Chapter 8: July - Dependence Day

"I feel like such an idiot. I can manage just fine, you know," Mitch groused as Tory helped him out of her car and led him into his house.

"First off, it wasn't your fault, so you have no reason to feel like an idiot" Tory soothed. "You didn't cause that accident. But, you can't 'manage just fine' otherwise the hospital wouldn't have insisted that someone stay with you during your recuperation. Besides," Tory continued, after ushering Mitch into his house and settling him in a chair, "you could have come out much worse!"

"How much worse than two broken arms?!" Mitch asked, incredulously.

"You could have a broken jaw," Tory replied seductively, straddling his lap and capturing his mouth in a passionate kiss to prove her point.

"Argh!" Mitch growled after releasing from the kiss. "But, I can't hold you!"

"It's okay, Mitch. I'll just have to do the holding for right now."

"I just feel bad."

"I understand. But, it's a chance for me to give back to you after all you've done for me."

"If you really want to help me feel better, you could help me take a bath. I didn't want to take one in the hospital and I feel real grubby. I had to stay there for three whole days until you could come up." Tory smiled at Mitch's whining, wondering how such a man lasted in the Navy for so long.

After one last quick kiss, Tory chuckled as she locked the door and lead Mitch upstairs to his bathroom. After getting him undressed, she helped him settle in the warm tub with strict orders to keep his arms on the edge so the casts wouldn't get wet. As she was washing Mitch, Tory was reminded of how she used to bathe her boys when they were younger, especially when Mitch began to splash to try to get her wet. Without batting an eyelash, Tory stood and stripped out of her clothes. She entered the tub facing Mitch and began to seductively wash his legs.

Mitch was grateful for the extra money he had spent on the larger tub when Tory climbed up his body and straddled his hips. He still didn't like having casts on both his arms, but he was able to forget about his arms when Tory began to bounce on his hard cock.

Once she recovered after their mutual climax, Tory got out of the tub and helped Mitch out, too. She was able to dry him off without too much hassle from him, but Mitch still put up a fight when she tried to get him dressed. Leaving him to his own stubborn devices, Tory got dressed quickly and left Mitch in his bedroom struggling with his clothes. As she reached the top of the stairs, she heard the doorbell ring.

"You'd better hurry up and dress, Mitch; you've got a visitor!"

"Tell them I'll be down in a minute," he grunted, just before Tory heard a thud from something or someone falling. She was still smiling when she opened the door.

"Can I help you?" Tory asked the visitor. While the woman at the door tried to find the right words, Tory took a couple of minutes to size her up. She didn't look like a solicitor; she was wearing designer clothes. She was taller than Tory, probably 5'7 or 9. She was blond and looked beautiful, whoever she was, although she did seem a bit pretentious.

Just then, Mitch came down the stairs in running shorts trying to wrestle a clean t-shirt over his head and arms. "Tory, who was at the door?"

"Oh, my word!" exclaimed the unknown woman. "Frank was right!"

"Please, don't let it be her," Mitch prayed silently while freeing his head from the cotton confines. "What are you doing here, Janet?" he demanded, his voice turning cold, as he dismissively walked past the front door.

"I just heard from Frank that you were in a terrible accident," Janet cooed, while pushing past Tory in the doorway. "You might want to close that door, hun," Janet turned back to gush at Tory, "Mitch, here, isn't fond of bugs in his house."

Resisting the urge to slam the door, Tory closed it quietly and quickly followed Mitch and Janet into the living room.

"What do you want, Janet?" Mitch demanded, slumping in his chair.

"I heard about the accident and came right over!" Then, turning to Tory, she continued, "Be a dear and get me a tall glass of something cool, would you?"

"NO, Janet, you're NOT staying!" Mitch growled.

"Please, Mitch, let's not get so excited. Why don't we talk about it in private?"

"Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of Tory."

"Tory? Who's Tory?" Janet looked around the room as if she was expecting a genie to magically appear.

"I am," Tory spoke up, standing straighter and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh, what a cute little name for a cute little person! What are you, dear, the cleaning lady or the visiting nurse? Well, Mitch won't be needing your services while I'm around!"

Tory remained calm in the presence of this intruder; Mitch began to lose his cool. Having Janet around was making his head and arms throb in pain. "For your information, Janet," Mitch began, standing to confront his ex-wife, "Tory is my fiancée!"

"Oh?" Janet whimpered as Tory walked past her and stepped into Mitch's casted arms. "Well, where's the ring? You always insisted I wear a ring."

"We don't NEED those physical reminders of OUR LOVE," Tory explained. "We TRUST each other with our hearts, so that's all we need!" Tory had to try hard to suppress a laugh as she watched this blonde bombshell turn red. Mitch had never told Tory what happened to break up his marriage. Obviously, Tory concluded, her infidelity was part of it. "Now," Tory continued, not waiting for Janet to regain her bearings, "it's time for Mitch to take his meds and get some rest. So, I need to ask you to leave."

Without waiting for a reply, Tory walked over to the front door and held it opened. "Please hurry; you know how Mitch hates having bugs in his house!"

Without looking back, Janet stomped out the door. As it was being shut, Janet could distinctly hear laughter rolling out behind her.

"Thanks for going along with that, baby," Mitch chuckled out. "That was the only thing I could think to tell her to shut her up and get her out of here!"

"No problem," replied Tory. "I don't think she liked me very much, anyway."

Two weeks later, Tory left to run some errands. Mitch had just had his casts redone and wasn't feeling very comfortable. So, he was going to try to nap while Tory was gone.

