My Life with Serena

I kept driving, "Remember our word game?"

I was keenly aware that she was nearly off whatever it was she's taken. She looked scared, "That wasn't funny! Come on Travis turn the truck around. Take me home. I think..."

I cut her off, "I think you need to stay with Tim. I think I'll drop you off, and bring your clothes over later."

Serena, I sensed, was trying to clear things up in her mind. I could see the wheels turning. She'd been with Tim earlier. Maybe it was Tim. Maybe it was Travis. It was supposed to have been Travis. It should have been...what? No! Wait! She panicked, "Travis take me home! I have to get home!" She needed a reason. She looked back at Danielle. Danielle looked scared, "Danielle needs her nap! Come on Travis!"

I kept driving toward my sister's, "You're going to Tim's."

Serena asked, "What were you doing with that sperm. I mean why did you have it on one of my recipe cards?"

"That was Tim's sperm."

Serena got real thoughtful, "Tim's sperm? Why would you..." She leaped across the console where the gear shift and storage area was. She grabbed my two cheeks in her hands and tried to kiss me, but I used my right hand and pushed her away.

She sobbed, "Oh no! Travis no! Travis I thought. No!" She started gasping for air. She grabbed at her throat, "Travis no. Honey wait!"

Yeah, she was waking up. It was time to rub it in, "I took some of Tim's sperm in to the hospital. I gave them a chunk of my hair. Remember, we had Danielle's DNA checked when she was born, but we never did mine. I need to make sure who's her daddy."

I watched; Serena kept gasping for air. She was holding her chest. She'd been in the hospital a few years before, and we'd found a murmur, nothing serious, but that was a while ago. She started grabbing at her stomach. Her face was white as snow. She held her right hand to her mouth. I was afraid she might throw up. I knew the reality of the situation must have finally sunk in.

Serena wailed at me, "No Travis no. You're mine. You're my all. I wouldn't. I mean I couldn't. I mean. I...No!"

She kept crying. I snagged my cell phone again and punched up my mother and father's house number. It took a couple rings but my mom finally got it, "Hello mom?"

"No this is your dad."

"OK, dad, listen. One of you needs to go to my house and wait for Alaina and Renee. They should be home around 6:00. I need the other of you to meet me at the hospital."

He replied, "Why? What's wrong?"

"It's Serena. Tim's given her something. I have Danielle in the truck with me. I'll need someone to come get Danielle while I wait this out with Serena."

Dad replied, "I'll go to your house. I'll send mom to the hospital."

"Great dad," I hung up.

Serena was watching me. I knew she was scared. If her medications weren't right; or if she'd missed enough doses she could become a problem. She'd been hospitalized in the past, and the terror of a long term stay was something that haunted her. It worried me too; if she got off her meds anything could happen.

She was still sobbing, "You're taking me to the hospital?"

"I want to get you checked over."

She wailed, "No Trav, don't"

I really wanted her blood checked, but at the moment I had to make something up, "Serena you're grabbing your chest and gasping for air. I think Tim gave you something. Honey, you haven't been exactly right since your dad died. Remember your heart murmur; you could have a stroke or a heart attack." It was gobble-de-gook and I could tell she didn't buy it.

I turned the truck back around to get to the hospital. I finished the turn and started to speed up. Serena grabbed the passenger's door handle and started to yank it open. I had to reach across and pull her back in before she fell out of the truck. If she'd succeeded she would have been splattered all over the highway. I real quick clicked the safety catch on my driver's side so she couldn't do that again. For most people the typical exclamation would have been something like 'what are you crazy?' That wouldn't have worked with Serena. I asked her, "What do you think you're trying to do?"

With angry and frenzied shouts from unsuspecting drivers behind me I pulled to the side of the road. I reached across and held both her hands, "You know what you did today."

She started, "Travis I didn't..."

Answer me, "You know what you did."

"It didn't..."

"I know it didn't mean anything, but tell me you know what you did."

"Travis I love..."

"I know you love me, but tell me what you did."

"Tim...I...He..."

"I know he made it sound like it was a game. It was only supposed to be fun. It was supposed to be your secret. Now tell me what you did."

She started to cry again. She held her head in her hands, "Travis you're my...I love..."

"Tell me what you did Serena."

"You'll hate me."

