Broken Things Mend

I helped her eat some pizza. Knowing how upset she was, I tried to at least make it funny. She played along. She wanted some beer but I refused to give it to her. She got mad but opiates and alcohol are a bad mix on the best of days, and this was definitely not her best day. At least I didn't have to worry about her trying to get into it herself.

We went back to watching TV after I cleaned up the box and put the leftover pizza away. I found a long straw so she wouldn't have to ask me to hold up her glass of water every time she wanted a sip, which made her smile. She flopped over against me, still looking like a mini football goalpost. She did get huffy when I told her what I was laughing at but she smiled again, all the same.

"Andy? I'm tired, can we go to bed?" She had been yawning for the last half an hour. Between the accident, the adrenaline crash, the pills and the food, she had to be almost dead on her feet. I helped her into the bedroom and pulled back the covers so she could lay down.

"Would you stay? Just in case I have to get up?" I hadn't thought about that. I had planned on sleeping on the couch but that obviously wasn't going to work.

"Sure. Just let me turn everything off out there and I'll be right back." She nodded sleepily, her hands tented together over her abdomen, looking like an A frame. I was gone maybe 30 seconds and she was out. I just changed into another pair of gym shorts in the bathroom, just in case, and crawled into bed beside her. It wasn't long after I turned out the light that I was also asleep.

My alarm went off at 5:30 the next morning, followed by a "Who the fuck gets up this fucking early?" Same old Jessi, not a morning person. I got up and got in the shower, where it occurred to me that we were going to have to figure something out about that, too. She was going to want one soon. After getting dressed in the cramped bathroom, I came out and she had managed to sit up by herself.

"I need to pee. Now." She flashed me a grin that really wasn't a grin.

"Okay, girl. Let's go, then." She was really limping this morning so it was slow going. She backed in and I yanked them down so she could sit. I didn't make it out the door before she started, so I just waited. She spread her thighs apart as I cleaned her up, washed my hands and then helped her stand so I could pull up her shorts. As I straightened, she kissed my forehead as it passed lip level.

"Thank you." Her eyes completed the sentence, "for not making it weird."

I kissed her forehead back. "You're welcome. Wiping your cooter has been the best start to my day in a while." I scampered back out of the way as she tried to kick me.

I learned two more things about Jessi that I probably could have gone without knowing. She doesn't have much of a gag reflex, discovered while brushing her teeth and tongue. And I learned she was taking birth control pills.

We sat in the living room drinking coffee as I explained what I anticipated was going to happen. "I need to go in to work to explain what's going on. I'm going to take some personal time, my boss won't like it, but that's his problem. Hopefully, I'll still have a job --", she started to get upset but I held up my hand. "Look, this is more important than that job. I can't leave you here because I don't know how to clean pee out of a couch. I'm probably going to get written up this morning for some shit that happened yesterday, so if you need to go, now is the time. I'll be gone for at least a couple of hours. If worst comes to worst, just sit on the john and pee through the shorts. We'll figure it out later.

"About that. Coffee has this effect on me, you know?" She had her devilish grin back.

"Oh, dear god, no. Not that." Why can't I think these things through, just once?

"Oh, yeah. I gotta poop, dude." She laughed. "I'm stinky, too."

I sighed. My day was not starting out like I had hoped. We filed back into the bathroom, got her shorts down, she did her thing, instructed me on how to do my thing to clean her up, washed up and got her shorts back up. I had no idea there was a protocol for which way to go with it. I put her back on the couch with an old series we used to watch when we were in high school so she wouldn't have to mess with the remote. I kissed her forehead again and headed into work.

I was right. Will definitely did not like the idea of my taking personal time and I did get written up for insubordination, again. I wrote my explanation in the box provided and signed it. He didn't even read it. I stopped by the department, let everybody know I would be out for a while and I would keep in touch. I made sure Bev understood that she was to call me if she had any problems, I wasn't going to leave her on her own.

I was going to call Jessi on my way home and then remembered she couldn't answer it even if she wanted to. Come to think of it, her phone had been silent all day yesterday and this morning. I was ready to kill that fucker if I could get my hands on him.

