Knox County Ch. 09

"I said he's out of surgery. Sean. He just got out about twenty minutes ago. They got the lung reinflated. And the bleeding is all stopped."

"What time is it?"

"About two thirty."

She quickly calculated. Sean had been in surgery for around twelve hours. That couldn't be good. "Will he be all right?"

Tim shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "They said he'll live. They don't know if there's anything permanent, though."

Aimee felt a wave of relief sweep over her body. He'd live, that was all she cared about.

When she turned back to face Tim, she looked again at the uniform.

"I came straight here when they were done at the scene and getting the statements," he said, watching her eyes. "They had to take my clothes for evidence."

"What happened to him?" she said. "George Silverman, why did he do this? What–"

"He's dead," Tim said.

Aimee remembered him lying there, a great big bear of a man. He'd been flat on his back, arms outspread, the gun a few feet away. But she hadn't seen blood. It had all happened so fast, so much noise.

"When he broke free of me, knocked me to the ground, he pointed the gun at me. That's when Courthouse Security let loose. He was hit twice in the back. He was dead at the scene."

She remembered them working on him, and on Will and Sean. But her focus had been on Sean.

"Why? What did you do?"

Tim's face got grim. He shook his head. "Dated his daughter."

She slapped him across the face, hard, and flinched at the sound of the crack. Tim didn't flinch, though. Instead, he lowered his eyes, shame evident on his face.

"You bastard," she hissed. "When are you going to quit destroying my life?" She felt tears come back.

"What did you tell them?" Tim said. Aimee looked at him, and Tim continued. "The cops, when they questioned you. What did you tell them?"

She glared at him. "That's why he did it, isn't it. You handled it your way, didn't you?"

Tim was silent, his eyes avoiding hers.

"Look at me, goddamn you." He did, his eyes raising to meet hers. "Was it worth it? One man dead; Will shot and seriously wounded; and Sean. Christ, he could die." Tim didn't move, and her voice rose. "Tell me: Was it worth it?"

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, unable to look at her.

Aimee rose from the sofa and pushed him away. She couldn't get out of there fast enough.

* * *

Will awoke with a start, his chest burning with pain, his lungs trying to expel what felt like gallons of heavy liquid. He was coughing, and he tried to cover his mouth with his hand. His hand wouldn't move, though; it refused to do his brain's bidding. Between coughs, he snatched glimpses of Elizabeth, her face terrified, her voice calling out for someone to come in. He caught a fragment of his sister Sue–what the hell was she doing here?–running past his feet.

Then, just as the coughing peaked, he felt cool fingers on his cheeks, and something was being lifted from his face. He glimpsed and saw an oxygen mask lifting away from him, the inside coated in what looked like blood and snot.

"Well good afternoon," a cheerful voice said. A female, he saw. She looked tired, but a smile creased her face. "I see we're feeling better."

He tried to shake his head and speak. His throat was dry, constricted, and he couldn't get out more than a croak between coughing fits.

"Don't try to speak yet," the voice said. "You've been shot. The bullet lodged in your right lung. You're coughing out the remnants of the bleeding you suffered and some fluid buildup, but that's a good sign."

A good sign? He felt like his chest was on fire and a ten-ton elephant was sitting smack dab in the middle. This was good?

"I'm going to give you some morphine to help with the pain," the voice continued. "But you'll be coughing the fluid build-up out for a few hours, okay?" He tried to nod. "Don't worry, though. This is a good sign."

Then he felt something cool and damp on his face, and he saw the corner of a red-tinged wash cloth wiping him off.

He heard the voice speaking again, but it wasn't talking to him. "Try to get him to drink some water if you can. Between coughing fits, and just a little. His throat's dried out from the oxygen, and that'll help with the discomfort."

He darted his eyes down the bed, to his side, and saw a needle sticking out of the back of his left hand, two in his right hand. The coughing picked up and he shook with the pain.

Then he felt a warmth coursing through is veins, starting with his right hand and traveling up his arm. Soon, the warmth had spread over his body. He still felt the pain, he realized, but he no longer cared about it. His whole body relaxed, and he didn't fight the darkness that again enveloped him.

* * *

David walked in from work, the fatigue washing over his muscles. "Cynthia," he called out, but he heard no answer. "Babe, are you home?" Still no sound.

