by Sandy Smyth
Kate gasped and grabbed her stomach. Then her arm shot out and her fist clipped Scott’s chin, hard. Scott staggered back, tripping on the overturned chair. He dropped his briefcase and his arms windmilled frantically as he lunged forward, trying to keep his balance. One arm hit Kate and knocked her onto the floor, and he fell awkwardly on top of her. Tom’s scream of rage filled the room.
Mike vaulted the conference table and grabbed Scott by the waist, carefully lifting him off of Kate’s body. John was already at Kate’s side, assessing the damage, with Tom’s wheelchair beside him.
Setting Scott on his feet, Mike then plowed his fist powerfully into Scott’s midsection. The blow knocked Scott into the wall. He slid down to the floor, vomiting all over himself and holding his stomach.
Kate moaned softly and tried to get up, but John gently held her down. “Take it easy, Kate. You’ve got a lump the size of Texas on the back of your head and you weren’t wearing a heavy knitted cap this time.”
Kate laughed weakly but didn’t try to get up again.
“Mike!” said John. “Tom is calling for an ambulance, but it will be at least thirty minutes, or more, before it can get here. I need some ice and some packing. Thank goodness it doesn’t feel as though anything is broken. But these head wounds can be tricky. They can bleed like the devil with minimal actual damage, or there could be a concussion or other problems. She needs to be in the hospital where they can check her out thoroughly.” Tom looked coldly at Scott then raised his eyes to the stunned gazes of those left standing at the conference table. “Meeting over! Someone get that asshole out of my sight and my home. As far as I’m concerned, he can stink up his own car until a tow truck can move it out of here. Anna, I’ll call you tomorrow. I want legal steps taken to shut that filthy mouth of his.”
“I know just what you need, Tom. Am I correct in assuming you are also going to pull your financial portfolio from his firm?”
“Immediately, thanks for reminding me.”
“Tom,” said Anna softly as Mike and John put pillows beneath Kate’s head and then wrapped her warmly in blankets. “You know it really was an accident. Scott didn’t deliberately try to physically hurt Kate.”
“I don’t know, Anna. I don’t know. It looked like he deliberately tried to knock Kate aside as roughly as he could, and he has a nasty reputation for physically abusing the women he’s been associated with in the past. I don’t think he’s changed any.”
Anna nodded and shrugged. “You could be right. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Tom, unless I can help with anything now?”
“No, but thanks. Go on home to George. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
Tom watched as Walker grabbed Scott roughly by the back of his collar and literally dragged him out of the house on the seat of his pants.
Chapter 2
“So,” Kate said the next day. “You three were in the habit of sharing your women. And what am I? Chopped liver?”
Kate worked very hard at keeping a straight face, but the look of stunned surprise on the faces of the three men surrounding her hospital bed destroyed her control. She began laughing so hard she could barely catch her breath.
“Oh,” she cried helplessly through her laughter. “I’m glad that pain pill finally kicked in or I’d be in agony right now. Whew! If you could only see the expression on your faces.” And off she went into another peal of infectious laughter.
Finally, wiping her streaming eyes with a tissue, Kate looked up and caught a strange look pass between the three men. Oh, boy, I could be in some trouble here. Or not.
“Sorry, guys, I honestly couldn’t resist. Have you come to take me home?” Kate looked from face to face with all of the contrived innocence she could muster. But from the predatory expressions on their faces, she didn’t think they bought it.
“Uh, Dr. Sorensen said I could go home today. You’ve come to take me, haven’t you?”
Damn that didn’t come out quite right.
“Home. I mean, you’ve come to take me home, right?” Kate could feel her face heating up as her three musketeers stared silently at her.
“Come on, guys!” she said with exasperation. Oh, for pity’s sake, suddenly every word out of her mouth seemed to have a double meaning.
“Okay, never mind. Just leave and I’ll get dressed and call a cab. Go on, get out of here. Out!” she shouted.
