When Krista DeWitt was woken by the phone ringing at nearly two that Thursday morning she knew it was bad news. She was awake instantly and sat up in bed. She recognized her mother's shaky voice on the phone when she answered. But she was sobbing and heaving so much that Krista had difficulty making out what she was trying to explain.
"It's Ben. He's been in an accident. I know we should have never gotten him that damned motorcycle," Patricia DeWitt told her daughter before sobbing some more.
Krista learned that her younger brother, Ben, had crashed his motorcycle. It had been a gift from their parents on this twentieth birthday, not quite a month earlier. As far as Mrs. DeWitt knew her son had sustained back injuries, but had not been told many other details. The doctors did not know yet just how serious his condition was because he was still in surgery.
Krista quickly put some clothes on and drove to St. Mark's Hospital. It was a route she was very familiar with because she worked as a nurse there. She was twenty-five and had been a nurse for two years. Krista was accustomed to having to console distraught family members who were visiting someone who was her patient. Now she was in the same unfortunate situation as them. She choked back tears as she drove. Her parents were waiting for her in the Emergency Department waiting room when she arrived. Her mother was crying while her father held her. Although he was trying his best to comfort her mother, Krista could tell that her father was just as emotionally fragile.
The wait seemed interminable for Krista and her parents as they sat in the Emergency Department, each silently praying to receive good news about Ben's condition. When a tall man with short greying hair and wearing green scrubs approached them over an hour later they stood up, almost frightened to hear what the doctor was going to say.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Green. I'm the doctor who performed Ben's surgery," he said. "He's got a long road of recovery ahead of him, but thankfully there was little or no nerve damage to his spine. He won't be paralyzed, but it will be a while before he's fully healed."
Krista heard her parents sign in relief. She continued to listen to what Dr. Green had to say, then asked him several questions. She did not know the doctor well, but had met him a few times while tending patients of his. They got along well and had mutual respect for one another. He had a good reputation for being a skilled neurosurgeon, which was a relief to Krista.
"You guys go home and get some rest. There's no point in staying here. Ben's still heavily sedated," Krista explained to her parents. "I'm going to go up to his room and wait till he wakes up. I'll call you later and tell you if I learn anything more and to let you know how he is. The worst is over. You guys get some rest and come see him this evening. Besides, seeing you this upset will only worry him."
Krista hugged her parents, then walked towards the elevator. When she entered her brother's room and saw him lying in the hospital bed she felt tears flowing from her brown eyes. Her brother had cuts and scrapes on his chin and left arm. He was also in a body cast that covered his torso. Krista sat in a chair beside the bed, quietly sobbing.
Almost an hour later Krista saw her brother stir. She leapt to her feet and moved over towards his bed, clutching the side rail. Ben opened his blue eyes and squinted. He winced slightly. When Ben noticed his sister crying, he gave her a weak smile.
"Hey... no need to cry. The cat that ran out in front of me is fine; I swerved just in time. The PT Cruiser coming in the other lane didn't make it though." Ben laughed, then flinched in pain.
"It's not funny, Ben. You could have killed yourself. You're lucky to not even be paralyzed," his sister chided. "That motorcycle is going to be the death of you."
"You don't have to worry about that -- it's totaled," her brother said with a frown.
Krista was secretly glad, but tried not to show it. She gave her brother's hand a soft squeeze, wiping tears from her reddened cheeks. She brushed her long black hair from her face and smiled at him.
"Dr. Green had to put two rods in your back. Even once your cast comes off, you're going to need weeks of physio to help you regain your strength," she told him.
Ben nodded, seeming disappointed, then the corner of his mouth turned up. "I guess I shouldn't complain about that. I'm lucky that I'll be able to still walk," he concluded.
"Very," his sister said solemly.
Ben's recovery was more rapid than his doctors expected. They attributed it to him being healthy and athletic. Soon he was allowed walk to the bathroom, although never without the help of a nurse. Ben hated having to be aided just to walk a few yards though. The bathroom was in the corner beside his bed and he saw no reason why he could walk there on his own. But it was better than the catheter that had been inserted during his surgery and had been left in for over a week after that.
Krista spent as much time with her brother as she could. She stopped in before or after her shifts at the hospital and on her days off. Once his cuts and bruises faded she grew more encouraged about his recovery.
One afternoon while Krista was visiting her brother she noticed a look of discomfort on his face. It worried her. She got up from her chair and stood beside his bed, looking down at him.
