Chapter 10
They brought Ron in a screaming ambulance two weeks later. Since Daddy was the only doctor in town who was in full practice, it was inevitable that they brought Ron to him. His parents showed up just a few minutes later, looking frightened and drawn with worry. Karen realized with an odd feeling of surprise that she had never seen either of them before. Mrs. Baker was a small woman with black hair and pleasant features. Ron's father was a man of about six feet, slightly balding, with protruding ears. They were both in their fifties.
When they arrived, Daddy was in back, taking some X-rays of Ron. Karen seated them in the office and excused herself. She and Daddy had been in bed at the time of the call informing them about the accident. Daddy had come to wake Karen, who had been sleeping in her own bed for the past two weeks. She had risen and put on a robe and come down to help him with the job of receiving the patient. She didn't find out until he arrived that it was Ron who had been hurt. She was surprised to find that she felt nothing at the discovery except a sense of ironic coincidence, as though she had run into a friend in a strange town. When she had made Mr. and Mrs. Baker as comfortable as possible she went upstairs and put on a white uniform. She wasn't a nurse, but Karen had been taught to do enough so that she could help Daddy out in emergencies.
When she got back downstairs she saw Daddy coming out of the X-ray room, his face drawn and grim. He gestured to her to follow him into the office. Mr. and Mrs. Baker rose nervously at their entrance. Daddy sat behind the desk and, leaning his elbows on the green blotter, he pressed his fingers against his forehead for a moment. Karen could tell that the news must be very bad, and she was certain that the Bakers could tell it, too.
"What is it, Doc?" Mr. Baker asked finally, unable to stand the silence and the waiting any longer. Daddy looked at him with an unreadable expression.
"Your son was hit by a car, in case you weren't told. It was a hit-and-run accident."
"Yes, we know. But-"
"Is he going to die?" Mrs. Baker's voice cut in, ragged and taut. Daddy shook his head.
"No, there isn't any danger of that, provided we act right away. He's lost a lot of blood, and he's in a deep state of shock, but I've given him a transfusion and I'm pretty sure he'll come out of the shock all right. He's young and in good shape."
"Well then, what is it?" Mr. Baker demanded, on the edge of breaking.
"As I said, if we want to save his life, we'll have to act right now. There just isn't any time to lose." Daddy paused for a moment, looking at one of Ron's parents and then the other. The moment was steeped in tension. "As his parents, you will have to make the decision, though frankly there's no real decision to make. If you want your son to live, we'll have to operate."
"Operate!" Mrs. Baker came up a little from her chair, and her husband laid his hand on her shoulder, pressing her back.
"What kind of operation you talking about, Doc?" he asked in an expressionless voice.
"The car hit him on the left side, and he went under one of the wheels, or possibly the two left wheels. Fortunately, he was pushed back by the impact, and so no vital organs were hit. However, his left arm and leg were caught by the wheels, and were crushed beyond hope of repair." Daddy paused, looking at them in turn once again.
"You trying to tell us he's going to be crippled?" Mr. Baker asked.
"I'm afraid so. If you want to save his life, his left arm and leg will have to come off, and right now. Within an hour at the outside."
"But can we get him to the hospital that quick?" Mr. Baker asked. "The way the roads have been-"
"We couldn't risk moving him, even if there was time. I'll have to perform the operation right here. It's not a particularly difficult one, and what little aid I'll require can be rendered by my daughter."
"Jesus, I don't know," Mr. Baker gasped. "I mean no offense, Doc, but I'd like another doctor to have a look at him before we go-"
"That's your right," Daddy said with a shrug. "And if you insist, I'll call in a consulting physician. But I can't guarantee that your son will be alive by the time he gets here. I can practically guarantee that even if he is alive that long, he'll be too weak to survive the operation." Daddy leaned forward earnestly. "I'm trying to impress on you the fact that time is our most important commodity now. If we squander too much of it, your son will die. Not may die, or should die, or probably will die. He will die. It's as simple as that. As I said, the decision is yours."
"He wants to be a pro football player," Mr. Baker said with a mixture of pleading and wistfulness.
"I'm sorry. No one likes losing two limbs, whether he's an athlete or not. But he can live without football. If we operate right now. Otherwise, he won't live at all."
Mr. Baker started to say something else, but his wife reached over and squeezed his arm and he fell silent. "What do we have to do, Doctor?"
"Just sign a release form authorizing the amputation."
At the use of the word, both the Bakers shuddered involuntarily, and Karen felt herself wince. But they nodded, and Daddy turned to Karen. "Prepare a release form," he said crisply. "Then come back and help me scrub up."
