Chapter 25: Healing

Friday, June 14, 1996, Sanford Maine

The pain in my head was starting to make its presence known again. I guessed that the extra boost of morphine was beginning to wear off. Amber had just gone into the little washroom in the corner, and I was busy reflecting on what I had just remembered had happened to me. I was still trying to grasp it all. It was like watching a movie that had no sound, but at least you were decent at lip-reading. It was annoying, and you didn’t quite have all the pieces of the puzzle, but you could still manage to get through it.

I fully knew who had attacked me, and I knew why too. That much was very clear to me. The sick fucks who had targeted my sister for abuse had obviously wanted revenge for the broken nose that I had given the wannabe rapist asshole when I had rescued CC from his clutches. The disconcerting part for me was the missing week of my life. It was surreal that I had slept a whole week; it was hard to wrap my head around. Although trying to wrap my head around that boulder in the creekbed was much harder, I thought as I chuckled to myself. At least I still had my sense of humor.

I was starting to get impatient for the Doctor to show up. I had a lot of questions that I wanted to ask, and the list was just getting longer. I laid my head back, shut my eyes, and chewed on some more ice chips. I needed to try and keep this headache from getting any worse, and keeping my eyes open and my neck strained wasn’t helping any. I heard the toilet flush; it sounded like a Boeing 737, it was so loud! I’d be scared to flush while sitting on that sucker; it literally sounded strong enough to disembowel someone!

The door clicked open, and my sister popped back into the room and pushed her way through the curtain. Man, was she ever gorgeous; even with bags under her eyes and her hair unkempt, she still looked amazing. She caught me staring, and she smiled at me—a warm, loving smile, one that told me everything that I needed to know about how she felt about me. She never required words; she could communicate to me with just a look.

The image of our wedding from the dream/vision that I’d had when I was still in gaga land came flooding back to me, and it made me smile wistfully. It had seemed so real! When I eventually told Amber about it, she would get a huge kick out of the idea of Dad actually giving her away. So that me, her brother, could fuck her as his wife forever. I couldn’t help but chuckle out loud at that.

“What’s so funny, Bro?” Amber asked as she bounced over to my side and grabbed my hand.

“Nothing important; just thought about a dream that I’d had while I was off in wonderland. I just remembered it. I’ll tell you all about it when I know for sure that we’re alone and won’t be interrupted. Okay? Just remind me later though, I might forget,” I said dismissively.

“Oh, okay. I’ll try and remember, ‘cause I could sure use a good laugh after the stress of the past week! How are you feeling, Babe?” she asked while she stroked my cheek and analyzed my face for my reaction.

“Hmm, I just realized that I am going to have a built-in Nurse for when I get to go home! I guess I will need some looking after in my condition,” I laughed.

“You’re damn right that you do! And lemme tell you something, buster! This NURSE may love you to death, and this NURSE may be the sweetest, most loving, and ahem ... GIVING NURSE that you’ll ever meet! But you’ll be best to know now that you’d better LISTEN to every goddamn word that this NURSE tells you!

“I am NOT fucking around either. I know YOU, Davey, and I know just how much you’ll try and push yourself. THAT isn’t happening, no siree Bob! Not on MY watch, BROTHER! You WILL do what I tell you to do until I AM satisfied that you’re all better and safe! Understand me, loverboy? I will not lose you now that you’re back, I won’t!” she told me, all calm and collected, but with steel in her voice, while her eyes pierced me like daggers.

She was letting me know that if I valued her that I would not fight her on those conditions.

“Okay,” I answered simply with a loving smile.

“Really? Just ... just, like that, and you say okay? You mean it? You’re not going to try and fight me on this? Or try and argue?” she asked me incredulously.

“Nope,” I replied with a small grin.

“Huh!? What gives? You really, really mean it? So ... you’ll promise me then?” she asked with suspicion in her eyes.

“Amber ... I heard the pain in your voice. I can still see it in your eyes now, and I saw how all of you reacted when I awoke. I would have to be the evilest, cruelest, and most heartless bastard alive to deny you now. Do you think that I would ever intentionally cause you pain, my Heart? No, I would gladly suffer through anything just to see you smile, if even only once. So, of course, I will give you what is so easy for me to give, Honey Peach.