I knew there was more to it than just something Tim might have given her. Damn it! Lightning just smacked into my chest! Tim's a pharmacist! He'd been filling all the family's meds; my cholesterol, my micardis, Serena's...that bastard! Still Serena's not stupid. Shit Serena's easily the smartest person in the family! Sick or not she knew right from wrong; well in a general sense.

I repeated, "Tell me what you did."

I watched her as she crossed her arms under her breasts. Her forearms pushed them up and out. Under that thin cotton sundress they looked magnificent. I mean perfect cleavage. I thought Naomi Watts Michelle Williams eat your heart out. I almost forgot I was mad at her. I mentally slapped myself, 'Back to reality Travis!' She might have figured something out; something that might get her out of the woods regarding whatever Tim and she did. I could see she was digging in, "I didn't do anything."

I knew she knew. She knew I knew. We'd played this game before. When she'd gotten pregnant with Renee I'd tried to make her admit she'd deliberately stopped taking her birth control pills. She'd denied it, but she also knew I knew the truth. There was never any question that Renee was coming, we both wanted the baby, but Serena knew she'd get a punishment. I'd punished her, she took it, and when Renee came Serena came clean, she admitted everything about the pills, and life had gone from there quite happily.

There'd been other little things; a dent on a car that had netted a spanking. There'd been several forgotten hardboiled eggs once from an 'in house' Easter Egg Hunt. Like a child Serena had denied knowledge of them. Imagine! She'd hidden them; gotten afraid she'd get in trouble and denied anything about them. We found them weeks later thanks to the aroma. I'd paddled her behind for that too. I never hit her very hard; her round little ass hardly ever got more than a tiny bit pink. Honestly I found out she liked a gentle spanking every now and then. So I guessed this was the route she was trying to take. I wasn't so sure; this was a little more than a dented fender or a smelly egg. If I had to, I guessed I'd have to go with something like what I did with the birth control pills.

Reflecting on punishing Serena was an interesting prospect. Any time I tried a real punishment like cutting off her credit card or hijacking her checkbook it backfired, but if it was something out of the ordinary, something she actually liked for instance a shopping trip or a romantic weekend her response was as contrite as an innocent child's.

I read up on that; punishments I mean. Serena was a brilliant woman; she understood the core concept of any punishment was born out of love and concern. I guessed to her if I punished her by doing something she liked it was an affirmation of my love and she'd have a need to reciprocate with the things I liked. Go figure?

First though I needed to find out if there was something more serious. I wanted to cry. I loved this foolish sick woman, but what I'd seen was so repugnant, so fucking filthy.

I responded, "OK, well that's it."

She meekly replied, "You're taking me to the hospital."

"Yes I am."

I got her to the hospital and got her and Danielle out of the truck. I was holding Danielle.

Serena reached out her arms, "Give her over!"

I hesitated; heck she was sick and probably still high.

She grabbed for Danielle, "I said give her over!"

I handed our baby over.

Danielle reached out for her mom. The woman was magical, like the 'Pied Piper of Hamlin' she took our baby. Danielle was all smiles, "Mommy."

I watched as the two of them kissed; I mean right on the lips! I'd seen it a hundred times before, but we were on the hospital parking lot! People were walking around watching! Little Danielle curled up in her mother's arms, her legs wrapped round her mom's hips.

With Danielle in Serena's arms I marched my wife up to the Triage desk. The secretary on duty was Marta Ruth, "Hi Marta. I want to admit my wife."

Marta reached around and pulled out a sheath of papers. Then she typed up my family's health records, "What for Dr. Carpenter?"

She needs an MRI, and I want some blood work done. I pointed to my wife's chart on Marta's screen. I'm mainly looking for traces of this, this, and this. I also wrote down the word Ecstasy on a scrap of paper, and this or anything like it.

Serena grabbed my arm, "You won't go?"

"I'm waiting outside until either my dad or mom gets here for Danielle, then I'll be in."

"Promise?"

"Yes of course. You know I will," her insecurity was a sure sign something was messed up, some medication was missing.

A nurse got Serena in a wheel chair and started to roll her toward the back. I watched; Serena had her head turned so she could see me as they wheeled her back. I gave her a finger wave; the kind of wave we used with the kids, I smiled, "I won't be long." Danielle imitated my little wave.

She smiled back. It was a tremulous smile. I knew she was afraid. She wasn't afraid about anything that she and Tim had done. She knew she was sick, and she knew I was the difference. I knew too. I checked my watch; it was close to 6:00. There were already a few minor cases in the ER waiting room. Pretty soon things would get real busy. They'd probably be calling me in within the next hour anyway.