"Yes, Doctor," Karen said, using his formal title as she always did in the presence of patients and their relations. She felt her eyes fill with tears as she made her way to the front office. She took a release form out of the bottom drawer of her desk and filled in the particulars, making a carbon copy. Then she took both copies back to the office. The Bakers were sitting where they had been, though Mr. Baker had leaned over to put his arm around Mrs. Baker's shoulders. She was crying, her small body shaking with each hard sob. Karen almost couldn't force herself to go inside and disturb them in their grief. But they took the pen from the desk and signed the paper, both copies, first Mr. Baker then his wife, their signatures weak and wavy. Karen placed the release forms under the desk blotter, out of their sight, then went back to help Daddy. He was already scrubbing up.
It took less than an hour altogether. The amputation itself took only minutes, and even with the trimming and sewing and the cleaning up less than an hour was consumed. Karen was amazed at the steadiness with which she witnessed the operation, and even helped in minor ways. There was a hardness to her that she had never known until the past few weeks, as though she had gone through some change of personality. Daddy wrapped the arm and leg in two blankets and took them out to be disposed of in the incinerator behind the house. Then he went back to the office, where the Bakers were still sitting. Karen accompanied him.
"The operation is complete," he said, and Mrs. Baker turned to her husband and buried her face in his chest. She cried long and hard. Daddy stood for a moment before he spoke again. "He's unconscious now. I've given him a pretty heavy dose of morphine, and I intend to keep him doped up for the next couple of days, until the worst of the pain is past. After that he's going to need all the love and understanding you can give him."
That brought on a fresh flood of tears from Mrs. Baker, and her husband started to cry, too. Daddy laid his hand on the man's arm. "I'm terribly sorry that this couldn't have been avoided," he said. "There just wasn't any way."
"I ... I know, Doc," the man said, hardly able to speak. "What ... what do we owe you?"
"We'll talk about that some other time," Daddy said. "Right now you'd better go home and try to get some rest. I'll have Karen give you a sedative."
"I want to stay with him!" Mrs. Baker said. "I want to stay with my baby!"
"No," Daddy replied firmly. "That wouldn't be wise. As I told you, he's going to need you when he regains consciousness, and you'll need all your strength and all your wits then, if you're going to help him. Right now there's nothing you can do to help him. He wouldn't even know you were there."
"Well, when can I see him?"
"I'll have him moved to the county hospital tomorrow. He'll still be unconscious, and I wouldn't recommend it, but if you wish to, you can see him any time after noon."
"Will anyone be with him tonight? In case-"
"There's an intercom hooked up between my bedroom and the recovery room. I'll leave it turned on. If he makes any sound at all, which is extremely un-likely, I'll be bound to hear it. Now Karen will give you each a sedative to take, and I want you to go home and get some rest. You're both going to need it."
Karen gave them each a mild sedative, wrapped in cellophane wrappers, and saw them to a cab. Daddy had suggested a cab, since neither of them seemed in any emotional condition to drive. When they were gone Karen went upstairs and took a shower, because she imagined she could smell the blood and the chemicals of the operation on her skin. Then she went to Daddy's room. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, smoking a cigarette. He was in his robe and slippers. Karen sat next to him.
"You'd better get to bed, Princess," he said.
"I want to stay with you tonight."
"That's not-"
"Please, Daddy."
He shrugged. "All right."
Karen took off her robe and went around to the other side of the bed. She stretched out on it luxuriously, feeling deliciously tired and yet keyed up and excited at the same time. It was a feeling she had never known before, precisely. Daddy finished his cigarette then lay down beside her. He still had his robe on. Karen turned onto her side, facing him.
"Daddy, was that amputation necessary?"
If she had expected a sharp reaction to her question, she was disappointed. Daddy just turned his head and looked into her eyes for a long time before saying, "I thought so."
"No, I mean-" She couldn't keep the curious note of excitement out of her voice. "-I mean, did you do it for Ron? Or for me?"
"That's not a rational question."
"We're alone. You can tell me. You know I'll never tell anyone else. It's all right, really."
"I did what I thought had to be done. That's what every doctor does. You'll have to be satisfied with that answer, Karen. But if you think I did it on your account, think about it before you go off and get involved with someone else again."
"I've already learned my lesson about that. But I'll keep it in mind." She ran her hand over his hairy chest, dipping her fingers under the robe to feel the tight muscles along his rib cage. He didn't respond, but she knew he was aware of what she wanted. She snuggled closer to him and kissed him on the cheek. His beard was all stubbly and scratchy. She liked the feel of it against her lips.
"I'm pretty tired tonight, Princess," he said.
"Are you?" She kissed him again, on the neck this time and saw a little tic there in response. "Really? That's funny, because I'm all turned on at the moment." She released the sash on his robe and flipped it open. "You gave the Bakers a sedative to make them sleep. You know my favorite sedative."
