Chapter 8: Doctor, Doctor

I awoke early the next morning to thunder rattling the windows of the bedroom. The house was quiet and I could hear the rain beginning to beat against the windows. I slowly rose from the bed and walked over to the windows, looking out into the predawn darkness, the torrential rains visible only during the moments when streaks of lighting raced across the sky.

As I stood there, it dawned on me that for the first time in several weeks I wasn't overcome with lust at the sight of all the naked female flesh in the bed. I turned and looked at them in the dim light of the lightning flashes. Angela was sleeping curled around Emily who had been curled around me when I had awoken. Cathy was in her usual spot on the floor at the foot of the bed. I could tell that she was awake and watching me, but until I needed something, she wouldn't bother me.

And like every other morning, I had a crisis of conscience over all that had happened to me. Not that I wasn't overjoyed at all the wonderful things that had happened to me, but I still wondered what life must be like for Angela and Emily. I had very vivid recollections of Emily huddled and crying in the back office when I first met her. I sincerely hoped that I would never cause her that kind of pain and anguish again.

Most mornings, when I saw all the women in my bed, or even just one of them, the blood all seemed to leave the big head and head south for the little head. It wasn't until after my lust was sated that I would have these depressing thoughts. I wondered how much the pheromone had to do with this, and how much was just a natural reaction that any man might have in a similar circumstance.

But something was different this morning. I could stand here and look over the beauty arranged before me on the bed, and I wasn't overcome with lust, only love and a bit of melancholy. I wondered for just a moment what was different this morning. Was I just burnt out on hot, kinky sex with multiple women? Or was it something else.

I really needed to clear my head and think, something that I felt like I could do today for the first time in a while. I needed a good run and the torrential rainfall seemed to be abating outside. I decided a good run in the rain was exactly what I needed, so I headed to the bathroom to get dressed and go for a good long run this morning.

Kayla met me at the front door, already dressed in her running gear, pulling her hair back into a ponytail in the way that women do. It was something that I would never understand, and women would never understand how sensual it was to us men, the mystery of it part of the allure.

I had wanted to run alone, just my thoughts and I, but I knew it was pointless to argue with her. She would be going with me no matter what I said, she needed to be sure I was safe. But somehow I also knew that she wouldn't bother me, she would be as unobtrusive as possible. And so after a few quick stretches, I headed out the door without a backwards look at Kayla.

I turned and headed down the long driveway toward the road. The rain was a light sprinkle and the air was cool from the rain, making perfect conditions for a good run. I really had no destination in mind, I just needed to run, so I did.

As I ran, I replayed the initial meeting between Angela and myself. I had done this millions of times before, always looking for something that would give me a clue as to what had happened. I worked backwards from that moment to see if there was anything in the hours or days before that fateful day that could explain what had occurred.

And though my mind seemed clear this morning, and the steady pace of my feet hitting the pavement had my mind in a Zen like state, I couldn't find anything that was out of the ordinary in the days and weeks that had led up to our meeting. This wasn't surprising as I had done this same exercise everyday since I had met Angela, many times a day in fact, and each time was the same.

And then my mind began to review all the events that had happened since then. The explorations I had shared with Angela, the pain and pleasure as they worked across her face. Then I reviewed the meeting with Emily and later her sister, and finally, the meeting with Cathy. Each had been slightly different, each one had some nuance of difference, but each was also somewhat the same. Each meeting reminded me of the person. Angela's had been striking and beautiful, just as she was. Emily had been very emotional and I knew that her love and devotion was perhaps the strongest, even though Angela had the stronger physical needs. And Kayla, when she had finally submitted to me, showed her strength and determination, just as I knew she was somewhere behind me and nothing would let her get separated from me.

I ran mile after countless mile, one footstep after another, and with each step my mind wrestled with what had happened to me, trying to find some rationale explanation and slowly coming to terms with the fact that there was no explanation and all I could do was try to make the most of each day, trying to look out for those around me, protecting them and loving them.

It was only the blaring of a car horn that brought me to my senses. I looked up and realized that I was at the entrance to Forsyth Hospital. I glanced back and Kayla was at the street corner trying to cross and not get hit by the traffic that was out early this morning. I realized that we had run a very long distance, my legs were numb from the exertion and I was breathing quite heavily. Kayla looked haggard as she came up beside me, having finally gotten across the road.

"You feel it too?" she gasped.

I hadn't felt it, or perhaps more accurately, I hadn't paid any attention to the sensation before that moment. But now that Kayla had pointed it out to me, I could feel something pulling at my mind. In a millisecond, all other thoughts were driven from my mind and I had to follow this compulsion.

