Chapter 3: Wednesday-Sunday

Part 1

Carol
Wednesday morning

I woke up from a very light sleep to feel my Mom shaking me. "Honey, wake up! Something's happened with John." I sat up in bed and looked at her.

"What? Is Johnny... ?"

"I'm afraid there was trouble during the night. John is on life support," she told me. I looked at her horrified and saw an equally frightened face looking back at me.

"Oh no!" I cried, turning over in bed and hiding my face, crying.

"Honey, listen to me," my mother begged me as she tried to get me out of bed. "We have to go. The doctors think that if you and his family are there, it may bring him back. Get up, please. Breakfast is ready."

"Breakfast!" I shouted. "I don't have time for breakfast! I need to see Johnny," I wailed, jumping out of bed without thinking and throwing off my nightgown and panties. I ran for the bathroom for a quick shower. If I had been thinking right, I would have known better that strip in front of Mom, but I wasn't thinking right, I was out of my mind. I think that she must have realized that because she never said a thing.

I was out of there in five minutes. I was dressed five minutes later. Mom made me eat. "There's no telling when your next meal will be, Carol. You need to save your strength or you'll end up there in the hospital right along with him, and we don't want that."

Inside me, I knew she was right, so I took the time to eat. We were out of there by 8:30, one half hour after I was awakened. Mom drove us since Dad was already there. He had gone to the hospital earlier when they were notified of the change. We met the Smiths and Dad there and a nurse led us to Johnny's room. He was wrapped in tubes and wires with something in his mouth. I guess it helped him breathe. He looked like he was dead except for the slow rise and fall of his chest. His bed was one of the two placed in the room. The other was vacant.

I rushed over to him and rubbed his chest. I got no reaction. Mrs. Smith sobbed. "Johnny, can you hear us? Please wake up. Please honey," she cried. I hugged my Mom as we stared at the lifeless figure of my boyfriend lying on the bed with the head inclined slightly. "Oh, Mom, why did this have to happen?" I cried on her shoulder. "They said he would be all right."

"He would have been, except that they found a drug in his system - an illegal drug," said a man who had just entered. He was dressed in street clothes.

"Who are you and what do you mean, an illegal drug?" asked Mr. Smith. "Our son doesn't even take aspirin," he said indignantly.

"I'm Lt. Morse of the police dept. We think it was given to him without his knowledge. Do you have any idea where he could have come in contact with it?" None of us answered. Then I remembered. I broke in and said, "The girls' locker room. He was there just before his last attack. Someone in there could have done it. He did say some girl was rubbing him."

Lt. Morse looked at me like I was crazy. "What was he doing in the girls' locker room?"

"Johnny and I were the first freshmen to take part in the Program. Showering in the opposite sex's shower is part of the Program. But he was sick earlier, too. But then he didn't pass out."

I saw him making notes on a pad. "What is this program you speak of?"

"Doesn't anyone tell you guys anything?" I asked angrily. "It's a state program called the Naked in School Program where two students from each class - freshmen, so forth - are chosen to participate each week by going nude in school all week. It's supposed to teach respect for yourself and others, as well as sexual awareness. If we hadn't been in it, Johnny wouldn't be here now. But then his problem wouldn't have been discovered either."

I broke down then and ran from the room crying. I returned a few minutes later and he was gone. Mrs. Smith came over and hugged me. "It's all right, honey, he won't bother you anymore." She patted my back, then Mom hugged me as well.

All we could do was stand there and wait. I softly cried while we waited. They brought chairs for us to sit down. So we sat and waited. After a while I fell asleep.

John
Time indeterminate

I don't know when it was but I awoke lying in a bed that was cranked up to almost sitting position. I could see tubes and wires all over me. Where was I? I must have moved something because a nurse came in and looked at me. I saw her name plate. It read Margaret Ratchett.

"Welcome back, Mr. Smith. We were worried about you. You've been asleep for over fifteen hours. I'll notify the doctor and he'll stop round to see you."

I motioned about the tube in my mouth. She said, "That was to help you breathe. The doctor will have it taken out, then you can tell us how you feel. Okay?"

I nodded. She smiled and patted my chest. A few minutes later a man entered, checked the readings on the machines and began to detach them, all without speaking a word. When he pulled the breathing tube out, I coughed out, "Thanks."

