Magician 04: Apprentice
He's a Ventriloquist, but she's no dummy
I'm one of the invisible people. You know, handicapped. I'm paralyzed from the waist down. Yeah, that sucks, but over the years, I've learned to deal with it. Now, I'm back in rehab because of another car accident. At least I was parked this time, so the paperwork wasn't as bad. Funny things happen in parking lots.
I am currently living at the rehab place, as I need a lot of work, and getting my replacement van and wheelchair is taking a while. At least it is all paid for by my insurance. The other driver's got problems, as the cops learned his blood alcohol was way too high. The insurance company was all, "Yes, ma'am," and, "Of course, Miss Helen." They knew he was in the wrong, and smelled big money. I don't blame them, but sometimes, I think they forget I can hear them when they talk to each other.
I don't know when I first noticed, but I've been able to overhear quite a lot I shouldn't be able to. I don't know if I have super hearing, or what, but little escapes me. Maybe that's why I heard about a therapist at the center, Jack. He does a weekend magic show for the kids. Not much, but the kids enjoy it. The center of his act is when he has a scene with his dummy. You see, he is a ventriloquist. At least, when he is not not being a therapist. The kids love the act, because he could make the dummy so lifelike. And they were always fooled into thinking the dummy actually speaks.
But I heard the rumors. Some of the old-timers said things about him, and how unnatural his act was. The dummy moved in ways that it shouldn't be able to. They would stop talking if someone else showed up, but somehow, they never noticed me.
Well, I had been there two months, when I was informed that my current therapist found work elsewhere, for more money. They needed to assign another to me. Well, I had seen Jack's show a few times by now, and even talked to him. I thought he was nice, kind of cute, and so I asked if he could be my therapist. Turned out, I got my wish. I would see him three times a week, for two hours at a time. He was always kind, and I could see he looked down my shirt whenever he thought he could get away with it. I also had a lesser workout, where I had a safety watcher, but it was otherwise on my own.
Since I worked from home four out of five days, I had little reason to get dressed up every day. So I was in the habit of comfortable clothes. I didn't bother with shoes, as they were a pain to get on, and no one would know. I usually wore a wraparound skirt that went to the knees, but I didn't bother with underwear. This avoided pulling clothes up my legs. Fortunately, I could work half days here, with a phone, a headset, and a tablet. Still, it was tiring, what with all the other rehab work I had to do. Yet, I could see the rehab was improving me all the time.
I also didn't wear a bra. I found it to be more bother than it was worth. Sitting all day long, my tits didn't bother me, even though they were above average size. Sometimes, I would need to video conference, but that only needed me to look nice from the waist up. Company policy was a white shirt, and I had no problem with that, but in good lighting, you could see the coloration of my nipples through the shirt. At home, the light was dim enough, that they never showed, so I never worried. Here, where it is brighter, with the work shirts my brother grabbed, it was a small problem. While I could be offended, I actually liked the attention. So much so, that at night, I would play with my nipples under the covers, and sometimes come.
In addition to not bothering with underwear, I only wore a top to sleep. I had tried pajamas, but they were difficult to put on, and just got all caught up in the covers. I even tried sleeping in a skirt, but that was worse. Eventually, I settled on a sexy teddy. Now it was an old one, small and worn, since I had had it for years. It barely covered my breasts. You could clearly see the shape of my nipples, and when the room lights were on, it was kind of translucent. This way, I could sit up in bed, and be decent, as long as I kept the covers on and the lights low. That's how I spent my nights here, since the only people that might see me exposed were female medical personnel when they helped me dress and undress.
Well, one day, I was watching Jack do his act for the kids. I was to the side, so I was able to see what he did with his hands in the back of the dummy. I don't know why, but today I really wanted to understand how he brought the dummy to life. But try as I might, his hand was in the wrong place, or too many things were happening to the dummy at once. It seemed impossible. So, after the show, instead of wheeling myself back to the common area, I stayed and watched him pack up. That's when I saw his secret, or rather, that he had a secret. Because what I saw was a nearly solid back on the dummy under its shirt. There was no place for his hand to go inside and control it, only a pair of finger holes.
So I quietly rolled up to him, and cleared my throat. Jack jumped, startled, turned around, and said, "Ack, I didn't see you there."
"I can tell."
"What can I do for you, Helen."
"Well, Jack, I was watching your act from the side, and thought it was great. There's just one problem."
"Oh? Did I offend you, or make a mistake?"
"Mistake, maybe. Something strange, definitely. You see, just now I saw you put the dummy away, and saw its back. There's no place to put your hand."
He looked anxious, and finally asked, "You won't tell anyone, will you?"
"I have no reason to, but it seems rather odd, don't you think?"
"Well, while I can do it the traditional way, I found some years ago, that I could place my hand in the center of the back, and will the action I wanted through my hand. It took a few months to perfect it, and learn how to hide it, but apparently, I need more work on the latter."
"Perhaps I can help."
"How so?"
"You can practice, with me watching. I can give you pointers, where I see you not fully hiding your 'talent'." I used my fingers to air quote the last word.
"Maybe so."
Over the next month, after my therapy session, while I recovered my breath, I watched him with the dummy. I watched critically, and advised him where he slipped up. Soon, he was doing a lot better, but we realized he was still too vulnerable to the back or side. So he agreed that it would be best to not have people to the side or behind him, if he could help it.
One day, after a particularly hard new exercise, I said in my frustration, "Why not just stick your hand up the back of my shirt and make my body do the exercise?"
I was too angry with myself to see the confused look on his face. I also missed the thoughtful look. I didn't even realize what he was about to do, until I felt him pull the back of my shirt up. "Huh?"
He didn't say anything, but slipped his hand up my shirt, and I could feel him spread his fingers. Then, suddenly, I felt something below the waist, even as my right arm was starting to do the exercise. It didn't do it very well, but as I sputtered, he tried again. I calmed down, as I realized what he was trying, so I focused on doing it with him. I could almost hear his encouragement. His hand got the exercise to work a lot better, but the tingling in my lower right leg was distracting me.
After at least a dozen tries, I finally did the exercise. I thought I heard him say something, but I didn't quite catch it. That's when he pulled his hand back out. Just then, the feeling left my lower body.
"Um, Jack?"
"Yes?"
"When you did that... whatever, something happened."
"Yeah, I saw."
