by Amy DeMeritt
She frowns and presses my nurse call button. Another nurse is quickly at her side.
“We need to get her into x-ray to make sure she didn’t do further damage to her lung. Can you put in the order?” The nurse nods and quickly leaves the room. “Ok, it’s time for everyone to go. Madison, you can stay, but I’m sorry, the rest of you will need to leave.”
Candi, Carmen, and Josh each say a quick goodbye and ask Madison to keep them posted. Then Shannon quickly grabs some supplies and returns to clean and bandage my cheek. She rubs a cool alcohol wipe across the small cut, making me flinch from the small sting, and then she applies some ointment and a band aid.
“Who’s Shane?”
“A friend. Or I guess, was a friend.”
I bite back tears and look away. Madison places a hand on my arm and fills in the blanks for me. Shannon soothingly caresses my good cheek and turns my face back to look at her. She looks in my eyes with sympathy and it makes me feel a flutter in my chest.
“Why are you still here? I thought you were leaving.” She looks sad. “Are you upset that I’m still here?”
“What? No, of course not. I’m happy you’re still here. It was very relieving to hear your voice when my body was coiling in pain.” She smiles affectionately and looks towards the door a moment before quickly bending down to kiss my lips. “I had some stuff I had to finish up on the computer before I could leave. I was just about to leave when I heard you scream in pain and the commotion in the room.”
“I can’t believe she hit me. I never flirted with her or led her on. God, even my ex didn’t hit me like that when she showed up a few nights ago. I better not have something new wrong with me because of her. That’s going to piss me off worse than what Darren did.”
Shannon and Madison exchange a look of concern, but neither are able to respond before the other nurse comes in pushing a wheelchair.
“They’re ready for her in X-ray.”
They help me into the chair, which is an excruciating process. As the other nurse starts to turn me to push me out of the room, I glance at Madison and she looks so worried that it makes my chest tighten and I feel sick to my stomach. I hate seeing her look scared and upset.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I’ve been in the hospital for a full week since Darren attacked me. I didn’t do further damage to my lung after Shane slapped me, but one of my broken ribs shifted and had to be pushed back in place. That was agonizing and made me black out. Shane texted Madison apologizing for hitting me, but said she didn’t want to talk to me. She said I’m not the kind of person she thought I was and doesn’t want me in her life anymore.
Sara wanted to find Shane and punch her, but she refused to leave my side till she had to leave for her flight back to New York. When anyone came in to visit, she stood at my left side like a bodyguard and looked at them like she was ready to rip their head off if they acted up. It made me feel a little uncomfortable, but Madison and Shannon thought it was adorable and encouraged it.
My dad had to get back to work, so my parents went back home yesterday. It was hard to watch them leave because I really love my family. We’ve always been really close and I’ve missed them so much since I’ve been out here.
My mom had told Awenasa what had happened when I wasn’t responding to her texts those first few days I was unconscious and didn’t have my phone. It wasn’t till Maddi was back in classes that I was able to talk to her on the phone. We had a few brief texts, but when I was finally able to call her, it was long beautiful conversation. We talked for almost three hours. It was really nice because she hasn’t been able to talk for that long in a while. She was devastated by the news and wanted to come be with me, but she couldn’t leave. I told her about everything that’s been going on with Madison, Sam, and the others and the transition to a family lifestyle.
With as much hatred and scorn that I’m sure we’re going to receive from most people because of it, it was nice that she actually seemed supportive of it. Her great-great-grandmother was one of three wives with one man, and apparently, they were a very loving family. The wives were extremely close, like sisters, and they loved and cared for each other’s children like they were their own. It was a beautiful story and gave me hope that this could actually work and that it could be something beautiful and not just a relationship about fun sex.
I’m supposed to be released today, so I’m trying to get myself cleaned up. Taking a shower alone is still pretty hard, but I’m doing ok. Bending over to wash my legs is the hard part. I forgot to ask for a fresh gown before I came in here, so I wrap up in a towel and head back to my bed to press the nurse call button. When I come out of the bathroom, Madison is sitting on my bed with a bookbag next to her. She smiles really big when she sees me and hops off the bed.
“Hey, baby. I brought you clothes. Can I help you get dressed?” I smile and start to pull my towel off, but Madison laughs and pulls it back around me. “The door is open. Let me close the door first.”
As soon as she has the door closed, I let my towel drop to the floor and Madison licks her lips and cheeses really big as she walks over to me. She places her hands on my hips and looks me up and down. Her right hand gently glides over my ribs like little feathers.
“Your bruises are getting better.”
Her fingers glide up my stomach and chest and wrap around the back of my neck. She tangles her hand in my hair and pulls me into a kiss. I wrap my arms around her and try to pull her in closer, but Madison pushes on my hip, keeping me back a couple inches as we kiss. I try to squeeze harder, and she smiles and giggles into my mouth.
She pulls back slightly, and with her lips still pressed against mine, she says, “Baby, you are going to hurt your ribs. Let Mommy have her way with you.”
