Lbfm

Chapter 12

I awoke to the sound of my alarm. Only it didn't sound like my alarm but something was definitely beeping at me. I was confused. Had Jess got a new clock?

I tried to look over to see what time it was but I couldn't turn my head and the speed of the beeping picked up. It was at this time that the pain in my body kicked in and I groaned loudly and blacked out.

The beeping was still there the next time I came round and this time I could hear someone quietly sobbing somewhere to my right. I was more prepared for the wave of pain and nausea on this occasion and tried not to groan but to no avail. I heard voices whispering somewhere but couldn't see anything and wondered why it was so dark in here. Gradually I realised that my eyes were covered and tried to lift an arm to touch my face. The beeping increased in speed and I identified the sound as a heart-rate monitor.

The voices became more distinct.

"The pain is still too much let's put him back under again."

"Ok, I'll give another dose into the IV."

I sensed someone moving closer and then a slight burning sensation in my arm and I blacked out again.

The next time I woke one of my eyes was uncovered and I could see light through my eyelid. My torso was still a mass of pain although bearable. Strangely my lower abdomen was relatively pain free but felt swollen and puffy with a massive case of pins and needles like I'd gone to sleep in a strange position and cut off the blood flow.

I cautiously opened my eye. The room appeared to be spinning and a wave of nausea washed over me but gradually the horizon stabilised. I heard voices and tried to move my head to look to the source but found that my head was immobilised and my face was surrounded by a metal cage.

I croaked.

"Help"

A male Chinese face appeared in my vision from the left side of the bed and used a pen flashlight to peer into my eye.

"Hi Mr. King, you're awake! I'm Dr. Ling. I won't ask how you feel but try and stay still. You have an epidural in for your legs and lower body but if you need more pain control for elsewhere let me know. What can I tell you?"

My thought process was very slow and cloudy but then I realised I needed to know about Jess, not about me. My voice was still croaky and my jaw hurt to move.

"Where's Jess, my girlfriend?"

Ling looked across me and another face came into my vision, black hair falling around it like a veil. Jess! I could tell she'd been crying (a lot) but she still looked wonderful. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank god you're safe."

She smiled bravely.

"Stop worrying about me; you're the one that's badly hurt. All I had was a few bruises and burns."

She started to get teary again and grabbed my right hand.

"I thought I was going to lose you."

I wanted to wrap her in my arms and hold onto her forever. Not for the first or last time I resorted to humour at an inappropriate moment.

"Come on, no crying, you know how it spoils your beauty. I'll dump you if you end up ravaged. Anyway I'm tougher than I look. Do I get a kiss hello?"

She looked over at Ling who shook his head.

"Sorry, not with the cage on. You have two cracked vertebrae in you neck and had a depressed fracture of the skull so we're just making sure everything is stable. You also have 4 broken ribs, multiple fractures to the ankle in your right leg and severe bruising to 90% of you body and a dislocated elbow and jaw. We removed your spleen which had ruptured and one of your kidneys may have to come out. Also we had to remove one of your testicles. Oh, and most of the fingers in your left hand were broken.

He stopped and grinned down at me as he had worked out my sense of humour.

"Before you ask, you will be able to play the piano."

I smiled up at him.

"I'll need lessons first."

He grinned again.

"The old jokes are the best! Other than those minor issues I'd give you a clean bill of health. We do have you on morphine derivatives for pain and the epidural for the damage to your groin."

I heard a sob from Jess who had moved out of my line of view but still held tightly on to my hand. Ling looked over at Jess and then back at me.

"We've pinned and set your broken bones and all other interventions appear to have been successful. You seem to be bouncing back from your ordeal Mr. King. Because of your condition we would be leaving a full-time nurse with you but because of Jess's qualifications we're happy that she can be your first responder although she cannot dispense any medicine. A full-time nurse is stationed nearby if needed for that."

He looked fiercely at her but with a smile.

"However, she's been here for the last 18 hours since you first woke up and really ought to get some rest. She's probably only had 10 hours sleep in the last 3 days since you came in so if you can encourage her to take a nap I'd be very grateful. I'll pop back in a couple of hours to see how you're progressing.

