Anterograde Read Online Free

come by. The city was, after all, officially under siege .
    “Right,”
Eli said wryly, pulling his hand free. “I’m going to downgrade you from
complete as s hole to big baby who can’t take care of a little
headache. And you owe me lunch when you’re better.”
    Ca l den mumbled
something, but Eli, on his way to the kitchen, did not understand.
    “What
did you say?” he called out as he ran a towel under cold water before wringing out the excess.
    “Said
it’s a big headache,” Ca l den said, slurring the words a little.
    “Of
course it is . Drop your arm. There you go. Does that feel nice?”
    His
forehead and eyes covered by the cool towel,
Calden hummed something that might have
been a thank you.
    “I’ve
got aspirin at my apartment ,” Eli said,
squeezing Ca l den’s shoulder once. “I won’t be long, all right?”
    Ca l den made a vaguely
affirmative noise.
    As Eli
left the house and climbed into his car, a little voice that sounded
awfully like Bryce’s whispered in his ear.
    He’s
taking advantage of you. Like he always does .
    But
Ca l den
hadn’t asked for anything, Eli replied to the little voice. In fact, he hadn’t
asked Eli for his usual favors since Bryce had confronted him about taking
advantage of Eli three weeks ago. Ca l den had stormed off then, and he hadn’t said a word to
Eli at the hospital for days, until he’d asked to meet over lunch. He’d said he
had something to tell Eli.
    Eli
knew better than to expect an apology. In
all the years they’d known each other, Calden couldn’t possibly have uttered
the word ‘sorry’ more than a couple of times, despite having cause far more
often than that. Still, Eli had vaguely
hoped for an acknowledgment from Ca l den that, yes, he’d been overly needy in the past
months , both at the hospital and
out of it. Something was up with him, but Eli couldn’t figure out what it was.
    Needy
was Eli’s word. Bryce called Ca l den’s behavior obnoxious. He couldn’t understand why Eli
tolerated it from Ca l den when he’d have called anyone else on it. Eli had tried
to explain that he’d been Calden’s best friend before they started working together at the hospital, and that he was used to
his antics. Calden couldn’t be bothered to keep to his schedule, and he always tried
to trade patients he considered uninteresting for more challenging cases, but
the truth of it all was that he was the best surgeon the town had. Eli knew
that firsthand and owed him, if not his life, at least his right arm. Whether Calden
was needy and obnoxious or not, they needed him . Bryce had glared daggers at Eli when he’d said that.
    As
familiar as Ca l den’s behavior was, Bryce’s response had taken Eli by
surprise. Others complained about Calden,
doctors and nurses alike, but after seeing what he could do with a scalpel or
needle, they grew more tolerant. Bryce, on the other hand, simply couldn’t
stand him, and he didn’t even work with them directly, instead driving one of
the ambulances that ran back and forth from the hospital to the walls that had
been built to protect the city every time the demons attacked.
    Calden had told Eli to ask Bryce about his ex-husband, that
it’d explain why he was so suspicious. Eli had managed to hide from Ca l den that he
hadn’t known Bryce had been married before. He had yet to ask Bryce if it was
true. It probably was; Calden had a knack for discovering things about people.
    His
apartment wasn’t far. In ten minutes, Eli
was there and back. Coming back into Calden’s
house , Eli hung his jacket and stepped
into the kitchen. He popped a pill from the bottle, filled a glass with cold
water, and took both to Ca l den, who apparently hadn’t moved since Eli had left.
    “Hey.
I’m back. Sit up for a bit.”
    He
had to shake Ca l den’s shoulder before his body jerked, the towel sliding
off his face. He blinked repeatedly, frowning up at Eli.
    “Eli?”
he said drowsily. “What are you doing