My Day at the Mall Ch. 07

I awoke to an extreme case of cotton mouth, a mild case of nausea and a throbbing in my knee. Maggie was there with a little water and a damp cloth. "Welcome back Cowboy!" she said softly. Then she set me on fire with one of the hottest kisses I've ever received.

After she let me catch my breath the first thing I noticed was that we were no longer at the vet's office. I was in my bedroom at the 'cottage'. "How did we get here and what time is it?" I asked as I tried to sit up. Maggie's hand on my chest kept me from getting up. That and the fiery lance of white hot pain from my bandaged knee, that is.

Maggie said softly, "Take it easy or you'll wake her." She nodded towards the other side of the bed and only then did I see Rachel and Becca sleeping next to me.

I looked questioningly at Maggie and she told me, "The surgery went fine but you had a mild reaction to the anesthetic and it kept you out a little longer than we thought it would. Given that you reacted to the anesthesia we didn't dare give you the antagonist to wake you up. Aside from that small glitch the procedure was textbook perfect. You've been asleep for about sixteen hours and Bear decided we should leave as quickly as possible given they were searching the area. We decided to leave immediately and that we could get you back here before you came too. An added bonus was that it would save time and put distance between us and the search area."

I nodded. "Why are Rachel and Becca in bed with me?" (I know, I'm dense sometimes.)

Maggie stifled a chuckle and said quietly, "When we got back here with you, Rachel had, amazingly enough, just awakened and became frantic when she thought you had been hurt. I got her calmed down but she refused to leave your side. She has watched over you since then and she dozed off again about twenty minutes ago. Frankly, I'm amazed that she stayed awake that long. She should still have been under the affects of the meds I gave her before we left."

I looked down at the sleeping woman. Her hair curled around her face and gave her air of complete innocence. "She's a remarkable woman. I want to get to know her much better." I said quietly as I looked at her delicate features.

Maggie smiled and said, "Yes she is. You know that she insisted that we move you and her sister into the same room? She is convinced that if Becca wakes up and you aren't the first one she sees Becca will fall completely apart. She is positive that you hold the key to her sister's recovery, and maybe even her sanity as well." She paused a moment, to frame her question, and then continued. "How can you tell them apart? With their legs covered you can't see the bandage, so how did you know that this one was Rachel?"

I looked to the other side of Rachel at the second sleeping angel. I frowned for a moment and then looked at her and shook my head. Puzzled I said, "I don't know how I tell them apart. I look at Rachel and she is Rachel. I look at Becca and I see Becca. I don't know how else to explain it to you. They are who they are"

Maggie looked at me for a minute and asked quietly, "What are you going to do about Becca? I've talked to a friend of mine on your secure line and he tells me that as Becca seems to have fixated on you the drug she was given will only reinforce that feeling. There is no known reagent, no antidote, to counter its affects." She held up her hand, "I called in a marker and got as much information from my friend Daniel," she paused, "he's a CIA researcher, as he could get me and he said that as far as he can tell there is no known cure for the affects of this shit. He did say that without repeated doses that the effects would lessen over time but that they never go away completely. The stuff has only been around since the early nineties so there are no long term studies on the affects. Given that they don't even admit to having it, there are even fewer materials available to him to research."

I sighed. "I need to talk to Rachel and see what she is comfortable with doing. Her sister is not competent to make that decision for herself at the moment and I don't have that right. We need to see how badly this stuff is affecting Becca's judgment." I sighed again. These are complications I so did not need.

Maggie sighed sadly and said, "I don't think you understand what I meant or all of what I've told you about the Priathomazine Glycol. The instant she looked at you in pain, she began the process of bonding to you. The minute she had pain inflicted on her after exposure to the drug she began the process of becoming dependant on the first person she saw; that would be you. She won't have a choice about it. That has already been taken from her. It's what this drug does. That is all it does. The only reason it's considered unsuitable for field use is that the subject becomes completely non-functional on their own. They can operate within specific guidelines you set for them for short periods of time, but will be completely unable to adapt to new or changing situations. They are completely unable to improvise on their own. The most prominent secondary affect is heightened libido. She'll crave sex. The BDSM crowd would call her a 'pet'. A 'pet' is someone unable to safely be on their own. They have no regard for their own safety or welfare. The only 'choice' left now is what you are going to do with her."

I gaped at her in horror. "Tell me you are joking! You can't be serious."

Maggie shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. From what Daniel told me I'm probably understating the case. He says that very little of the drug is needed and that Becca was given more than enough to guarantee the collapse of her free will. Without a master or a protector, someone to look after her and keep her safe, she'll not be likely to survive more than a year or so. That's if she doesn't immediately go catatonic if you reject her. Daniel says that is a very real possibility."

