shaking from the pain but the ER liked to label pain patients pill seekers, so they were only willing to give him Tylenol, which wasn't helping one bit.

Zach took the nausea medicine script to the pharmacy where the pain management doctor sent the muscle relaxer while Elias took Zayne back home. He handed the script he had over to the pharmacist, before he started perusing the aisles to kill time while they filled them both.

Brinxton, who was casually price-shopping for new condoms (he and Zayne had agreed to split the cost) saw Zach before Zach saw him. He kept an eye on where Zayne's brother was wandering and made his selection absent-mindedly before heading over to intercept Zach and ask about why he hadn't heard from Zayne recently. When he got closer though, he could see the bags under Zach's eyes and how tired he looked, though Zach smiled when he realized who it was.

"He's been trying to get some clients to sign things that need to be signed before we could start work, but apparently that meant he caught some sort of stomach bug," Zach explained to Brinxton's question. "I'm picking up meds he needs after the ER visit we just had for him. He's in rough shape."

Brinxton clucked in sympathy, "I'm sorry he's doing so poorly. Can you let him know you ran into me and I hope he feels better soon, please? I imagine he can be choosy about who sees him in such a state."

Zach looked thoughtful for a moment, slowly nodding his head. "He can be sometimes, yes, though something tells me he wouldn't turn you away if you showed up. Elias and I both have work so Elias is getting him settled in his room and then I'll drop off the meds before I have to leave too. It'll be just him and the cat all day."

Brinxton considered that and nodded, thanking Zach for the chat and heading to the register to pay for his purchase. He called into work and requested to work remotely for the week, citing an unspecified illness and not being clear about who exactly was ill. He went home and grabbed his laptop bag and some ingredients from his cupboard before heading over to Zayne's.

When he got there, Zach was just finishing up getting Zayne his meds and making sure he had everything that he needed before Zach went to work. Zach answered the door and smiled at Brinxton as he let him in, telling him that he already let Zayne know he might come over and Zayne had been okay with that idea. In fact, it had been the first time he had smiled since Zach had come into his room at four in the morning.

Zach knew Brinxton had the general layout of the downstairs figured out, so he mostly told Brinxton where he had put Zayne's meds and when he needed to take them again, where the stuff for tea and hot chocolate was, where the gatorades were that the doctor wanted Zayne nursing through the day, and to tell him to call either of them if something was really wrong. Then he bid his goodbye and left to work.

Zayne had a desk right next to his bed where Brinxton was able to set his stuff down, and then he got his first good look at Zayne. He had created a sort of nest of blankets behind him that sloped up at an angle that he was laying against and his body was still shaking from the pain though it was just beginning to subside. His hair was plastered to his clammy forehead and his skin had a sickly pallor to it that it didn't normally have. The yellow under his eyes was more pronounced than ever.

Zayne was wearing shorts and a tank top, both in dark blue, and he had a purple, teal, and white plaid blanket wrapped around himself. Brinxton could see the blanket was attached to two cords that led to the wall, and there were two dials on the cords to show different levels of heat he could turn them to.

He gave Brinxton a weak smile. "Hey there."

"You look amazing," Brinxton informed him helpfully. "Do you need anything before I sit down?"

Zayne chuckled and brushed some of his damp hair away from his forehead. A giant ragdoll cat that had to have been at least twenty pounds jumped up onto the bed and came over to sniff at Zayne before kneading into the heated blanket wrapped around him.

"No, I have my nurse here, so I guess that makes you the doctor today. Too bad I'm not well enough to enjoy that," Zayne finally answered and reached over to pet the cat, which extended his back and he cried out in pain as his back spasmed.

Brinxton flinched toward him as if to help, then realized he had no idea what to do, so he sat carefully on the desk chair and waited for the spasm to subside. Once it had he asked Zayne, "So when that happens, what can I do to help?"

Zayne carefully sank back down into his blankets, his face tense but thoughtful. "There's not much that you can do but wait for it to pass. I can't even stop it. It happens so fast, and then is usually gone before I can think to do anything. Once or twice the spasms have lasted long enough that Zach or Elias can get me into a better position, but usually it only lasts a few seconds."

"Well," Brinxton said thoughtfully, "I am working remotely for as long as I need to, so if you'd be so kind as to hook me up with a Wi-Fi password, I'll be right here for your every need."

Zayne smirked and picked up his phone to text Brinxton the Wi-Fi password, which happened to be, "TheWheelzLife360."

Brinxton smiled as he read it and set his computer up. Once he was logged into the company's VPN, he checked his messages and ran a couple of background processes before taking a break and checking in with Zayne. "Most of this I can do while keeping conversation up, or we can just exist in parallel if you want. Either way, if you need anything I can step away any time I need to," he told Zayne.

"I'm happy to talk," Zayne replied and Brinxton watched as the ragdoll cat laid across Zayne's hip comfortingly. "I'll just warn you that sometimes these muscle relaxers knock me on my ass."

"I'd be surprised if they didn't," Brinxton laughed in response. He was focused on his work but obviously still paying attention to the conversation.

Zayne grimaced a little. "It doesn't always. Sometimes the pain is so bad that the muscle relaxer only dampens it. When that happens, it doesn't make me sleep. It feels like taking ibuprofen."

Brinxton looked over and frowned sympathetically. "That has to be difficult. I'm sorry that you have to deal with that."