I moan and press my tongue back into her mouth. Her fingers glide down my spine, making me shiver, and moan. When she reaches my ass, she slowly palms my cheek and gently squeezes it. The hand she has on my hip glides up my stomach and cups my breast. Her thumb starts to trace very slow soft circles around my nipple.
Just as Madison is gliding her fingers over the top of my thigh and between my legs, the door opens.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” We pull out of the kiss and look towards the door. Shannon is standing in the slightly ajar door with blushing cheeks. “Kayla, I just needed to go over some paperwork with you. I’ll come back in a little bit.” Madison pulls back and releases me, leaving me standing naked and exposed. “You can come in. I don’t want to delay Kayla being released today.”
Shannon steps inside the room and closes the door behind herself. Madison opens the bookbag and starts pulling clothes out.
“So, we’ll go over your medications first.”
Shannon looks down at her papers, but then looks at my body and seems to forget what she’s saying. Madison has me step into a pair of boy-short underwear and pulls them up for me. She glances at Shannon as she turns to grab my bra and giggles. Shannon blushes and looks back at the papers. She tries again to start explaining what I’ll be taking and the dosage, but she freezes as I lift my arms over my head so Madison can pull a sports bra on me. Madison’s eyes lock with mine and I smile really big. I wrap my arms around her and pull her into a kiss. Madison gently pats my ass and then pulls back after a few moments.
Shannon pretty much gives up on trying to explain anything till I’m dressed and sitting on my bed. I offer her to sit down next to me, but she shakes her head.
“I can’t be that close to you right now or I’ll definitely end up getting fired.” I laugh and wince in pain as my ribs slightly pinch.
After she goes over everything, she hands me a pen and I have to sign my discharge papers and some papers that say she explained the medications and out-patient care instructions. There’s a small section for comments on one page that I write a quick gushing review of Shannon’s care. When I hand her the papers back, she reads it and her eyes well up with tears.
“Kayla, I, uh, will I get to see y
ou after you leave here? Both of you? Even if we’re just friends.”
I take her hand and pull her over to stand between my legs. She smiles and brushes her fingers through my hair. I’ve grown really close to Shannon while I’ve been in here and definitely want her to stay in my life in some capacity. Since Madison had to return to classes, Shannon kept me company on her lunches and breaks and we talked a lot.
She’s an only child and came to our college for her nurse’s degree. She received an internship at the hospital and was hired full time after graduation. She had planned to get a job at the hospital back home in Michigan after school, but decided to forge her own path and stay out here on her own two feet. She’s actually a pretty shy girl and doesn’t go out much, which really surprised me because of how outgoing and bold she has been with me.
“What do you want, Shannon?” She bites her bottom lip nervously and looks between Madison and I. She reaches her other hand out to Madison and Madison takes it with a smile, making Shannon smile. “A loving family. I really like both of you. I know it’s not orthodox and its frowned upon in both the heterosexual and the homosexual communities, and my parents would probably flip their lids, but that’s what I want. I want us to be able to snuggle in bed and watch movies all night, hold hands and laugh as we go shopping, take bites of each other’s ice cream cones, and just share all of those beautiful moments that people in love share.”
“What kind of ice cream will be in your cone?” She looks at me and smiles really big. “Strawberry. You?” I laugh and glance at Madison, who is also smiling really big. “Well, I guess we’ll be a carton of Neapolitan. My favorite is chocolate and Madison’s is vanilla.” She giggles and blushes. “You really want to be with me? Both of you?”
Madison reaches up and gently strokes her cheek a moment, before wrapping her hand behind her neck and pulling her down. She gives her a soft kiss on the lips and smiles.
“Yes, we’d like to have you, but are you ok with sharing us? Sam may not be in state, but she is a big part of this family. Candi and Carmen have actually been talking to each other a lot this week, so they may end up splitting off as a couple soon. But if they don’t, we don’t have any current plans of ending things with them.”
“I understand that, but I only want to be with you two. I don’t want to be with Candi or Carmen and I’m guessing I probably wouldn’t ever meet Sam for that to be an issue.”
“You don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with. If you only want to be with us, then that’s the way it will be when we’re with you. But you may actually be able to meet Sam, if you are interested in just meeting her. She’s going to try to come out around Halloween.”
“Wait, really? When did this happen?” Madison smiles and kisses my lips. “We talked about it last night. She’s been looking for ticket deals online and found a good deal the week of Halloween.” I smile really big and she giggles. “That’s only a few weeks away. Its ok if you never want to hang out with Carmen and Candi, but Sam will want to meet you. Not sexually, but she’s a bit of a jealous person and will want to know the people she is sharing us with.”
“I uh, was wondering, have you thought about asking Carmen to get that test done?” Shannon looks really nervous and her cheeks blush red. She looks down, as if afraid to meet my eyes. I lift her chin and pull her down. I kiss her lips and she smiles shyly. “Yes, and we’re going talk to them. We won’t be with them till they have it done.”
“What if they get offended and refuse?”
“Then the family tree will be receiving some pruning and they’ll just be friends going forward. You were right – I need to protect myself and my girls, so I need to take that seriously.” She laughs in a happy way and bends down to kiss my lips a moment. “I know you probably want to be alone today, but do you think the three of us can do something together tomorrow?” I glance at Madison and she nods. “Yeah, tomorrow will be good.”
