Married to the Dragon

by Selina Coffey

  When there was a lull in the sisters’ conversation, Steve spoke up. “Jenn, can I talk to you in private for a second?”

  Jenn looked confused. “In private? There’s no one here.” Steve looked ashamedly at Kenzie; Jenn caught on. “Anything you can say to me, you can say to Kenzie.” Steve wished Kenzie would voluntarily stand up and leave for a few moments, but Kenzie could read that in his eyes, and she raised one eyebrow at him, as if challenging him.

  He swallowed. “Well, it’s just— it has to do with the settlement.”

  “What settlement?” Kenzie asked.

  Steve crossed his arms. This is why I didn’t want her here. “It’s really better if I talk to Jenn alone about this. She is the patient; it’s a private matter.”

  Kenzie bit her lip. Patient my ass. She’s never been treated like a patient, throughout this whole thing. Kenzie was perhaps more livid about everything that had happened to Jenn than Jenn herself was. The news had torn through the family and caused panic and chaos as the tragedy it was; Jenn’s parents had immediately switched her to a different hospital, smaller, less well known, but safer. She merely closed her mouth and stared at him.

  Fine, Steve thought. “Jenn and I have been talking about everything that happened, and today my dad and I met, too — well, with the hospital attorneys. They think everyone can reach a settlement and everyone will be happy.” He immediately realized the error of his word choice when Kenzie’s eyes widened. “I didn’t mean ‘happy;” I know it’s not that simple. I’m sorry, sweetie.” Steve reached for Jenn’s hand; she held his, too, but with very little strength. Then Steve motioned to the stack of papers he’d placed on the patio table. “The hospital wants to pay off all your treatment thus far and everything else for the rest of your life. Isn’t that great?”

  “Oh wow, that is good news.” Jenn, now almost 26 years old, had been under dialysis treatments for going-on five years; it was old hat, but she never got comfortable with being in and out of treatment. When she was first diagnosed with lupus, an autoimmune disease that weakens the body’s ability to fight off germs and viruses, her doctor told her the severity of the disease meant she might only have a few years to live tops. She had already overcome tremendous odds against her, but her family still expected the worst. The emotional and financial burden was already a monstrous stress on their lives; certainly, they would appreciate any assistance.

  “Just sign your name here and it’s done.” Steve proffered the papers — and a pen — to Jenn.

  “Is that really it?” Kenzie spoke up. “Jenn, you should read all that before you agree to it.”

  “Oh, yes, of course,” Jenn said hurriedly, while her sister side-eyed her suspiciously. She reached for the papers, and her tiny arm nearly crumpled under its weight. “Wow, this is a lot.” She started to flip through the pages, skimming the legalese here and there, Kenzie eyeing it over her shoulder.

  Steve laughed. “It looks a lot more complicated than it is. Basically, you get $300,000 and no medical fees for the rest of your life!” He paused. “But you do just have to agree to, you know, keep it private.”

  Kenzie’s head shot up again. She started to make a retort back to Steve but changed her mind. If that’s what I think it is.... “We’ll look through this and let you know,” she said curtly. Steve was surprised — Kenzie had never acted this aloof to him before. Maybe all the legal talk had put her into an aggressive mood. Whatever it was, Jenn recognized the change in her sister’s voice immediately and decided it would be prudent to get Steve to leave. So she stood, made a lame excuse about having plans soon, and walked with Steve to the door. When she returned, she eyed Kenzie with concern. “What’s going on?”

  “You need to be careful, Jenn.” Kenzie stood and inadvertently adopted her best maternal pose. “It sounded like Steve wanted you to sign a non-disclosure agreement, so you wouldn’t be able to talk about anything that happened. Which probably means you won’t be able to sue.”

  “Oh, no, Kenzie, don’t start. This has already been such a long process,” Jenn started groaning, suddenly becoming whirled back into the harrowing memories of Dr. Blake and his vile experiments on her; the mere mention of legal action had put her into a fragile state. She covered her face with her hands and breathed hot air into them.