They left silently, but their faces had an odd, pinched tightness that puzzled her. She rang for a nurse to help her dress. It was a few minutes before one appeared, and she was laughing as she came into Kate’s room.
“What on earth did you say to those three men?” the nurse asked with a grin.
“Why? What do you mean?”
The nurse helped Kate to the window and opened it as far as it would go. Kate could hear the sounds of laughter. Masculine laughter. She looked out onto the park-like setting in the front of the hospital.
There were two of her musketeers, staggering, holding their sides and roaring with laughter. Tom, in his wheelchair, was laughing so hard he nearly tipped his wheelchair over. Mike caught the chair before it could fall, and they erupted into fresh gales of laughter.
Kate smiled, thrilled to see them so lighthearted. Ever since Tom’s accident, they had all seemed so sober, so filled with responsibilities and problems. In fact, she couldn’t recall ever seeing the three of them laugh like that. It was a sight to behold. One she wanted to see again and again.
With the nurse’s help, Kate dressed in the clothes Tom had brought to the hospital. The doctors had given her a clean bill of health after the extensive round of tests which Tom had insisted on. No concussion, no internal problems, just a monumental headache and a very sore lump on her head.
The nurse insisted Kate get into the wheelchair to be wheeled to the hospital doors. Since she’d had a rather strong pain pill earlier and was feeling very dizzy and light-headed, Kate didn’t fight it.
But she did get a kick out of the big, bold, masculine, motorized wheelchair that began flirting with her dainty, feminine, push-mobile of a wheelchair as the nurse pushed her into the hallway.
“Forgive me?” Tom asked as he maneuvered his electric wheelchair beside hers.
“Always,” she responded with a smile.
“You look tired,” he said. “Are you in pain?”
“No pain, but I’m suddenly exhausted and more than a bit light-headed. I don’t even know if I can stay awake until we get home. A hospital is not a restful place, especially when they’re waking you up every hour or so and asking questions.”
“Don’t worry about it. We have the back seat in the van reclined and plenty of pillows and blankets. You can sleep until we get home.”
“Will you hold my hand?”
“Kate, you do take my breath away at times. Of course I’ll hold your hand. Forever, Kate. Forever.”
Tom reached across the wheelchairs which were riding side by side and grasped her hand. And they rode down the long hospital corridor with their hands clasped tightly together.
“Good grief. Would you look at the two of them coming down the hallway together? It’s enough to make you cry, or gag, or just smile,” Mike commented to John as they waited at the hospital’s front doors.
“Try the smile. It’s the most appealing of the alternatives, and you do it so well,” John responded with a grin.
Outside the hospital doors, John carefully scooped Kate out of her wheelchair, and before he could turn around, Kate looked at Tom’s wheelchair and the wheelchair she’d just left.
“She’s really going to miss you.”
“What the devil are you talking about, Kate?” Tom’s brow wrinkled in concern.
“My delicate little push-mobile really liked your big, beautiful electric monster there.”
“Kate, you’re beginning to scare me,” Tom said.
“Sorry, love. Must be the medication.” Kate smiled faintly and snuggled into John’s arms as he carried her to the van.
&
nbsp; By the time they got Kate and Tom settled in the van, Kate was almost asleep. She looked up to see all three faces looking at her worriedly.
“I’m okay, musketeers. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine when I wake up. But I can’t remember, is it one for all, or is it all for one? I can’t rememb...”
“What the hell is she talking about?” Mike said, looking at Tom and John. “Musketeers? Push-mobiles and electric monsters? Let’s get our girl home where we can take care of her.”
* * * *
Kate awoke with a feeling of déjà vu. She had a vague recollection of being undressed and put to bed by John and Mike sometime in the distant past.
“Screw trying to put a nightgown on her. She can sleep in the buff, can’t she?” Mike asked close to her ear.
“Damn straight! We’ll just cover her up warmly. What do you say, Tom?”
“Before my accident, Kate slept in the nude all the time. It’s no problem.”
