Chapter 25: Miraculous Recovery

Nurse Anna Geyer had been true to her word. As much as I tried to hold off, she rode me until I exploded deep inside of her. Part of me didn't believe it was her efforts, though she had been fantastic, because I had a vision of her as she bounced and thrashed with her belly full with a baby ready to be born and her breasts many sizes bigger and leaking milk. The image had only been there for a few seconds but it was a form of unexpected inspiration and thereafter I was holding her hips as I gave her what she wanted.

While she cleaned up in the bathroom connected to my room, I laid there worried what the others would think. They had warned me this might happen. I might find other women to bind with if someone hadn't been there to help take care of my physical need for female flesh, but Anna had helped me heal. I felt justified.

I sat up as she returned. The early morning sun was just coming in through the window and allowed me to fully see the woman who had not only helped me but was now considered one of mine. Lithe and graceful, she smiled at me when she saw me watching her. I had known there was something wrong with her while I had been laid up, but ignored it due to my needs. Now, concern for her touched me and I held out my hand to her.

She smiled, but it was a half smile. Her face looked as if it was half scarred. She noted my stare and turned her face away. "I'm sorry. I ... I should have said something before." The elation she had felt faded. Did she think I was going to turn her away?

"No," I answered the unspoken idea. "No, don't apologize. Come here." I held her hand tight. "Let me see you, Anna." My voice was soft, soothing. I gave her a slight tug and she stepped forward, but continued to try to hide her face in her hair.

I swept it back, and she put her hand up. "No, Anna. Please, let me see."

I pulled her hand away and then gently turned her chin so she would look at me fully. I was correct. The right side of her face was covered in shiny burn scars. Half of her eyebrow was missing and the edge of her eye was somewhat off-shaped. It looked like she had had many, many surgeries to correct the scars. The doctors had done quite a lot to help her look more normal, but Anna knew she would never look like anyone normal. I suddenly understood part of her reluctance, why she had not been with many lovers and even her complete acceptance of what it would mean to be part of my family. I could feel the sadness that had weighed her down for so very long. How was it that I always found women who were hurt or the victim of some disaster? Each of them seemed to need healing in some way.

I looked down at her chest. My mark hovered there where it should. Smiling, I looked back up.

She had been watching me as I looked her over. "What?"

"Anna, now that you are a part of my family, there are other things you should know." I turned and moved to the edge of the bed. When I started to get up, she put her hand on my shoulder, as if to keep me from standing. I took hold of her hand and held it. "I'm okay. You've helped me." Then I stood tall and feeling as if I had just had a really good night's sleep.

Anna looked me over amazed. The IV was still attached, so I grabbed the pole and led Anna back to the bathroom. She probably thought I was keeping her with me in case I fell, but she was surprised when I went to the mirror and pulled her in front of me. I put my face next to hers so we could both see our reflections.

"How long have you had this?" I asked as I ran a finger gently along her scars.

She blushed. I thought it was cute. Then she said, "Since I was thirteen."

"Being a fully qualified nurse means you've been in college at least four years, right?" She nodded. "So you've suffered this for about ten years?" Again, she nodded. "Do you remember last night, when you joined me but couldn't take me in?"

She blushed furiously and nodded. I took her a second to recover and look at my reflection. I watched her in the mirror and studied the side of her face. "Has it not occurred to you that the sudden ease we had with my size might have been something more than just some strange luck?"

Her eyes searched the reflection. She remembered what happened but hadn't thought about it. "How?"

"That is one of my many gifts. The ability to mold flesh." I nodded back to her reflection and continued. "One of my girls ended up worse than you. Her entire face had been removed." I shared the memory with Anna so she would understand what I meant by 'removed'. "I was able to restore her original appearance ... with a bit of touch up."

Anna just stared at me in the mirror. The idea that she might have a normal face again made her light up much like the idea of being a part of my family. "You ... You can do that? For me?"

I nodded.

She pressed her hand over mine and closed her eyes. The smile she wore was fantastic. The idea of her fantasy of having her favorite patient might have been fun earlier, but this was like some life goal about to be accomplished. She turned in my arms and pressed her lips to mine. I held her. Her gratitude wasn't necessary as long as she was happy with the results.

After her kiss, I turned her back around to face the mirror again. "Watch," I said as I placed my finger tips on her scars. My will flowed into her face, the warm liquid sensation that was so soothing, such a wonderful touch, tickled her lightly. When I finished a few seconds later, it was as if the scar had never been there.

Anna leaned in close to the mirror, pulling her hair out of the way and examining her skin in detail. Though her long, strawberry blond hair had been hanging loose, probably so she could use it to hide her face, she knew how to put it up in a quick, loose knot. She turned to me, smiling in a way I was sure she had never smiled before.