“I know that you care and that you love me, Amber. I know how much it is that you need me, and it’s almost as much as I need you. So I promise to obey you, do what you ask of me, and not overextend myself. Until such a time that you agree to release me from my vow. How’s that? Is that good enough for you, my Honey Peach?” I inquired as I pulled her hand up to my lips and kissed it.

“Oh, Davey! You are a Prince! You truly are my soul mate! I apologize for doubting you; please forgive me! I ... I have been so terrified this past week, the stress ... well, I’m not thinking clearly yet, okay? Oh, Baby! You always do know just the right thing to say to me! You make me feel as right as rain again, Honey, as right as rain,” she gushed as her eyes got moist.

She threw herself upon me then and kissed me to within an inch of my life, literally. She ripped off a couple of my heart monitor leads by accident, and so the machine naturally thought that my heart had stopped and that caused us a little excitement. Thankfully, the machine made a deafening flatline noise similar to what you see on TV shows. So at least the two Nurses who rushed in thirty seconds later didn’t catch me French kissing my baby sister.

I gave Nurse Betty Ross a sheepish look as she burst through the curtain, pulling it back with such force that it swung partway around to its starting spot. She was followed mere seconds later by an older Nurse that I hadn’t seen yet. She looked to be in her mid-fifties or so and had her hair shaved short, like a military buzz cut. It was peppered with steely grey, and her eyes looked flinty like she was the type of person who brokered no-nonsense. Her name tag said that she was Lynn Turner, and it was pinned to her lapel above an expansive bosom. She was very stout and looked like she could arm wrestle a Grizzly bear and come out the winner.

I burst out an explanation before the Nurses could say a word, “Sorry! I was trying to lean forward to get at an itch and, well, I must have leaned my arm on the wires, and when I moved, I felt these sticky wire thingy’s pop off my chest. The machine went nuts; I imagine that it gave you wonderful Nurses quite a fright! Again, I’m very sorry about that!” I said contritely as I noticed Amber shutting her mouth. I had just beat her from taking the blame, I figured.

“Oh! Well, that’s okay then, Hon. Just let me reattach them here, and we’ll get the machine settled down. How’s your head feeling? Did the extra burst of morphine help any?” Nurse Betty asked me with a kind smile.

“Humph! Watch the leads, kid! We certainly don’t need to be running in here for false alarms,” Nurse Lynn grumped at me with a frown before turning around and leaving.

Amber stuck her tongue out at her and crossed her eyes, making a comically furious face at her back as she left. I almost burst out laughing, which would have seriously hurt my head, so I’m glad that I was able to hold it in.

Nurse Betty patted me on the shoulder after having successfully reattached the wires to my chest and glanced back over towards the door.

“She’s a good Nurse. Just try and stay on her good side, and you’ll be alright. She’s just a little short-tempered, but she cares—anyway, no harm, no foul, as they say. Are the ice chips helping?” she asked.

“Yes, very much so, actually. Thanks so much! It feels like a world of difference, being able to talk without my throat trying to kill me. My head is getting bad again, though, but the rest of me is tolerable, as long as I don’t try to move too much. I guess the rocks won this round; no more head-butting contests for me!” I smiled as I joked about my situation.

Betty laughed, “With that attitude, you’ll be just fine! I can’t give you any more morphine right now, I’m afraid, but the Doctor should be here in about half an hour from now. Just make sure that you tell him just how much it hurts, and he’ll figure out what we can do to help you, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks very much, Ms. Ross. You’re an awesome Nurse! And pretty too!” I said with a flirtatious grin.

“Why, I just bet that you get all the girls!” she laughed with a twinkle in her eye. “Now, if you need anything, just buzz, although it looks like your sister would love to put me out of a job!” Nurse Betty said while looking over at Amber. “You’re name is Amber, if I remember correctly, right? Well, if your brother wants any more ice or water, it’s to the left when you leave this room, just down at the end of the hall. There’s a door that says Nurses Station, just go in, Hon, and you can get more ice and water there. No one will bother you, and if anyone asks, just tell them that I said it was okay. Unless you’d rather not?”

“No! I’d be happy to help! I’d do anything to help my brother,” Amber said with an eager smile.

“Such a sweet girl. You are a very lucky young man in more ways than one. Now I need to go and check my other wards,” she told us as she left.

