Chapter 16

I was up early the next morning. The ward was still dark and the dayshift staff hadn't arrived yet. I dressed in my sweats, went down and started jogging around the grounds. I had a lot on my mind and I didn't want to be distracted later on. I needed to maintain my focus later so it was time to get things sorted and straightened out.

"Why haven't you called or written me, Izzy?"

'Why haven't you called me?'

"I don't know where you are."

'You could find out, if you wanted to.'

"I think I have to let you go."

'Boy, you can't let go of a part of yourself.'

"Granddad, I don't want to... I think I have to. I have to try and move beyond what I've become."

'Move on, by all means. But you are what you've already done, what you've experienced. Try and cut away a part of that and you won't be you anymore.'

"We aren't talking about Izzy, are we?"

'Ike, my love, were you willing to let me go?'

"Never."

'Even if it meant putting an end to most of your pain?'

"Even if..."

'Why?'

"You taught me how to love; to care more for another than I did for myself. You taught me to recognize what love was."

'Didn't you love me little brother?'

"Yes, I did, but I didn't realize it, couldn't realize it, until Carlie showed me how."

'We are what we learn, son. Take that away and what's left?'

"Is it possible to learn to love?"

'I don't know. When we're born we are a bundle of need. When the need is fulfilled we begin to rely on that source, to trust that the need will continue to be fulfilled and I think that is where love begins to grow.'

"Emotional love is need, desire and trust? So love is grown and if the loop continues unbroken it becomes stronger."

'At some point we learn that it isn't a closed loop, but can be opened and by feeding the needs and desires of another, build their trust and in return they open their loop and feed us. Love generates love and on and on."

"Peg has no internal loop. She has no trust, only need and desire."

There was another way.

I stopped running. It was getting lighter out and I hadn't put on any sun blocker. I walked back inside the hospital and took the elevator up.

The dayshift staff was moving around the nurse's station, getting morning meds and the breakfast cart ready. I waved to Captain Rossi as I went by. All of the staff appeared to be somewhat subdued, but I was preoccupied with my own thoughts and kept walking.

I stripped down, tossed my sweats on the bed and threw on the blue and white striped hospital robe, grabbed my shaving kit and went to take a shower.

I was standing in the stall facing the shower head, letting the hot water run over my tired muscles, when I felt a small hand run up my leg and around my hip, coming to rest on my lower belly.

Twisting around abruptly I hit the back wall of the shower hard, almost losing my footing. I fought for a moment to keep my balance.

Peg giggled and stood watching me. Naked, her short spiky hair was being plastered against her head by the falling water, one bare hip thrust to the side slightly and her bright blue eyes running up and down my body.

"You're very pretty... like a statue."

"What do you want Peg?"

She stamped her foot which made a splashy, slapping sound.

"Not Peg, I'm Valentine. And what I want is you." She reached out and placed the palms of both hands flat against my stomach and she slowly moved them higher up to my chest, moving the rest of her body in close to mine.

I had wondered what her body looked like when I met her for the first time the day before. Now I knew.

Her skin was very fair, but nowhere near as pale as my own, her neck long and graceful leading down to shoulders and arms that were stronger and more muscular than I would have expected. Her breasts were small and firm with very little jiggle when she moved, her nipples small and dark. Thin, but not skinny, her chest narrowed down to a small waist and flat belly then widened out slightly. Her hips were only a little wider than her waist and her legs looked long and well muscled, even though she was not very tall. She had no pubic hair that I could see.

Water from the shower head formed tiny rivulets that ran down the length of her nude body as she pressed herself firmly against me and started to shimmy, rubbing her slick wet body against me.

"Stop it, Val. Do you want a repeat of what happened yesterday?"

Her face and lips formed a sad little girl pout. "Victor told me about that. You wouldn't hurt me, now would you?"

"You don't want to find out, so knock it off!"

Her hands slid down my ribs, over my hips and took a batter's grip on my dick. Her face lit up and she started tensing and releasing her grip.

"Ooooh, somebody likes that." She giggled again. "I can make you feel soooo good if you just give me a chance." She cooed.