Just as she was finished with her errands, Tory ran into Chuck Warren.

"Ms. Markus, it's nice to see you again. I'm assuming you're here to take care of our latest patient?"

"Yes. He keeps telling me he doesn't need my help, but he can't open the pickle jar yet!"

"Do you have to head back, or do you have time for a cup of coffee?"

"I guess I have time for one cup. Mitch was going to try to take a nap. You do realize that, if you buy me a cup of coffee you have to call me Tory."

"I think I can handle that. And, you should call me Chuck."

Chuck took Tory to the corner café where the pair enjoyed their coffee and some pleasant conversation. When Tory glanced at her watch, an hour had passed.

"Wow, Chuck, I didn't realize the time! I need to get back to Mitch; he'll be wondering where I went off to. Thanks for the coffee!"

"No problem, Tory. Tell Mitch I'll call him in a few days."

Chuck grinned to himself as the two parted company; he was very happy for his friend.

In the fifteen minutes it took for Tory to reach Mitch's house, a strange feeling developed in her gut. Brushing it aside, Tory entered Mitch's house and put the purchases away in the kitchen pantry. When she went upstairs, she heard a muffled noise coming from Mitch's bedroom. At first, she thought it might be the television but as she got closer, Tory distinctly heard Mitch moaning. Quietly, Tory opened the door to check on him.

"What the HELL is going on!"

Mitch's eyes had been closed while he had been moaning in pleasure. When he heard Tory's angry voice, he immediately opened his eyes and sat upright. That's when he realized that it hadn't been Tory pleasuring him; it was his ex-wife.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, JANET?" he bellowed.

"I know it's been a while, lover, but I didn't think it was so long that you'd forget! You used to LO-OVE when I sucked you."

"I've got to get out of here," Tory said, barely above a whisper.

"Janet, you'd better get dressed and get out of here in two minutes! TORY!" Mitch fumbled a bit while trying to pull his sweatpants up and then ran after Tory.

"Tory, baby, I know what it looks like. But, I didn't realize she was here," Mitch tried to explain when he found Tory pacing the living room.

"How could you not? She was NAKED in your BED sucking your COCK! You were enjoying it!"

"I thought she was you."

"Don't touch me." Tory reflexively put her hands up in front of her to stop Mitch's advances.

"The pain pills I took must have really knocked me out. I thought I was dreaming of you. Please, Tory, you've got to believe me," Mitch pleaded.

"Well, lover," Janet cooed upon entering the living room. "Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Maybe next time you'll have time to plant your seed in me and give me that baby you always wanted."

"There's NEVER going to be a 'next time', Janet. I NEVER want to see you again! We've been over for a LONG TIME! GO BACK TO FRANK!" Mitch turned and directed his rage at Janet.

"You know, I've heard that a lot over the years and you always changed your tune. You'll be back," Janet taunted.

"NEVER AGAIN! NOW GET OUT!" As Mitch bellowed his command, he flung his arms in anger. Not seeing what he was doing, one cast slammed into the glass vase on the side table by the door and shattered it. Feeling his anger at breaking Tory's vase erupt, he kicked his foot at the leg of the side table, collapsing it into pieces.

"Well, if you change your mind..." Janet cooed, and then slowly sauntered out the door. Mitch slammed the door shut with his foot. When he looked into the living room at Tory, his heart shattered just as the vase had done.

He slowly approached Tory as she was cowering in the farthest chair from the debris.

"I don't know how she got in, Tory, I swear. Talk to me, baby. Please," Mitch pleaded softly, as he knelt down beside her. Tory didn't look at him, but kept her eyes trained on the mess.

"I-I-I should clean up the mess before someone gets hurt," Tory stammered, quickly escaping from Mitch's reach.

"Leave it, Tory. Please, let's talk about this. You've got to believe that I didn't know it was her!"

"If I leave it, we'll forget about it and it'll be more dangerous later. Besides, I need to start dinner soon." Mitch sat helplessly on his knees and watched Tory move quickly around him, picking up the pieces of broken glass and wood. For the rest of the afternoon, every time Mitch tried to talk with Tory about the incident, she avoided the subject. Dinner was eaten in strained silence; Tory fed Mitch as quickly as possible but ate very little, herself.

As she helped him get ready for bed, Mitch felt an ominous wall build between them. He was hoping to have a chance to talk with her when they went to bed, but that was not to be. After Tory got him settled into bed, she got up to leave the room.

"Tory, baby, where are you going?"

"There are few more things I need to put away from this afternoon. I'll go to bed later." Quick as a flash, she was out the door, gently closing it behind her. Mitch intended to stay awake waiting for her, but the strain of the day wore him out, and he soon fell asleep.

Mitch woke with a start. He felt there was something wrong, but couldn't figure it out. When he looked at the clock, it read 2:15. He had fallen asleep, but what was missing? What was wrong? Then he noticed, Tory was not in bed with him. After a few failed attempts at opening his bedroom door, he was finally able to maneuver the knob so he could leave his room and search for Tory.

His first instinct was to look in the guest room. The door was slightly closed, so she could have been there. But, a light from downstairs caught his eye, so he decided to go there, first. When he walked into the brightly lit living room, his heart sank. Tory was sitting on the sofa, cowering in the corner, wrapped in the throw from one of the chairs. Even though she was asleep, Mitch could see the puffiness of her eyes, telling him just how much she had been crying. He was paying more attention to watching Tory than he was watching where he was going. A couple of steps into the living room, he kicked something at his feet and woke Tory up with a start.