AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, everyone. I want to thank all of you that have supported and encouraged me thus far. I want to warn you that there is NO sex in this chapter at all. So, if that's all you're after, you're going to have to move on to another story or wait for the next Chapter. I suspect that although I will probably continue the story, I may write 2 different versions - one for Nifty and one for my own satisfaction. The one for Nifty will probably be wrapped up within the next 3 chapters. I felt pressured to integrate sex into the last chapter just because I wanted to balance the sex with the plot. I could not, however (for reasons that will become obvious as you read the chapter), include sex in this chapter. It would have been impossible. So, if I get enough responses from people who are genuinely interested in the plot, I will continue to write ONE version of the story and will post all the chapters on Nifty. Otherwise, expect the plot to begin to wrap itself up relatively quickly. It has been A LOT of fun writing this story and it has taken on a life of it's own. Thanks again for reading and please let me know if you'd like me to continue posting chapters on Nifty (even if some of them will be plot only and no sex). ehlrich@hotmail.com
-------- CHAPTER 7
"Follow my lead," Gary said as we stepped out of the car and walked up to the bewildered Karen.
"Hey babe," Gary said calmly.
"Don't 'babe' me! What the hell was THAT all about?"
"Sweetheart, I'm sorry if I crossed a line. Drew is goin' through some pretty heavy shit. We really bonded today and although we were good friends before, we're closer now," Gary said.
I put on the best pathetic looking face that I could muster without overdoing it. It wasn't terribly difficult since I was feeling insanely guilty in response to Gary's "we're closer now" remark. I had thought about how I might feel when I saw Karen but didn't expect this kind of guilt. What on EARTH had I done?
Karen looked skeptical. She wasn't completely buying it but I don't think she wanted to even consider any other options. "Yeah, well - stop teasin' that boy," she said. "You know how much he adores you."
And, with that, we all turned and walked inside. I could feel the tension in the room. It's almost as if I could hear Karen mulling things over in her head. - - Oh God, I let them spend the whole day together. What if he isn't teasing him anymore and he gave in? That kiss was on the lips. What guy kisses another guy on the lips? - - Her thoughts were penetrating my brain. And if she wasn't thinking these things now, I knew that at some point she would be.
I was genuinely tired from our long day. It had been physically and emotionally draining. So, I announced that I was headed to my room to watch TV and that I would most likely be falling asleep. They both said good night to me and as I turned away, I could feel Gary's gaze following me much longer than it should have as I disappeared down the hall. He wasn't covering this up very well.
-
- Later that night - -
I was awoken by the sound of someone screaming and turned to look at the clock. It was 2:12am. Who the hell would be screaming at this hour? Something must be wrong. I sprang up from my bed and opened my door. Oh NO - it wasn't screaming (exactly) - it was Karen. She was moaning like I had never heard her moan before (and let's just say that Karen isn't exactly quiet when the two of them sleep together anyway). From my position in the hallway, I could also hear Gary's stifled moans. I didn't know whether to be turned, disgusted or indifferent.
Now MY mind started swimming with conflicting thoughts. Was Gary just playing me? It certainly hadn't felt like it. But maybe he's just THAT good of a player. Could he really be THAT much of a creep? Or is he just trying to cover his ass until he figures things out? I couldn't think about it. Not without talking to him about it first. I knew that if I continued to think the way that I was, I would conjure up the worst possible scenario and only end up freaking myself out.
'No, time to go back to bed,' I thought to myself as I crawled back under the covers and pulled the blankets up to my neck. I covered my head with a pillow to try and block out the sounds of Karen's whaling.
"JESUS CHRIST," I heard from the hallway, "IT'S ALMOST 2:30 IN THE MORNING! IF YOU'RE GONNA FUCK EACH OTHERS BRAINS OUT, AT LEAST DO IT QUIETLY." It was Stacey and she was PISSED. Immediately following her rant, her door slammed shut and the sounds of Karen & Gary's fuck-fest were successfully silenced.
'I love you, Stacey!' I thought and turned on my side to get comfortable.
-
- The Next Morning - -
Despite the interruption in my sleep, I woke up rather early. I was showered, dressed and ready to conquer my Sunday before any of the other roommates were even awake. Which meant - I had to be quiet.
'Fuck that,' I thought and headed for the door. It was absolutely beautiful out. The kind of day that only comes once or twice a year. It was about 65 degrees, the sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky and the smell of freshly cut grass lingered in the air. Our neighbors across the street had been up even earlier than I was and had just cut their lawn.
I turned down the sidewalk and started to walk down our quiet street. I was going to enjoy this lovely weather and hoped that everyone would be awake when I returned home.
The trees overhead made a beautiful canopy over the sidewalk and the beauty of it all made me feel like I was on the set of a movie. It was all too perfect. I could see the neighborhood kids playing hopscotch farther down the sidewalk and decided to cross the street to avoid interrupting their game.