Moments later we were walking into the emergency room, past the startled security guard who was surprised to find that he couldn't move to stop me. I pushed through the swinging double doors into the treatment area and past the nurses that were swarming around the stretcher in the middle of the trauma area.

There was a young woman on the stretcher, very pale and unmoving, and they were working very hard to get an IV into her when I walked up to the side of the bed. I have no idea why I did it, but I reached out and touched her, a part of my mind screaming that I didn't need another slave in my life. But the other part of my brain somehow knew, was absolutely convinced that if I didn't touch her and make contact with her, that she was going to die.

And as soon as I touched her, her rapid heart beat began to slow, her breathing increased and her color immediately improved. I stood there, my hand on her forehead, and watched while the nurses and others moved around me as if I weren't there as they continued to try and take care of her.

I few minutes later, after a couple bags of warm saline had infused, she slowly opened her eyes and looked up at me. Our eyes connected and I felt a rush, like electricity shooting up my arm and into my mind. Only it was very weak, nothing like the sensation I had felt with Angela, and yet exactly like I had felt with Angela. Just the intensity was an order of magnitude less.

And then the rush overwhelmed me and I felt Kayla step up behind me and catch me as I started to slump, my legs giving way beneath me as the fatigue from running and the mental overload of all the information passing from the woman on the stretcher into me was just too much to handle.

Kayla eased me gently into a chair that a nurse quickly moved into position when I started to collapse. But my hand never broke contact with the woman, whose name I now knew was Neva Stone. In fact, she reached up to grab my hand, to hold it, turning her head to keep eye contact as I slumped in the chair.

And then it was too much for me and I closed my eyes, my brain overwhelmed and my body exhausted. My last thought, was toward Angela, Emily and Kayla that I was alright. Somehow I knew Cathy already knew this.

I woke in a quiet room, and like every other hospital room in the country it was 72 degrees and the overhead fluorescent lights were shining brightly. The smell of antiseptic and death lingered in the air, the reminder that I was far from the first, and certainly not the last person who would occupy this room. I just hoped that the person who had cleaned the room had, in fact, cleaned the room.

The most dangerous thing about a hospital room is the unsanitary nature of the beast. Sickness after sickness occupies the room and a quick wipe down with a damp cloth is all that separate the two.

But of course, once my brain got going and I remembered why I was in a hospital, I quickly sat up and starting looking around. I was immediately greeted with the vision of Kayla, Emily and Angela. They were all seated around the edge of the bed, all touching me somewhere.

But there in a bed in this semiprivate room was Neva. She too was looking over at me, a longing in her eyes and I immediately felt her need.

I paused and thought this through. I thought about the dreams where I had heard her crying out in need. I thought about the first times I had met each of the women that had come into my life. And while I wasn't sure it would work, I decided to try anyway.

"I want you," I thought to Neva, "I do want you, but more than wanting you, I want you to be free."

The room went silent then. I hadn't noticed, but the women had been softly chatting with each other, and while they had all noticed that I was now awake, they also instantly knew that I was fine, so they hadn't paused in their conversation. But when they sensed, or heard, my thoughts and intentions toward Neva, they paused.

Angela turned to look at me, fear and wonder battling behind her eyes. I could feel her fear that I would do the same to her, and amazement that I had figured out how to control the effects that my pheromone had on women around me.

Just when Angela opened her mouth to speak, Cathy burst through the door, literally dragging a nurse behind her.

"I told you he was awake!" she exclaimed to the nurse who just rolled her eyes and came over to examine me and take my vitals.

"It's nice to see you awake, Doc," Janice said when she was about done.

"It's good to see you too, Janice. Just wish I was dressed better for the occasion," I answered.

"Aw, now, don't worry about none of that," she jokingly replied, "We just had a little pool to see who got to see your naked butt when we put you in the gown."

I groaned as everyone else in the room laughed. I was only saved when Jonathan walked into the room.

"Josh, you really need to slow down, son," he said. "Next time, you might actually do some damage. What the hell were you thinking going for a 20 mile run in the rain?"

I looked over at Neva and then back at Jonathan.

"Again?" He asked.

"No, we seem to have made some progress along that front," Kayla replied.

"I heard you ran the same distance," Jonathan queried her.

"I did, but I haven't had all the stress that he has been under. Besides, it was a really great day to go for a run!" She replied.

"Well, we're going to get you down for an PET scan latter this morning. I wouldn't put you through that, but with the headaches and other things that you were telling me about earlier, I think we are justified in taking a look. I also talked to Sarah Browne and she may want to run a couple of additional tests."

I rolled my eyes and Angela snickered, causing Janice to get a confused look on her face. But Jonathan continued on as if he hadn't heard anything, and knowing Jonathan, once he was focused on something, he probably hadn't heard anything.