Hello Readers! As always, thank you for being patient with me as I take my sweet ol time writing these chapters. I anticipate that this will be the final entry in the harem series so you can all take a deep breath and know that everything gets wrapped up (more or less) by the end of this chapter. I love your comments and appreciate every one of them. Please continue to vote and comment. I really do read them and try to improve my writing with them.
NOTE - This chapter focuses a lot on River. If you aren't into Transwomen having romantic sex with cis-men then click off now and save me the pain of reading your comments about how you hate the content.
Thanks and stay horny!
Mark's head was fuzzy. His thoughts swam around him in nonsensical circles.
River in white and gold lingerie. Her breasts on tantalizing display and her cock only just discernible.
Liz screaming at him. Again.
Wait, hadn't they broken up? Why was she screaming at him this time?
No. She wasn't screaming at him now. That was a memory. That had already happened.
Mom and Rachel talking to him. River crying.
"What happened?"
"He's awake!" River said. She wasn't crying. What was going on?
Immediately there were people around him. He opened his eyes. He had never realized how difficult it was to open his eyes before. He opened his eyes and saw a nurse leaning over him. She peeled back his eyelid and flashed a light in his eyes. "Hey there, young man," the nurse said, "I'm Nurse Ratchet. Can you tell me your name?"
Mark couldn't help himself. "McMurphy."
She smiled. "You got me. I'm Nurse Rathmahataman, but they call me Nurse Ratchet because I told a patient I'd cut off his balls if he touched my ass again." She put the penlight in her pocket. "You got a name, Handsome?"
"Mark. Mark Amren." There was a sound of relief and some sobs from... somewhere in the room. He tried to sit up but his head swam and he immediately fell back. "What happened?"
"There's a lot of people interested in the answer to that question. Think you're up for talking to some folks?"
"My head."
"You're dehydrated and suffering from blood loss. Let's get you sitting up, and then I'll get you some ice chips and sugar water while the nice men ask you their not nice questions."
"What?"
More hands were on him and looking around he saw his mom, Rachel and River all trying to help him into a sitting position. Everyone was dressed for dinner. That's right, they were going out to dinner. "Damn," he said, "and to think I had a date with you ladies."
The Nurse laughed. "Not with me young man. You're not my type."
He chewed on some ice chips that had been covered in sugar and felt his head clear up a bit. Clear up enough that he could look around the room and take in his surroundings a bit. The fluorescent lights washed everything with their ultra sterilized hues and it wasn't difficult for Mark to recognize the curtains and surroundings as belonging to an emergency room. Even so, filling most of his vision was the dark skinned Nurse Rathmahataman. She smiled at him when she noticed his eyes focus on her. "There we go. Much better." She turned to the others. "I'll be right back. The police will want to talk to him."
She turned and left, leaving Mark suddenly surrounded by his mother and two sisters. Susan was wearing a very flattering black cocktail dress and sports coat. Her nipples were clearly visible under the fabric and that wasn't surprising given that the AC in the hospital must have been tuned down to somewhere around 65 degrees. She leaned in and kissed Mark on the forehead.
"Damnit Mark, you had us really freaked out there for a while."
Rachel perched on the foot on his bed. She was also wearing a cocktail dress, but unlike the form fitting number that Mama wore, Rachel's dress was off the shoulder, cinched at the waist, and flared out from her hips. It was also a deep emerald green and she had a matching green shawl. Also unlike mama, Rachel was wearing a bra that prevented what Mark assumed was equally cold nipples, from putting themselves on display. She put a hand on his ankle and squeezed it but didn't say anything.
A sharp intake of breath had Mark looking at River, who stood by his bed, opposite Mama. She had her makeup done, her hair done, her nails were fantastic. She wore a short, black skirt with a red, billowing wrap around blouse with bell sleeves. Mark smiled. "Damn. Got my money's worth on that outfit. Didn't we, River?"
The harsh breath turned into a combination laugh and sob as River put her hand on Mark's shoulder. "You're a dork, you know that?"
"Don't cry, River." Mark tried to lift his left arm to caress River's head but found that the shoulder was wrapped pretty tightly.