“Hey…guys. Can you help me sit up?”
Kate struggled to pull the sheet over her naked breasts while Mike and John piled pillows against the headboard and eased her up into a sitting position.
“Kate! How’re you doing, babe? You had us so worried. Are you in pain? Do you need another pain pill?” Tom maneuvered his wheelchair next to the bed, anxiously looking into her eyes, while Mike and John hovered nearby.
“Not right now. That last one really knocked me out. But I do have to go to the bathroom. And suddenly I’m starving. However, the bathroom ranks highest in priority. So, if you guys will give me some privacy, I’d appreciate it.”
Kate got as far as swinging her legs to the side of the bed before John swooped in, tossed the sheet aside, picked her up stark-naked, and walked into the bathroom with her and placed her on the toilet seat.
Her sputters of outrage fell on deaf ears.
“Here’s how it’s going to be for the next twenty-four hours. You will not get up by yourself, especially if you are feeling light-headed, and no bathing or showering by yourself.”
“Get out of here,” Kate growled. “Now.”
“Okay, here’s a washcloth and towel. Your toothbrush and toothpaste are next to the sink. Call when you’re ready to come out.” John left the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.
John turned back to the bathroom door. “And, no locks on the doors, Kate. Until we know if that blow to the head is going to affect you, we need to be able to get to you in an emergency. Do you understand?”
Her only response was the flushing of the toilet.
“Well, I guess that told you, John,” said Tom with a smile. “You really don’t have to worry about Kate, she’s got a lot of common sense and isn’t going to do anything to jeopardize her health.”
“Right! What he said,” shouted Kate from the bathroom.
“Okay, okay, point taken.”
“Why don’t we find Kate something to wear to bed besides the sheet?” Tom steered his wheelchair to Kate’s dresser and opened a drawer. “She used to have an old nightshirt that was stretched so far out of shape that it could slide over her head without even touching that bump. Yes, this is the one.”
“I think you’d better take it in to her. I’ve pushed her as far as I’m going to at this point. Tell her that Mike should be en route with food very shortly. Damn, it’s good to have her home. It doesn’t matter what we have to do to keep her here. It’s worth it.” John watched as Tom steered his wheelchair into the bathroom and shut the door. John stared pensively at the closed door for a moment, then shook his head and went to find Mike.
* * * *
“Come on, Kate. You know you don’t have to be embarrassed about Mike and John seeing you naked.” Tom followed her out of the bathroom to the bed. She sat down near the foot of the bed, her nightshirt slipping off of one shoulder, her back to the doorway.
“Oh, I know that, Tom. They aren’t interested in me that way.”
“Uh, Kate, are you sure about that? That was a pretty good-sized erection John was sporting while he carried your hot, naked body into the bathroom,” said Tom with an impish smile.
“Tom, I can assure you that his erection was definitely not for me. Honestly, Tom! Please believe me, neither man has ever made the slightest improper move toward me, nor have they uttered even the mildest sexual innuendo in my presence.”
“I believe you, Kate. But that doesn’t mean they don’t love you. Certainly, they don’t love you the way I do, but they do love you. I’ve seen it myself.”
“Well, I’m sure they love me as a friend, as your wife, but it’s definitely not sexual in nature.”
“I’d be interested to know how you can be that positive.”
“Tom, these men are our friends, and they were your friends for many years before we even met. They would never betray you, in any way. I’m not going to discuss them behind their backs, nor am I going to discuss their sexual preferences.”
“Perhaps I can throw some light on the matter, Tom,” John said as he and Mike came into the bedroom. “I believe Kate saw Mike and me in the pool several weeks ago. Didn’t you, Kate?”
Bright red suffused her face. “You saw me?”
“Katie, luv,” said Mike. “We would never knowingly have embarrassed you that night. It’s just that by the time we realized you were there, we couldn’t seem to stop. No, that’s not really true. I think we wanted you to see us. Wanted you to know us as we really are.”