He looked at her oddly, never having seen her in this kind of playfully aggressive mood before. Her hand found his cock, and it came alive instantly to her touch. He grunted, as though with surprise, and Karen laughed throatily. She bounced up on her knees and bent down to kiss the big organ, then held it lovingly against her cheek. "Mmmm." She made a sound of deep contentment, a sound of love. The cock throbbed with his response to her overtures. She pushed the foreskin back and began to lick his prick gently, and it throbbed all the more. Karen felt a heated excitement such as she had never known in her life. It was as though the thing that had been done downstairs, earlier tonight, had sparked some dormant part of her into life. She took his cock into her mouth and moved her tongue all over it luxuriously, while her hands slipped down over Daddy's thighs, dipping inside, then moving over the front and back to the balls and crotch. She could feel the excitement in him, though she had the feeling that he was fighting against it, trying to hold back for some reason.
She pulled her mouth off of the cock and began to lick his crotch and his scrotum, giving him as much spit as she could muster.
"Uhhh," he breathed, and she knew she had him.
Her own loins were hot with desire, and her pussy was spitting out its juices in floods. She drew her mouth away from his crotch, now that she had him excited beyond pulling back, and, rising up, she threw her left leg over his body, straddling him, kneeling there above him and looking down proudly, aware of the effect that her naked nearness was having on him. His eyes traveled over her reluctantly, as though he were fighting the very urge he was enjoying so much, and which she was about to satisfy. Karen squatted down slowly, holding his cock in place as she did so, and fed it between her labia and into her pussy. She came right down onto him, her full weight driving his swollen, hard prick up into her abdomen. She felt a thrill of pleasure amazingly intense at the friction and pressure of it, almost an orgasm. It sent a shudder over her body, and made her moan. Her face contorted with the shot of joy, and she bit her lip and looked down at Daddy. But his eyes were closed. She began to rock her body back and forth slowly, luxuriating in the friction she was creating driving the cock back and forth in her tunnel and bringing herself alive with every movement, more alive and more aware as the pleasure crept up through her body and down into her thighs and calves.
"Uhhh...." she moaned softly, throwing her head back to clear away the thick mass of gold hair that had dropped about her face. Her tits stood out firmly from her body, the pink nipples hard and distended with excitement. Daddy suddenly reached up with both hands and took her boobs in them, kneading them gently but firmly, with desire and need and pleasure, and with love. Karen leaned forward to make it easier for him; and his cock lodged even deeper in her cunt, sending a heated thrill of joy through her, so strong, and so sudden it almost made her cry out.
"Nhnhnh ... nhnhnh ... nhnhnh ... nhnh...." She made little nasal sounds as she continued to rock back and forth, pushing the huge prick in and out, in and out with a delightful friction that had her in a state of dreamy exaltation. Her thighs and her breasts tingled with aliveness, awareness of her own being, and the pleasures of her body, all at once. She could feel the cock throb with life, and Daddy's hands worked over her tits with delicious ardor, making them sting with life and joy. Karen bit her lip and closed her eyes. In her hunched-over position, her hair fell forward, framing her face and lightly touching Daddy's body.
He moved his hands off of her breasts and circled her slowly with his arms, drawing her toward him. She surrendered to his pressure, leaning foward until her hair covered his face; and her breasts, hanging heavily from her rib cage, touched his chest lightly, the distended nipples sliding over him with each movement of her body. The movements were still slow and rhythmic, slow and stately, delightful in the luxuriousness of their very lack of urgency. They were both still in control of the fucking, instead of having fallen under its control.
But slowly, she could feel the situation shifting, and the sensations growing more powerful and more insistent, increasing their control of her, and of Daddy, too, she was sure, by the very fact of growing more pleasing. Their bodies were locked into a single rhythm, her ass working above his abdomen, his hips moving in perfect cadence with her. His hands had slipped down to her ass now, and held to her cheeks lightly, cupping them and helping her to move as he wished, setting the rhythm for both of them. Karen could feel the strength in his palms, and the harsh masculinity of these sensations made her weak with pleasure. Her pussy was gushing with juice, flooding her and lubricating her.
Then she felt his body tighten with sudden need, sudden surrender of control to the fucking, which had taken control of him like some living thing, and she gasped with a quick stab of joy that left her weak and helpless against her own body.
Their rhythm accelerated then, without any conscious volition on the part of either of them. Their bodies pumped and surged with greater urgency, greater need, and she could feel his cock, swollen with desire and joy, jamming into her with all the force of a spear thrust into the body of an enemy, but in this case with all the joy and love that flowed between them. She knew that he was going to come in a moment, and she began to work her hips, tightening her pussy against the thrusts of his prick, holding him lovingly with her muscles, caressing him with her cunt. Then, when he did come, it was like a river, filling her womb with gobs of his body's spunk, driving into her, and sending her off like a skyrocket, her body taut and alive with pleasure, her brain a mass of light and heat and confusion. She lay on him, her tits mashed flat against his chest, his hair scratching he and making her feel soft and feminine and owned by him. Her face lay next to his, and his beard scratched her cheek the same way. His cum shot into her one last time, and she felt her own orgasm so powerful she hardly cried out except for a strangled little sound....
Then it was over, and she spun off into the quiet and peace of total fulfillment.