Chapter 19

Danielle and I were sprawled out on the bed, catching our breaths and letting the room’s AC cool us down. I didn’t know how long we’d being going at it, but judging by the dimming sunlight, it had to be a couple of hours, at least.

I felt movement and rolled my head to see Danielle getting up on rubbery legs. “I’ve gotta go,” she said and stumbled toward the bathroom.

I nodded but didn’t say anything. I had to go too, but could wait until she got back.

It was a few minutes before the bathroom door opened again. “You wouldn’t believe how much of your cum poured out of me,” she said with a grin.

I crawled to the edge of the bed. “Tell me about it in a sec,” I said and all but ran to the bathroom. Once I was finished, I not only washed my hands but picked up a wet washcloth Danielle had apparently used and cleaned my penis and sac too. After rinsing it off and wringing it out again, I grabbed one of the hand towels and left the bathroom.

My redheaded companion was curled up on the bed with only the flat sheet covering her. I pulled the blanket off the bed and attempted to clean the wet spots that we’d left.

Danielle watched me. “You know they strip the bed and replace all the sheets and blankets after a room is rented, right?”

I shrugged. “Seems wrong to leave all the work to them.”

She studied me for a moment. “When we talked earlier, you said you kept your head down. I can’t imagine you just sitting in your room all the time.”

I shook my head. “No, I worked for Mr. Chambers in his garage, fixing cars.”

A small smile appeared on her face. “I thought no one liked you?”

I glanced at her. “The only time Mr. Chambers talked to me was if he needed me to do something or a customer was pulling in.”

Danielle’s smile faded away. “I understand the former, but why the latter?”

I let out a sigh. The stains in the blanket were going to need more than warm water to come out. I started folding the blanket while I talked. “He knew how the rest of the town felt about me. He didn’t want to chance losing customers just because he let me work for him.”

Danielle blinked. “I’m sorry, Seth. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how you got through that.”

I shrugged. “Most of the time, I didn’t think about it. I just focused on whatever I was doing at the time, moving parts, changing the oil, whatever. It was the same at school.” I smiled then. “I actually had to fudge a few things so I wouldn’t end up valedictorian.”

She sat forward on the bed. “Wait, you what?”

I nodded. “I didn’t want to ruin everyone else’s graduation day by being the one to give our graduation speech. Besides,” I said, setting the folded blanket on the small table, “I’m sure the school board or someone else of some importance would have found some way to make sure I wasn’t the top of my class.” I turned and looked at Danielle. “Think of the therapeutic aspect though, me giving the speech and putting everyone there in their place.” I was smiling, but knew it wasn’t funny.

“Actually,” she said, “That’s not a bad idea. You don’t have to give the speech, but you could write one.”

I shook my head. “I’d rather just forget them than dwell on it.”

“That’s not therapeutic,” Danielle said. “That’s suppression and can do more harm than good. You need to work through the emotional turmoil.”

I stood there, wondering what good it would do me. “Do rape victims go to therapy?” I asked. It seemed the closest parallel.

“Statistically, rape victims who go to therapy recover more quickly than those who don’t,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s still traumatic and it takes time to work through that, but with help anyone can make it.” She studied my face for a second. “It seems to me, you’ve already made great strides toward recovery, but you still have buried emotions that you need to face. I know a few doctors who...”

I held up my hand to wave off that idea. “No, no doctors. I don’t need pills. I need to get on with my life.”

She sighed. “I don’t think anyone would put you on meds. Other than your physical reaction when you think about home, you only have emotional scars to deal with. That takes time and someone to talk to.”

I moved over to the bed and sat down. Facing Danielle, I asked, “Why can’t I talk to you?”

She thought about that for a moment. “I guess there wouldn’t be any harm,” she said and then looked up. “But you know a doctor and her patient aren’t supposed to become physically involved.”

I looked over her nude body and then mine. “I suppose that could be a complication.” Only after I said that did I realize what we had both said. This wasn’t going to be only a one day fling.

“What are you thinking?” she asked.

I looked at her again. “Um ... I uh...” I swallowed to clear my throat and tried again. “I was thinking about ... us.”

“What about us?”

“Well ... you said a doctor and patient aren’t supposed to become ... well, you know.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And ... Well ... I said it could be a complication ... Like this isn’t all we were going to do.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Did you think I’d only want you for today?”