  Jenn often felt strong surges of being overwhelmed; the stress of what she had been through came and went at any time with no warning. That’s why she tried to avoid putting herself into sensitive situations now, to keep her mind as clear as possible. It was inevitable that her old feelings and memories would come back. Then Jenn felt a tight grip on her arm; Kenzie reached out to her, pulling her out of her thoughts.

  “Hey,” Kenzie said gently, in contrast to her hold on Jenn’s arm, “I know. Shh, I know. All I’m saying is to don’t decide anything too soon.” She paused. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but you have to remember Steve works for the hospital. He’s the CEO’s son. Of course he’s going to make it sound that easy.”

  “What do you mean?” Jenn was shocked, and a little offended. She knew Steve was most likely going to take over his father’s position one day; she found out his status as a privileged child as soon as the ordeal was all over. “Steve supports me in this. He told me that.”

  Kenzie crinkled her nose and bit her lip. Jenn didn’t understand her. “Just... be careful. That’s all.”

  The sisters sat in silence side by side on the patio for several minutes before either spoke. Then Kenzie reached into her pocket, pulled out her cell phone, and started dialing.

  “What are you doing?” Jenn asked.

  “Calling someone,” Kenzie replied, distracted by the rings in her ear.

  Jenn rolled her eyes. Well, obviously.

  “Hello?” A distant voice sounded on Kenzie’s phone.

  “Hey, Andrew, it’s Kenzie. Do you have a minute?”

  “Uh, yeah, sure. What’s up?”

  “I’m going to put you on speakerphone. I have a question for you.” Kenzie pressed a button on her phone and set it down. Then she introduced her sister and explained the situation and everything Steve had just told her.

  Andrew Heller listened intently, sitting at his desk in his office in the city. He was rapt by what he was hearing: medical malpractice, sexual abuse, an apparent silencing, and cover-up. This was one of the most exciting cases he’d heard about.

  As a recently acquired junior partner of the law firm Chapman, Hendricks and Weiss, Andrew was a relative unknown in the legal world, and considerably younger than many of the other attorneys in his office. He graduated magna cum laude in law school and had numerous job offers upon graduation. Only recently, had he moved to the city and started the job at a far more prestigious law firm, where he was slowly gaining stature in the legal world and developing a reputation. He met Kenzie while at Stanford University. She was his sister Carolyn’s roommate, and the two had kept in touch for years.

  Now, listening to Kenzie tell this story, he was aghast at everything that happened to her sister and his thoughts began to race with hypothetical legal situations that could arise from what he was hearing. Then he heard Kenzie saying his name and realized the conversation had stopped.

  “Sorry,” he said, clearing his throat. “Listen, I think it’s better if I talk to you both in-person about this. It sounds like this is serious and I’d like to gauge it better that way. Would you be able to meet me at my office tomorrow for lunch? You know where it is, right, Kenzie?”

  Kenzie nodded. “Mmhmm.”

  “Okay. See you around noon, then?”

  “Sure, sounds good. Thanks, Andrew.’” Kenzie hung up the phone and turned to Jenn. “We’re going to get a real opinion about this.”

  Jenn looked at Kenzie impatiently. “What was that for? Who even was that?”

  “He’s my friend Andrew. I was roommates with his sister, so we were always close. He knows what he’s talking about. Oh, stop it; don’t look at me like that. I just want you
to be safe.”

  Jenn huffed at her sister. “Fine. Well, I’m going to go to Steve’s tonight. So I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” She walked to her car, closed the door impatiently, and sped down the road, irritated at her sister.

  That night, Jenn lay in Steve’s arms; she couldn’t stop thinking about everything that had happened to her. She’d been able to shut it out of her mind and not think about Dr. Blake, the snakes, and the hospital, but there was always the threat of something triggering her again. Now, as she lay with him watching television, a wave of emotion overcame her and she started to cry; she tried not to let Steve notice, but her convulsions became stronger.

  “Hey, hey, shhh,” he said, holding her tighter, “what’s wrong?”

  “It’s nothing,” Jenn said between sniffles. “Just thinking about a lot.”