I couldn't help the way my body reacted. It'd been years since I'd been pressed against a naked woman; since one had her hands all over me. I wasn't even twenty three years old yet and still had a young man's instant reaction; I was getting hard as a rock but I could feel the pleasure I was getting from her touch being drained from me.

I went from being excited to being mad as hell; at me, at her and at Colonel DeBerg for not keeping her sedated.

"You want to play games, let's play!" I linked and blasted her with pain.

Val's eyes rolled back in her head and her body started jerking around like it had high voltage running thru it. I should have gotten her hands off my cock first. Her hands tightened their grip and for a couple of minutes I thought she was going to either rip it out or break it off. I grabbed hold of her body and held her still and cut the link. She went limp and her hands opened up, releasing my abused erection.

I picked her up in my arms and carried her out of the shower, setting her down on a wooden slat bench next to my robe and shaving kit and Peg's robe. I dried off hurriedly with a thin towel and put my robe on, put her robe on her unconscious body and tossed her over my shoulder and carried her out into the hall like a sack of grain.

I walked quickly down the hall, calling out to Captain Rossi as I went past the nurse's station.

"Captain, tell Colonel DeBerg I had to start earlier than we'd originally planned."

Rossi stared at me open mouthed as I strode on past and left the ward with Valentine/Peg over my shoulder. I went straight to the elevators and took it up to the gym.

Most of the overhead lights were off when I stepped off the elevator, so the room was only dimly lit. That worked for me. I wasn't going to need a lot of light. I lay Val down on the floor, and started piling three of the mats on top of each other, laying the rest around them. Valentine and I were going to do some wrestling.

I heard her moving behind me. I turned around and watched her struggle to her feet.

Her eyes had changed color, from blue to green and black.

"You sorry piece of shit, I'm gonna drain the life out of your worthless, colorless excuse of a body!" she growled, her voice had dropped a full octave and she sounded like a pissed off man.

"You must be Victor. Try it, you pathetic son of a bitch... and everything you've felt up to now will seem like being tickled with a feather."

She stood slightly crouched, weight balanced on the balls of her feet; her posture reminded me of the hand to hand combat lessons from boot camp.

"Come on... what are you waiting for?" I stepped closer, till we were within arms reach. "I'll make it easy for you." I linked and climbed inside.

Anger and rage were warring with fear and desire, several sets of each fought for control and dominance. Her need was so strong I could taste its tart flavor.

I took off my robe and threw it to the side then reached out and removed hers.

"You want positive feelings? I'll give you feelings like you've never felt in your life."

I took one of her arms in my hand and pulled her tight against me. She was so much shorter then me I had trouble running my hands over the parts of her body I wanted to reach. I lifted her up so she could wrap her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. I stroked her back and sides, cupped her ass in my hands and worked my fingers between the cheeks, tracing the furrow past her anus to her hairless pussy.

I could feel her body responding to my touch and small traces of pleasure began to form within her. I carried her over to the mats and lay us both down on them, pressing my full weight down on top of her. I began licking her face, tracing the tip of my tongue along her jaw, in and around her ear and down the length of her neck. I worked one hand between us and began rubbing and pinching a hard nipple.

Her need began to swell and push her other conflicting emotions to the back, making more room for a lemony tasting lust.

I slipped down her tiny body and sucked one breast into my mouth, sucking hard and drawing the nipple deep within, using my tongue to force it against the roof of my mouth.

Victor/Valentine/Peg began to squirm beneath me, grinding her pubic mound against my lower abs.

"Come on, you albino son of a bitch! More... give me more!" I released her tit and looked up. Her eyes had changed colors again, now violet and narrowed with intense concentration.

"I thought you were going to drain my life... what are you waiting for?" I rolled us over suddenly so she lay on top of me. I reached around and took one butt cheek in my hand and squeezed it hard then began to force the tip of my pinky finger into the puckered ring of her anus. Releasing her breast I ran my other hand down between her legs and slipped my middle finger between her swollen pussy lips and massaged in and around that hairless valley.

Val's breathing grew erratic and she gasped, grinding her hips hard against my hand.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah... oh, yeahhh!" she grunted and hissed at me.

I slipped the middle finger between the folds of her naked pussy and drove it deep into her and pressed the heel of my hand against her clit.

I could feel her heart beating faster and faster, her breathing becoming more uneven. She was starting to gasp and gulp for breath.

