Chapter 3

The sound of the key in the front door jerked me from my unwelcome reverie. Kate had arrived and, eschewing the doorbell, was using her key. I reflected that, should I ever have a serious girlfriend, I'd have to warn her about Kate's sometimes-unexpected comings and goings. I supposed that at some point I'd have to get the key back, but it'd been incredibly useful to have someone I could trust with a key. As the door to the bedroom opened I pasted a wan smile on my face.

"Kate, you needn't have bothered. It's only a twenty-four hour thing I'm sure."

"Yeah, right. And you can stop the phoney 'I'm really ill but making an effort to appear not so' act, Andy. I know you too well."

I slumped back in to the pillows. This was going to be much harder than I'd feared.

"So what's the problem? As soon as I mentioned Jenny's name, I could see you were shocked. You hid it well - you always do - but I knew there was something wrong; and forgetting the file? You never forget anything. So, give."

I marshalled my thoughts; some portion of the truth and a few lies of omission might get me off the hook. I started to speak.

"Okay, you're right. It's not Jenny though; it's the name. It reminded me of someone I knew a long time ago. She'd been hurt - badly - and I'd tried to help her. At first I thought I'd been successful, but then I found out that I'd hardly scratched the surface of it. I failed her, Kate." Unexpectedly I started to cry, the raw emotion that I'd thought that I'd buried a decade or so ago rushing back with a vengeance. It was this, rather than any dissembling on my part, that deflected Kate's suspicions.

"Do you know what happened to her?"

"She left a note. I found it, and her. She'd taken an overdose."

"Oh Andy!"

I'd managed to make her throw up by the simple expedient of sticking my finger down her throat. Then I called an ambulance. I kept the note. I made sure that it was obvious what had happened and then stayed out of the way as the paramedics did their job. Student suicides weren't common, but they weren't unusual either. I didn't tell Kate this and she drew the obvious conclusion. I found myself enveloped in a fierce hug.

"Hearing her name brought it all back to me. She's the reason that I do what I do." I sat back as if exhausted by all the emotion. Then I realised that it wasn't an act and my eyelids drooped. Kate lay down on the bed next to me and cuddled me.

"I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault. I'll get over it. But if you don't mind, I'd prefer to be alone tonight."

"Oh, okay, if you're sure? I don't mind staying over." Our relationship had been physical at one point and we did still make love occasionally, but I couldn't face it tonight. I didn't deserve to feel any pleasure while memories of what I'd done to Jenny were still fresh in my mind.

"Please."

Kate kissed me goodnight and I watched as she left the room. When I heard the front door close I lay back and heaved an enormous sigh of relief. With a bit of luck, I could avoid the subject for long enough to sort something out about Jenny. My thoughts were interrupted by sleep, which descended on me with tsunami suddenness.

.oOo.

God she was exquisite. So tight and so hot, I could feel the walls of her cunt gripping me as she came. I looked at her face and she was lost in pleasure as far as I could tell as she was sucking some other guy off at the time. She was flushed and sweating. I could see the muscles of her stomach become rigid and each time they did I could feel her clamping down on my cock as I thrust as deeply as I could within her.

"You wanna assfuck her?" A girl I didn't know very well whispered in my ear.

I groaned as the girl I was in came again. I couldn't believe how turned I was by the sight of her before me. I nodded. The whisperer called to a couple of other guys.

"Lift her legs, he wants to try her other hole."

I pulled out and the girl groaned in protest at the lack of cock in her cunt. Two guys I knew vaguely lifted her legs by her ankles and bent her almost double. The girl grasped my cock at its base and positioned me on her asshole.

"Push."

I did as I was told and the tightness and the heat of her ass were better even than her cunt. I knew I wasn't going to last much longer. I increased the speed and force of my thrusts. The girl screamed each time I bottomed out, whether it was pleasure or pain I couldn't tell. When I came I shouted my release and almost collapsed as I pulled out of her. Before I could collect my wits I was pushed aside and another guy took my place. I looked for somewhere to dispose of my condom.

In the light of the bathroom I noticed that there was some blood on the condom, well not blood exactly just that the fluids were slightly tinged with red, almost as if she'd bled some time ago and...