I shrugged. Part of me had thought exactly that, but that tiny voice was quickly overridden by another part of me wanting things to continue. There was, of course, the part of me that thought it would be a bad idea. We might have been talking about my emotional recovery, but she had some she needed to work through as well. I didn’t think her need for physical pleasure would last very long, especially at the rate we had been going, and that only lent to the idea that she had to face what she had been through and the repercussions of her decision to leave her husband. I knew a couple of families who fell apart because of divorce. The only fortunate thing going for Danielle was the lack of children.

She watched me as I thought about how I felt. When I looked up again, she had a warm friendly smile. I didn’t know how to respond to her question or if it was rhetorical. “Well?” she asked.

I sighed. “I’ll admit I did think that, but I also know you’ve got a lot to deal with too.” I held up my hand indicating her face. The bruises were a nasty purple. “You may not have been raped...”

She nodded and clasped my raised hand in both of hers. “I know, but I’m beginning to believe that I won’t be able to get through my recovery without you. So, do we help each other?”

I smiled. It was an offer I didn’t want to refuse. “Isn’t there also a problem with doctors being the worst patients?”

Her smile brightened considerably. “I’ve heard that, but as long as we’re both honest with each other and ourselves, then I think we’ll both be okay.”

I nodded and noticed the goose bumps running along her arms as well as her distended nipples. Those were really hard to miss. “Either you’re feeling really good or you’re cold.”

She giggled. “Yes, and yes.”

I glanced at the blanket on the table, but she seemed to know what I was thinking. “Don’t worry about the blanket. We’ll just cuddle together under the sheet.”

I nodded and stood up. She did too and slipped under the sheet. “Why don’t you grab the remote and we’ll watch TV for a while,” she said.

I turned to the television and had to look around for the remote. I found it in the top drawer of the dresser. When I turned to join Danielle, I found her watching me with a smile. “What?”

She shrugged. “Nothing really. Roger didn’t do anything without clothes on. Even after having sex, he had to put on his briefs to go to the bathroom.”

I nodded, and glanced down at myself. “And you find me walking around, folding blankets and looking for the TV remote in the nude amusing?”

She shook her head with that smile in place. “Nope, cute.”

I raised my eyebrows. She thought I was cute. Well, that was a far cry from some of the things I had been called before. Without saying anything else, I crawled into bed with her. She snuggled up next to me for warmth. I was surprised by her cool skin but only for a second. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and held her close, then pointed the remote at the TV and added a little noise to the quiet of our room.

It didn’t take me long to realize how much time had really passed. Flipping through the channels, looking for something other than commercials, I stopped on Channel eight with a news reporter on. The first thing I noticed was the time, five o’clock. We had arrived at the motel at about noon. The second thing I noticed was the picture of the woman the reporter was talking about. She looked familiar.

“ ... another missing woman in the last month and a half. Francine James was reported missing earlier today by friends from the UT campus.” A picture of Francine appeared next to the reporter. “Francine was last seen wearing a blue dress. If anyone has seen her, please call the number below.”

I muted the TV and studied the picture. It was the same woman who had ... molested me the night I arrived.

Danielle looked at me. “Another one?”

I nodded, not even registering what she said.

“What’s wrong, Seth?”

I looked at her. “I ran into Francine the other night. I had just arrived on campus.” I shook my head, knowing a better explanation was in order. “I had left my map in the cab and asked a guy in a corner store for directions to my dorm, but he gave me directions to the girl’s dorm by mistake. When I got correct directions and started back, Francine came out from nowhere and ... Well, she spooked me. I was tired and she’d been hidden next to the University Center.”

“Was anyone else with her?” Danielle asked.

I started to shake my head and then said. “There were two other women in the same spot. After Francine came out of hiding, they did too, but then they just left.”

“Did they go back to the dorm?”

I shook my head. “No, they headed the other way.” I looked at the TV. The reporters were talking about something with a large dollar sign behind them. “Besides, I doubt women are kidnapping women.”

“That’s not for us to figure out,” Danielle said. “You should tell the police what you know.”

I shook my head. “That was two nights ago. They said her friends reported her missing earlier today, that they last saw her last night. They’ll need details from that time not before.”

A knock on the door made us both jump. “Hey, are you two decent?” It was Jordan.

Danielle and I shared a look while catching our collective breath. I glanced down at the sheet we were both using to hold in warmth and considered how to answer Jordan’s query about our decency. “What should we tell her?” I asked with a low voice.

Danielle shrugged but held the sheet up to her neck.

Jordan knocked again. “Se-eth! Danie-elle!” she sang through the door. “Are you two in there?”

I got an idea and grinned. Without a word, I slipped out from under the sheet and stood in front of the door. I threw Danielle a look over my shoulder and cleared my throat. “Who wants to know?” I asked, lowering my voice and making it sound gruff.