Amber pulled a chair as close to the right side of my bed as she possibly could, and we sat holding hands while we talked about inconsequential stuff. It felt good for both of us; it was a bit of relief to be chatting about everyday things. I kept up with the ice chips and was content to just close my eyes and rest my head while talking with my best friend and lover. I was so happy I had found my way back to her, and as much as I wanted to take revenge on the asshole who had caused this, I wouldn’t break my word.

I’d wait as I’d promised. I would let Amber dictate when I was released from my vow, and I would see what the police had to say about the attack. I was already doubtful that much would come of it, though. It was my word against theirs, plus how was I to explain why they attacked me in the first place. They only knew me because I had saved CC from one of them, and telling them what had happened to her was not my place to say. I wouldn’t pressure her to do so at all; I knew that it would devastate her if I did. I had a feeling that those two assholes wouldn’t be letting this go from their side either; it was just a feeling, but it was settled deep within my gut.

Amber was rambling away about something Kim had said on the phone the day before, and I felt a bit guilty that I wasn’t paying attention, but my brain was running a mile a minute on other things.

“Sis, sorry to interrupt, but I just thought of something very important,” I said.

“Oh? What’s that, Davey?” she asked curiously, thankfully not sounding upset at being cut off mid-story.

“Umm, when I get around to telling the police what I remember about being attacked ... Well, they’re going to want to know WHY they attacked me and how I know the guys who did it, right?”

“Umm, yeah. So? I don’t get what you’re after?” she asked, puzzled.

“Sis, the ONLY reason that I know them is because I saved CC from being raped. Well, and the fact that they were making rude gestures at you at Martin’s party, but I didn’t even talk to them then, let alone hit one of ‘em. So, what I’m getting at, Sis. Is that it’s NOT my place to tell the police about CC nearly getting raped. You get me?” I asked softly.

Understanding clicked in my sister’s brain, and I saw her eyes light up with her sudden comprehension. “Oh! Shit, you’re right! Well, I’ll just have to get her to tell them then. This is way too important now. They almost KILLED you!”

“NO! Amber, I will NOT be a party to hurting CC again! I mean it! I will keep my promise to you, I swear it. But I think that for now, it’s best if I just conveniently DON’T remember what happened to me. At least not right now. I can easily remember all of the facts later on and still tell the police then,” I said firmly while trying to look at her with love at the same time.

“But Davey! They need to be stopped! We can’t let them almost kill you and NOT tell the police! CC will understand! I’ll convince her, okay?” she pleaded.

“No, Amber,” I said gently. “I truly can’t hurt her with this. Look, let’s compromise, okay? The next time that the three of us are alone, I’ll tell her what I remember. She’ll, of course, ask why I haven’t told the police or our folks yet. When she does, I’ll tell her the truth, that I didn’t see how I could do so without her attempted rape coming out and that I simply didn’t want to share that with anyone.

“If SHE says to tell them, then I will. But only if it is HER idea. Neither of us are going to try to convince her to do anything though, okay? Please, Sis? Do this for me? You know how much she didn’t want the police knowing; she is truly terrified about the aftermath. She might shrivel right back up into a ball of hurt if she has to deal with prosecutors, police interviews, social workers, and shrinks. You heard her yell at her Mom, saying just that.

“So let the telling of her attack be solely up to her without any pressure from us. Please. As I said, Amber, I vowed to obey you, and I also promised not to go after them. I will keep my word. I truly don’t want to upset you or scare you again. Besides, I will be perfectly safe while I am recovering at home under the loving care of my self-appointed home Nurse,” I stated while I lovingly smiled at her, trying to take away any disappointment that she may have felt from my firm stance.

“Fine, Davey. We’ll do it your way, but you just guaranteed that I’ll be watching you like a hawk whenever we leave the house. That’s if I even let you leave the house!” she said fiercely before sighing in frustration.

“Thanks, Sis,” I said, meaning it.

We talked for another five minutes or so before our parents rushed in. Mom was in the lead, of course, and she rushed over to the same side that Amber occupied. It was almost comical when she realized that due to the machines, wires, and my cast, she was temporarily prevented from hugging me. Our Mom was stressed. I had never seen her like that before; she had bags under her eyes that almost looked like she was turning into a raccoon. Albeit a very beautiful raccoon—my Dad was a very lucky man, almost as lucky as I was.