He was worried. She'd been sick that morning, putting it off to bad hospital food over the past few days. David had asked her to stay home, but she had refused. She needed to help Elizabeth get Will home and settled in.

"It'll only be a few hours," she had argued with him. "I'll be home by one. And if I'm not feeling better, I'll take a nap."

Cynthia's voice had been adamant, even as she'd wiped flecks of vomit from her nightshirt. He had known better than to argue with her. Now, though, he was filling with a sense of dread. Her car was in the driveway; she should be here. He looked out back, but she wasn't there. He strode down the hallway, getting more worried. She wasn't in the hallway bath, nor was she in the den. He reached the end of the hall and opened the door to the master bedroom.

"Cynthia," he said, not seeing her in there. The door to the master bath was closed. He went to the door and knocked. "Babe, you in there?"

The door opened in front of him. "Come in, handsome," she said.

David felt the waves of relief rush over him, soon replaced by arousal as she opened the door further. She had one hand on the open door and the other on the door frame, blocking his entrance. Best of all, David saw, she was wearing a huge smile. And nothing else.

"I was calling for you," he mumbled. She arched an eyebrow. "I . . . uh . . . well, I was worried."

"I'm feeling better now," she said. She stepped back and took her hand from the door, waving him in. "Much better."

He went to her, hugging her smooth, warm body, bending down and kissing her. One hand was stroking her back, and the other reached down and cupped her ass, squeezing gently. She was kissing him back, frantically, tugging his shirt from his slacks and unbuttoning the shirt. She broke the kiss.

"I've got a surprise for you," she said, breaking the kiss and unbuckling his belt.

He grinned. "Really?"

She knelt in front of him, working his pants to his ankles. He felt himself getting hard, then he felt her mouth on him, sucking him in deeply. He groaned with the sensation, running his fingers through her hair as she started sucking on him.

"Then I guess you're feeling better?" he managed to say.

Her only response was to use her hand to pump him as she sucked him in with greater force. He tossed his shirt behind him before looking at the sight at his feet. Her beautiful body, lightly tanned skin with proud breasts and hard nipples, and her head moving faster back and forth.

He watched as her free hand reached behind him, then he felt her fingers spreading his ass. Soon, the fleshy pad of a finger was pressing against his anus, and he felt his arousal reaching new heights.

"Don't," he said, pulling her arm away, keeping her hand from his ass.

She let him go and looked up at him, still pumping his engorged cock as she did so. "You don't like?"

He shook his head. "I like too much, way too much," he whispered, running his fingers over her cheek. "I want to last a little if you don't mind."

She sucked him back in, then let him go. "Don't worry about it," she said. She sucked him back in again, and he gasped with the force of her mouth on him.

He felt his orgasm building, and he tried to stop. She sensed it, too, though, and increased her efforts.

"Enough," he said, pulling away from her and reaching under her arms. The look in her eyes didn't flash disappointment as he'd expected. Oh no, David realized, her eyes–and her whole face, from eyebrows to upturned lips–flashed sultry excitement and expectations.

"Your turn," he said. He went to his knees in front of her, kissing his way down her breasts and sucking her nipples in as he went. She was backing up, and he watched her sit on the edge of the whirlpool tub and spread her legs as his lips reached her pubis. Her hands were running through his hair, soft mewls of appreciation escaping her lips as he lightly kissed and licked her smooth pubis. He took his hands and put them on the insides of her thighs, spreading her legs wider as his tongue crept downward.

Cynthia gasped when his tongue raked a long, slow path the length of her wet slit. She tasted clean and aroused at the same time. He smelled the soap on her skin and the tang of her excitement and guessed she had just stepped from the shower as he got home. His tongue continued its tortuous journey until he reached the top of her slit. He prodded a finger between her puffy pink lips as he sucked her clit into his mouth. She was incredibly wet, he thought, and broke his lips away as his finger pressed in further.

"What were you doing before I got home?" he said, looking into her eyes.

She grinned back at him. "Why do you ask?" She arched her head back and moaned as his finger pressed upward deep within her, pressing against the small knot of her g-spot.

"Because you seem very aroused for just a hummer," he said.

She looked back down at him, her hips now undulating softly with the movements of his finger. "Maybe I was getting ready for you."