When I got home, she was still on the couch watching TV. She brightened considerably when I came in. I flopped down next to her and she leaned into me again.

"How'd it go?" Her head was leaning on my shoulder as she watched the screen.

"About like I thought. Wiping your cute little ass is still the highlight of my day."

"Oh, fuck you." Her laughter told me she wasn't mad. We were simply trying to make the best of a bad situation.

We watched TV for a while, then I made sandwiches and helped her eat. We were sitting on the couch when she asked, "Do you think I could take a shower? I feel really grimy and shit."

I sniffed loudly, "Well, I can definitely smell the shit --" and she head butted my shoulder. "Of course you can. It might take some figuring out but we'll get you cleaned up." She gave me a million dollar smile.

Once again, I didn't really think things through. Taking a shower would not only require that she be naked but I would have to be in the shower with her while she was naked. There was the little matter of her road rash, too. I found some small trash can liners we could use to waterproof her casts.

We entered the bathroom and I removed her t-shirt. Once again, her nipples were out and proud. I pulled her shorts down and she stepped out of them. No matter where I looked, part of her body seemed to be in my field of vision. I realized then that I would have to strip down also, which I did, down to my underwear. I was semi-erect just from looking at her. She stared at the ceiling, except when she thought I wasn't looking.

I collected all of the stuff she would need in the shower and guided her inside, keeping her arms out of the spray as much as possible. She asked to turn the hot water up some, since it would make her muscles feel better. It was difficult, but not impossible, to direct the water to the less damaged skin areas as I rinsed her off. It was still painful for her, though.

I washed her back first, gently massaging it where she complained of pain. I worked my way down from her shoulders to her lower back. I soaped up her ass cheeks, giving them a good massage as well. I thought I could hear a moan or groan every so often but I was trying to concentrate on the task at hand and not blow a load all over the inside of my underwear. As I started to work my way down to her legs, she mumbled "Get in between them, too."

It's one thing to have your hand between your sister's ass cheeks when it's toilet paper. It is entirely another when it's just soap in your hand. As my hand slowly made its way down in between those shapely cheeks and slid over her anus, my cock lurched and she moaned. When I looked up, she had her lower lip caught under her teeth and her eyes were closed. She was leaning against the wall, using the casts to hold her up and her forehead against the tiles. I funneled rinse water down through the crack and continued on down her legs to her feet.

As I stood back up to wash her hair, I heard her mumble "You gotta do the front, too, Andy."

Fuck. I almost came when I fingered her ass and now this. This was going to be hell. I wasn't wrong.

I started with her face, gently cleaning it with the face cleaner she used. I gently did her neck and shoulders next, followed by her arms and armpits. Then came the hard part, pun intended. I soaped my hands back up and started at the top of her breasts, gently massaging and rubbing all around the areolas but avoiding them. She opened her eyes and looked at me with that slight smile I was beginning to hate, "Those, too. Be a big boy, now." Reluctantly, I did as I was told. I could feel her legs tremble as my palms worked the hard nubs back and forth. I worked my way further down, washing her belly and around her hips as she sighed.

She opened her eyes again and stared into mine. "Yes, that too. She needs a good cleaning, just be gentle." Oh, god, here we go. I soaped up and started at her mound, working down her legs a little and then back up inside her thighs. She shifted her feet a little further apart as I approached the junction. I paused and she mumbled "Gently, Andy." I slowly slid my hand between her legs and lifted my hand up until I touched skin. I could feel her labia and my finger teased her entrance. She was really wet and it wasn't from the water. She let out a little gasp and slowly started rocking back and forth, almost like she was trying to pull my finger inside her. I steadied her hip with my left hand as I lightly soaped around her vaginal area and the cleft. Her clit was almost as hard as my dick. I was pulling my hand out when she clamped her thighs down on my hand, let out a deep moan and my balls just let go. I couldn't control my gasping breathing and she had to know I just came hard as a motherfucker. I looked up at her, eyes half closed and the tip of her tongue teasing her upper lip. She looked at me and with a pleading whisper begged "Please?"