His face disappeared from view and Jess's reappeared. We smiled at each other with slightly awkward looks, almost like people who hardly know each other. I reached up with my good hand to stroke her cheek and looked at her and just drank her in. She held my hand against her cheek and then moved it to her mouth and kissed my palm and gripped it tightly. Her smile brightened.

"Hi, I'm Jess and I'll be your nurse for the duration of your stay here and will be continuing it during your recuperation period which I estimate will take years and years ... until the end of time. The care will consist of copious love and attention and, when physically permissible, lots of wild and uninhibited sex. The latter is not part of our normal care package but is provided as a bonus service for you, free of charge."

Her grin had widened as she spoke and I grinned back.

"Well nurse I hope you will be wearing your official uniform during the bonus service as I think that might just improve my recovery chances."

She giggled and smacked my hand gently to indicate just how shocked she was by the suggestion!

Yeah right!

We giggled together.

The awkwardness was gone. We were back on each other's wavelength to point where we both spoke simultaneously.

"You should get some sleep ..."

"No, it's ok ..."

Our smiles got broader and eventually she made a zipping motion over her lips giving me a cue to speak. I just looked up at her just making sure that she was real and not a figment of my imagination.

"It cannot be comfortable for you to stand and lean over me like that. I wish I could move my head so I could look at you but really I just wish I could hold you, kiss you, feel your body next to mine. This is just so frustrating ... I've never been incapacitated like this before ... I'd hate to be a paraplegic ... unable to move."

I started to get emotional and tears came to my eyes. Jess squeezed my hand.

"David ... wonderful man ... try not to get upset although I expect the meds are making that worse. The cage will probably be off in a few days once they are happy with the vertebrae and then you'll have more movement and can be tilted up instead of having to lie flat. They'll ease down on the pain control to test how you can cope with the pain and how fast you are healing. They are still worried about your left kidney as you're still passing a lot of blood. You ... you ... took ..."

At this point I could see she was getting emotional so I squeezed her hand back. She took a deep breath and continued.

"You took a very bad beating ... a stomping ... they were kicking and kicking ... I felt so helpless ... I thought they were going to kill you. If the police hadn't arrived when they did ..."

She trailed away and the tears came again and I was struggling to hold back mine as I could see how upset she was.

"Hush, babe. It's ok ... I'm here alive ... so are you ... we've got the rest of our lives together ... we'll forget this nightmare in time.

A wave of tiredness washed over me.

"I feel very tired. Let me rest now. You should rest too, my darling."

A look of self-loathing passed over her face.

"Yes of course ... how unprofessional of me. I'm sorry for getting worked up. You need to rest so you'll get better. I'll stay here and sleep in the chair next to you. Do you want anything? You can have a little bit of water by mouth but you are being hydrated by the IV."

She moved out of my vision and came back with a squeezy bottle with a straw which she carefully manoeuvred into my mouth through the cage. The water felt divine in my parched throat. She withdrew the bottle and then kissed her finger tip and gently placed that on my lips as she smiled down at me. I kissed it back, smiling up at her.

I drifted off to sleep in an opiate haze.

I have no idea how long I slept for. When I awoke the room was lit by a low intensity light that came from my right side, presumably a bed-side light. I needed a drink of water.

"Jess ... are you there? Can I have a drink please?"

I felt her stir beside me and her face appeared in my vision and she smiled down at me.

"Of course, how are you feeling? They've reduced your pain relief so if you're ok at this level they'll take it down some more."

I did a quick mental scan of my body. Apart from the massive case of pins and needles in my legs and the dull ache in my arms and hands it didn't seem too bad. I smiled up at Jess.

"Not too bad all things considered. How about you? Did you sleep? I'll be very cross if you didn't."

She grinned.

"What will you do it about if I didn't Daddy? Chase after me and spank me?"

I gave her a knowing smirk.

"You're just taking advantage of my weakened condition but I think you secretly fancy a bit of discipline don't you? You mention spanking quite often. Just wait until I'm better!"

