Chapter 2

While the movie "Revenge of the Nerds" had made them all dream of ways in which they would love to get back at the people who hurt them most, none of the seven really were serious until one of their tight circle of friends was almost killed by a "harmless" prank.

Ginger was lucky. He lost an eyebrow, and the hair on the left side of his head, and a good part of the skin on that side of his head and neck was blistered, but -- as everyone said -- "it could have been worse."

Like he could have lost his sight; he could have been permanently deafened; his face could have been badly scarred; he could have inhaled the searing gases and had his lungs fill with his own blood serum.

Who actually came up with the idea, who did the design and who put it together was never proven. There were suspicions and a little evidence but it was circumstantial and even the police could do no more than haul a couple of bodies in for questioning.

Unfortunately the bodies hauled in came with expensive family lawyers kept on retainer who made sure that their clients were extremely helpful but said nothing meaningful.

Some of them may even have been innocent.

There was no doubting that the same group of students had positioned themselves just where they would have the best possible view. A position that they had never occupied until that afternoon.

According to the forensic scientist who examined what was left of the device, it was apparently designed merely to blow apart with a deafening bang but do no harm otherwise. It was just that it had been designed to perform better than necessary, and constructed a little less professionally than also necessary, so the cylinder storing the gas to be ignited was over filled and the valve to release it didn't quite seal tightly enough.

As a result the area under the hood of Ginger's old car filled over time with a suitably explosive gas-air mixture. Ginger went to start his car after school but, with a disconnected battery, he got nowhere. Lifting the hood should have simply triggered a small spark in a relatively small receptacle -- it worked fine when it had been tested, perhaps the testing is what fouled the valve. The trigger did indeed successfully generate a spark but the spark ignited far more than intended.

The hood blew open, a ball of flame shot out from under the edges and below the car, and a roar filled the car park stunning even those who had been expecting a report.

Ginger was saved by a small series of events. The first was his girlfriend Henrietta calling out to him. He had the simple lever release in his hand and was lifting when he heard her and turned to see what she wanted. The second was that he was wearing a set of headphones which, while not stopping his ears from ringing for several days, did get forced against his head by the blast which probably saved his eardrums from more severe damage.

The third was the blast itself. Instead of being bent over the opening hood where he would have received the searing gases full in the face and the shock would probably have caused him to breathe in, he had been twisted around and it took little force to knock him over where the air near the ground was cool enough not to cause internal injuries.

Henrietta saw the whole thing, a slow motion scene that stayed with her for at least the length of Ginger's recovery. Knowing only that someone she cared for was injured, she didn't bother with screams -- the carry on some of her fellow students made! She had her mobile phone out even as her own ears were ringing and simply kept repeating her request for an ambulance and giving the details of the school and Ginger's apparent injuries. She advised that she was deafened by the blast (hopefully temporarily) and simply started over again.

Ginger hadn't lost consciousness though he was apparently stunned enough not to feel any pain -- yet. Henrietta cursed that she couldn't do much more to help. His hair stunk and had formed little charred blobs at the ends. His skin reddened as she watched but at least that didn't seem too bad; she just didn't know.

A teacher arrived and she handed her phone over, telling him she had called an ambulance but she couldn't hear if they were coming. The teacher gave her a thumbs up while he listened to the operator. She could see his mouth moving as he passed on information about Ginger and saw the relief in his eyes when he turned his head to look down the street. She followed his gaze and saw the flashing blue and red lights but couldn't make out the siren.

It was a matter of seconds and she was being ushered away from the boy she loved. Loved? Yes she supposed she did. And John? Since her feelings for him had never been any different from those for Ginger she had to assume she loved him as well. An awkward time for such a revelation.

The first paramedic crew had bundled Ginger up and was heading off. Henrietta called out to the teacher who had her phone. "Where are they taking him?" It was likely to be one of only two hospitals but that would depend on which was busiest right at that moment. She expected to be carted off herself for a check up but she might end up at a totally different hospital. She couldn't fight that but it would be easier if she knew now.

The teacher asked the departing crew but she couldn't even guess what they answered from their lip movement. Sure you can guess at the sportsperson saying "Fuck!" in front of millions of unsuspecting viewers but the untrained person has a little more trouble with normal or clipped speech especially in a stressful situation.