We exchange numbers with Shannon and then stand up to leave. Shannon gives Madison a hug and kiss and then carefully wraps her arms around me. She kisses the side of my neck and then pulls me into a full kiss.
“Please be careful, Kayla. It’s going to take a long time before you’re able to move around like you used to. And please don’t put any weight on your torso.” I smile and tease, “So, Madison can’t pin me down and have her way with me when we leave here?” She laughs and shakes her head. “Just be careful.”
“I will. Talk to you soon.”
Shannon has been making me take laps around my floor every day for the past few days, but it’s definitely not the same as walking from the hospital at one end of the campus all the way to dorm housing on the other. It’s about a two-mile walk, and I’m starting to feel the pain in my ribs before we even get halfway home. I have to stop and take several breaks because my lungs are just pumping against my ribs too much. I have a very high lung endurance, so I’m not out of breath, but the increased work of my lungs is felt too painfully in my ribs.
We’re sitting on a stone wall waiting for my breathing to slow and the ache to subside. Madison takes my hand and kisses it before laying her head on my shoulder.
“Kayla, would you be upset if we don’t have Candi and Carmen in the family anymore?”
“No, of course not. Why, do you want to end it with them?” She kisses the side of my neck and turns my face to look at her. “I think so. They’re not looking for anything serious and just want to be part of it to have fun. But I really like the way Shannon described what she wants with us. I like the idea of all of us being in love and loyal and devoted to each other. We know that Sam is in love with us and wants to be with both of us and I like that. I know it’s surprising since she is your ex, but I can’t help it. I love her. I love you the most, but I do love her. And I really like that Shannon wants to develop that level of love with us. I’m still going to need plenty of time with just you, but I like the idea of all of us being together.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything, you know that.”
“What if Sam and Shannon never want to be together with us at the same time, but this thing lasts till after graduation? I know that’s a long time away, but what if we have to choose between them or lose them both?”
“I think it would hurt, a lot, but as long as I still have you, I’ll be ok. I love you, Kayla, and I want to be with you more than anything.”
“Ok, baby. How about we give Candi and Carmen some space and see if they end up together? Maybe we won’t need to be the ones to break it off with them since they seem interested in each other. Then we’ll see how things progress with Shannon. Have you told Sam about her?” Madison shakes her head. “No, I thought you should do that.”
“Ok, I’ll talk to her tomorrow about it. Let’s get home. I want to waste away this entire day in your arms.”
Madison smiles and helps me up off the stone wall. Hand in hand we walk the rest of the distance to campus housing. I swipe my keycard to open the dorm and I try to take my first step up the stairs and groan in pain and have to step back down.
“Oh, shit. Why does that hurt so much?” Madison puts her arm around me, supporting me under my arm. “Let’s take the elevator.”
I nod and let her lead me down the hall to the elevator that I’ve never used because I don’t trust them. We come around the corner and I laugh in defeat. There is an out of order sign and caution tape all over the door.
“Nice.” Madison looks at me with concern. “You can’t climb two flights of stairs in that much pain. Why don’t we go back to my dorm?”
“I can’t live in your dorm for my whole recovery. Your moody roommate will kill me just for existing in her presence for more than a few minutes.” She laughs and nods once. “That’s true. Maybe we can make her switch with you just for…” I look at her like she can’t be serious and she laughs. “Ok, yeah, she’d never go for it.”
“Come on, we’ll just have to take it really slow.”
&n
bsp; Madison looks scared, but we walk back to the stairs. With her supporting one side of me, I try to take a step up, but as soon as I try to shift all of my weight to one leg, I have a shooting searing pain in my side and chest. Madison makes me step back down and sit down on the bottom step while I try to steady my breathing.
“Text Shannon. Maybe she has an idea of how to get you up there without having so much pain.”
Me: Any ideas on how to get upstairs without blacking out?
Shannon: You should not be climbing stairs till your pain is mostly gone, probably for the first month. That was in your paperwork we went over.
Me: I forgot. The elevator is out of order and I have 2 flights to my dorm.
Shannon: No, don’t you dare try to climb that. What about Madison’s place?
Me: She has an evil roommate that will probably turn me into a shrunken head if we even just ask if I can stay there. Is there any technique I could use to make it up there?
Shannon: No, Kayla, there is no special “technique”. Give me five minutes. Do not try to get up those stairs!
Me: Five minutes for what?
Shannon: I need to take care of something. I’ll text back in a few.
I show Madison the conversation and we sit and wait for Shannon to get back to us.
“Hey, what are you doing sitting down here?” I look up and Whitney is standing a few steps above us. She beams down at me and starts skipping down the last few steps. I carefully stand up and she wraps her arms around me. “Afraid to be my roommate or something?” I shake my head. “No, I can’t do the stairs and the elevator is busted. I’m waiting on a suggestion from Shannon on how I can get up there.”
“Why don’t we just carry you?” Madison shakes her head. “No way. Let’s wait to see what Shannon says. I don’t want her ending up back in the hospital again.”