Pain shot through my body in a flash and time seemed to slow. I felt the impact of the metal against my leg as I heard the screech of tires. The pain then traveled to my hip as I tumbled up onto the hood of the vehicle. The last thing I felt was the sharp stab of agony that started at my head and traveled down my neck and into my left shoulder. I hadn't heard the car coming and was too busy watching the children playing to check the road before I started to cross. Everything was dark.
When I came to, I was in a hospital room with various tubes connected to my body. My head was partially wrapped and my left eye had been covered. The pain was unbelievable. But, worst of all, I was alone. There was no one in my room.
My vision in my right eye was blurred but I saw the nurse's call button as I looked around and reached over to press it. It took forever to move my arm into a position where my hand could reach it. Not to mention the amount of pain. When I finally pushed the button, I heard "he's awake" from just outside my room. I must have been near the nurse's station.
Two nurses walked into my room. One male and one female. I couldn't really describe them to you because it was difficult to see them.
"How do you feel?" the male nurse asked.
"I'm in a lot of pain. What happened?" I couldn't remember what had brought me here. Why was I hurting so badly? Why could I barely move?
"You were hit by a car."
That was all it took. The memory of the accident came flooding back to me and tears started to stream down my face.
"What's wrong with me? Am I going to be okay?" I managed to get out through my tears.
"You're going to be fine, sweetheart," the female nurse said as she approached me and put her hand on my leg. "I hate to do this to you," she continued, "but I have to ask you a few questions. You see, you weren't carrying any identification on you at all. Do you remember your name?"
"Andrew....Andrew Branson."
"How old are you?"
"25."
"Whom can we contact to let them know what has happened?"
"Patricia Branson. My mother."
"What's her number, dahlin?"
"555 - 8467"
"Do you have insurance?"
"Yeah - uhm - it's Total Health Premium."
"Okay, my name is Andrea and this is Wilson. I'm gonna go call your mother and Wilson is going to go get the doctor. I will be right back, okay?"
"Okay."
"Do you need anything before we go?" Wilson asked.
"Something to make the pain go away."
"We'll have to wait and see what the doctor says."
And they started to walk out.
"Wait," I said as I noticed that it was dark out. "What time is it?"
"It's about 1:30a.m."
"What day is it?"
"It's Monday morning, dear," Andrea replied. "We'll be right back."
Monday morning? I started my walk shortly after 9:00a.m.on Sunday. I had been gone for over 12 hours. My roommates must be going insane wondering what happened to me. But it was too late for me to have Andrea call them. She had already walked out the door.
I looked around me and saw a phone next to my bed but it wouldn't have been way too much for me to try and reach it. I had to wait.
My head hurt so badly. I wondered how badly I was injured and as I examined my body more closely, I noticed that my left leg had been splinted. I wasn't even going to try to move it. I attempted to wiggle my toes on my right foot and was relieved when they responded.
Andrea walked back into the room followed by Wilson and what I assumed to be the doctor.
"Your mother is on her way," Andrea said.
"Andrew, I'm Dr. Jenkins. Do you know why you're here?"
"I was hit by a car."
"That's right. And in the process, you got a terrible concussion that we had originally feared would have put you into a coma. In addition, you dislocated your left shoulder and your left leg sustained a relatively minor fracture considering the intensity of the accident," he paused. "The good news is that there was no damage to your internal organs and there doesn't appear to be any permanent brain damage."
"Why is my head wrapped?"
"You were bleeding quite heavily from a cut in your head and your face was split just above your left eye. The wound on your head is about two inches in length and was stitched. The wound above your left eye is right on your eyebrow. It's going to be a small scar since the cut was only about an inch long. Again, the good news is that amazingly you have no broken facial bones. I know that it doesn't seem like it right now but you are extremely lucky. Your body hit the car in such a way that you sustained minimal damage considering how fast the vehicle was going."
"What about the driver? Is the driver okay?"
"Again, surprisingly, yes. The airbag deployed and aside from some muscle aches and a broken nose, she was fine."
"Someone has to call my roommates and let them know I'm okay."
"I'll take care of that," Andrea said. "What's the number and who should I ask for?"
"It's 555-4971 and you can ask for either Stacey, Karen or Gary." Memories of what had happened with Gary come flooding back to me. The thought of seeing him or Karen made my head throb even more.
"What about the pain?" I asked the doctor.
"Are you in a lot of pain?"
"Uhm - yeah," I said kinda rudely.
"I'm afraid that with your concussion, I'm very limited on what I can give you. What little I can give you probably won't even touch the pain. We're gonna have to tough it out for 24 hours to make sure that you're going to be okay before I give you something that could knock you out again."
'We?' I thought to myself. What is he going to take some of the pain away and feel it himself?
