Chapter 1

I came home from school one day and found an ambulance in front of the house. Dad was there, running around with pain in his eyes, as the paramedics were wheeling a stretcher out of our home. I ran to dad, "what happened, Dad, who is hurt"?

"It's your Mom, Dave, she slipped and rolled down the stairs from the second floor and is badly hurt."

I ran to the stretcher: "Mom, are you ok?"

"I don't know" she replied, her face contorted with pain. "I'm sure I broke a few bones and it hurts like hell. They just gave me a shot for the pain and I hope it will work soon. The rest we'll only know after being checked and x-rayed at the hospital."

"Dave", dad called to me, "please stay home and wait for Tammy. When she arrives from school you can call a taxi and come join us at the hospital. Please be careful not to scare her too much, just tell her mom has a fractured bone and that we'll have more details later and don't let her panic or get hysterical. Calm her down if needed. I know I can trust you on that while I go with mom in the ambulance".

With that, he climbed into the ambulance, the attendants closed the doors and they drove off.

Two hours later Tammy arrived, entering through the kitchen, expecting to find mom there.

"Mom, I'm home" She called out.

"Hi sis", I entered the kitchen. "Please sit down and drink some cold water. I have some bad news."

She looked at me with a huge question mark on her face, took out a bottle of cold water and sat down, asking "what happened"?

"Well, you know that slippery strip on the top stair? Mom slipped on it today and may have fractured a few bones after rolling all the way down the stairs."

Tammy started crying in a second. Tears flowing like an open faucet. I went to her and hugged her, pulling her head to my shoulder and caressing her hair.

"Listen, I came home when they took her to the ambulance. She spoke to me, and although she said it had hurt badly I think she was quite all right. Being conscious and being able to speak and answer questions, I think she's all right. You know just as well as I do how strong willed she is. So calm down, let's get us a sandwich and then call a taxi and go to the hospital to see her."

Gradually Tammy calmed down.

"Thanks for keeping a cool head for both of us," she said.

So, we got to the hospital, and after checking at the information desk we were sent to the waiting room next to the operating room where we found Dad. It was pretty clear - even as he tried to hide it - that Dad was really worried.

"Hi kids", he said as he hugged both of us, "your mom is being operated on and has been in there 3 hours already. I don't have any real information yet so we will have to just sit here and wait. It's really comfortable so we can even take a short nap if we want."

Tammy, I was not there to tell you the news myself, so I can only hope you are all right.

"Yes Dad, Dave did a great job of calming me down after I reacted a bit strongly."

"Thank you, son. I knew I could trust you and you just proved me right".

So we sat down on a long and comfortable lounge. Dad in the middle, Tammy on his right and me on his left, and we all held hands and after an hour we all drifted to a slumber.

It was another 4 hours until the surgeon who operated on Mom came out with some information.

"Well folks, Mrs. Gold is going to be OK, but her healing will take a very long time, probably about a year, and she will need a lot of help as well as you will need lots of patience."

"Her pelvic bone was broken in two places and she also has a shattered her left knee. This means she will be here at the hospital for at least a month, and then at home, she will be confined to bed for at least 6 more months. This is because the fractures she has are at the worst possible places that take the longest time to heal.

For those 6 months, your health insurance will send a nurse who will take care of the more intimate functions of her like washing her, helping her with handling the calls of nature, etc. Of course everything she does when she is healthy and well - she won't be able to do, and even after the 6 months are up - she will return to her normal self very slowly and gradually. So you will need someone to clean and cook for you and do all the other things a wife/mother does.

"Mr. Gold, may I talk to you privately for a moment."

"Oh Doctor, we are all grown up and we have no secrets in our family, so go ahead". Dad said.

"Ok, I don't know many such families, but if that's how you want it it's ok by me", the doctor continued. "Mr. Gold, this will be tough on you - no sex until her bones are totally healed. Any stress on those bones before healing and the situation will be worse than it is now."

Well, Mom was under sedation for the rest of the day, so we went home with Dad. During the following days we visited Mom daily, at least one of us at any time.

At home, Aunt Kate (Mom's younger sister) came to stay with us and helped keep the house the way it should be. Dad and I also had a great surprise from Tammy. It seems that Mom taught her to cook, something we did not know about, and she turned out to be a very good cook, preparing for us every evening Mom's best dishes. We all congratulated Tammy on her new found skills, and she accepted our compliments blushing with pleasure.

One thing bothered me a bit about Aunt Kate. She seemed to be wearing very skimpy clothes, or transparent shirts, see-thru gowns, skimpy baby dolls at breakfast, etc. I was also starting to get the idea she was coming on to Dad. You know, those small things that make up real intimacies. She would sit next to him (very close and touching) on the living room couch, she would bump into him at every possible occasion and would touch him — not normal touches among friends and family - but her touches were lingering longer than those normal touches. At one or two occasions I caught Dad's glance and he shrugged in discomfort and blushed.

I told Tammy of my impression that Aunt Kate is coming on to Dad, and was surprised to hear that she had the same impression, telling me about occasions she saw and I didn't.

The next day, on the way to the hospital with Dad we brought up the subject. (Just to show you what a loving and open family we were, and that no subject that bothered us was ever considered taboo)

Tammy started, "Dad, Dave and I noticed that Aunt Kate is, umm, trying to, umm, get intimate with you. We also noticed that you are trying to avoid her umm, special attentions."

Dad replied slowly, "You two have good eyes. I am very embarrassed at the whole situation, and for the first time in my life I don't know how to act."

I intervened, "Won't it be just possible to tell her that she is very obvious to all of us and that we do not take it kindly?"

Dad thought for a moment. "I really appreciate this conversation and the adult way you both look at it. We have a few aspects to consider - first, we need Kate's help around the house. Second, I could ask your mother to speak to her and tell her how we feel, but that knowledge may hurt your mother as there is some history here that you two are not aware of, and at this time I wouldn't like to elaborate on without your mothers' approval. Third, I can give your Aunt an ultimatum like either stop it or leave and we'll manage without your help - but this again will force us to tell your mother what is happening. So, unless you can help me with an idea on how to stop your aunt effectively without hurting your mother, I think we should let it ride with only me telling (again) your aunt that I am not interested."

Tammy thought for a moment and said, "I think there are some subtle ways we can also show her our displeasure, like sticking close to you all the time, making sour faces whenever we see her advances and probably more ways we'll think about whenever needed."

Dad laughed and said, "I know how subtle you can be, you can kill a person with your tongue if you hate him enough. But, if 'subtle' is the key word - I may go along with it. But be sure not to become abusive or outright rude."