Chapter 8: Bruno's return

When Zoe woke up the next morning she was keen to leave Alison's house as quickly as possible. She remained worried about her friend but that was outweighed by the creepy feeling Zoe felt about Alison's dad. She grabbed her bag and used the bathroom to freshen up, washing her face and brushing her teeth. She opened her bag, removed her mobile phone and phoned her mother, asking her to come pick her up.

Returning to Alison's room she quickly dressed and hugged her friend, whispering that she needed to go to get ready for father's funeral today. She sensed Alison clinging to her, as if she wanted to open up, and she pulled back to look at her face. The moment passed and Alison buried her head in her shoulder.

She stuffed her belongings into her bag and got ready to leave. Zoe knew something was badly wrong with her friend and, despite her own emotional turmoil, wondered how she could do something to help her. She settled on showing a physical demonstration of her love and support for Alison. Leaning across the bed where her friend still lay, she raised her hand to lightly trace Alison's cheek bone and dipped to kiss her on the lips. The kiss lingered as she savoured the feel of the other girl's lips. She smiled at Alison's obvious enjoyment of the kiss, watching as her face reddened. She gave her a final peck on the cheek and left.

Zoe moved quietly downstairs and glanced out of the window to see whether or not her mom had arrived yet. She was there so Zoe made her way outside and climbed into the car, throwing her bag into the backseat. Amanda looked tired and drawn, it was clear that she'd had a tough night. Zoe guessed she had been thinking about Jason and today's funeral. Zoe didn't want to think about the service and the finality of her father's death that it represented any more than she had to.

"Mom, can we visit Robbie again this morning, please?" She asked.

Once Amanda made the connection between the name Zoe had used and the unconscious boy in the hospital her curiosity about Zoe's apparent connection with the injured boy returned.

"Um, sure we can honey but why?"

"Well like you said, don't we have some kind of responsibility for him now? After all he seems to be all alone. And anyway he does look kind of cute, for an older guy anyway" she smiled as she responded.

"Zoe do you know this boy somehow?"

"Of course not mom, how could I?"

"Its just that you looked at him yesterday not as if he was a stranger but like you've known him for a long time, like he was one of your friends or something."

Zoe recognised she was in dangerous territory and replied carefully. "It kinda felt like I knew him. There's just something about him mom, I can sense it. Like he will be a good friend. I don't know how I know it but I think we are both gonna feel close to him before long."

Amanda raised an eyebrow quizzically at her daughter.

"I know I sound weird but believe me I just have this feeling about him. He's gonna be strong for both of us."

Amanda simply shrugged and agreed to a short visit. There was a lot to do before Jason's funeral but she, like Zoe, did feel a sense of responsibility towards the boy.

Luckily the same doctor was on duty at the hospital and he escorted them to the ICU room with little fuss. Robbie's body looked exactly the same as it had the day before. Zoe asked the doctor what they were doing to try and help Robbie regain consciousness. He explained that there was little further medical help the hospital could provide, it was just a matter of waiting for the boy's body to decide it was time to wake up.

"But haven't I read about people in comas responding to familiar voices or their favourite music or something?" Zoe asked him.

"Well yes," replied the doctor, "but we don't have anyone here who knows him and although he had an iPOD with him, the charge has run down on it."

"Maybe I could come and talk to him," Zoe suggested. "I could also charge up the iPOD for you so you could play that for him."

Doctor Anderson could see no harm in Zoe coming in to talk to the boy or in her charging up the iPOD so he agreed, retrieving the MP3 player from the bedside cabinet and handing it over. Amanda and Zoe remained for around thirty minutes before Amanda decided they really needed to get going.

Immediately they got home Zoe plugged the iPOD into her own USB cable on her PC. iTUNES started up and didn't recognise the device but once she clicked on the cancel button she was pleased to see the charging icon appear on the iPOD's screen. She felt a gentle touch on her arm and realised Robbie was with her.

"Now all your musical tastes will be revealed," she thought to him.

"Oh, so its my iPOD," he replied. "Well there's nothing on there that I'm gonna be too embarrassed about. Well maybe the ABBA track," he chuckled.

"No way!"

"Way I'm afraid."

When she explained how she came to have his iPOD and what she had discussed with Dr. Anderson, Robbie thanked her for visiting him. He was moved that she was trying to help him recover and was pleased to sense her warm response to him. "It seems that she is developing feelings for me to," he thought to himself, unconsciously admitting that he was growing increasingly attached to the young girl. "Hey, my pleasure Scotsman. There are compensations after all, you are seriously cute and I see this as a long term investment opportunity."

They spent some time together just being close and sharing thoughts about what they liked and disliked in life before Amanda shouted up to tell Zoe to get ready to go to the funeral home. Robbie could sense the sudden feeling of deep despair that returned to Zoe as she was brought back to the reality that her father was dead. He hugged her and tried to send soothing thoughts, doing all that he could to just be there for her.