"Please do not speak, Mr. Smith. Your throat will be a little sore for a while. I'm Dr. Gillespie, and you gave us quite a scare, young man. How do you feel? Just nod if you feel ok." I nodded. He handed me a glass with a bent straw. I took a sip of water. "Thanks," I whispered. He smiled and nodded.

"After a scare like you just had, I want you to stay in bed for at least a week. Okay? You can go home tomorrow if everything keeps improving like this. Now, I'll see about a light diet for you while you're here. That heart still has to heal. I'll send the nurse in to make you comfortable."

I saw a chair in the corner. "Can't I sit up for a while? Do I have to stay here?" I asked in a squeaking voice.

He nodded. "I think that will be all right. Just don't stress that heart. I'll let your family and friends know that you are awake."

"Thank you, Doctor," I said in a weak crackly voice. After he was gone, I lay there with some tubes still in me, and I could tell that I had something in my cock. All I could do was look out the window. I wondered how my family was when my question was answered. At that moment, the door opened and a whole crowd entered. I was surprised that they would permit so many people at one time. My Mom and Dad each hugged me, saying how scared they were, then my little sister jumped on the foot of the bed. "Hi, Johnny. Are you feeling better?" Dad lifted her off and told her sit in the chair. "Are you feeing better, Johnny?" asked a voice to my right. I turned my head and saw Carol standing there wearing a white t-shirt and blue shorts. She looked beautiful. I smiled and creaked out, "Yes, a little." I was surprised that they let little Cindy in here, but I was glad to see her and everyone else.

I saw Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, Mr. Taylor, all of my teachers, and a couple of my friends crowding the room. I wondered how so many could get in there. The room didn't look that big. I waved to them and whispered, "Thank you for coming." Carol had to lean over to hear what I said and she conveyed my words, "He said thank you for coming," to the group, then she looked back at me to say, "It's our pleasure, Johnny. We were all very worried when you went into coma. We're glad it didn't last too long." She smiled then and that made me feel a lot better.

They talked to me a little while, letting me know all that had happened the last day or so. Then a nurse came in and told everyone that they had to step outside while she unplugged the rest of my tubes. As she pulled the privacy curtain around and stepped closer, I noticed her name tag said Cristine Chapel. Something seemed to ring in my head but I couldn't place it.

She disconnected the tubes, then pulled the sheet down. She pulled up my gown and touched my penis. She smiled as I looked down. "Sorry," she said.

"No problem," I said softly, "I've had so many girls feeling that at school, I'm kinda used to it now."

"You have?" she asked, surprised. "How?"

"I was the first boy in my class in the Naked in School Program that just started this year. It probably is also finished this year," I whispered.

She looked at me as her fingers softly rubbed me. I groaned as she smiled. Then she gently pulled out the thing in my cock. "Thanks, it was a little uncomfortable for a while now."

"You're welcome. So you were going naked in school? That must have been exciting."

"Scary, more like it," I said, a little louder. "It was exciting at times, though," I said.

She nodded, checked my penis for any damage then covered me up. Opening the curtain, she told the others they could come in again and then left the room. If anything, there seemed to be more there now. I noticed Vice-Principal Evers, the secretary and several cheer leaders. What were they doing here?

Doctor Gillespie returned and checked me. He seemed particularly satisfied with the sound of my heart, and my voice was clearer. He smiled at me and said, "Well, I think you can go home now. How's that?"

"I thought you said I had to stay in bed a week?"

"Well I did, but you are progressing so well that I think you can go now. You need to either stay in bed or stay sitting up, so as not to stress that heart of yours. Your parents brought some clothes for you earlier since you had none on when you came in. I know, because of the Program. Well, good luck, young man," he said and he patted my arm before he left.

Mom hugged me, saying how good it would be to have me home. Dad brought my clothes and helped me sit up. Then he turned to Carol and said, "Would you like to help him get dressed?"

She grinned and said yes. Dad backed away, giving her room. She pushed down the restraining bars on the right side and pulled down my covers. Helping me to sit up, she reached around me and untied the cover I was wearing. I nervously looked around at the others and saw they were watching anxiously, even the males, strange, as my naked body was revealed to them. I glanced at Mr. and Mrs. Rogers and they seemed unconcerned by my nudity. They smiled reassuringly at me. I returned a weak smile.

