Chapter 7: A Blighted Rose

We weren’t, however, to get right into scene. Lucy’s cell phone rang, with an odd tone. “Hang on, Howard. That’s my emergency ring.

“Hi! What’s wrong?

“Oh. Yes, I can help. Don’t say anything if possible. I’ll send people to come get you. We have a specialist in security clearance law, Don Jenner, who will meet us.”

Lucy told Howard and Diane, “Weird coincidence. That was Rose. She’s nearly hysterical. Apparently, she got called into the security office and told that her clearance was suspended over what sounds like her sexual partying. It’s not revoked, but suspended. Nevertheless, she was told to leave work. I don’t want her driving. Let’s figure out who is closest. I’m going to ask Marta, my office assistant, to check, but let’s get you, Dove, and Marilyn working from here. Rose may very well need some medical or psychiatric help.

Her phone rang again. “Oh, good. Jerry and Sandra were nearby, and are heading for her office. I’m going to get one of our vans to head there as well. Until we figure out what is happening, I don’t want her to be alone. Let’s call Richard Miller -- you haven’t met him, but he’s a psychiatrist and faculty member at Georgetown.

“I have the sense that Rose may be more comforted by sex than drugs, which is why I want her in a private van. Obviously, Jerry can deal with any physical control that’s needed. But reassuring physical touch is part of a good intervention, although it’s increasingly scary to medical professionals scared of being sued.”

She got onto the phone. “Sandra, when you see her, what I’ve been told by Richard, the psychiatrist, is that reassuring body pressure -- you may have heard of doing this in autistic meltdowns -- helps stabilize. You’re going to have to decide if we can care for her, with affectionate people in constant attendance and contact, or if she needs hospitalization. I think we can handle her, especially if she needs sexual reassurance as well. Stay nonsexual if you can, but if she seems to need that contact, it might be something to give her.”

Lucy made another call. “Don, I need you to meet a friend, who also will be a client, in crisis. Marta is coordinating the intervention. Let me say this, as another friend, not managing partner. Don’t worry about her making a pass at you, which she probably will. If you feel like responding, honest, it will build trust with her. No one is going to raise ethical questions.”

After she hung up, she smiled. “Don is a good guy, a senior associate heading up. I trust him, but I’ll bet that I left him confused.”

“Diane, we have a few minutes, not enough for a full lap dance. But would you wiggle a bit on mine, and maybe his, and let us do a full scene when we have time? It sounds like a lot of fun.

Don was still in the offices, so Marta, when sending Alfred, one of our trusted drivers, Don went with him, as well as Bruce, a second driver. Sandra and Jerry had arrived a few minutes earlier. They found Rose in her car, in the parking garage, sobbing. Given that even during the workday, she wears her makeup on the heavy side, the tears, bluntly, had turned her attractive face into a mess. Sandra immediately moved to her side. “I want to hug you; may I give you a hug?”

“Oh God, yes. I’d so welcome a friendly hug.”

The van pulled up. Alfred, an alert man, discreetly passed a bottle of water and a box of cleansing tissues to Sandra, who gently cleaned the streaks off Rose’s face. Smiling, Sandra told Rose, “You know, you look pretty good even without makeup.”

“Rose,” Bruce told her, “if you’ll give me your keys, I’ll drive your car back.” He was pleasantly surprised that it was a vintage Mustang convertible.

After Bruce left, Rose told the others, “That’s reassuring, I guess. The hugs are even better. I sure as hell wouldn’t mind some deep kisses. It’s probably better that I wait until we get to the apartment, but I’d also love to be fucked, fondled, or otherwise gotten off.”

Jerry’s instincts were perfect, when he simply scooped Rose into his arms and carried her to Sandra’s apartment. “Please, Jerry, take my clothes off. You and Sandra can hug me, but if you want to do more, I’d find it very comforting.” She started to cry again. They indeed undressed her, but limited themselves, for the moment, to kissing, hugging, and fondling. Sandra slipped a satin kimono onto her.

Lucy and I came in. We went to her and hugged. “Let’s get you comfortable, honey. We’ll handle the legal problems. What would help you right now?”

Rose sniffled. “Um, I’m not sure I should ask this...”