"I wont come to the funeral so you can have some space," he thought.

"No! I want you there, please Robbie, please be there for me."

"Okay, if you're sure angel."

Robbie left Zoe alone to get ready for the funeral. He floated downstairs to see how Amanda was getting on. She was dressed all in black of course and Robbie thought she was a picture of elegance. She looked beautiful he thought. No-one looking at her would have any doubt that this was a classy young woman who was deeply mourning the loss of her life-mate.

The service at the funeral home was very moving, designed to encourage the outpouring of grief. Robbie cried, he cried deeply for the loss that Amanda and Zoe had suffered. Amanda managed to maintain her composure throughout the readings and eulogy. Zoe was wracked with sobs almost from the outset. Robbie floated nearby but felt unable to do anything to comfort her in the tightly packed room.

The coffin was carried out to the hearse and the gathering loaded up into cars and followed it slowly to Glasgow's Highland cemetery.

At the grave-side the Pastor gave a further reading as the coffin was lowered. At last Amanda's tight grip slipped and as she watched her husband's body descending into the immaculately prepared grave she broke into heart-breaking sobs. Amanda's break-down fuelled Zoe and she was wracked anew with gut-wrenching sobs. Robbie was able to float up behind her at the graveside and wrapped his arms round her, whispering in her ear:

"Be brave angel, you know he loved you so much and wherever he is he is thinking about you and your mom. Be strong for your mom she needs your support right now, shhh, daddy loves you, daddy loves you both."

Zoe responded to Robbie's words, pulling herself upright and controlling he sobbing. She put her arm around her mother and as Amanda looked at her, she smiled and nodded in encouragement. "Oh she's so brave," Amanda thought, "look at her trying to prop me up, oh baby thank you, thank you for being here for me, thank you for showing me how to be strong." Taking strength from Zoe's show of courage, Amanda also managed to control herself better.

As he continued to support Zoe, Robbie noticed a man and a young girl on the other side of the open grave. He stood out due to the dark look on his face and he seemed to be staring at Amanda. His brows were lowered and he had an intense look in his eyes.

"Who is that guy?" He asked Zoe, sending his thoughts to her as to who he was looking at. Zoe shivered as she looked across at her friend's father, also noticing that he seemed to be staring at her mother. "That's Alison and her dad," she responded to Robbie. "He kind of creeps me out whenever I go to her house, I don't know why, he just does. I think there is something wrong there."

Amanda and Zoe stood side by side to thank all the mourners as they left and Robbie remained behind Zoe to support her. As the Beckwith's approached Robbie felt Zoe stiffen and he pressed against her, sensing she needed a little re-assurance. He thought Mr Beckwith was going to bore a hole in Amanda, he was looking at her so intensely. Robbie began to worry that perhaps Zoe was right to have concerns about this guy.

At last mother and daughter climbed in to their own car and returned home. Amanda had not arranged a wake as she felt she would not be up to it. They entered the house and simply hugged each other on the sofa, finding a little comfort in each other and their certain knowledge of what the other was feeling. Robbie floated alongside, caught by the emotional moment, sharing in some way the pain these two were so obviously feeling.

"Baby you were so brave today. Thank you for giving me strength when I needed it. I will always be here for you and I am so proud that you were there for me today." Amanda buried her face in Zoe's shoulder as she clung onto her tightly. Zoe tightened her grip on her mother and was able to maintain her composure due to Robbie stroking her back and whispering encouragement all the while.

Across town nurse Becky was finishing off her weekend chores. She was off for two days, her next shift being Sunday morning. Becky knew she was the kind of girl who just needed sex, not plain vanilla sex, she needed to constantly push the boundaries to experience the next high. Throughout school, college and nurse training she had traded on her looks to satisfy her desires. She indulged in exhibitionism, she had regularly tried three-way sex, sex in public places, you name it Becky had been there. Having fun with an unconscious teenager had to rank high in her experiences however and she was anxious to have at least one more go with Robbie before he recovered. She ran a bath and relaxed thinking about what she would do next. "Oh yes, that is going to be ssooooooo hot," she thought as her hand slipped between her legs.

At the Gray household the remainder of Friday and Saturday were very subdued as both Amanda and Zoe tried to come to terms with their grief. Robbie hung around trying to be supportive to Zoe where he could but in a way he was pleased to feel left out as mother and daughter mostly spent their time supporting and bonding even tighter with each other. One high point was Zoe teasing him about his musical tastes once she had charged and then reviewed the tracks on his iPOD.

"Hmmm, says AC/DC and the music sounds like AC/DC but it's the wrong singer. He sounds nothing like AC/DC's vocalist and I know that 'cause I've got three of their CDs."