"It can be," Zayne admitted, deciding to be real instead of deflecting away from the truth. Normally he put on a brave face and pretended that it wasn't so bad, but he didn't want to do that with Brinxton. "There are times, like right now before the muscle relaxer starts to help, that I don't really know how I'm going to get through it. When you're sitting in front of an ER doctor sobbing through pain and they ask you what they are supposed to do to help you, or they just want to focus on the nausea. You don't really tell your loved ones that, though, because they get worried you're suicidal. I mean, sometimes I consider it, but then it gets better and it's only in those really bad times that suicide comes to mind."

Brinxton nodded along with Zayne's words, a look of understanding on his face. "I can't say I can relate, but I appreciate you not sugar-coating it."

"Normally I would sugar coat it, but..." Zayne trailed off as he played with the cat's tail, which the cat didn't seem to mind at all as he was purring all the while. "I don't want to lie to you."

"I appreciate that," Brinxton said. "I know we agreed that this would be casual, but that doesn't mean feelings won't get involved and I like to know what I'm getting into."

Zayne nodded his head. If he thought too much about it, he would have mentioned that moving your work to at home for something casual didn't make sense, but he didn't want to delve too deeply in it because then he'd had to think about his own feelings. It was easier if they kept this casual, and investigating what Brinxton being here during this meant to him was stepping into an area he wasn't comfortable with, so he didn't.

They continued talking while Brinxton worked, with Zayne telling him more about some of the surgeries and procedures he had gone through while Brinxton told Zayne about his experience with boarding school. Eventually, thanks to the muscle relaxers and the cat, who he had told Brinxton was named Cloud, purring against his back, Zayne's eyes drooped and he fell asleep, leaving Brinxton to his work and thoughts. Zayne's skin was still sickly in pallor, though the sweating had subsided and his hair fell down around his eyes as he slept on his side, facing towards where Brinxton was sitting.

Brinxton kept stealing glances at Zayne as he slept and ruminated on what they were doing and whether he wanted it defined differently or not. He had about two hours to think on that before Zayne woke up and grimaced in pain. He let Brinxton get him another gatorade and then took his meds again.

This became their routine for the next few days, with Zayne talking when he was awake and alert enough, and then sleeping when the muscle relaxer made him tired. Cloud stayed with Zayne the entire time, even at night when the others were back home. By day two, they were able to get Zayne to eat soft foods and he was moving around more on day three whereas before he really only got up to use the bathroom. These were the few times he didn't use the wheelchair, as he didn't want to fuss with it so he just used the bars to get to and from the bathroom each time.

On day three, Zayne started getting more phone calls from work and Brinxton got to listen while he walked the worker through what she needed to do when it came to schedules and ordering supplies. Zayne spoke with authority and knowledge, and never spoke down to her even when what he was explaining was a fairly simple thing to do.

"Thank you for being here," Zayne said to Brinxton once he was more or less back to normal. "I've found that very few people like to deal with the truly hard times when they crop up like this."

"Well, it's not like it required much of me. Just sit with you and offer to help when I could. I don't understand what's hard about that," Brinxton said, his confusion obvious.

Zayne had a faraway look now, and he sighed as he took in what Brinxton had said. "I don't know, but some people just...see my issues as a burden. It was close to a year after the accident that I got sick and had my first ER visit due to the extreme pain in my back. Daniel hadn't broken up with me yet, and he was with me when it happened, sleeping in my bed. He woke Elias up and made him take me to the ER. It was only about two weeks after that he ended the relationship, saying it was too much for him. I haven't met anyone since then that didn't view it similarly while I was in a relationship with them. Maybe I attract the wrong people. Or maybe the problem is me."

Brinxton frowned, "I doubt you're the problem. Most people just suck. Daniel chief among them."

"And now your sister is marrying him," Zayne commented. "I almost feel sorry for her, to be honest. What if she were to get sick while they are together? He won't stay if she does."

"Honestly, she's as ableist as he is. They deserve each other. I heard somewhere that because Americans live so long and given the state of our healthcare system, basically everyone is pre-disabled," Brinxton responded. "It's just a matter of time, and it's something that makes ableism so much more disgusting to me."

"It's a sad thought considering so much is inaccessible," Zayne said. "They expect us to stay in the shadows so able-bodied people don't have to see us all the time. Half of the places we use for events in society end up with me unable to do something or go somewhere. You'll see that for yourself soon enough the longer you hang out with us though." Then Zayne got a smirk on his face and reached out to grab Brinxton's belt and pull him closer to the bed. "I would like to thank you properly for being here, though."

Brinxton smiled and moved closer, "Well, if you insist..."

Zayne took his time with Brinxton, riling him up with his hand and mouth before asking Brinxton to fuck him into the mattress. They got undressed, but Zayne kept a tank top on, and Brinxton noticed when Zayne got onto his hands and knees that he didn't take the shirt off. The tank top was loose in the front so Brinxton could still run his hands along Zayne's chest, but it covered most of his back, especially near his waist.

Once again, Brinxton got a small peak at some of the scarring on Zayne's back, but he was purposely trying to cover it. Brinxton didn't comment on it this time, though, letting Zayne have his tank top on and taking him from behind. Zayne was beyond words by the time Brinxton was pumping deep and hard into him, bringing Zayne to orgasm right before Brinxton let himself fall over the edge, while Zayne clutched onto the comforter and cried out through his climax.

Afterwards, they lay in the bed, with Zayne's back on Brinxton's chest. Both were tired afterwards and it wasn't a difficult ask for either when Zayne asked him to stay one more night.