The feeling of dread I had settled like a cold knot in the pit of my stomach. It built for a moment and then ignited into white hot rage. "Winslow is dead. The next time I see him, he dies. My lip to God's ear it's a promise." My voice was calm and quite but my body tensed with the emotions running through me and that caused a flare of pain in my wounded knee.

Maggie watched me with concern in he eyes. "Settle down. There is nothing you can do right now and if you don't relax you're going to ruin the excellent needle point I did on your knee and then I'll have to spank you." She smiled and stroked my brow as she spoke. "I know someone who can help you to learn what you'll need to know about how to handle Becca both short and long term. We need to let her wake up and see how she'll react once she is awake. I agree with her sister by the way. You need to be the first person she sees when she wakes up given what we know of this stuff."

I nodded and relaxed back into the pillows. "Can I get something to eat please? And can I take a bath? My skin feels like I've not had a bath in a week."

Maggie shook her head. "No baths. Not for few days anyway. You can take a shower and we can wrap your knee to keep it dry but I don't want the sutures getting wet or you to immerse your knee for a week. After that, if it's healing well, you can have a nice long soak."

There was a soft knock at the door and Jerry came in carrying a tray loaded with a bowl of vegetable soup and a ham and cheese sandwich. He shook his head and in a very fake southern slave dialect exclaimed, "Well ain't thet jes' a fine 'Howdy do'. I's does all da wuk and you gets all da purty wimens in da bed wit' chou while I's is a slavin' away in de hot ol' kitchens!" He smiled as he sat the tray on the nightstand. "How are you doing goldbrick?"

Maggie's jaw dropped at his little speech. Jerry usually spoke with a very cultured Boston accent. For her to suddenly hear him spouting lines straight out of Gone with the Wind or Roots just blew her mind. I chuckled and said "Well, what can I say? They have better taste than to hang out with the field hands."

Jerry laughed quietly and then took in Maggie's expression. "Fuck you White Man! Don't worry Dr. Kirkland. Wayne and I have been friends for years and we used to pull this routine on several of the real 'crackers' we served with just to rub their noses in it. It is a long standing joke between us."

Maggie slowly nodded at him and said, "Call me Maggie, please. We are likely to be here a while and calling me Doctor all the time will get old quickly."

"Maggie it is then. Call me Jerry. If you'd like to eat there is more food ready in the kitchen or I can bring you in a tray as well." Jerry cocked an eyebrow at her in question.

"I think I'll come eat in the kitchen in a minute. I want to be sure he can keep his supper down and then I'll be along." She smiled at the big man as she spoke. I thought I detected the glimmerings of interest there in her eyes. I knew Jerry would be interested. If Maggie had been ordered from a catalog she couldn't have been more Jerry's type. Racial aspects aside, she was exactly the type of woman Jerry would go for and he, like me, had no problem with the interracial aspects of a relationship.

As Jerry turned and left I watched as Maggie checked out his ass. I grinned at her and teased, "Like what you see?"

She had the grace to blush at being caught but decided to brazen it out. "Hell yes! He's a very handsome man. Why wouldn't I find him attractive?"

I smiled at her calmly and replied. "No reason whatsoever. I have to admit I'll take your word on his being handsome, given that the subject is fairly abstract for me, but I was only teasing you."

She smiled back and asked, "You wouldn't mind if I spent a little more time with him would you?"

I grinned affectionately at her. "Maggie, if you want to go for him, be my guest. I think we both know that the pleasure we shared is just that; pleasure. We are starting to be good friends I think. I'm not your father or your conscience. If you want to try him out be my guest. Just don't play with his heart. He is my friend and I don't want to see him hurt."

She smiled at me and said, "I don't play with hearts. If there isn't a spark I'll be sure to keep it light." A concerned look crossed her features. "Do you think he'll accept advances from me given I'm white?"

I smiled. "Maggie, if you make a play for him, he most definitely will be interested. He's color blind in that regard. So am I for that matter. He wouldn't care what race you were if you're really interested in him. You are as close to his physically ideal woman as you can get so I really don't think you'll have a problem. You are gorgeous, intelligent, articulate, and sexy as hell. He'd have to be dead not to be interested."

She smiled at the compliment. "I want you to rest. I don't want you on that knee at all today. If you heal well and quickly you'll be back up and on it by the middle of the week. I'm going to go find out what there is to eat in the kitchen." She smirked at me. "Then I'll have my lunch!" I laughed softly as the door closed behind her.