"Most of my tracks are very early AC/DC," he replied. "The lead singer then was Bon Scott, a Scotsman from Kirriemuir, who sadly died in 1980. The CDs with him on them are my favourites, the ones I like to play most. There's something a bit more raw to those tracks, less production on them maybe and when I play myself I get carried away with the riffs from them the most. You'll know of course that both Angus and Malcolm Young are originally from Glasgow?" he asked and Zoe could once more feel the pride he had in his home city.

"So you play?" she asked.

"Of course I do angel, I'm a rocker!"

Zoe reviewed all of the tracks loaded onto the iPOD. She was surprised at the breadth of Robbie's apparent tastes:

AC/DC
Muse
Johnny Cash

Nils Lofgren
Franz Ferdinand
Johnny Winter
The Stones
Ted Nugent
Blink 42
Queens of the Stone Age
Gerry Rafferty
Steve Earle
Train

and - ABBA!

"My god, you were being serious, you do have an ABBA track on here," she thought to him. "That's sooooo uncool."

"Hey, easy there girl. That one song is more like a life statement for me than anything else. I listen to it to constantly re-inforce my attitude to things."

Zoe saw the track was called 'The Winner Takes it All' and guessed Robbie must be pretty competitive, "... typical boy," she thought. She lay back and listened to the entire library, openly crying at Gerry Rafferty's 'Whatever's written in your heart' (that's all that matters) and a track by Nils Lofgren - 'Soft Fun'. She thought most of the tracks were okay but overall it made for a strange mix.

"You know, you're trying to give the impression you're a dyed in the wool rocker but I reckon you're just an old romantic at heart," she thought.

"Guilty," he replied, feeling happy that she had him tagged.

On Sunday morning Zoe woke up to the feel of Robbie's spirit lips on hers. "Morning angel," she heard him.

"Oh I'm never gonna tire of waking up like that," she moaned in response, feeling her heart beginning to thump in her chest.

She felt a soft touch on her breasts and looked down to see that both of her nipples had sprung to attention, reacting to Robbie's stroking. Within seconds she could feel her little pussy begin to leak as she was immediately turned on by his caresses.

"Uh, uh, yesssssss Robbie, that's soooo nice. I love you touching me. Oh I wish I could feel more of you Robbie, I wish you're real body was here, lying on me, loving me. Robbie will you be my first, please? Will you make love to me?"

Battling for control with his own raging hormones, Robbie argued that Zoe wasn't yet old enough to lose her virginity. He told her she had to be really sure she wanted to go that far as it was a 'one time deal'. He suggested that the test should be that she was sure of what she wanted to do when she was not in a sexual charged situation. She should be clear about what she wanted, who she wanted it with and why.

"Zoe, girls are nearly as bad as boys. You'll get carried away in the heat of arousal and convince yourself that's what you want more than anything. But if you regret it later then you will have made the wrong decision because you haven't been thinking straight."

"Robbie I know all that and I have already decided that you will be my first. I have thought about it and I'm sure that's what I want."

"Well Zoe, I don't agree with you but we don't need to worry about that right now because in case you haven't noticed, Bruno doesn't have a penis so I couldn't, even if I wanted to!"

Zoe groaned. Of course he was right, he couldn't do anything! She wouldn't let it go however and tried to get a commitment from him to be her first when his real body came round.

"Okay, you win for now 'Scotch' man," she thought to underline her frustration and impatience by using the wrong term. "But when your cute body wakes up, promise me that you will do it or me."

"Look Zoe, I still don't think your old enough for that yet, you have lots of life to experience first so lets wait until I'm better and then we can talk about it some more. Your first time should be very special, should be with someone who really loves you. There, my romantic side is declaring itself, " he laughed, trying to lighten the moment.

"Robbie I want to do it, not talk about it," she replied. "Promise me you'll be my first, please?"

At that moment Robbie felt a strong tug and he found himself back in the ICU room looking on as nurse Becky began to stroke his cock.

Zoe wondered why she didn't hear a response from him. Didn't he appreciate what she was offering? Couldn't he see how much this meant to her? "Robbie answer me," she thought, "promise me you will make love to me, promise me you'll be my first, please?" There was no response. "Robbie are you there? Robbie, answer me."

"Typical boy," she thought, "runs out when faced with a difficult conversation with a woman. Well I'm going to show him that I'm old enough and certainly mature enough to make up my mind about decisions like this. He will be my first but I just need to work out how to convince him."

Amanda called upstairs that she was going to the local church for the Sunday service and to thank the pastor for presiding over the funeral on Friday.

Zoe decided that she needed to finish her discussion with Robbie, whether he wanted to or not. She thought she could cycle over to the hospital, after all Dr. Anderson had agreed she could visit Robbie to talk to him. She was soon on her way.

Robbie watched on as nurse Becky brought his cock to full hardness, moaning to herself and licking her lips in the process. He had not noticed her locking the door this time as he had arrived as she was already playing with him but assumed that she had. He was wrong. In her haste to renew her acquaintance with the young boy and having worked herself up over the last two days anticipating what she had planned, she had completely forgotten.