I couldn't say no. I wanted to, I really did. My hands had other ideas, though. I soaped up my hand again and slid gently back in between her legs, teasing her clit, her labia and occasionally sliding my finger inside her to tease her G-spot. I let my other hand drift up toward her breasts and I lightly thumbed her nipple while I fingered her. She didn't say anything, she just made a lot of moaning and whimpering noises, which I took as a good sign that I was getting the job done for her. She rested her casts on my shoulders and our foreheads touched as I slowly brought her to orgasm. She left teeth marks in my shoulder when it hit and I had to hold her up with my arm around her waist to keep her from falling.

When she stopped shuddering, I turned her back around so I could wash her hair. I went slowly, massaging every inch of her scalp with first the shampoo and then the conditioner. I made sure all of it was rinsed out thoroughly and then I shut the water off. She did a lot of sighing and she wasn't all that steady on her feet when I finished.

Neither of us said a word as I dried her off and then dried myself off. I gave her some clean gym shorts and another t-shirt, and parked her on the bed while I finished up my routine, changing my underwear and getting redressed. We walked back out the living room, I got her another glass of water and a beer for me, and we went back to watching TV like nothing happened.

We were partway through the third episode when she leaned against me again and whispered "Thank you, Andy."

I didn't ask for what, I just said "You're welcome, Jessi."

During a break between episodes, I remembered to dig her phone out of her bag. No calls, no messages, nothing. She just shrugged and went back to watching TV. My phone rang, a video call from Will's office number. I told Jessi, "I'll be in the bedroom, I need to answer this." She nodded but she looked worried.

I answered it and the face of our project manager filled the screen. "Hey, Andy. It's Dan. How is your sister doing?"

"Good, sir. She's kind of banged up and she's going to need some help with things until her wrists heal."

"Sorry to hear about that. Hey, listen...I needed to touch base with you about yesterday and this morning."

That didn't sound good. "Yes, sir."

"I reviewed his report and your response. It's a non-starter. He had no business denying you permission so we're going to trash this warning. It never happened." He paused for a second, "But that's not the reason I'm calling.

"We are going to be undergoing a restructuring of departments." Oh, shit, here it comes. "We're moving Will to another department. We're looking at you taking over this one, as soon as you get back." I did not see that coming at all. I could hear Jessi gasp in the other room. "Bev has a handle on data classification. You'll run the entire department, classification, analysis, presentations, all of it. That's if you're interested. I'll send you the offer sheet, look it over and give it some thought. Take a couple of days, there's no real hurry right now."

"Yes -- yes, sir. Certainly. Thank you." I could barely speak. Jessi was bouncing up and down on the couch cushion, pretending to clap her hands together. Her smile was so wide, it had to have hurt.

"Oh, before I forget...that other written warning is gone, too. I deemed it unjustified. You have a good rest of the day, Andy. Just keep us informed on how things are going with you and your sister, and let us know if there's anything we can do to help."

"I will, sir. Again, thank you." He waved and signed off. I just sat on the edge of the bed and stared at my blank phone screen. What the fuck just happened?

Jessi scooted over to sit against me when I went back to sit on the couch. "That's good, isn't it? Another promotion?"

"Yeah, I think. It's more money and no more Will. Sounds like a win-win to me." I could only shake my head. I was having trouble assimilating everything that happened since I got back this morning.

"Jessi, I think --" I didn't get to finish my sentence.

"No, Andy. Don't. Don't go there." Her voice was firm.

"I need to, dammit."

Jessi sighed. "It happened. It probably won't happen again. Just let it go." The problem was, I couldn't let it go. Because I knew it would happen again and again if we didn't address it right here and right now.

I told her as much. She stared thoughtfully at me for a minute or two and asked, "Who did we hurt? We didn't cheat on anybody, Lydia's gone and so is Scott. Nobody died. We both got a little relief from somebody we love and trust. It might have been morally wrong but I don't care. I need to be loved like that. I'm not sorry it happened but I promise I'll try not to let it happen again. Will that make you feel better?" One look into her eyes and I knew that while she might have meant that promise as she said it, she knew deep down, just as well as I did, she wasn't going to be able to keep it.