She gave a loving but lascivious smile.

"I just can't wait to feel your lovely cock inside me. That's what I'm waiting for!"

"Hopefully everything in that department will be working despite losing one of my nadgers."

She looked perplexed and smiled adorably.

"One of your ... nadgers? I've never heard that before. I guess you are talking about your testiculo! Don't worry, one can still make babies!"

Babies again ... I still hadn't told her about the vasectomy but deflected the statement and nodded.

"Another English slang expression you don't know. How about one you do know ... I love you Jess ... I'm happy you're here with me although I'm sorry what I got you into. Can you tell me what happened and why the police turned up?"

She spent about 10 minutes recounting the tale of how Lavrov had turned up a she was sorting out the villa. They had used the stun gun on her and she had passed out. When she woke she found that they had stripped her naked and bound her with duct tape. They had kept touching her while they waited but had done nothing else as Chen had obviously warned them to take it easy. She had watched their attack on me with horror, completely unable to do anything and then she had passed out again when Stepov used the stun gun again. She had woken up as I was getting kicked to pieces and she was convinced I was going to die until a stun grenade was thrown into the room and a police squad in helmets and body armour poured in. Lavrov and Stepov had been taken away but she had no idea what had happened to them.

Jess had heard through Anna and some of the other girls that Chen had discovered that Feng was enquiring what Lavrov was up to and had decided to play the better odds and had anonymously alerted the police.

I had been rushed into hospital and kept in a coma because of the depressed skull fracture whilst they sorted out my other injuries. Jess had not suffered too much physical damage but was still shaken by the ordeal. Every now and again she would start to get emotional as some detail would come back to her and I would hold her hand tightly as she worked her way through it. I was frustrated that I could not take her in my arms to comfort her.

The story had not made the news, possibly because Beijing would not want any hint of high level involvement to come out and so no one at the bank knew where I was. As a result my boss tried to ring me after I'd been absent for 2 day when I was still in the coma. Jess had recognised the ring-tone and answered but had not explained who she was. Rod assumed that she was from the hospital and told her that he would pass on the information to my wife. I had not told him that Jan and I had split up but at least the kids would know that I was ok (if their mother bothered to tell them).

I suddenly realised that Jess should have gone back to Manila by now and she explained that she had taken a short trip to Macau to renew her visa which only lasted 14 days but had lost her flight and would buy another when she was sure I was ok.

"Won't your mum and Melissa be disappointed that you've not gone home."

She looked at me like I was an imbecile.

"Yes, but as I explained to Momma I was not going to leave my future husband alone when he was in a coma. What would you have thought if I wasn't here when you woke up?"

I smiled at her use of the word 'husband'! First 'babies' now 'husband' she was certainly taking this relationship seriously!

She saw the smile and.

"What's so funny?"

"I like that you called me your future husband ... but I haven't asked you yet!"

She grinned and bent forward for a gentle kiss and giggled.

"I might not say 'yes' when you do!"

We both smiled at this obvious porkie.

I was starting to feel weary again and drifted off to sleep with Jess holding my hand.

The next 24 hours saw the replacement of the cage with a surgical collar to support my neck and the epidural was also removed which had two effects. Firstly I could feel my legs properly but also I could feel the persistent ache from my genitals ... or should that be ... genital?

What constitutes genitalia in the plural?

The surgical collar was still restricting but at least I could look at Jess without her having to lean over the bed although she continued to do so to give me gentle kisses without the need for me to move. Unfortunately, cuddling was out of the question due to the excruciating pain from my broken ribs when I moved, coughed or laughed. It was easier to come to terms with the cast on my ankle and the splinted fingers and the soreness from the beating. The medical staff were trying to reduce the pain killer doses to avoid the possibility of dependency and addiction and I was in agreement with that. However, I found it difficult to sleep without something to knock the pain back.

It might explain why I was not fully functioning when I came awake suddenly on the morning of the fifth day as I was being transferred onto a trolley by the nurses and orderlies.

I was bleary eyed and not fully focussed so croaked out a question without looking round.