“We didn’t mean to shock or disgust you, Kate,” said John.
“Shock or disgust me? My God, I couldn’t tear my eyes from the two of you. It was truly the most breathtakingly beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I stood, rooted to that spot, and couldn’t move. I felt like one lucky…I guess the proper term would be voyeur. Tom, did you know?” She turned and looked at Tom.
Tom smiled and placed a kiss in the palm of her hand.
“You did know!” Sudden realization slammed into her then. “You’re gay, too? The three of you are lovers? No, I don’t believe you’re gay, Tom. You couldn’t be.” Kate couldn’t understand her immediate feeling of rejection, of being left out, of being separate. Apart.
“No, Kate. Please, love, don’t look at me that way. The three of us have not been lovers since I met and fell in love with you. And we certainly can’t be classified as gay. I suppose bisexual would be the most appropriate term.
“Basically, we love you, we love sex, and we love each other. Male, female, separate, or together, it doesn’t matter. I can’t deny though that we have always enjoyed the sexual connection the three of us have had with a woman. That’s why we used to, as Scott so indelicately put it, share our women. But, Kate, you’re different. You are not just a sexual connector, you are so much more. You are love, desire, emotion, and you are everything to me,” he finished simply.
“Ah, Katie,” said Mike with a smile as he stood behind Tom’s wheelchair. “When Tom met you, he turned into a snarky, selfish bastard. If John and I had looked cross-eyed at you, he’d have had a hissy fit. And never doubt, Katie, that John and I wanted you, from the day we met you. And Tom knew it, too, the greedy bastard!”
Tom laughed ruefully. “Yes, I knew it, but I was so terrified that I’d lose you, Kate, I just couldn’t take the chance. Not many women would understand that, for us, the ‘sharing’ is the ultimate gift of love and pleasure. It’s a gift we give and a gift we also receive. My greatest regret is that I didn’t ask you before my accident if you’d consider accepting this gift.”
John walked to Tom’s wheelchair, standing just behind it, next to Mike. “Tom’s possessiveness kept Mike and me away most of the first few years of your marriage, Kate. Not to mention his damned ‘goal’ of making love to you in every room of this house.”
Tom grinned provocatively. “We almost made it, didn’t we, Kate? And guess what! I still have the keys to the attic. You haven’t tried to go up there since the renovation was completed, have you?”
Kate looked at him in surprise.
“No, I haven’t been up there at all. What would be the sense in going up there alone?”
“I definitely don’t want you going up there by yourself, and actually you wouldn’t have been able to gain access on your own. But maybe before I have to leave for the hospital, we can all take a tour of our ‘pleasure palace.’ I’d really like to do that,” Tom said wistfully.
“All?” Kate said hesitantly.
“Well, John and Mike have been constantly after me to show them the attic. But I don’t want anyone seeing it before you do. What I’d like to do is take you on a private tour of our ‘pleasure palace,’ and then we could invite Mike and John up and watch their reactions to the wonders available.”
John spoke up quietly. “As much as I’d like to see your palace of pleasure, Tom, I don’t want to do anything that would upset Kate or cause her to be uncomfortable.” John looked directly at Kate.
“You don’t ever have to worry about us putting any pressure on you for anything you don’t want. We haven’t done anything in the last few years to make you uncomfortable with us, have we, Kate?”
Kate shook her head.
“And we won’t, I can assure you. But right now we need to be here.”
“He’s right, Katie,” said Mike. “We need to be here while Tom is in the hospital and also for a while during his recovery. We also need to be able to take care of you while your head heals. Will it be okay with you, Katie? Will you let us stay and take care of you, and Tom when he gets out of the hospital?”
Kate nodded her head mutely.
“It’s a lot to deal with on your first day home from the hospital, isn’t it, Kate?” Tom said softly. “Why not have a bite to eat and get some sleep. Anything you want to discuss in more detail can wait until tomorrow, can’t it?”