"How?"

She smiled and reached over to the vanity drawer. "With this," she said. She held up a slim vibrator and, with her other hand, twisted the base. She bounced her eyebrows in anticipation as he reached out and took it from her.

David heard the low hum as he touched the tip to her vulva, pressing in as he sucked her clitoral hood back into his mouth. He started twirling his tongue around her engorged nubbin while stroking the vibrator back and forth. He heard her panting increase in tempo, and felt her hands tighten in his hair as a small orgasm washed over her.

He released her clit from his mouth and looked up. "That was quick."

Her hips were still undulating with the movements of the vibrator, and she didn't look down when she spoke. "I was really close when you knocked," she said. "Really, really close."

She groaned loudly as he held the vibrator steady and tilted it against the upper wall of her vagina, pressing in on what he hoped was her g-spot. Her hands tightened again in his hair and pulled his face back to her.

David needed little urging and dove back in, flicking his tongue on her distended lips around the invading vibrator. "My clit," she urged, "suck my clit again." He ignored her, teasing her with light flicks everywhere but her clit.

"Please," she said, and he let the torture end. He pressed the tip of his tongue against her swollen clit and began lazy circles around and around.

"Oh God yes," she moaned. "Take me, baby. Now."

She was pulling his head away, and he pulled the vibrator out as he stood in front of her. She leaned forward and sucked his throbbing cock back into her mouth, pumping him with her fist a few times before breaking away and gasping for air. "Put it in me," she said, spreading her legs wider.

He reached under and grabbed her by the ass, hoisting her up and onto his cock as he turned and pressed her back against the wall.

"Yes, come on," she encouraged as her legs encircled his waist and her hand reached under to guide him in. Feeling his head come into contact with her lips, he looked into her eyes. "Don't tease me," she pleaded, chewing her bottom lip and trying to bounce her hips down onto him.

"What's the hurry?" he said, smiling as he lowered her down inch by agonizing inch.

"Oooohhhhh fuuuuuck," she groaned as he entered and slowly filled her.

David concentrated on holding back. From the moment her pussy swallowed his head, and until he was fully in her, it felt like pure molten lava surrounding his prick. He had been close before, and pleasuring her had only served to excite him more. He wasn't going to last long, but he needed to hold out long enough for her.

He leaned in and, still fully inside, pressed his hips against hers in short jabs. His pubis was rubbing against her clit with every jabbing poke, and he felt the head of his cock poking against her cervix. He realized this was working when he heard her panting in his ear and her hands were clutching at his back, fingernails digging in and scratching over his bare skin.

"Oh David," she gasped into his ear, "just like this, fuck me just like this."

He continued, trying to blank his mind from the sensations running over and through his body and mind. It was no use, though. They hadn't made love, neither of them had had any release, since prior to the shooting eight days before.

"I'm getting close," he warned.

"Come on, honey," she encouraged. "Just keep going."

He did, pressing into her with greater force. He heard her breath expel with every thrust, and knew it wasn't going to be long.

There was no warning, no buildup. Before David knew it, he felt his release shooting through and out of his throbbing cock. With pulse after pulse, he kept coming, hard and deep into her.

Then he felt her nails clutch his back and her own orgasm rumbling through as her panting became a series of short, high-pitched yelps in his ear.

Still he kept his short jabs deep within, not stopping as his own release ended. Cynthia was pushing back at him harder and harder, and her yelps became a loud shriek as her body started spasming between him and the wall. He leaned in and kissed her deeply, and she returned it hungrily, groaning around her flailing tongue as it battled his in her mouth.

Then, as quickly as it came, he felt her breath even out and her body go slack in his arms. David stopped his thrusting and grinding and held her there.

"Been awhile," he whispered in her ear.

She murmured her agreement.

"That's one hell of a surprise you had for me," he said.

He felt a chuckle in her chest. "That wasn't the surprise," she said.

"You don't expect more I hope?"

She lifted her chin from his shoulder and placed her hands on his upper arms. Looking into his eyes, she spoke. "I wasn't sick, David. This morning, it wasn't the flu."

He tilted his head, taking a moment to catch on. When he did, his eyes went wide. "You mean . . . ."

She nodded. "I'm four weeks along."