  Steve turned her face up toward him and laid a gentle kiss on her lips. “Shh. You’re safe here. You’re fine.” He pulled away from her and leaned over her, holding her hair and running his left hand down her neck, her shoulders, and her back. He gave her progressively sweeter and softer kisses on her lips before moving down her body. Every one of his touches brought her back from the dark place in her mind, and as her tears slowed and her mood improved, she wanted him more and more. Soon the two of them were one body, moving together slowly and passionately, their fingers exploring every nook and cranny of each other. Jenn felt her anxiety vanish, and soon the pleasure of being with Steve took over.

  Chapter Two

  She didn’t want to leave in the morning; she wanted to stay with Steve forever. She felt so comfortable and warm with him, but the time came to meet Andrew. She drove into the city reluctantly. When she arrived at his office, Kenzie was already there; both stood up when she arrived.

  Andrew extended his hand to her, smiling. He was a man in his early 30s, with a short, fit build, and a well-mannered coif. Jenn was comforted immediately by the grip of his handshake; it was firm and warm and made her trust him immediately.

  Kenzie recounted the details of what had happened, while Jenn input some of her own experiences. Andrew sat watching her intently from behind his desk, pausing to write notes on a legal pad now and then. When the girls stopped talking, there was a silence while Andrew thought of what to say.

  “Well,” he started, and then paused. “I think Kenzie is right. This is exactly as it sounds. The hospital lawyers have drafted a settlement to give you all that medical care, sure, but you would have to agree not to talk about it and not to sue.”

  Kenzie resisted rolling her eyes. I told you so.

  Jenn looked downtrodden. “But I haven’t really thought about this at all — I try not to. What’s so bad about that?”

  Andrew shifted in his seat and rolled up his sleeves. “I understand that. This situation is definitely very intense for you, and I don’t want to pressure you. What that means, however, is that this conversation we’re having right now is illegal. I’m not your attorney; you’re not my client. We can’t be discussing it. It means you could never talk about it to your sister, and you could never say anything about it later in your life. You could never speak ill of the hospital or expect it to repay you for anything that happened to you. Basically, you’d get free coverage for treatment, but other than that, it would silence you forever.”

  At those words, a pregnant silence fell in the room. Then Andrew coughed and shuffled the papers around on his desk. He looked back up at Jenn to find her hands crossed in her lap and her hair covering her face as she stared stonily at the floor. “Jenn, I,” he paused and lowered his voice. “I don’t want to be too intrusive, and I can’t even begin to imgine what you went through. Please know that I— I want to help; in any way possible.” He glanced up at Kenzie, who was in turn looking at her sister with great concern in her eyes. When Jenn lifted her head back up and her eyes met Andrew’s, she, too could see the care in his eyes. Despite having just met him, she felt like she could depend on him. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  Andrew gently explained a few more terms in the settlement the hospital and agreed to work for Jenn pro bono, especially as she came to a decision about what to do. He was gunning for a trial; he hated seeing victims of abuses such as these silenced. He knew his senior partners at the firm would advise him to take a quicker, cheaper approach by avoiding a trial and agreeing to a settlement by both parties. Ultimately it was Jenn’s decision, but the more he discussed the options, the initial fleeting thought of taking down this powerful hospital system wouldn’t leave his mind. He hoped Jenn would make the right decision — for everyone.

  As the girls stood to leave, so did Andrew. He walked around the side as Kenzie and Jenn began to walk out. He hesitated for a moment, and then awkwardly patted her back, as it to reassure her further. Jenn jumped at his touch, and gave him a slight smile, which he returned — Kenzie, standing at the door, couldn’t prevent a little smile from appearing on her own lips.

  As soon as the door to the law firm shut on their way out, Kenzie elbowed Jenn’s side. “What was that?”

  “What was what?”

  “You practically melted when he touched you!”

  “What? Kenzie, come on, don’t be ridiculous.” Kenzie stopped Jenn short and stood with her hand on her hip, one eyebrow raised. “Oh, please, like you didn’t like him.”

  “No! Of course not! I’m with Steve, remember?”

  “That doesn’t mean other people don’t do it for you. Plus, I mean, you haven’t been going out with Steve that long. You’ve barely had time to know if he’s doing it for you.” She winked; Jenn blushed. “Well, then. Talk!”

