Chapter 13

I had Janice, Constance, and Carole, all lovers of one type, or another, 'hanging' with me for a few hours, and instead of terrified about what they might say about their experience with me, I was proud that at sixteen, at least on the outside, I could attract such beautiful, wonderful, women. If they did start to chat about our physical relationship, I suspect they'd compare notes and decide I was a pretty good partner, but that was just conjecture.

Carole needed to get going to avoid the worst of the traffic. She kissed me, lovingly, and departed, promising to see me the next day for lunch.

Constance and Janice seemed determined to wait each other out, and since I was the prize, I kept my mouth shut, and my ears open. We might have been there all night until one gave up and left, if Doctor Phaisal hadn't called and informed me that he needed to do a new set of scans to see how my head was knitting together, and would I come to his office at the hospital at ten the next morning.

That broke the ice and Janice took Constance for a walk next door to show her the big house, and introduce her to Kimberly, so she could meet the baby that I nearly died saving. Since I was pretty sure they would talk about their experiences with me, I decided to give them privacy.

The fireplace threw off so much delicious heat, that I grabbed a fleece blanket and settled down to enjoy the time alone. The combination of heat, and my imperfect health put me out in seconds, and I was awakened by the return of two lovely ladies.

They sashayed into the great room and took their places on either side of me, and cuddled underneath the blanket for a rest. I put my arms around them both, and drew them against me, and let myself drift back off.

We slept for about an hour, until Constance's phone rang and roused us all.

She grabbed it and went into the bedroom to talk. When she came back I could tell something bad had happened, and I jumped up and hugged her to show support. She clung so tightly I knew it was really bad, and walked her to the sofa so we could sit while she sorted it out in her head.

Janice looked at me across Constance and raised her eyebrows in a, 'what's up, ' gesture. I shrugged and we waited.

Eventually Constance worked through the news and said, "That was my boss. He's been talking to people at the hospital and they told him your brain injury is much worse than they thought, and the new xrays finally show things they couldn't see because of the gun shot wound. When you hit your head diving off the dock, it might have broken something loose that could kill you. It showed up on the latest set of x-rays, this morning. That's why the Doctor wants to see you tomorrow.

"My boss says, the hospital thinks it might be fatal..."

That ruined our evening. Constance and Janice cried for hours, and when Tabitha showed up to find out when Janice was coming back, she cried right alongside them. Eventually Mr. Kirby came looking for Tabitha, and she took him into the kitchen to give him the news, and he cried too.

They blamed themselves for the injury, because I got it diving to save Kimberly, but they needed to understand that the bullet started that stone rolling, and hitting my head only speeded things up. When Tabitha and Carlisle came back in, I tried.

"You need to realize that my problem started when I got shot. Hitting my head yesterday couldn't have done more than speed it up. Don't blame yourselves. Please..."

That made Tabitha and Janice cry even harder, and caused Carlisle to grab the phone and call Doctor Eschelman and insist he do a consult, or find the "best damned brain injury specialist in the world, and get him here to examine me, right now!"

They were all so wrapped in their sorrow that they couldn't see that I was fine with the news, until Tabitha grabbed me and said, through her tears, "How can you be so calm?"

I thought before I answered...

"When I got shot, I died. I knew I was dead. When I woke up alive in the hospital, I knew I was on borrowed time. It hurt too much to ever go away, and I knew I'd be told my time was up, someday.

"When I ran after Kimberly and hit my head, I was so focused on getting to her before she disappeared under the water, that even though I knew I hit my head very hard, I refused to allow it to stop me from catching her. Knowing she would die if I passed out is the only reason I stayed standing. I wanted to give up so badly.

"I think I lived through getting shot, because Kimberly needed someone to catch her when she ran off the dock.

"When you had your baby in your arms, I knew could let go and all the pain would go away soon. It doesn't surprise me to know I've got a short time left. I've expected it, even when the doctors said the opposite.

"It hurts me to see you all hurting. If it's going to cause you all that much distress, then I need to go away somewhere, and die quietly, so you can have some peace..."

Speaking those words made them true, and I sat down, heavily, because all the strength went out of me, when I admitted my weaknesses. Constance and Janice were on me in a flash, crying, hugging, kissing me and comforting me. Before long Tabitha joined them, and when Carlisle left to call "every Doctor he knows, and ever did a favor for," the three of them took me to bed, and arranged themselves around me, protectively.