"Jess, what's happening? Where am I going?"

Dr. Ling's voice answered.

"Don't worry Mr. King we are transferring you by ambulance to the airport where a flight will take you home. Your insurance company has organised it and you wife will accompany you. I'm just about to put some sedative into your IV so you'll be asleep again soon."

I started to speak but felt the familiar burning sensation in my arm as the sedative entered my blood stream. My last thought was why they were talking about my wife ... did they think Jess and I were married?

Chapter 13.

I woke as the flight took off and tried to lift my head but was restrained.

"Jess, what's going on? Are you there?"

A voice answered that wasn't Jess.

"Hello darling, don't worry I'm here to look after you."

I couldn't believe my ears.

It was Jan.

I turned my head to check that I hadn't misheard.

Nope.

There she was, as large as life.

I looked at her in complete shock and I expect my mouth was open.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

A polite enquiry I thought but I could see from her eyes that she didn't feel it was appropriate especially as I don't swear very often.

"That's a nice hello. I'm here to take my husband home so I can look after him like a good wife should."

I snorted in derision at the 'good wife' statement and I could see that she was discomforted.

"Well that's mighty big of you considering that you walked out on me two weeks ago. What does Steven think about you coming half way round the world to look after me?"

Her face tightened and she looked guiltily away.

"Let's just say we had a disagreement."

I sensed there was something more behind that statement but left it for the moment.

"Where's Jess?"

"Who's Jess? The auxiliary nurse or whatever she is who was at your bedside when I first arrived? She looked at me like she had seen a ghost when I walked in. I sent her away saying she wasn't needed anymore on the basis that I was taking you back to the UK. She seemed very reluctant to leave so I made Dr. Ling get rid of her."

I closed my eyes and thought of Jess being forced away by Jan. What would she think? Would she understand I'd had nothing to do with it or think the worst that I'd lied to her and Jan and I were getting back together?

I opened my eyes and spoke harshly at Jan.

"I need to speak to Jess. Can you ask the pilot if I can make a phone call ... satellite call ... whatever?"

She looked surprised by my tone and maybe a little bit afraid as it was probably the first time in 20 years that I had raised my voice to her.

"Why? Why is she so important?"

I lay back on my pillows and looked up at the ceiling and sighed in anger. I hadn't even told Jan that I was staying in HK permanently and certainly hadn't mentioned the new love of my life. Given that we were separating it was none of her business. I told a little white lie.

"She's my housekeeper at the villa I'm renting now I'm moving to HK. She was there when I was attacked and got hurt as well."

There was a strangled gasp from Jan and she walked over to the bed and looked down at me.

"So you're going to HK anyway even though I don't want to. What am I going to do there? You'll be at work and I'll have to give up my job."

This conversation was bizarre and I stared back at her trying to keep the venom out of my voice."

"What are you talking about? You told me you were leaving me so where I live has nothing to do with you. I've decided that it would be helpful to forget if I was a long way from you.

She smiled smugly down at me. It looked more like a shark about to eat its' prey.

"You can't escape me that easily David King. You once told me that you would love me forever whether we are together or apart so I don't see you forgetting me."

She paused and I could see her thinking before she smiled again and continued.

"Well you can keep on loving me in person instead of my memory because I guess I'll have to come with you."

I was flabbergasted at this sudden change of heart. Then, I had a light bulb moment and something popped into my head and then popped right out of my mouth as I almost laughed at her.

"He's dumped you!"

I could tell by the look on her face that I was close to the truth.

"Either that or he never wanted anything more than a quick fuck with a married older woman so when you told him you were leaving me for him he walked away."

The embarrassed guilty expression on her face came back big time and she looked flustered that I seen through her. I felt the need to rub her face in it.

"Hah! I was right I can see it in your face. Now you think I will just roll over and take you back. Well you're wrong. I don't love you anymore. Jess isn't my housekeeper, she's the most precious thing to me in the world and the main reason I'm staying in Hong Kong. I'm going to marry her when you and I are divorced and I hope to have children with her if I can get my vasectomy reversed."