I was still a little dizzy, and when Carol slipped a pair of briefs around my feet and pulled them up my legs (I wondered why Mom hadn't brought boxers, like I usually wore) and helped me to stand so that she could pull them up all the way, I nearly fell. I would have if she hadn't caught me. As I leaned against her, I felt her pull the briefs up and over my rear and front, briefly rubbing against my slack cock. I moaned. The others moaned as well when I was covered. That's when the girls left, waving their pop-poms, leaving just Mom, Dad, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, Mr. Taylor and the rest. As I looked over Carol's shoulder, I noticed the empty bed next to mine.

Carol helped me sit on the bed and she put my shirt on. I raised my arms, speckled with holes where the lines had been, over my head and she slipped it on me. "This is nice," she said. "I've never dressed a boy before," and right there, in front of everyone, she kissed me and ran her hand between my legs, cupping my balls. I gasped and jumped back. "Carol!" I cried out. I looked at the others but they seemed not to notice anything.

"What's wrong, Johnny? Didn't I kiss you right?"

I didn't know what to say. Something didn't seem right to me, but I put it down to my disorientation. I just shrugged and adjusted my shirt. I stood again after she slipped my pants on over my feet so that she could bring them all the way up. Again, as she connected the snaps on my pants and pulled up my zipper, she rubbed me in the same spot. I groaned and sat back on the bed. She grinned at me, then proceeded to put on my socks and shoes. My mind was still not sure if this was right. I was remembering the names of the people I'd met there and something was starting to click when another nurse came in with a wheelchair. I looked at it and asked, "For me?"

"Yes, Mr. Smith. Hospital regulations. Please sit down and we'll get you on your way home."

Carol helped me to stand and then sit in the chair. Somehow, as my back was turned, Mr. Taylor and the others had disappeared, leaving only Mom, Dad, Cindy and the Rogers, as well as Carol and the nurse, whose name I noticed was Margaret Hoolihan. I sighed as Carol held my hand as I was rolled out and downstairs to the Release Dept. After the papers were signed, we were on the way home.

When we got home, Dad and Carol helped me up the front steps. The Rogers' car had pulled up behind ours and they had gotten out to follow us inside. Dad took my right hand and arm while Mr. Rogers took my left hand and arm and they helped me in the house after Dad had opened the door.

Going into the house, Mom suggested that Dad and Mr. Rogers help me up the stairs. I said I didn't need help, but they wouldn't listen. Anyway, in a few minutes, I was in my bedroom, stripped naked by Carol in front of everyone and helped into bed. However, before Carol covered me, she did something strange. She leaned over me, took my cock in her hand and said, "Welcome home, Johnny," and proceeded to put me in her mouth. I collapsed on the bed, spellbound as I felt her wet mouth and rough tongue swabbing my cock. I moaned and didn't even notice the others as they stood there and watched. I soon flooded her mouth with cum and, even though my chest was heaving, there was no pain. Just the pleasure of orgasm. When I had recovered, she was sitting there swiping her tongue over her lips and going "Ummm, good."

It was a moment after that that I noticed we were alone. Carol and I were all alone in my bedroom and I was naked as I watched as she stripped to her skin and laid down beside me, rubbing her hand over the small bandage on my chest where I had been operated on. "What's going on, Carol? You stripped me right in front of your parents. What must they think?"

"Aw, don't worry, silly, they know we fuck. You want to do it now?"

"I-I can't. The doctor said I needed bed-rest. You shouldn't have done that before."

"Pooh, What does he know?" she said, rubbing my bandage before ripping it off. I glanced at where it had been and saw clear skin, no stitches, nothing. I panicked and sat up, feeling my chest. That wasn't right. I looked at Carol and she suddenly changed. Right before my blurred eyes, she changed from beautiful Carol to a tall caucatian male in a long white coat and sporting a bright white aura.

I fell on the floor in surprise as I gasped out, "No, who..."

"Time to go, John. You've worried your parents enough, don't you think?"

The man held out his hand to me. "Go? Go where?" I asked. I backed up frightened against my desk by the window.

