Warning: Don't read the next paragraph if you don't want spoilers of this chapter.
Author's note: I've mulled over this one more than any other, wondering whether to nix most of it, but I'm only going to tell this story once, so I figure I might as well go all-out. This is as pornographic and self-indulgent fantasy-driven as this story is going to get. If you read the tags, yes, this chapter contains group sex. It is very dysfunctional group sex, both in the planning and execution, fueled by drugs and alcohol, and in no way should be emulated in real life. It's written to create drama, and as always, you should keep the drama on the page. If you're wondering 'how the hell did we go from the end of the last chapter to that?' well, you're of a mind with Jon after the fact, and with myself to some degree after I wrote it. I do think it contributes to the story, but if what you're hearing sounds repulsive, you could skip the middle act of this one from where he enters the party to the next morning and just know some crazy trust-breaking shit goes down, and the story will still work. Otherwise I hope it's still entertaining and captivating despite pushing the boundaries of plausibility.
Also, if you're getting concerned at the length of the overall story (you are completely fucking justified), I'll also spill the beans that there will be a total of 11 parts plus an epilogue.
Thanks as always for the support and feedback.
***
Part 9. Rebounding into Recklessness,
Jon's jaw dropped as Carly started down the aisle towards him. She shone in her wedding dress beyond his wildest dreams. Her spiraled blonde locks framed her cute face, smiling with those perfect dimples with tears of joy falling over them. He smiled back and felt his own tears forming. He realized she wasn't looking directly at him though. As she kept walking down the aisle it became more apparent that she was looking past him. His heart sank as his surroundings put him at the side of the aisle, at the edge of the row of seats. He turned and saw her eyes were on another man standing by the altar. His face not quite in focus, he couldn't recognize it. He felt devastation tear through him, like everything in the world was wrong. He felt a hand grasp his and looked to his side to see Beth. She was wearing a ridiculously revealing red dress, and smiling confidently at him, like she knew she was the sexiest girl in the room, and loved that he knew it too.
Her luscious lips and wet tongue mouthed "I love you" slowly and silently.
He turned back to see Carly smiling and giggling through tears, holding hands with her groom at the altar. He tore his hand away from Beth's and wanted to run, but he felt paralyzed. Suddenly she grasped his hand again and he tried to tear his hand away but the grasp was somehow too strong. He looked over again and suddenly it wasn't Beth. Elaina's piercing eyes held him in place with an arrogant smile.
"What's the matter Jon?" she said, knowing that he wanted to escape but couldn't.
"Jon?"
......
"Jon?... Is there a Jon here?"
Jon opened his eyes and sat up from the waiting room chair. "Yeah that's me."
"Carly in bed 5 is asking for you to come back in," the orderly said.
Jon nodded and found his way listlessly back through the doors to find Carly speaking with the ER doc, a middle-aged woman in scrubs holding a clipboard,
Jon was only able to glance at Carly's expressionless washed-out face before the doctor spoke.
"Jon right? I'm Dr. Hodgson, or Barb if you'd like. I understand you're a family doctor?"
"Yeah. Good to meet you," Jon said shaking her hand and trying to snap his mind back into the present moment.
"Carly wanted you in here while I was explaining everything," Barb said.
"Oh. Yeah sure." Jon nodded, glancing over at Carly who spared him an almost embarrassed, but vulnerable look, that made him want to reach out and touch her, but he crossed his arms and turned back to the other doctor to listen.
"So she has a mid-shaft tibial fracture on the left side. It's only slightly displaced, all in all doesn't look terrible, at least for that type of break. It sounds like it was a nasty mechanism of injury though, high velocity, fall from height, et cetera..."
"Yeah, absolutely it was," Jon confirmed.
"So because of that I want to take a few more x-rays, just to make sure there's no other fractures. Even though she's pregnant. We'll make sure we shield her really well again. The tenderness is pretty specific to that area, but we don't want to focus too narrowly and miss the bigger picture because we were distracted by the obvious, right?"
"Yeah, definitely agree," Jon said.
"So after we get a few more xrays I'll be consulting ortho either way, probably just by phone, and they'll help us decide whether it needs any internal fixation or not. I'm guessing not, especially since she's pregnant and they'd want to minimize the risk there, but I can't guarantee it."
Jon looked at Carly, "Are you getting this?"
She looked at her doubtfully, "Internal fixation is like...?"
"Surgery. To put in plates and screws, and that kind of stuff," Jon explained.
She nodded and hugged herself looking more scared.
"You can come take a look at the x-rays if you want," Barb offered to Jon.
"Well you should show Carly, if you want her to understand," Jon suggested, "It's not like I'm gonna make her decisions for her."
"No I don't want to look at it, it's just gonna freak me out," Carly shook her head. "Jon just... I'll feel better if you look at it, okay? Please?" She furrowed her brow and his heart melted at the trusting, pleading look she gave him.
He gave her a reassuring smile and nodded.
He stepped away to the desk with Barb who showed him the x-ray, which was exactly as she described. They had a brief chat about where Jon worked and where he had trained. She had apparently started out in family medicine and switched over a few years back. Overall he was relieved that she seemed like a reasonable, intelligent woman to be looking after Carly. Jon left her to tend to other patients with another friendly handshake. Barb said Carly seemed pretty distraught about the ordeal and that she was lucky to have a supportive partner like him. He walked away stifling a blush again at the thought.
He stepped back through the curtain into Carly's room.
"Well?" she asked.
Jon shrugged with a smile, "It's broken."
She swatted him and gave him an annoyed smirk. "Thanks for your expertise."
Jon chuckled, "It's exactly like she described. I'll make sure they do everything right Carly, don't worry. She's a good doc though, and more experienced with this type of stuff than I am honestly. Everything she said is true. It's the bigger of the two bones in your lower leg, broken about halfway down. A little bit out of place but not that bad. Usually a bit of displacement like that heals okay on its own."
"So you don't think it'll need surgery?" she asked, looking up at him hopefully.
"That's ultimately up to the surgeon. I don't want to promise something when I don't know for sure Carly."
She tightened her lips and a tear escaped her eyes, "I don't wanna have surgery Jon."
He reached out to her hand. "Even on the off chance you do, it's not the end of the world. I'll stay with you and help you through it if you need me to."
"What about the baby? The anesthetic? From what I remember, they don't have a lot of evidence for the safety of that in pregnancy," she said, squeezing it back.
Jon closed his eyes at the simple wonderful feeling of her hand in his, "That's technically true. It's always about weighing the risks though right?"
She nodded and looked out towards the curtain but more tears streamed down and her lip started to quiver. "I'm scared."
Jon knew it wasn't just about the broken leg, and his chest tore in two. He reached down instinctively to her shoulder.
"Hey, Carly, I'm here for you okay?" He said looking into her beautiful tear-filled eyes.
She sobbed and reached up for a hug and he wrapped his arms around her preciously. With her on the stretcher it was an awkward angle for his back and torso, but holding her in his arms was pure bliss. The smell of her hair filled his nose, and her soft, heavy bosom pressed up into him. She shook in light sobs and squeezed him back tightly. He felt like he never wanted to let her go. After a minute she seemed to relax but still kept her arms around him.
"I thought I was just getting fatter," she scoffed. "I thought I had just let myself go with all of the stress of everything. I'm already 10 fucking weeks," She sobbed again.