I nodded. I was just going to have to take responsibility for keeping showers celibate from now on. What we did wasn't right, I don't care how good it felt, but somebody has to keep this under control. She was my sister, my family, it's wrong on so many levels. But I understood we're also human, subject to the same needs and desires as the rest of humanity.

As my dad once told me in a one-on-one father-son talk, "A stiff dick has no conscience. Once you've gotten to the point it's stiff, it's all over but the crying." I thought I understood what he meant at the time but the enormity of it was staring me in the face right now. I wondered if he knew somehow this was going to happen.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV, she slept a little, especially after I gave her another pain pill. Dan sent over the offer information and it was a very generous offer indeed. I discovered that some of the shit I had been doing as a department lead was actually Will's job, which pissed me off until I realized that's why they were offering me the job now. I really hoped he was going to be disappointed with his new position.

Jessi woke up and needed to pee again, so we went and took care of that. It wasn't weird at all, we just talked about shit like we had been doing all day. I did get another forehead kiss when we were done, which was okay with me. Just another part of the routine.

I made dinner, such as it was. Of course, she made fun of me the entire time. She pretended to be offended when I suggested she do it herself if she didn't like how I did it. We watched a couple of movies after dinner, until she got sleepy and then we went to bed.

Like the night before, she waited until I got comfortable and then scooched into my side. She could only lay on her back, so she would tent her hands together over her abdomen, letting their weight hold them in place so she could sleep. She draped her right leg over my left, sometimes sliding it back and forth a little.

When I woke up the next morning, she was in the same position, I was laying on my left side, right arm draped across her abdomen, just under her arms. She woke up about the same time and smiled at me. "Good morning."

"Good morning to you, too. Time to get up, lazy bones." We got her into the bathroom, did what we needed to do and finished up, no weirdness involved. This time, her kiss got me on the nose. I gave her a forehead kiss in return and we went out to make breakfast.

We were sitting there at the table, I was taking turns feeding us, giving her a forkful of food and then myself, when she asked, "Did Lydia really make you give up riding?"

"Yeah, she didn't like it, didn't like the bike."

"That's just wrong. You going to get another bike?" She seemed really interested.

"Yeah, I think I want another Indian. I miss the one I had." My first real motorcycle had been a used Indian. I bought it my senior year in high school with money from a part time job. I used to take Jessi riding with me sometimes on weekends, just to get out of the house and away from the small town we grew up in. I had it through college and up until I was hired at my current company. I then traded it in for a new Harley, which I loved for a very different reason, it was kind of a chick magnet.

When I started dating Lydia, she tolerated the bike at first but after she moved in, she hounded me until I gave in and sold it. She thought it was too dangerous and gave people the wrong impression about me. It was just one more thing I regretted about my relationship with her.

Jessi's smile was brilliant. "Good, I can't wait to go riding again."

"Even after this?" I pointed to her arms.

"You remember that old guy at the Indian dealer back home? The one who taught you how to ride for your license? He said 'There are old bikers and there are bold bikers, but there are no old, bold bikers'. Scott is a bold biker. You're gonna be an old biker. I'll take my chances with you." She spoke definitively, as if there would be no further discussion about her riding again.

I smiled. It would be good to go riding again, especially with her behind me, arms around my stomach. I'd have to do some research, see which model I liked the most.

"I kept my tools and stuff, got 'em in a storage unit. No room for them here. She didn't like that either, so I lied and told her I sold them. I still have a place to winter it when I get it." In fact, until she said something, I hadn't even thought about getting another bike, although I probably would have eventually. Now I wanted one badly.

I was getting ready to start washing the dishes when her phone rang. It was Scott. I picked it up, hit the little green button and held it to her ear. I had no problem hearing his end of the conversation.

"Hello?" Her voice was neutral, almost emotionless.

"Hey, Jess, it's me, Scott. Where you at?" He sounded just a little too happy for my taste.

"At a friend's, why?" She apparently didn't like his tone of voice, either.