Mom showed up about 6:15. She asked, "What, Serena's in the back?'

"Yeah mom, I think Tim's been fiddling with her prescriptions. Do me a favor. Get Serena's 'health meds' and either you or dad can bring them here. I want to check them."

"How many are there?"

"Counting the Xanax, four. Bring them all."

"Sure, and don't worry about the girls."

"I know mom, and thanks." My mom took Danielle and left. Danielle was being a really good kid; that kind of behavior was her mom's doing.

Alaina and Renee knew their mom was special. When I couldn't Alaina sometimes sort of kept an eye on her. Lately, since Serena's dad had died I'd been extra busy at the hospital; I should have paid closer attention at home. I'd had fair warning. Alaina had told me her mom had been forced to wash several loads of laundry twice. Somehow she'd gotten the powdered soap mixed up with flour. Alaina had caught her. Serena had given Alaina one of her dumb 'oops silly me' remarks. Alaina also caught her mistakenly mixing Old Bay Seasoning in a meatloaf. That would have been an awesome experience.

Those were classic Serenaisms when either she was off a medication or one of her medications had stopped working. If we caught them early it was nothing, just like her occasionally changing the sheets on one bed twice and forgetting to do all the others. So far we'd never had an occasion when she was off anything too long, but I knew she was older and changes in her metabolism could have disastrous effects someday.

I got a tap on the shoulder; it was Dr. Paradakian, a Pakistan physician I liked very much. He said, "Hello Dr. Carpenter. You're needed in Emergency now."

I asked, "Is it my wife."

He smiled, "We've become very busy, but her too."

It was time to go to work. At least I could be useful while I kept an eye on Serena.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The first emergency that came in was, as expected, a burn victim. Someone had apparently poured a little too much charcoal lighter on several already burning coals. The damn thing lit up half their neighborhood, and caught the chef's apron and the chef literally red handed.

As I was working on the man's hands Serena rolled by on a gurney. She smiled. I smiled back. I commented, "MRI?"

She nodded her head.

While she was off for her scan we got something serious. Some asshole in an Explorer had trailed too closely behind a motorcycle. The cycle had slowed and weaved to avoid somebody's loose dog. The Explorer rammed him. This was bad. We called for a helicopter. While we had to listen to an overweight slightly tipsy lawyer who claimed he'd hurt his head complain about stupid motorcyclists one of the nurses called the police back. The irate lawyer didn't know it, but he was probably headed for some jail time.

Things quieted down. We got a couple sprained ankles, and a broken arm. I checked my watch; it was still only 8:00. They wheeled my wife back in. She beckoned. I walked over.

"The nurse said you wanted to check for tumors."

I took her hand. OK she was my wife. I'd caught her with my brother in law's dick almost in her mouth, but I was a doctor too, "Remember how you had that dizzy spell the other night. If I hadn't been there you would've tumbled down the steps. The MRI is just a precaution."

"You haven't kissed me all day."

"No I haven't."

"You not still mad?"

"Serena I'm furious."

"I said I was sorry."

"You didn't tell me what you were sorry for," she closed her lips real tight and turned her head away.

I started toward a nurse who was holding a chart out for me. Some kid had fallen over backwards on his tricycle. It looked like an MRI was coming up. Serena called after me, "I didn't get my kiss."

I slipped back and kissed her. What the fuck! They pushed her back into her room and closed the curtain so she couldn't see out.

I went back to the kid's chart, "Needs an MRI. Let me look at him," I walked toward the boy's room. I heard someone and felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned round. It was Serena.

"Wasn't good enough," She had her lips all puckered up.

I quickly kissed her again, "Serena get back in bed. If you get up again I'll have you restrained," bad, no terrible thing to say. I'd had that done once before. Danielle had been one. I'd had to go to an overnight conference. Serena had run away. We found her in the parking lot behind a furniture store in their Dempsey dumpster. She was naked. I had to get her to the hospital. She got so hysterical she had to be restrained. Though we got her settled down; I had to skip the conference. Ever since when there was a conference I participated electronically. I just haven't been able to leave her. I'd thought about taking her along from time to time, but I knew she'd expect to be able to sit in on every meeting; that wouldn't work either. Anyway, she never forgot it. To her the restraints were a sure sign I was abandoning her. It was a week before she recovered enough to be trusted alone. "Hey I didn't mean that. I meant I'd have to have someone watch you. You wouldn't want that. What if we needed someone to help with a serious injury?"