  “Wait; hold on a minute, where are we going?” Jenn looked around and realized they were still downtown. They parked their cars at separate lots, and eventually they’d have to drive home.

  “I don’t know, for a walk. Come on, Jenn, tell me!” Kenzie dragged Jenn by the elbow.

  Jenn groaned. She always knew these conversations were going to happen around her sister, but this time she was kind of excited about it. Sure, a lot had happened to her since she had first been intimate with Steve — and before then, too — but she finally knew what it was all about. She had a little experience now, and she had discovered that she loved being intimate with someone. She was glad Kenzie wanted to talk to her about something, anything, besides the ordeal and the potential lawsuit. Most people she’d talked to tiptoed around talking about anything real. They seemed to think it might overwhelm Jenn or be too dramatic for her, but not Kenzie — Kenzie knew Jenn well enough to know Jenn needed someone like her, to talk and laugh and tease with, and she was happy to have reached a point that she could talk openly about things in her personal life.

  “Things are going well. Steve is great, and he’s being really understanding about all of this — don’t start with the ‘heir-apparent’ thing right now, Kenz,” Jenn’s voice adopted a slight chill when she realized Kenzie was about to revive the conversation about Steve being the hospital executive’s progeny. “It’s just nice that he understands I have to do this all at my own pace. Like the other day, we were, well, we were fooling around —” Kenzie smiled and started nodding her head suggestively, and Jenn pushed her, laughing. “Quit it or I’m not going to tell you! Just the other day, we were, you know, making love” — Kenzie rolled her eyes; her sister still couldn’t stop using euphemisms for sex — “and in the middle of it I realized I loved the way he felt.”

  “Inside you?”

  “Well, yes, but everywhere. When he touches me and kisses me. It’s really nice.”

  “Aww, my baby sister, all grown up and getting down and dirty!” Kenzie ruffled Jenn’s hair. Then she put on a mock serious face. “Careful, you might become a sex addict.”

  “Oh, whatever. I just mean I never knew what I was missing.” She paused, thinking about the times she and Steve spent together. Although it had been only a very short time since she had first been close with him, she was learning more about herself every m
inute they were together: her turn-ons and turn-offs; the things that drove her wild; the feelings she loved the most.

  In fact, talking about Steve now had made Jenn a little hot, but she tried to play it off around Kenzie, who would have gone berserk if she knew what Jenn was thinking. “Actually, I had a question for you, Kenz.”

  “A sexy question?”

  “Well, yeah. See, Steve’s birthday is coming up soon, and I’m not sure what to get him. I was kind of thinking maybe something, um, special. You know, in the bedroom.”

  “Ohhh, I like the sound of that.” Kenzie grinned. “What did you have in mind?”

  “That’s what I need you for. I have no idea.”

  “Well, an easy one is lingerie. Buy something really sexy, cute, and dress up for him. Maybe do a little dance, too.”

  “Oh, that is a good idea.” Jenn took out her phone to make a note of the idea. “I was thinking maybe something more, too.” She grew visibly uncomfortable, looking down at the ground and scuffing her shoe on the ground. “Like, I don’t know, maybe a blow job. But I don’t know how.”

  Kenzie had to stifle her laughter. “You haven’t done that yet? Oh, this is so exciting, your first time for so many things.”

  “Oh, shut up and help me.”

  “Fine, fine. Let me think.” Kenzie put her head in her hand for a moment, resting her elbow on a nearby mailbox. “Okay, do you remember those Shake Weight things? Those were made for hand job techniques — except less aggressive. Seriously, don’t treat a guy like that in real life, but then if you combined it with a popsicle you’d be a blow job expert.”

  Jenn cringed. “Oh, god.”

  “No, listen, okay, you treat his cock like a Shake Weight and take the shaft into both hands—“ Kenzie provided a generous pantomime of the action with her own hands, as strangers walked by eyeing her with slight concern “—and then you also take it into your mouth to get it nice and wet. You run your hands up and down while using your tongue to circle the tip or lick up and down the shaft, and take him into your mouth once in a while. But don’t bite off more than you can chew! That reminds me; make sure your teeth are nowhere near him.”