The teacher came back with her phone and slowly mouthed the name of the hospital until she could recognise it. Then, realising she might be in a little shock herself no matter how well she had managed, he sat down beside her and, despite professional rules against physical contact, very properly put his arm around her shoulder while they waited for the next ambulance crew to reach them.

It was the right thing to do. Now there was nothing further she could do for her boyfriend, and lover -- though that wasn't for general distribution -- the situation overpowered her and she started sobbing.

The teacher found himself holding a buxom young woman whose heaving cries shook him as he tried to comfort her; unsuccessfully in this case since she couldn't hear a word he said.

Fortunately for him, her other friends arrived at that time and as he explained she threw her arms around the neck of the kneeling John and cried on his shoulder.

He was as horrified by the injuries to his "rival" as she was and more so when they realised the blast had affected her hearing as well.

There were three students who had been close enough to the explosion to have their hearing affected and another dozen who were in some shock.

Henrietta's friends turned to look at their mate's car. It was fortunate that cars are more explosion-proof than Hollywood portrays. Since the exploding gases had only been confined by the space under the hood, and that had flung up against the windshield, there had been no further source of flame. Since internal combustion engines are by their very nature hot, designers appropriately ensure that the fuel lines can withstand the heat and considerable vibration; a leaky fuel line spraying onto an engine is a sure disaster.

So while the hood probably needed replacing, the car itself was safe and the teacher quite happily left Henrietta to her friends while waving the paramedics over to her and instead made sure that the milling students stayed well clear of the "scene of the crime".

Henrietta did turn up at the same hospital, getting there only shortly before her parents and Mrs Kelly. Mr Kelly arrived about twenty minutes later and his wife at that stage had been able to reassure him that while Michael (his proper name) would need quite a bit of care in the short term, it appeared that most of his problems were minor. It was too early to assess his hearing but the doctor who had spoken to her remained optimistic.

She didn't realise that, in the absence of any indication one way or the other, he was always "optimistic" to the families of his patients. There was time enough for pessimism or even reality once he knew there was no hope.

Ginger was put into the burns ward and unfortunately that meant Henrietta wasn't permitted to see him. His parents submitted to the necessary capping and gowning and hygiene care during their own short visits and did pass on her love and the others' best wishes but it was three days before he was transferred to a normal ward when they were finally satisfied he wasn't going to end up with more than mild scarring and as such didn't need the extra care to minimise the damage.

Henrietta was surprised when she got in to find John there ahead of her. And that he was, a little self-consciously, holding Ginger's hand. "I tried to call you but you had gone." The sounds came through but not the message and he had to scribble it on his ever ready notepad.

He made room for Henrietta and she took Ginger's hand and lifted it to her lips. John put one arm around her and wrapped his free hand around theirs. She looked up at him and he smiled at her and then at Ginger. She hadn't expected that! It looked like a sudden disaster opened other's eyes to their true feelings as well.

"How are you?" she asked Ginger and made enough sense of his reply that John didn't have to note it down.

Ginger added something that she didn't catch but John let go of their hands and went to the door. He moved the sign to indicate the patient didn't want to be disturbed and closed it. He then took hold of the privacy curtain and drew it around the bed.

Henrietta gave him a quizzical look and John scribbled briefly and then handed her the pad. "It's good I have a private room. Only my face is burned."

Not quite sure what Ginger meant she looked puzzled. It wasn't any better when John held his thumb up to Ginger.

Ginger didn't complain when John carefully folded back the sheets and the thin hospital blanket. Ginger's parents hadn't been back to see him since he moved wards so he still had a hospital backless gown on and John folded that back as well to show the other teenager's twitching prick.

Henrietta was about to "do the honours" but John took it in hand himself. It seemed that nothing was too much for his mate. He patted Henrietta's bum and pointed to a box of tissues. She grabbed a few and put them down, ready on Ginger's leg. John released the straightened appendage and put Henrietta's hand on it then wrapped his around hers as well. With fingers interlocked they slowly pumped on his prick.