Amber definitely got her looks from our Mom, although she was even prettier in my estimation. An abstract thought went through my brain at that moment, one that had never occurred to me before. While I could certainly acknowledge that my Mom was what most guys would consider smoking hot, the thought of her having sex made me nauseous. In fact, if sex and my mother even crossed into the same realm, it gave me the ‘willies’, but it certainly didn’t where my sister was concerned. Yet, they looked like ‘sisters’ themselves, and I had no problem fucking Amber. Weird, but I wasn’t going to overanalyze it. Dad could keep Mom, and they could do the ‘nasty’ well away from me!

As my Dad stepped behind our frantic Mom, I couldn’t help but be struck for the millionth time at just how opposite they were in size. My Dad was a muscular giant at six foot five, and he weighed in at a massive two-hundred and sixty pounds. He wasn’t fat in the least, either. Meanwhile, our Mom was five feet nothing and weighed maybe one-hundred and ten pounds; the contrast was striking. The funny thing was that it was our Mom who wore the pants in the family, and our Dad just happily went along for the ride with whatever she said.

“Oh, my baby boy! How are you feeling this morning? Have they fed you? Has a doctor come by yet? Oh, thank goodness that you woke up yesterday, Honey! Can ... can you still remember us and everything? You’re still able to tell who you are, right? Oh, of course, you can! I’m just being silly, David, pay no attention to your silly old Ma.

“It’s just that the doctors had warned us that you might not remember stuff after having such a hard knock to your head. But you remembered stuff yesterday. Oh my, just listen to me! It’s a good thing that you have a hard head like your father! Oh, look at me, I’m rambling! So, how are you feeling, my baby boy?” our Mom ranted as she kept finding herself thwarted while trying to get to my side.

She first picked up the empty chair next to where Amber was still sitting and moved it, and then she realized that she was still too far away to be able to reach over and hug me. Then she went to the other side of Amber and was trying to figure out if she could move the machine that was telling the world that my heart was still beating. The wires weren’t long enough for her to move it to a point where she would have enough room to get at me though.

I looked over at our Dad, who simply shrugged his shoulders while looking amused. “Hi, Son. Good to see you awake again this morning. How are you feeling?”

“As good as can be, Dad, thanks,” I answered while still following our Mom with my eyes as she floundered around.

She then tried to see about going to the other side of my bed and moving one of the machines there and the IV stand. When that didn’t work and hearing her still rambling along, I took pity on her. She obviously didn’t want to ask Amber to move, but I could.

“Amber, let Mom at me for a minute or two. Okay, please? Before she hurts herself,” I said with a grin.

“What? Oh! Umm, yeah, sure thing, Bro,” she said as she finally realized that Mom was trying to get at me like a chicken with its head cut off. “Here, Mom, sit,” Amber said as she stood up and went over to hug our Dad.

Mom smiled at her gratefully for a second before diving in to take her place. She wrapped me up in the tightest bearhug, one that only a mother could manage to give to someone who was lying flat on a hospital bed. I wanted to rub her back soothingly, but she had trapped my good arm underneath me; that seemed to happen a lot with me on that bed.

“Oh, David! Thank god that you came back to us!” she sobbed as she clung to me, taking a few moments to kiss all over my cheeks while she smoothed my forehead and looked deep into my eyes with a mother’s love.

“Of course! I couldn’t leave Dad outnumbered in the house! What kind of son would I be to do THAT to him! Besides, someone needs to look after Amber. Who knows what kinda trouble she’d get into without me,” I said with a smirking grin.

“Watch it, buster! I know where you live!” she replied with a smirking grin of her own.

“Well, I, for one, appreciate it, son! We had gotten the appropriate balance of testosterone versus estrogen sorted out in the house years ago, after all, and I’d hate to have seen that get upset now. Might’ve had to get a dog or something!” he laughed.

“Comparing your son to a dog, Todd! Seriously? You know that it never would have worked. You can’t replace a Human boy’s testosterone with a male dog’s. Besides, between Amber and I, we would have subjugated the dog, and it simply would have turned into three versus one in the house anyway,” Mom said with a smirk of her own then.