.oOo.

I sat bolt upright in bed, the memory of the condom tinged in the blood from her torn hymen still clear in my mind's eye. Oh shit, had she been a virgin? I groaned as the thought that I might've participated in the gang rape of a virgin girl wiped the cobwebs of sleep from my mind. I lay back and weathered another storm of self-loathing. I knew I'd never sleep until I'd remembered everything... oOo.

When she'd woken up I persuaded her to drink plenty of water. She'd had too much alcohol to drink the night before and I had no idea how long the drug would take to leave her system. In any case dehydration would only make things worse. She still looked at me with that blank look, but I thought that I could detect the beginnings of recovery. Unlike the previous night she seemed much better coordinated, even if she was still unable to initiate an action. She was still tired so, after a visit to the bathroom to use the toilet, I told her to go back to bed and sleep some more.

I waited until she slept deeply and then I took her keys and walked quickly to the 'phone box on the corner.

"Alice, do me a favour would you? Could you get some basic food supplies and bring them to this address. You know the sort of thing bread, butter, cereal, tea, milk, coffee, and baked beans. Yeah thanks. No, it's no one you know. Friend of a friend, I said I'd look in on her and I discover she's ill with the 'flu. Could you. Thanks, you're a star."

With food supplies sorted out, I got back to her flat. She was still asleep. A gentle knock on the door heralded the arrival of Alice. I kept her out of the room for now and we talked in the corridor.

"Thanks, she's sleeping for now. I think she's passed the worst of it, but she's just very weak."

"I know what it's like I had it last year remember. Once you've had 'flu for real you never mistake a cold for 'flu ever again."

"I'll stay with her today, I told her that I was Steve's friend, but she's still so out of it I don't think it registered. Could you do me a favour and come back tomorrow. I think she'll feel safer if there's another woman in the house."

"Yes, of course. I only have one lecture tomorrow and it's over by 10:30, I can be here by 11."

"Brilliant. You're a star."

I kissed her cheek and took the bags of foodstuffs into the flat with me. While Jenny slept, I packed the supplies into her cupboards and set about cleaning the dust off everything in the kitchen. A lunch of scrambled eggs on toast seemed reasonable so I set about preparing it. The smell of the toast had awakened her, so I helped her to sit up and set the tray on her lap. The aroma from the food made her realise that she was hungry and without prompting she fell upon it and ate quickly. I could see that she was recovering her self-will and this cheered me. She looked at me with a question in her eyes. I made a quick decision and told her the same story that I'd told Alice.

"You've had a touch of 'flu or something. Steve asked me to look in on you. And I couldn't leave you on your own. I have a girl friend coming tomorrow, but if you'd rather I went, I can have her come round now. I don't think you should be alone."

"Don't go."

"Okay. Do you like tea or coffee?"

"Tea, please."

"One mug of tea coming up." I picked up the tray returned to the kitchen alcove with it. Once there I turned on the kettle, which I'd found hidden in a cupboard and prepared a mug with milk and a teabag. Once the tea was made I took it to her and sat as she sipped at it.

"How do you feel?"

"Tired. I ache everywhere."

"Viruses can do that. A friend of mine had 'flu last year and she said she ached for weeks afterwards."

"That must be it. Only I'm sore," she blushed as she spoke, "as well."

"Sore?"

"Y'know, down there."

"Oh. Perhaps you ought to see a doctor, I can call one if you like."

"No, it's not too bad, if it doesn't get any better I will call her."

I waited until she'd finished the tea and then she said she wanted to sleep again. I've always been a fan of letting the body take care of itself, but I resolved to make sure she got to a doctor as soon as she could manage on her own. While she slept I found her diary and, sure enough, in the 'in case of emergency' section she had listed a couple of girls and with local 'phone numbers too. Before Alice and I left tomorrow I would ring them and make sure that they were with her.

I must have dozed off myself, for the next thing I remember was being awakened by the sound of crying. It didn't last long and I drifted off again not long afterwards. The next day dawned and I stretched, stiff from my self-imposed vigil in the chair. I heard the sound of water from the bathroom. I scribbled a hurried note saying I would be back soon and let myself out of the flat.