TABOO TALES(erotica)

“Ah, I’m his physician, Doctor Krastin. Uh, we’ve met, yes?” he asked, and she nodded, so he continued. “I checked in on him this morning. He was in a lot of pain but has no serious injuries. Just a lot of bruising on his right side. He was very lucky. I’ve written a script for him for a powerful painkiller and have advised him it is highly addictive, so he should do his best to limit his use of it.” He looked at Andre’s chart. “He’ll have been given his first dose this….” He frowned, then looked at the other nurses. “I’m not seeing a reference to Mr. Marin’s first dose. Did Nurse Hall administer it?”

One of the ladies grimaced. “She wasn’t feeling well and left early this morning,” she confessed. “She mentioned nothing to us.”

The doctor came around the counter, and Cassandra followed him down the hall to Andre’s room. They went inside and over to his bedside. Andre looked up at them with glassy eyes.

“Mr. Marin, have you received any pain relief today? Any medication?” he asked quietly.

Andre’s voice was barely a whisper. “… no…”

“I’m terribly sorry for that. I’ll get you some immediately.” Throwing an apologetic look at Cassandra, he rushed out of the room.

She moved closer to her brother and saw his eyes were tracking her. “Is there anything I can do?” she asked.

“… home…”

Tears sprung to her eyes. “Yes, I’m taking you home now. We’ll get you home where you can rest in privacy. It’s my turn to take care of you.”

Andre’s eyes were also filling with tears, but they dripped slowly down his cheeks. Cassandra grabbed a tissue and dabbed his face as the doctor returned with a small paper cup in his hand. He looked uncomfortable when he saw them crying. He moved next to the bed.

“I’m giving you two pills to start. Normally, you’ll take only one and only when the pain becomes too much. They are potent,” he explained as he poured a cup of water. He used the controls on the bed to raise Andre slowly to more easily swallow the pills. He sucked in some sharp breaths, so the doctor lifted the pill cup to his lips, and he took them into his mouth. Then he sipped the water and swallowed the pills.

Doctor Krastin looked at Cassandra. “How are you getting him home?”

She looked at him cautiously. “Taxi.”

The man frowned. “I think that might be too much for him at this point. I’ll arrange for an ambulance to take him.

“I-I can’t afford–” Cassandra began.

“The Hospital will pick up the tab for this. We shouldn’t have missed giving him the first dose. I insist,” he said kindly. He pulled from his pocket the prescription he’d written for Andre and handed it to her.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“You can get this fulfilled in the pharmacy downstairs.”

She took the paper from his hand and gave him a trembling smile.

“Why don’t you get him the pills while I arrange for the ride home?” the doctor suggested, and she nodded. He left with a nod, then she turned back to Andre.

With a last smile at her brother, Cassandra rushed away to get the pills. The pharmacy wasn’t busy, so she got the bottle of pills relatively quickly, but she fretted the entire time. She rushed back to Andre’s side once she had them.

The process of getting Andre moved to a gurney, into an ambulance, and moved into her apartment was obviously agonizing for him, but he made no sounds of protest.

She folded open his bed in the apartment, and the burly paramedics gently placed Andre on it before leaving. Cassandra saw the journey had been too much for him, and Andre was unconscious. She went back to her bedroom and had a good cry. She’d failed him once more.

***********

Brigette Harrison leaned back against the sofa in the basement playroom of her home, her long svelte legs stretched out to rest on the coffee table. Seated next to her in the same position, and looking equally fit, was Steph MacGraw. Seated cross-legged on a beanbag chair across the table was Lindsay Martine. Finally, looking far too comfortable on her dad’s La-Z-Boy was Mary Rossini.

Each of them had their cell phones out as they ogled the picture of Andre Marin with varying expressions.

“I had no idea this was hiding in plain sight between us all this time,” Brigette said in wonder.

“Any idea why he was hiding?” Steph asked as she unconsciously slid a fingertip across her cell’s screen.

“It was Henry who took the picture, wasn’t it,” Mary asserted.

Brigette shook her head. “No. He’s useless with a camera. If it isn’t a dick pic, he can’t frame the subject at all.”

The ladies burst into giggles, then they all went back to admiring the photo.

“This… this is a dick pic I wouldn’t mind receiving,” Steph sighed.

“The pic or the dick?” Lindsay quickly said.

Steph gave her an outraged look, but she couldn’t hold it, so it became a coy smile. “I’m faithful to Rick, but for this, I might stray.”

Another burst of squeals and giggles erupted. Once they calmed down, Steph got a pensive look in her eye. “Seriously, Rick is fun, but he’s too much of a hothead. I wouldn’t say he’s Mr. Right. He’s more of a Mr. Right-Now.”

Brigette stared at the blonde next to her with wide eyes. She thought she was the only one thinking in those terms about her boyfriend. She felt relieved and offered her own opinion. “Right? I mean, we’re in our senior year. We’ll be going to college next. It’s too soon to be thinking of a permanent relationship.”

“Not happy with Henry?” Lindsay asked.

Brigette smiled. “Good for now, but not for good.” Seeing Lindsay frown, she continued. “He’s got a lot of growing up to do. He’s so obsessed with basketball! He’s not concentrating on anything else! I have to help him with most of his homework!”

“Marin gets perfect grades, yet he still maintains a body like this!” Mary purred, and the room went silent as they contemplated that.

“How does he do it?” Steph asked.

“How does he concentrate on anything with that music blaring in his ears?” Brigette asked, and the others looked at her. “He wears earbuds, but during class, he keeps one partially open. I heard his music. It’s that death metal stuff. Loud, screaming guitars and grunting singers. I don’t get it.”

“That’s playing during class? And he still hears the teachers asking him questions?” Lindsay asked in surprise. Brigette nodded.

“If he didn’t dress and act so bizarrely, he’d be a contender,” Steph mused.

More giggling ensued.

“Next question, is he dead or a cripple now?” Lindsay asked.

“What the fuck, Lindsay?” Brigette cried, and Steph made angry sounds too.

Lindsay held up her hands in defense. “Todd Weston hit him with his dad’s corvette. You know how fast that idiot drives. The car’s windshield and roof looked totaled. With that kind of damage, Marin could have been killed!”

Mary spoke up. “My Aunty Kate works as a nurse at the hospital, and she told me he’s badly bruised, but that’s it. He’ll be back in school in a week!”

“Shit! He was lucky,” Steph sighed in relief, and the others turned to face her. “What? It’s not like I wanna date him! It would just be a shame for the world to lose such a magnificent specimen.”

Her coy smile was back, and Brigette burst into laughter.

They shared a look, and she knew Steph was thinking the same thing. They had to think of a way to get to know Mr. Marin… more intimately.

-=-

“Now, get the hell out of my office.”

Henry, Kevin, Rick, and Greg filed out of Mr. Garlin’s small, windowless room. They’d just been read the riot act as their coach knew it was one of them who’d taken the picture of Marin. The others weren’t willing to fink on Greg, so the coach would have to suspend all of them.

Luckily, the basketball team was heading for the US National Championship, and the coach wasn’t willing to risk losing his star players or his chance to attend himself. He needed them, so he’d have to cover for them.

He wasn’t happy about it, but he’d go along.

“I’m hungry. You?” Henry asked Rick calmly.

“I could eat,” the man said with a grin, then looked at Greg and Kevin, who nodded.

“Mancini’s Pizza?” Kevin suggested.

“My treat,” Greg offered, and his friends nodded.

They drove over to the restaurant, Rick catching a ride with Henry, and settled into their favorite booth at the back.