“Davey is MUCH better than a dog!” said my sister coming to my defense.

“Thanks, Amb!” I cheered with a smug grin.

“Besides, Davey has already been trained to ‘fetch’ for me, AND he can reach things on the high shelves! Plus, dogs can’t open stuck pickle jars!” Amber said while sticking her tongue out at me.

“Ouch! Wounded, shot through the heart! I barely beat out a dog’s usefulness in my sister’s eyes,” I cried out with mock sadness.

We all had a chuckle over the silliness; it broke some of the tension, and we could all tell that we had needed just that. Especially our Mom, she had obviously been a nervous wreck during the past week. Moments later, a distinguished gentleman came through the door; he was obviously a doctor from how he was dressed. He had jet black hair that was combed straight back and silver wing-tips over his ears. He had black horn-rimmed glasses and a large nose, but it suited him, and he looked like someone that you just knew that you could trust. He had an air of confidence and compassion that was immediately ease setting.

“Ah, perfect timing! Seems the whole family is gathered together, and the prodigal son has returned to the land of the aware! It is most certainly my pleasure to see the both of you again, Mr. and Mrs. Knowlton, especially in what is most obviously a heartwarming circumstance! And I most certainly cannot forget you, the lovely sister to our patient here, and a most loving sister at that! Amber, I believe?” the Doctor said.

“Yes, sir,” Amber said with a huge smile.

“Good, good, I try not to forget a face, and names usually make the face as they say! Such a pretty name to go with such a pretty face! Only getting walloped hard on the head could cause someone to forget such beauty! Let’s hope that your brother has not forgotten you! How tragic for him that would be!” he said while throwing me a wink.

“I have a sister?! Mom! Dad! How did you never tell me this!” I asked incredulously.

“Ahh, I see the young man has his sense of humor still intact! I am left wondering about his intelligence, though! Teasing one’s sister can be a risky business, indeed! So! David, my name is Dr. Rossenberg. I don’t believe in standing on formality, so you may call me Dr. Rossenberg if you will. Okay! So! Let’s start with the obvious son. How are you feeling?” he inquired.

I liked this guy; he had loads of personality. “Well, besides retaining my sense of humor, my obvious wits, and my charm. I seem to have lost a head-butting contest with a rather large rock, or at least that’s what I’ve been told. So, needless to say, my head is taking and did take quite a beating. In fact, it is pounding something fierce at this very moment; but it is in the background just enough for me to be able to talk with you, my good sir.

“When I move, it seems like someone has forgotten to take the rather large knife from out of my back. Somebody has obviously stabbed one deep into me—into my left ribcage, to be precise. That could come in handy, though, sir. Especially if I am to be pressed into kitchen duty any time soon. You see, Dr. Rossenberg, I am most proficient at dicing root vegetables, and I have been known to carve a decent steak a time or two.

“Plus, to state the obvious, my left forearm is all broken up about not being able to come out to play, and that has rather hurt his feelings somewhat. I am a bit disconcerted also about being told that I apparently overslept for a week; I must definitely see about getting myself a better alarm! Other than that, I do seem to be doing okay. I imagine a big part of that is due to my seeing my very loving family again. Especially since I have just found out, this very day no less! That I have a gorgeously beautiful sister that I never knew about!” I replied with a grin as I winked at Amber.

“You’re lucky that you called me gorgeously beautiful, Davey! Or I might have reintroduced you to that rock!” she quipped as she laughed and blew me a kiss.

“Why, Mr. Knowlton! You have just endeared yourself to me for life with your witty and intelligent response. I see that we at least do NOT need to worry about brain damage...”

“Nope, he’s been suffering from brain damage for years; we’re all just used to it by now,” Amber smirked.

“Ahh, see, I told you, boy, upsetting your sister might not be the best thing to do! Well, I’ll start with the easy stuff. Your arm is a simple fracture of the Ulna. That means that the break was clean and didn’t damage any of the surrounding tissue. It should be fully healed in about six weeks. We’ll take another x-ray in four weeks just to make sure that you are mending correctly and then one again before we take off the cast.

“Nurse Betty Ross will instruct you in both the proper care of your cast and how you can bathe and sleep in it more easily. As for the large knife in your back, well, we can’t do much for that other than to bring you up a big bag of potatoes and onions. At least the cooks in the cafeteria will come to like you as much as I have.