"Good, oh good, feels so nice and warm..." she purred.

Her desire was immense and her lust was growing by leaps and bounds, but this was taking much longer than I'd planned. I drew her feelings of pleasure into myself and shot them back down the link.

"Gaahhhhddd!" she screamed and started shaking.

Better, but still not there.

I lifted Val's body off of mine and tossed her lightly to the side then rolled over and stuck my face between her wide spread legs. I began lapping the length of her swollen outer lips with the flat of my tongue and at the same time I inserted two fingers into her and began thrusting in and out.

Her hips bucked and rolled in time with my fingers. I could feel her orgasm; it started small and darkly burning, but with each thrust of my fingers, each lick of my tongue, it got bigger and closer and brighter.

I waited and was patient. I placed my mouth over her clit and began to tease that engorged little nub with my lips and tongue, finally sucking it into my mouth and clamping it firmly between my upper lip and tongue.

Valentine's orgasm exploded and flashed thru our merged emotions like an exploding light bulb. I drew her pleasure in then slammed it back into her, once, twice, three times... she thrashed and pounded on my shoulders with her tiny clenched fists and groaned louder and louder. And then it was over and her body began to relax. Her emotions were calm and peaceful, her need was filled and she was happy and content. For the moment.

That's what I'd been waiting for.

I'd done this once to myself without meaning to. Now I was going to try something similar, but on purpose.

I focused on all the positive emotions that were now dominating Peg's fractured personality, drew them into me, forced them into a closed and locked loop then eased them back down the link into her. Then I cut the link. I rolled over and lay back.

I waited.

I heard a sound like a cat snoring. I looked over and saw that Peg had fallen asleep, curled up in a tight fetal position. I crawled over and got our robes and draped them over her sleeping form. I sat beside her, wiped my face with one hand and waited. After a few minutes I lay down next to her and tried to relax my mind. Eventually I drifted off to sleep.

There are very few things more disconcerting than waking up and having no idea where you are. Unless you've tried waking up snuggled next to a naked woman and having no idea where you are.

She pressed closer against me, murmuring softly in her sleep. I looked around, trying not to disturb or wake her.

The gym... oh, right. Peg, or was it Val? Maybe Victor this time or one of the other manifestations I hadn't met yet.

It was cold. No wonder the girl was cuddled up next to me, she was probably freezing. I sat up slowly.

Peg, I would always think of her as Peg, looked very young and delicate, peaceful even when sleeping. Would she stay that way once she woke up? I figured it was time to find out.

"Peg?" I put one hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. "Time to get up Peg."

Her eyes opened briefly then fluttered as she tried to blink the sleep from her system.

"Hello. I know you, right?" Her eyes were brown. They opened wider when she realized she was naked and pressed against an equally naked man. She started pulling away.

"It's okay Peg. Really, it's alright. You know me. My name is Ike. You probably saw me yesterday, in the dayroom?"

She stopped backing off and looked up at me as if seeing my face for the first time.

"You look a little like Charlton Heston when he played Moses."

I smiled. I suppose there are worse things to look like.

"How are you feeling?"

"Cold. I'm really cold. And kinda confused. What happened to my clothes?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" I looked around and found our robes down by my feet. I picked them up and handed the smaller one to her. I put mine on and belted it around my waist.

"A nurse, a man was showing me around the hospital. There was a big room with people in it and they were having a meeting. You were there! I remember seeing you! You got up and left and then everyone in the room started to get angry. That's all I remember."

"Do you know why you're here in the hospital?"

She shook her head. "Well, maybe because I hear voices. I'm not sure... it's all kinda blurry."

"Do you feel scared? Or angry?"

"Maybe a little scared, but not angry. I don't usually wake up next to a man who looks like a naked statue."

I laughed quietly. "I've heard that statue line once or twice."

"Where are we?"

"This is the floor above the one you remember from yesterday. It used to be a gym."

"Okay... so why were we naked?"

I scratched at my bearded chin. "That's going to be harder to answer. The voices you think you hear? Well, they're real enough. You have what the doctors call multiple personalities. The voices are different parts of you. I think what happens is that when something happens that scares or frightens you, one of them takes over. When that happens it's like you go to sleep."