"To your final reward, my son. You are done here on Earth. Now come home." He came closer.

"No, I won't! I want to stay here. I want to live," I told him. I was frantic now, and scared. And how I can remember all of this is beyond me, but it is clear as day. He smiled at me, as if that was what he expected me to say. He disappeared in a haze of light. I closed my eyes.

When I opened my eyes, I was back in my hospital bed, looking out the window, the tubes and wires on me again. There was no breathing tube this time. I looked around to find the room empty, exactly as the first time. What was going on?

I twisted a bit and that same Nurse Ratchett as before entered, smiling. "Good, you're awake. Mr. Smith, you gave us a pretty good scare. How do you feel?"

I looked at her and my brain suddenly clicked on something. Some movie I'd seen on TV. Yes! A Bird Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, about the funny farm, which had a Nurse Ratchet, I seemed to remember. Then I remembered a very old radio and TV show called Dr. Kildare. My parents had told me about that, where his boss was Dr. Gillespie. And Nurse Chapel? Star Trek. I fainted.

Carol
Late Wednesday.

Some of us went for lunch while the rest stayed on watch. We did notice him tossing a bit in the bed, like he was restless, I went over and held his hand and he seemed to settle down. He mumbled something around the breathing tube, but it was unrecognizable, although I thought I heard "a-arol", but it was probably wishful thinking on my part. We all settled back to wait.

John
Time indeterminate

I woke up again. My mind was clear this time. I looked around and my parents were there, with Cindy and the Rogers as well as Mr. Taylor. Didn't he ever stay at school? I must have laughed because they all jumped up and crowded round the bed. Mom was frantic. Dad seemed sad, and glad to see me awake but not there where I was. I checked the bed next to me. It was empty.

"How are you feeling, John?" asked my Mom. I looked at her and smiled. I was about to say something when that man appeared at the foot of my bed. The look of fear on my face brought a gasp from my parents as they saw my gaping eyes.

I pointed at the stranger and cried out, "You can't have me! I won't go with you. I want to live."

"Then you'll have to try harder, John. If you don't, you will die, and your poor parents will be fraught with pain. And what about Carol. You two have just found each other, according to the Master's plan. Will you leave her behind?"

I groaned and the lights went out again.

I awoke this time to the same room, (this was getting boring! I thought to myself) but there was a new doctor now. I seemed to remember his face. Yes, the man in the operating room. I desperately grasped at his arm and whispered, "Please tell me..." I gasped.

"Tell you what, son?" he asked me, patting my arm.

"Is this real? Am I really awake this time?" I saw his name tag. It read Dr. Henry Richards. Not a name I recognized. I sighed and relaxed a bit.

"I assure you," he said, smiling, "that you are very much awake, and your parents and someone else will be glad to see you are." He pulled free of my grasp and stood up. "I'll notify them. They're in the waiting room. Don't move too much, you've still got those tubes in you."

I nodded and watched him walk away. I happened to turn my head and I saw that the bed next to me was taken. I wondered who was in there, but I couldn't find out then as the door opened and Carol ran in, pushed the side bars down and hugged me, crying. "Oh Johnny, I thought I'd lost you," she sobbed in my chest.

"I can't leave you, Carol dear. It's God's plan that we are together." I ran my hands through her hair as her parents came over. Her Mom gasped and looked at me strangely. "How do you know it is God's plan, John?" she asked stiffly.

"I had a dream, several in fact, in which a man in a long white coat with a glowing aura around him appeared and tried to make me go with him. He said it was my time. I seemed to notice that he didn't try very hard until the last time though, here in this room. He seemed sorry to do his duty and tried to make me fight. I didn't until he mentioned Carol and said it was God's, or in his words, the Master's plan that we be together. I can't explain it any further, except that those were the most vivid dreams I've ever had."

"The Angel of Death visited you, John," she said. She looked scared. I was scared. "He came to you, but it wasn't your time. Heaven is on your side, my boy," she cried.

I smiled. Carol was still holding my right hand, with Mom holding my left. I smiled at them. Dad was standing there looking very worried. "Don't worry, Dad, I'm ok now."

Just then a thought occurred to me. "Where's Cindy?"

"She's staying at the Brown's next door, honey," said mom. "Why do you ask?"