“Seriously though, for cracked ribs, which I know that you have two of, all we can do is tape them tightly for you so that you feel slightly less discomfort. We didn’t tape them before because you were immobilized in a coma, and we didn’t feel it was necessary. I can and will prescribe you some painkillers. That will help you sleep at night and help you deal with the aches and discomfort that you’ll be having for a few weeks.

“Now onto the fun stuff and my specialty, your brain, or as your sister might accuse, the lack thereof!” he exclaimed with a wink at Amber as she giggled in agreement.

“Well, then at least this part of the explanation of my disabilities will be blessedly short!” I said with a snort.

“Yes, indeed, Mr. Knowlton. You young man, have an extremely hard cranium. That is both good and bad. Good because if it wasn’t as hard as it is, you might not be here with us having this most interesting conversation. Bad because it was so hard that it didn’t crack, which would have helped release some pressure after your brain had found out just how hard your cranium was. You see, when your head hit the boulder, your brain smashed itself on the inside of it. Thus your grey matter decided to swell, whether with pride or anger no one will ever know!

“Since your cranium refused to crack, your brain had nowhere to go, and it swelled up against the inside of your skull, thus creating an abnormal amount of pressure. It was our concern that if the swelling didn’t go down fast enough, or if it continued to swell further, that you could have been in serious danger. We treated your cerebral edema with a combination of methods.

“The first one was oxygen therapy, which is why your throat was undoubtedly sore when you woke up. We placed a respirator down your airway to ensure that you had plenty of oxygen, which helps reduce swelling. We made sure that you had plenty of fluids as well, through your buddy the intravenous right there, and we medicated you with a drug called Mannitol.

“Mannitol helps reduce swelling in and around the brain, and it is in the diuretic family, which partly explains the catheter you have right now. Excessive peeing is a side effect, which is good for various reasons. You should be back to peeing at a normal rate, however, since we took you off the Mannitol three days ago,” he said with a reassuring smile.

“Um, catheter?” I asked with a blush.

“What? You haven’t noticed that you have a tube in your penis? You ARE a teenage boy, right? You’re not a geriatric in disguise, are you? Hmm, maybe I should reevaluate my diagnosis regarding your cognitive abilities; teenage boys ALWAYS check their penises!” he said with a grin from ear to ear as he preened himself at my embarrassment.

I reached under the blankets with my good hand and gingerly felt around the tip of my cock. Sure enough, I had plastic tubing coming out of my pee hole. No wonder I hadn’t felt the need to go pee!

“Well, I did check that it was still there when I did a full-body assessment when I woke up earlier, but all I did was flex it. I didn’t look at anything under the blankets. I was too lazy!” I said with a smile as I blushed a little.

“You stand redeemed and may keep your teenaged maleness card! I am going to recommend that we keep it in until tomorrow. I want you to stay in bed until then. So allow me to tidy things up by finishing with my most excellent description of your symptoms and my most ingenious solutions to solve all of your problems.

“Those problems would be of a medical nature only, I’m afraid, m’boy. I can’t remedy the broken hearts that are so often administered by teenage girls of the same age. Nor can I fix the male ineptitude of which many women feel that men such as ourselves are cursed with. So I will, of necessity, stick with the medical. You suffered a most gruesome gash along the right-hand side of your skull, and it pulled back a good portion of your scalp.

“Not to worry though, we had our best surgeon stitch you up, Dr. Frankenstein. He even added some free neck bolts,” he laughed. “All kidding aside, I stitched you up myself, and it only took me three shots of rum to get through it this time! So the bottom line is this, between either my superior humor or my superior surgery skills, my patients always leave here in stitches. Ha!

“You’ll be happy to know that the slight scar that you’ll most assuredly have after you heal will be hidden within your hair growth. No one will ever notice it. Now, tomorrow I want to run a full battery of tests on you, and no, that doesn’t mean that we will be torturing you like a spy in the movies with wet sponges and a car battery. It means that we will be doing an MRI on your head to make sure that there is no internal bleeding or any other potential problems that can develop with severe head trauma, such as blood clots. Not to scare you, though, that is highly unlikely to occur in your case.