“Go ahead. Remember, nothing shocks me.”

“The best thing for me to calm down is to get fucked out of my mind. Ah, not just fucked, but all the sex I can get.”

“Is that all, dear? That’s easy.” Lucy moved to her and kissed her with increasing savagery, which Rose’s body language indicated that she needed. “Howard, Jerry, Sandra -- let’s carry her to my bedroom. Don, come along if you’re ready, or join us after we get her calmed down.” Jerry scooped her into his arms. “Put her on the bed and surround her with warm bodies, but no sex unless she reaches for it, which she may.”

Marilyn came in, with a medical bag. “I spoke to Richard, who will be over later with more medication. Rose, honey, have you had any alcohol or drugs recently?”

“No. As crazy as I may be, I’m careful about that.”

“OK, then. He told me that I can give you an injection of Ativan, and follow up with tablets. This works quickly.” Marilyn gave it as an intravenous bolus, and then joined the rest of us holding Rose. In about 15 minutes, we felt her relaxing, with her sobs turning gentle.

Lucy looked at her. “I don’t want to get into the details now, Rose, but simple promiscuity, if you’re out about it, probably won’t cause you to lose a clearance, certainly at the lower levels.”

“I just have a SECRET.”

“You’re probably OK, then.”

“Thanks, Lucy. I’m glad you’re here, because you understand the special feelings of being gangbanged. It’s different from the club, because I want multiple partners that aren’t anonymous.”

“We can arrange that, Rose.” Lucy gave her an open-mouthed kiss, and slipped a hand inside the kimono. Sandra slipped behind Lucy and loosened her skirt, under which she wore only stockings.

Marilyn joined them. Rose and Marilyn had met a few times, but really just knew each other to say hello.

Rose looked closely at her. Yes, she was in whites, but the skirt was midthigh at longest, the shirt was sheer, and her heels were not conducive to spending a shift on her feet. “I’ll bet that isn’t your day-to-day nurse outfit.”

Marilyn laughed. “I don’t do nursing every day. But yes, I thought about it. It’s all real uniform, although tailored to be sexy. You see, I thought that was one way that we could be more comfortable, if you knew, right away, that I also am happy to flaunt myself.

“You tell me how to define our relationship. I can be completely professional; I can be a professional and slutty. You can also tell me that I make you feel uncomfortable, and I’ll go low-key and leave when the doctor gets here.”

“Hell, I like the idea of a nurse with whom, at the very least, I can talk dirty about guys and girls we see. If you flirt, just don’t tease too much if you’re not willing to get into bed with me.” She waved at the bed. “This is a king-sized bed, not a hospital bed, with plenty of room.”

“Tell you what. Let’s get to know one another, kissing and cuddling at this point mostly, but if we feel each other up, that’s fine too.”

“Well, Marilyn, I’ve got to admit that I’d like to see those big boobs without a top or bra.”

“What makes you think I’m wearing a bra?”

A couple of hours later, Richard arrived, gave Rose a brief physical, and talked to her for a while. “Rose, as your physician, I really can’t fuck you, so I’d appreciate your tuning down your sex appeal when we talk. I understand the household and I’ll encourage you to get all the sex that helps you. Just listen to Lucy and Marilyn if something doesn’t feel right.

“I’m going to give you some lithium carbonate, a low dose. Marilyn will draw blood in 12 hours and get it to the lab at Georgetown. Lithium can be tremendously effective, but it’s tricky to get the dose right. Sometimes, we hospitalize people for that, but you’ve got enough smart people here to monitor you while we get the meds right. I’m giving some supplies to Marilyn. If you start feeling stressed, tell someone, 24/7 -- just call extension 222. There’s no reason that you should be uncomfortable. Several of your friends rotate the night duty.

“It may take a couple of weeks to get your medication right. Dove can talk to you about therapy, and how much is appropriate for a friend to do rather than in an outside professional relationship. For what I think you have going on, medication is often more important than therapy.”

“My guess is that you also need rest and recreation, that you may have been running too hard because you were excitable. Don’t worry about it. Lucy tells me that the group corporation can hire you if it would be too stressful to go back. She has consultants that can continue your clearance, even in the appeals process.”