He stared into her eyes as his face split into a bright smile. He couldn't remember ever getting better news in his whole life, ever feeling better than he did at just this moment. He put his arms around her and hugged her in tight. As she hugged him back, he carried her out of the bathroom and laid her on their bed.

"I love you," he said as he set her down.

"And I love you," she responded.

* * *

When Elizabeth returned from school at three thirty, Will was asleep in the recliner. She heard his soft snoring and watched his chest rise and fall above the bandage wrapped around his ribcage.

"Hi Will," Brandon cried out beside her. He made to dash to Will, but Elizabeth stopped him with a hand.

"Sshhh," she said. "Don't wake him yet."

It was too late, though. She heard his snore break and a quick cough. Then his eyes opened and he leaned up, looking at her and Brandon through narrowed eyelids.

"Hey, Tiger," he said, smiling at Brandon. He looked at Elizabeth. "Hey you."

"Hey yourself." She smiled back, her teeth showing. "Brandon, why don't you go out and play for awhile so I can get these groceries put away."

The little boy trotted back out the door. Elizabeth carried the bags in her hand to the kitchen and put them on the counter. She started putting them into the cupboards and refrigerator, her eyes on Will most of the time.

He pushed himself from the chair, wincing with the effort, looking stiff.

"You feeling okay?"

He tried to smile as he stood and got his balance. "Just a little stiff."

"It's too soon for you to be back at work," she said.

He walked into the kitchen and put his arm on the counter, steadying himself. "Nonsense," he said after a moment. "I'm only working half days. I'm stiff whether I'm here or there, so I might as well be there."

She pursed her lips. "You need to take it easier."

He chuckled. "I sit in a chair all morning, for Chrissakes. Sit in a chair there, sit in a chair here; what's the difference?"

She paused and looked at him. The room was cool, but there were beads of sweat on his forehead from the effort of getting up and walking fifteen feet. She reached over and pressed the back of her hand against his forehead, then each of his cheeks.

"There's no fever," he said. "I'm taking the antibiotics, and the wound was clean when I changed the bandages. No sign of infection. I just need to get back my strength is all."

She nodded. "Why don't you go lay down on the bed while I put away the groceries."

He grinned broadly. "Anything in mind?"

She shot him a glance that said no, and he shrugged and walked toward the bedroom. When he was gone, a smile curved her lips as she finished putting away the groceries. When she was done, she looked outside to make sure Brandon was fine. He was, riding his Big Wheel around the driveway with the neighbor girl, whose mother was watching them both from her front porch.

Elizabeth walked back down the hallway and entered the bedroom, closing and locking the door behind her.

"What're you doing?" Will said, his head lifting from the mattress.

"It's been a long time," she said, peeling off her blouse and shimmying her jeans down her slim hips to the floor.

His eyes registered desire as she approached, but his voice was unsure. "I'm not sure how good I'm going to be at this," he said, trying to raise himself onto his elbows.

She put her palm in the middle of his chest and gently pushed him back onto the bed. Going to his pants and undoing them, she said, "Just let me do all the work, okay?"

He nodded, anticipation now evident on his face.

She felt him getting hard as she hooked her fingers around the waist of his pants and boxers and pulled them down. When they cleared his hips, she saw that his excitement was nearly at full peak.

"Someone's happy to see me."

He only nodded, his eyes glazed over as she lowered her mouth to his hardening cock. She sucked him in long and deep, feeling him on the back of her throat. She didn't hold there, though. Instead, she picked up the speed of her lips until she felt him fully erect in her mouth.

"Let's hurry," she said, straddling her legs over his hips. "Brandon's just outside, so we don't have long."

"I'm afraid that's not going to be a problem," he said as she reached between her legs and grabbed his erection, guiding it between her legs.

She placed his head against her slit and started rubbing it back and forth, trying to get herself ready. With her other hand, she started rubbing her clit, feeling it grow harder with her efforts. "God, I've needed this," she said, starting to push down on him. She felt his head sliding in, and she increased the pace of her fingers rubbing her clit.

Elizabeth heard Will's breath expel, and she looked down at him. He was laying flat, his arms at his sides, his head back with lips slightly parted.

"You like this baby?" she said. She slid lower until her inner thighs met his.