That's when the police came in. "Mr. Amren?" The first officer asked.
"Yeah. That's me." Mark leaned down to River's head. "I might need your help remembering everything."
"We have surveillance footage from the store Intimates, and we have the mall security footage as well. We have the fight with Ms. Elizabeth Gaits in the store, we have eyewitness accounts of her treatment of you and your girlfriend while there, and we have the mall footage of her attack on you."
The second officer spoke up. "You're lucky she didn't get any higher or that knife would have gone through your neck."
The first officer ignored his younger partner's commentary. "We also have character witnesses willing to testify that she has been manipulating you for the past year or more and that your record of violence can be at least partially attributed to her influence."
"So what do you need from Mark?" Susan asked.
"We want to know if this was a simple case of assault with a deadly weapon, or if it was a hate crime." The officer nodded to River. "Certainly Ms. Gaits seems to have flown into a jealous rage that her ex boyfriend has a new love interest, but the young lady here is a member of a federally protected class."
Mark looked at River. His eyes blazed as the memory of Liz shouting at River, of her launching herself at River, fell back into place. "Did she hurt you?" he asked.
Mark saw his words wash over River, saw her submit to the demand and hold back a shudder. "No. You got in the way." She turned to the officers, "that's why the strike was so low."
Mark turned back to the officers. "Liz has crossed one line too many as far as I'm concerned. I wouldn't trust myself to be in the same room as her."
The second officer looked at River. "Can we step outside for a moment, Miss?"
"Here is fine," Mark said. He turned to River. "Don't leave me right now. I need you." He looked at Rachel and Mama and told them the same thing with his eyes. He needed them. He needed them to help him stay in control. The rage was as bad as it had ever been, and the only people he could count on to help him now were these three.
"If it's all the same," Susan said, reaching across the bed. "River is as much family as Mark. Is it alright if we're here?"
River nodded. "If it's all the same?"
The second officer looked skeptical but didn't argue. "We're going to investigate this like a hate crime but in order to prosecute it as one, we will need you to testify. There's no way she gets away with the assault as it is, but a hate crime is harder."
"I'd rather not be under the spotlight if it's all the same."
The second officer opened his mouth to speak again, but the first nudged him in the ribs. "She said her piece," he said. He took a card out of his pocket and handed it to River. "If you change your mind."
They left. The Amrens let out a collective sigh of relief and the doctor came in right behind them. "Well young man, you are very lucky. The wound's were not deep or long and none required stitches. You lost a lot of blood, but not so much that you need a transfusion, and according to Nurse Ratchet here, your responses are as good as we could have hoped for. Let's get some fluids into you, and then you can be on your way."
"Rathmahataman," Mark said. "Thank you Doctor." Mark ignored the doctor's confused bluster as he turned back to his mom. "I guess this means we missed our reservation?"
Mom laughed. "By several hours."
"There's a place not far from here where you can take an order home." Nurse Rathmahataman said as she replaced the iv bag beside Mark's bed. "My brother owns it but he stays open late."
Rachel took out her cell phone and started typing. "This it?" She showed the phone to the nurse.
"That's the one. Tell him Sandi recommended you. He may not give you a discount, but he won't give you shit about calling so late either."
By the time they got home with their take out, no one was really hungry. Mark had slept in the passenger seat of Mama's SUV while Rachel and River had driven Mark's car back.
Standing in the driveway, Rachel took River's hand and squeezed it as soon as River was out of the car. As is the case with twins the world over, a simple gesture communicates volumes more than an ordinary person might realize. So much that could not be expressed in words was in that simple squeeze of the hand: understanding, pain, concern, love, and support. It was a gesture that told River that she was not alone, that others saw what was going on and that there were others with her in the midst of the confusion.
River took her sister's hand in both of hers, and kissed them. She wanted to do more, but she was tired. She wanted to get inside and lay down. She wanted to make sure Mark was ok. She wanted to shower and forget this day had happened and wake up tomorrow like all this was a bad dream. A kiss, and a look, and Rachel understood this along with the deep gratitude that River felt at such a simple thing as being seen.