"Be-because, in most of the dreams I had, she was here, even though I thought they didn't let little kids visit, along with Mr. Taylor, Mr. Evers, my teachers, friends and even some cheerleaders. I don't know why they were here. Everything is confused. I thought that, if she were here, it would mean that I was still asleep. If that was true, I'd go crazy." I looked at the doctor who still stood there, observing me, and he verified that certainly it was against hospital regulations to allow children to visit patients. I heard a sound from the bed next to me. I turned my head but couldn't see what or who it was.

I looked at the doctor and he said that was the girl who had infected me. "She received an overdose of the drug she gave you and she ended up here. I apologize for the fact that we didn't catch that, but it was a substance our people weren't looking for, and it was applied to an area not checked until after the operation."

"Not checked?" I asked, then I thought about it and said, "Oh, you mean my penis. (I seemed to be able to talk about that part so easily now) Yes, I do remember yesterday that her hands were slippery. I just thought at the time she had hand cream on them."

"Yesterday," said Dr. Richards, "was Wednesday, John. This is Thursday morning. You've been asleep for more than a day and a half. You just started coming around about an hour ago."

"Thursday? Ohh man," I moaned and squeezed Carol and Mom's hand, moaning.

"John!" cried Mom and Carol. The doctor nudged Carol aside and used his flashlight in my eyes. "He's going into shock. John! Listen to me. You are all right. Stay with us, boy! Don't leave us again." All I could do was stare straight ahead at the man in the white coat and bright aura. He smiled and pointed up. I went pale and heard the doctor call for something like a crash cart, whatever that was.

The next time I opened my eyes, it was after a massive shock went through my chest. My whole body convulsed and I had passed out from it, I guess. The man was gone and the room was filled with strangers. My parents, Carol and her parents were not around. I looked at the doctor. "Hi, what's up?" I mumbled and smiled at him. He checked my heart with his stethoscope, even though I was still hooked up to a monitor. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. It's strong and steady. Welcome back, John," he said to me and smiled.

Carol
Thursday morning

We finally had to go home since we couldn't do anything there. I wanted to stay but Mom and Dad made me come along. I cried in the car going home and when we reached home, I ran in and went to my room. I threw off my clothes, not caring if my parents saw me or not. All I could do was think about John, lying there in that hospital bed, hooked to the breathing tubes and the other things, and wondering if we'd ever make love again. I must have fallen asleep on my bed because the next thing I knew it was morning and Mom was there.

"Carol, get up," she cried. Tears flowed down her cheeks. When I saw that, I must have fainted, fearing the worst. I woke up in her arms as she held my naked body, trying to comfort me. I looked into her eyes and she smiled. "Johnny?" I asked nervously.

"He's moving about. They told us the breathing tube was out and he was off life support. Now get dressed, young lady. You certainly can not go out like that," she said, smiling at me. I was shocked. No condescension or disapproval. She'd changed in just those few days, and I was glad of it.

After hurrying through a quick shower and dressing I hurried to the kitchen where Mom and Dad were sitting there, talking. I went over and hugged them, then I sat down and ate. After that, we all piled into our car and went over to the hospital. I couldn't get there fast enough.

When we got to the floor where Johnny's room was, we met Mr. and Mrs. Smith. They were nervously walking up and down. When they saw us they hurried over and told us what news they had. Johnny had been awake for a few minutes, though he seemed disoriented. I jumped up and down and wanted to rush to him but Mrs. Smith said that they had to wait. Just then, an alarm went off and we all stiffened. A group of nurses and technicians rushed through the corridor pushing some kind of cart. I saw Mrs. Smith grow deathly pale as she started to run, but her husband stopped her. "Wait, Janice, it might not be Johnny. Please, don't torture yourself like this."

"How can you be so calm, George? Not when our son may be dead now," she cried.

"Oh, I'm not as calm as you think, Jan, I'm torn up inside, but I try to be stoic about things. There isn't anything we..."

He stopped talking when a nurse came over to us. "You can go in now, but he's still groggy."

"Is he all right?" Mrs. Smith asked.

"It was close. Dr. Richards will tell you about it."

We all rushed down to the room we all knew so well by now. I rushed in and saw all the people standing around the bed. I heard someone say, "Hi, what's up?" and I recognized Johnny's voice.