I stared at her. She stared back.

"Serena I want you to promise me you'll stay in bed."

"You won't close the curtain?"

Yeah, I knew for certain she was completely off her meds, "We'll leave the curtain open."

"You'll stay where I can see you?"

"I'll stay in sight." For me this wasn't just embarrassing it was frightening. Everyone on staff knew my wife was 'different', now they were finding out just how 'different'. I'd always been so careful. I'm a doctor. I'm surrounded by do gooders. I always lived in dread that someone might want to penetrate my family's secret. I had three underage girls.

I leaned forward. I got very close to Serena's ear and very quietly whispered, "I forbid you from leaving this bed. If I'm out of sight it's only because I'm one or two feet away. Do you understand?"

She just stared back, "You're really mad at me aren't you."

"Damn it Serena promise!"

She looked especially scared, "OK. I promise."

"Promise what?" I knew her. When she was in outer space like she was right now her promises took on some strange characteristics.

"I promise to stay."

"To stay in bed."

"In bed."

"OK, I'll be back in a just a few minutes."

I went back out in the hall. They'd just rolled in someone who'd had too much to drink, fallen down, hit his head and probably broke an arm. I had to look him over. Just then another ambulance pulled up. We had a heart attack. Next they wheeled a baby in, a toddler. The kid looked a little blue. A nurse told me the kid had fallen into an above ground pool and nobody noticed for several minutes. Yeah, things were heating up. Memorial Day!

I was treating a six year old girl's sliced finger when I looked down the hall and saw Serena out walking around in her hospital gown. She was obviously looking for me. I yelled down the hall, "Serena get back in your room!"

She turned, saw me, waved, and started skipping barefoot down the hall. All she had on was the mid- thigh hospital dress, one of those things that tied at the back, and nothing else. Everybody could see everything she had. She always kept her pussy trimmed for me now. We never tattooed my name on her puss, but it wasn't because she didn't want to. Watching her scamper down the hall I realized just how delightful she was. OK, she was sick and ruining my reputation, but she was so unbelievably beautiful! I exclaimed, "Serena go to your room!"

She caught up to me, "You said just a few minutes."

"Go to your room honey."

"But it's been nearly twenty minutes."

A nurse came by and took over the finger. Was I exasperated? I put my hands on Serena's shoulders, "Sweetheart you have to stay put. Please?"

Just then one of the doctors not normally on call on the weekends was at my side, "Hey Travis. They just called me. Why don't you take your wife home? I'll handle things."

I looked at him, "Thanks Al." Serena was standing right beside me. She looked as happy as a little girl on Christmas morning. I didn't even worry about her clothes; I put my arm around her, "Come on sweetie. Let's go home."

As I left the innards of the ER a nurse caught up with me, "We have your wife's blood work." I glanced through the envelope. They also had a brief report on Serena's medications that my mom had brought over.

Wow, that was fast! I took it and thanked her. Serena and I left for my truck. How they got the blood work done that fast was amazing, but I knew, what with Serena, I had more of a problem than just with her morning idiocy. Her behavior in the ER would sweep through the hospital like wildfire. I knew; there would be repercussions. I wanted to cry, but I knew I had to hold it together.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We got home at 11:30. Jesus this had to be the most hectic twelve hours of my life. My mom and dad were both there. I helped my wife out of my truck and walked her in the house, "Serena why don't you go upstairs, take a nice hot shower, slip on something comfortable and get into bed."

"Will you be coming soon?"

"I'll be up in a few minutes. Can I bring you something?"

"Maybe a glass of milk."

"OK, I'll be up in a minute. Why don't you check on the girls too?"

Serena's smile was almost gleeful, "OK honey."

I sat down on the sofa. My mom and dad sat across from me in two easy chairs. I looked through the paper work. Damn it! I spoke to my parents, "You know what Ecstasy is?"

Dad said, "It's some kind of date drug isn't it?"

Yes, it does a lot of things; it lowers inhibitions, increases libido, encourages feeling of empathy, and induces feeling of euphoria. Based on this blood report Serena must have been given enough for half dozen people. It's a wonder she's alive. Also the work up indicates no traces of any of the medications she's supposed to take to control her day to day behavior. All the meds Tim prescribed that were intended to be for her mental condition turned out to be placeboes."