"Are you okay, Ben?" she asked anxiously.
"Yeah... but... ah... could you get a nurse to come help me to the bathroom? I need to pee," he said, seeming embarrassed.
Krista chuckled. "I think I better ask Dr. Green if you sustained any brain damage in your accident, little brother," she teased. "In case you've forgotten, I'm a nurse. Here -- I'll help you walk over." She lowered the side rail of the bed.
Ben looked up at his older sister, now feeling more uncomfortable than he already had been due to his aching bladder. "Yeah, but you're my sister. Call one of the other nurses to come in," he said.
Krista gave her brother a scolding look. "Ben, they're all busy. I'm not going to take them away from other patients just so you can pee. I'll walk you over there."
Ben sighed. "I don't know why I can't just go on my own. It's close enough that I could practically spit at it from here," he said.
"Can you hit the toilet from here?" she taunted with a sharp laugh. "You've been lying in bed for a long time, Ben. You might not realize it, or want to admit it, but you're weaker than usual. If you trip or fall, you're going to hurt yourself. Badly. You may look okay on the outside, but your back is still healing. If you re-injure it, this time you could end up in a wheelchair for the rest of your life. Do you want that?" Krista's normally soft voice had grown stern.
Ben let out another sigh, louder this time. "Okay, I guess I don't have any choice," he conceded.
"No, I'm afraid not. Eventually your bladder will win out," she joked.
Krista helped her brother to sit up on the side of his bed. He was wearing a pale green hospital gown that barely covered his knees. She could tell that he was bashful about her seeing him wearing just that, judging from the way he tugged at it as he sat up, making sure he was completely covered.
Krista wrapped her right arm around her brother's waist and helped him from his bed. She could feel his cast beneath the thin polyester robe as she held him tight against her. She took his left arm and placed it around her to steady him as he stood up.
Ben clenched his jaw and let out a quiet groan as he took slow, tentative steps away from his bed. His sister was right -- he was rather weak and unsteady on his feet. Still, using a urinal or bedpan would have been preferable to Krista guiding him to the bathroom.
As they slowly made their way towards the bathroom in the opposite corner of the hospital room he could smell the scent of his sister's shampoo in her thick, black hair. He drew in a deep breath and smiled. Now he was aware of how his left hand was brushing the side of her left breast. His pulse quickened and he felt his cock twitch as his fingers rubbed over her firm mound. Ben shifted slightly, hoping to slip has hand lower on his sister's side.
Krista felt her brother move and stopped, giving him a worried look. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah," he replied with a grunt.
"Well, go slow, okay?" she cautioned.
Ben nodded and took another step towards the open bathroom door. Now Krista was holding him tighter against her. He was several inches taller than her and bulkier, so she struggled somewhat to help hold him. She had tugged his left hand more securely around her, making sure she was supporting him properly. When she repositioned herself it made Ben's nervousness increase. Now he could feel the back of his hand rubbing over the underside of his sister's heavy breast through her sweater. Ben tried to force himself to think of other things, but all he could focus on was the sensation of his sister's firm mound resting on his hand. It reminded him of the maxim to bathe in the Ganges, but not to think about elephants. He wondered if she felt him touching her there, and if she did, whether she enjoyed it as much as him or just didn't care. Maybe she just didn't care, given the situation, he thought. Still, felt himself getting hard by the normally forbidden touching of his sibling.
As Ben and his sister slowly moved closer to the bathroom his thoughts were filled with the times he had admired Krista's sizable and perfectly formed breasts when she wore tight or revealing tops. Occasionally he would catch glimpses of her rounded cleavage down the front of a blouse or loose tank top when she would bend over. Sometimes, on rare occasions, he was even fortunate enough to snatch a look when Krista wasn't wearing a bra. The first time this happened Ben was a teenager. He was captivated as he stared at his sister's heavy globes, swaying slightly inside a blue tank top as she leaned over to tie her sneakers. It was a sight he had never forgotten and was the beginning of his forbidden desire for his sister. To feel her, or see her topless, had been his goal for years. Ben silently cursed the hand of fate for having decided that his first opportunity to touch his sister's breast would have to be at such an awkward moment. Be careful what you wish for, he thought to himself.
"Okay-- do you want me to turn the water on for you while you go?" Krista was still clutching her brother as they stood in the bathroom beside the toilet. His erection was beginning to tent his hospital gown and all he wanted was for her to leave the room.