"Johnny!" I cried and tried to get through the throng. Finally the doctor who was standing by the bed said, "Good. It's strong and steady. Welcome back, John," as he patted John's chest and stood back from the bed, taking his stethyscope off and folding it up in his hand.

I pushed forward as the strangers quickly left the room, taking that cart thing with them, now that the emergency was over. Rushing to his side, the doctor let me get close to the bed and I took Johnny's hand. Johnny looked at me like he didn't seem to recognize me. "Carol. Are you real this time?" he asked dazed.

"Yes, Johnny, I'm real. Why wouldn't I be?" I asked curiously. He looked around, seeming to be looking for someone. His parents went over to the opposite side of the bed and his mother took his other hand. He smiled at them but still seemed uncertain. He looked at the foot of the bed, then he turned and looked past me to the bed next to his. A girl lay there, breathing softly. I looked and gasped. It was Jean Barons, from my Gym class. She was unconscious and had tubes attached like Johnny.

"Johnny, it's Jean Barons, from my Gym class. You met her in the locker room. When did she come in?"

"I don't know. I just woke up and she was here. I had the strangest dreams. I'm not even sure that I'm awake now."

"Why not?" I asked him.

He looked at me and then at his parents. "Cindy?" he asked.

"She's with the Browns, Johnny. We couldn't bring her in here," his mom said. He nodded. "Then maybe I am awake. I don't see the tall man in the white coat and bright aura." Mom gasped when he said that. She rushed over.

"What's that you said, a tall man in a white coat and bright aura?" Johnny nodded dumbly. "You've just described the Angel of Death, John. What did he do?"

"That's what you said in the last dream I had, when I told you that he said my time was up and I should let go. But he didn't try very hard to take me. He said I should try harder, that I couldn't leave my parents alone, or Carol, who I was supposed to meet her, as it was according to the Master's plan. We're meant to be together. I don't know why I remember the dreams so clearly, but I do and I'm scared. What if this is just another dream? Will I ever wake up?" He laid back on the bed and closed his eyes a moment.

I gripped his hand and tried to make him believe it was real. The doctor moved outside the room and did something we couldn't see. A few minutes later, as we tried to make Johnny be convinced that he was really awake, another man in a white coat entered. He was tall and his smile seemed to glow. It was unsettling.

It was when Johnny saw him that his face went pale and he squeezed my hand tight. "No, I won't go with you," he cried, looking at the man and trying to get away. "I want to stay here. I'm not done, no matter what you say," he cried out, fear in his face and tears falling down his cheeks. I backed away and he came to Johnny's bedside.

He smiled and placed his hand on Johnny's chest, saying, "Easy, son, easy. You're not going anywhere right now. I'm Dr. Stevens, staff psychologist. Dr. Richards called me and told me about your dreams when you were out. Do I resemble someone you're afraid of?"

"Y-es - the Angel of Death - He tried to take me. I wouldn't let him. You look just like him. Please, am I crazy?" he asked the man.

"Definitely not. John, is it?" John nodded. "Well, John, many times when people are in a coma or unconscious, they have dreams filled with people they know and are comfortable with. Then there are other times when they meet people they've never met before. Tell me some more about these dreams," he asked as he pulled a chair over.

"Well I seemed to wake up here several times. I met people named Dr. Gillespie, Nurse Ratchett, Nurse Chapel, Dr. Richards, and so far, the only one who seems to be real is Dr. Richards, who was in the last dream. I figured out that the others were in my memories from TV shows I'd seen or heard of. I recognized Dr. Richards from the operating room, although I hadn't known his name then. Why do I recognize it now?"

"Well, as far as I can tell, the last time, you were only partially conscious as Dr. Richards examined you. You seem perfectly conscious and sane to me. But if you have problems, recurring dreams or the like, I can recommend a psychiatrist that deals in problems like yours. Let me know. Okay?"

Johnny nodded and smiled. He seemed relieved. Dr. Richards stepped forward again to check Johnny's pulse and listen to his heart. He smiled and said to us, "That's good, his heart sounds fine. It's steady and slow, which is just right in his resting position." His parents were greatly relieved, I could tell, and so was I.