Andrea's 2-way radio beeped and a voice came over to announce that my mother had arrived. Although she only lived about 10-15 minutes from the hospital, she had made the trip in about 5 minutes. She must have driven like a maniac. Andrea responded to the person on the radio and told them she would be right there to get her.
"I'm gonna go talk to your mother, Andrew," Dr. Jenkins said. "In the meantime, Wilson is going to stay with you. We're going to keep someone in your room for the next 24 hours since we need to make sure that you stay awake. I know it's going to be hard but we're all here to help you get through this." And, for once in my life, I actually believed a doctor. His tone was very sincere and I could tell that he genuinely cared about my well-being. Amazing. 'They still make doctors like that?', I thought.
Andrea and Dr. Jenkins stepped out of the room as Wilson approached my bed and sat down in the chair next to it.
"So," he said (trying to make conversation), "what do you remember about yesterday morning if you don't mind me asking?"
"Not at all. Uhm. Well. I got up before my roommates. I didn't want to wake anyone. So I decided to go for a walk. I was walking down the sidewalk and noticed some kids playing up ahead. I stepped off the sidewalk to cross the street and didn't see the car until I was up on it's hood."
"Jesus."
"Tell me about it."
"Are you gonna press charges?"
"I don't know. I don't think so. I mean - I stepped out in front of her."
"Yeah, but she was driving like a bat out of hell on a residential street."
"I don't know. I can't think about that right now."
"Sorry. I know this must be pretty overwhelming for you."
"To say the least."
"This is my first day on the job. I just graduated a few months ago."
"Cool," I said, trying to feign interest.
"So, you're my first real patient."
"Please tell me that's not supposed to be reassuring," I said with a chuckle.
"I know. But trust me I've had plenty of hands-on time with my internship. This is just my first day actually working and getting paid to be a nurse."
"Andrew?" I heard from the doorway.
I looked up and saw my mother in tears with her hand now covering her mouth.
She came over to me and Wilson stood up to get out of her way. She reached over and put on her hand on the right side of my face.
"My baby," she said as the tears streamed from her eyes.
"I'll be okay, Mom."
"I know. I know. The doctor told me everything. I just can't stand to see you like this. My poor, sweet baby. I love you so much," her voice was quivering.
"I love you too, Mom," I said as I started to cry.
"Oh, don't cry, hun. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry."
"I know. I just hate to see you crying."
"You are the sweetest boy. God, I love you. I'm so glad that you're okay."
Andrea popped her head back in, "Excuse me, folks," she said before addressing me directly. "Andrew, I called your roommates. They are on their way."
"Thank you, Andrea."
"Unfortunately. We can't let them all in the room with you at once. The doctor said he will let them come in one at a time but he wants to limit your visitors to no more than two at a time."
"Okay, thanks."
"You're welcome, sweetie. I'll be back in a little while."
I looked up at my Mom. "Where's Dad?"
"He's in Colorado on business. I called him and he's going to get home as soon as he can. He told me to tell you that he loves you."
My head started to spin. My vision was getting more and more blurry.
"Momma, I don't feel....."
And as I passed out, I heard her scream, "ANDREW!"
When I came to again, I was hooked up to oxygen and felt even worse than I had felt before. I looked around me and Gary was seated next to my bed.
"Oh, thank God!" he said.
"Gare?"
"Oh my God." The tears rolled from Gary's eyes as he jumped up and grabbed my hand.
"Where am I?"
"You're still in the hospital. You've been here for over a week now."
"What?"
"Yeah, you've been out cold for over a week," Gary said as he pressed the nurse's call button.
"Yes?" a familiar voice said over the speaker.
"He's awake."
"We'll be right there."
Seconds later, a woman that I vaguely recognized came back into my room.
"You've given us all quite a scare," she said. "The doctor is on his way and Wilson is calling your parents to let them know you're awake."
"Where did my Mom go?"
"She went home to shower and get some rest. We've all been taking turns sitting with you," Gary said. "This was my watch."
The nurse came over and started to write things on my chart from the various machines that I was hooked up to.
"I remember you," I said.
"I'm Andrea, hun. I'm one of your nurses. We talked the first time you woke up."
"That's right." My words were slightly slurred and my voice was very quiet.
My throat hurt and my mouth was incredibly dry. I was feeling very groggy.
"The doctor will be here in just a minute. I'm just gonna run over to the station," Andrea said to Gary. "If anything happens, just yell." Gary nodded.
When Andrea had left the room. Gary looked down at me and I noticed that he was still crying.
"Why are you crying?"
"I thought we were going to lose you. I've been a wreck for the past week."
"What day is it?"
"It's Tuesday."
"Holy shit."
"Yeah! They told us yesterday that they didn't know how long you would be out for. They said it could be weeks before you came back around. Apparently your head got hit harder than they thought."
"Fuck," was all I could manage.
Gary locked eyes with me and I suddenly felt a small amount of relief. "I love you so much. Don't you ever leave me. Do you understand?"
"I'm not going anywhere."