Ginger was busy as well. His left arm was bandaged where the flames had singed it as he opened the car's hood but his right was perfectly usable. He used it to gently caress Henrietta's bulging tit through the soft fabric of her dress. He said something which, once again, Henrietta could not hear. She looked at John.

He leaned forward, his hand moving from her back to her head, and held her mouth against his for a passionate kiss. When they broke he pointed back and forth between her and Ginger.

"Oh! Ginge wanted you to kiss me for him."

John gave her the thumbs up this time. It was a pity about the blisters on the side of Ginger's lips.

He leaned in again and gave her another kiss. This time he had a sneaky smile and indicated her and himself.

Henrietta laughed and this time leaned in herself, giving just as lusty a kiss to John. She smiled now and indicated John and Ginger with uplifted eyebrows. John looked at Ginger, still uncertain of how the other young man would react and nodded. Fortunately Ginger grinned and nodded as well. He put his good hand on theirs, coincidentally located over his penis at that time and patted them both.

Ginger was quite happy to accept a profession of love (perhaps) from his male companion; the exact sentiment wasn't clear in his soundless state. He had been equally delighted that Henrietta had actually used that word, with intent!

Be that as it may, he had been in here for three days now and he had been bored for two and dead to the world with painkillers for the other. He hadn't yet had any fun with the nurses and hoped that at least his friends would help him out. It had been a surprise when John had turned up and shown how concerned he was; his willingness to provide a little male to male contact didn't worry Ginger in the least.

But that didn't mean he didn't desire a bit of feminine contact as well.

It wasn't practical to unlace Henrietta's bodice; sheets could be pulled over in a hurry but her lovely breasts would take a little longer to package up again.

He spoke and once again John released him to write a note.

"Pls take knicks off"

Henrietta was amused. She was quite prepared to dare a little for the thrill and was very pleased that Ginger felt well enough to contemplate something "naughty".

She lifted her skirt and slipped her thumbs through the thin waistband at the sides. With the fabric bunched up over her hands by her hips she bent and then stepped out of them before presenting them to Ginger.

He held up the thong, an attractive electric blue satin. While Henrietta favoured black for her outer garments she was quite happy to choose any colour of the rainbow, and a few that hadn't appeared there, for her underwear and nightwear.

Ginger looked at his hospital cupboard then shook his head and reluctantly gave them to John.

"Put them in your pocket. I'd love to stir up the nurses with them but you can bet my parents would find them when they bring my clothes in."

John would explain to Henrietta later.

Deprived of her underwear, Henrietta resumed her hold on the pole. Ginger said something else and John moved behind her. She got the idea when he lifted the front of her skirt and Ginger reached under to gently stroke the fine hair on her pubes. She spread her legs slightly while John reached around her to cup her breasts through the single layer of fabric.

As she stroked on Ginger's penis he insinuated a finger between her nether lips and stroked through the growing dampness.

It felt good and she wanted to reward him. From where she was standing she thought they could manage and she bent over the bed and slid her lips down the shaft to meet her fist.

Ginger's fingers began to work a little harder. They had to bend slightly but neither person saw that as an obstacle to their joint pleasure. Henrietta could feel John's hardened erection pushing against her and she wished she could have them both fuck her bent over the bed like she was. Maybe they could come back after his other visitors had been and gone?

She could feel the tension building and reached for the tissues. Ready... , Ready... , Now! She lifted her head and pumped a little harder while wrapping a soft paper cover around his cock head to trap the semen she could feel pulsing past her hand.

His cum quickly soaked the paper but it held; instead of being able to clean him up though, Henrietta found herself up on tip toes as Ginger's fingers played merry hell with her pussy.

John wasn't helping much either with the delightful way he was nibbling at her earlobe and neck and with one hand that had managed to find its way up, over and inside her bodice where it nestled quite cosily around the orb, his thumb strumming her nipple in a lazy fashion.

Henrietta's hips lurched as she forced her clit against Ginger's hand. The extra stimulation was the trigger that soon had her basking in the warm fuzzy afterglow of a good come.

She squatted slightly, easing the pressure of her ample thighs against his arm and he carefully removed his hand.

John actually had a harder time getting his hand out, not because of any real physical difficulty with her attire but because he was suddenly panicking at the knock on the door that neither of his companions could hear.