I smiled back and then moved over to the toilet. All of the fluids the hospital had pumped into me had made their full trek. "Why don't you get dressed and go get a doctor to release me. I've got to go." I nodded at the toilet. She bounced up to give me a quick kiss, and then went to her discarded uniform.

After finishing with nature's call, I went back and sat on my bed. Anna didn't bother letting her hair back down as she continued to beam at me. Her white uniform had a few soft wrinkles in it and she had been missing for the better part of a couple of hours, but she didn't seem worried at all. After another heart-felt kiss, she picked up her clip board and left the room. There was a bounce in her step I was sure hadn't been there before.

A couple of minutes later, the door opened again. I had expected it to be Yvonne or Chloe, or even both, but Savannah walked in.

Alexandria's sister stood staring at me in disbelief. For that matter I was having trouble understanding why she was here instead of one of my girls. What was worse, I felt a lurch in my gut at the sight of her. She wasn't dolled up, just wearing jeans, boots and a large heavy coat. I was sure there were clothes under it too, but my mind played pictures of her opening her coat and flashing me her assets. I had never thought of Savannah that way before. If I didn't know differently, I would have thought the sex I just had with Anna would have calmed such thoughts. I did my best to keep my face blank, impassive. It was probably what prompted her question.

"Ral? How are you feeling?" She asked softly as she approached.

"Much better. What are you doing here?" I asked in return.

"I drove here last night..." she started, "Nathan and I had another fight. I didn't want to leave, but the boys didn't need to see us like that."

I didn't have a connection to Savannah, but I could tell that she was miserable. "I'm sorry to hear that. Are they okay though?"

She nodded, tears threatening to race down her face. "Yeah, Nathan and his new fiancé have been great for them." With each word she took small steps forward, closing the distance between us.

I got up and held out my hand to her. As she approached me, the flood started. I hugged her as she buried her face against my chest. I held her as she sobbed. After allowing the freedom of the emotion for a minute, I helped her to calm down through the direct contact.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "You're laid up in bed and here I'm crying all over you."

I ran my hand over her back, trying to sooth away her emotional pain further. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine. I just sent the nurse to get the doctor so I can get out of here and start looking for Mandy and the rest of my family." The feel of Savannah in my arms was having a different affect on me. Unlike Anna who made me feel warm and healthy, I became excited and knowing that I wore only the thin flimsy hospital night gown, I couldn't afford to sprout an erection while holding Savannah. I needed my girls. "Have you seen Yvonne or Chloe?"

She nodded. "I sent them to get something to eat about ten minutes before the nurse came out."

I nodded in return but couldn't tear my eyes away from Savannah's. She had the same deep brown as her sister's but her face was framed by dark auburn hair. She also had a body frame and shape much like Alexandria's and her closeness started to make me lose control. I came up with a good excuse for her to not be too close to me quickly. "Why don't you go and find them. I'm sure they'll be happy to hear I'm awake. And after I find my family, if you'd like, we can all go out to see your boys again before we head back to Texas."

She nodded. Either she understood why I was sending her away or she was fighting off more feelings of her own. I had suspected previously that I affected Savannah indirectly with my Charm, but now I was more than certain of it. She felt too comfortable pressed against me to be safe. I had just added Anna to the family. Savannah hadn't made any effort to find her own relationship with someone else, and with the heartache of the latest fight with her ex-husband, she might make a rash decision that she would regret later. I wanted to help her, but that also meant keeping her away from me.

Savannah walked away silently and looked back at me smiling when she reached the door. I smiled back and nodded at her and then she stepped out.

I sat back down but hadn't waited long when Anna and a doctor walked in. She stood to the side and the doctor approached. He was barely an inch taller than Anna, which made him several inches shorter than me. His hair was thinning and gray, a neatly trimmed mustached quivered over his mouth and his sharp eyes took in the sight of me sitting there.

"Mr. Setton," he said, checking the clip board in his hand. "I'm Doctor Jarvis Holzer. How are you feeling this morning?"

I nodded. "Good morning, Dr. Holzer. I'm feeling good."

He nodded and looked at me with a piercing gaze. Then he looked back at Anna. "Have you taken his vitals this morning?"

She moved quickly and began working while the Doctor stepped up to my other side and checked the bandages around my head. I hadn't removed them. The staff might have thrown a fit. However, Dr. Holzer seemed to pull on them as if trying to take them off. Then he grunted and pulled one last time.

Anna smiled at me as she took my blood pressure and heart rate.

The Doctor was mumbling, "Interesting, very interesting ... No, couldn't have been..." He kept looking at the chart but shaking his head. "It says here you came in with a heavy concussion and unconscious. Most of your body had first and second degree burns." He looked at me again with those sharp eyes. "You look like you've just woken up from a good night's sleep to me..."