All Chapters of Rewinding My Reaper Boyfriend: Chapter 171 - Chapter 178

The kitchen smelled of wet wool and drying mud.Elion sat at the pine table, a towel draped over his shoulders, watching Cale attempt to clean the mud from his splint with a damp rag. Cale’s movements were slow, jerky, the motor control in his hands still suffering from the sensory disconnect."Let me do it," Elion said."I am functional," Cale replied without looking up. "The debris is superficial. Structural integrity of the splint is maintained.""You're shaking, Cale.""Muscle fatigue. Caused by the landslide. It will pass.""It's not fatigue. It's the emptiness. You used too much energy holding me."Cale stopped scrubbing. He looked at the mud on his hands. It was grey to him. Just texture. Grit."Energy is a finite resource," Cale said. "I spent it well.""You're running on fumes.""Fumes are still flammable. I can still burn."Elion stood up. He walked over to the counter where the leather-bound book from the basement lay open. Alex's handwriting scrawled across the yellowed pa

Elion woke up feeling like he had run a marathon in his sleep.His limbs were heavy, leaden. His head throbbed with a dull, persistent ache behind his eyes. He tried to sit up, but the room spun lazily, forcing him back onto the pillow."Stay down," a voice said.Cale was there. He was standing by the bed, no longer leaning on the broomstick-crutch. He was balancing on his own two feet, his posture straighter than it had been in days.He held a mug of tea."You are vertical," Elion whispered. His voice sounded thin to his own ears."I am functional," Cale said. "The leg... the pain is receded. The bone feels... knit.""Knit? Overnight?""Accelerated regeneration," Cale said. "Fuel injection."He sat on the edge of the bed. He moved with a fluidity that had been missing since the bridge. He placed a hand on Elion's forehead."You are cold," Cale noted."I feel fine. Just tired.""You are not fine. Your skin temperature is ninety-six degrees. Your pulse is weak."Cale’s hand was warm. H

The eggs tasted like ash.Elion chewed mechanically. Swallow. Breathe. Repeat.Across the wooden table, Cale was eating with efficient, precise movements. Fork to mouth. Chew. Swallow. He looked perfectly healthy. His cheeks had color. His leg, previously shattered and rotting, was hidden under denim jeans, but he sat without the stiff agony that had defined the last week.He looked fine.That was the horror of it."The salt ratio is correct?" Cale asked.Elion looked up. Cale’s eyes were bright, expectant. Green again. Not grey static."It's perfect," Elion lied. He put his fork down. The metal clinked loudly against the ceramic plate. "Cale.""Yes?""Say it again."Cale paused. He tilted his head, like a bird listening for a worm in the earth."Say what?""Your full name."Cale smiled. It was a gentle smile. The smile of a man who had no idea he was bleeding out spiritually."Cale Rion," he said."And the middle name?"Cale frowned. A tiny crease appeared between his eyebrows. He lo

The floorboards were hard.That was the first thing Cale noticed. Not the concept of hardness, or the theoretical resistance of matter against matter, but the actual, physical ache of wood pressing into his shoulder blades. The sensation was sharp, specific, and entirely unavoidable.He lay still, eyes closed, letting the sensation wash over him. It was uncomfortable. It was stiff. It was perfect."Cale?" Elion's voice came from beside him. It sounded groggy, rough with sleep. "Are you awake?"Cale opened his eyes. The morning light streaming through the yellow gingham curtains was blindingly bright. He blinked rapidly, tears pricking the corners of his eyes from the sheer intensity of the photons hitting his retinas."I am awake," Cale said. His voice rasped in his throat. It felt raw, like he had been screaming for hours, or like he hadn't spoken in years."How do you feel?" Elion asked, shifting on the floor. He groaned as he pushed himself up, rubbing his lower back. "God, my back