John

She was going over his treatment so far and what led him to be included in the study they were conducting. "Your brain was so swollen from the trauma that you would have surely died if your skull were still intact. As it was your brain was able to expand beyond the cranial confines without causing serious harm to you." She pointed at various MRI, CT and PET scan images that meant absolutely nothing to him.

The laundry list in injuries included a LeFort III fracture to his maxillofacial structure including the traumatic dissociation of his left orbital socket, resulting in permanent optical nerve damage to the essentially destroyed eyeball. He also suffered from a right testicular torsion resulting in loss of the organ; multiple pulmonary contusions; closed fractures to both legs, arms, several ribs, left collar bone and left pelvic girdle. He complained of frequent discomfort to his rectum which was identified as trauma related to (suspected) forced sodomization. Soft tissues injuries included severe bruising to both kidneys, his liver, and the loss of his spleen.

The majority of his facial bones were repaired or reconstructed prior to his discharge from the Trauma Center at St. Josephs. The persistent swelling and scarring remained however, and he had yet to see himself as there were no mirrors by design.

"In order to decrease the swelling and intercranial pressure they had to give you a hyperosmolar solution called mannitol to draw fluid from your brain. In your case the benefits were limited by the severe damage to the rest of your body, essentially drawing fluid from other areas where it was most needed. That and the rate of your exsanguination."

She held up a small bag that appeared in many respects to be a typical IV solution, except for its foil wrapper and odd labelling. "We first intervened—against the judgement of several board members—by infusing you with an experimental synthetic blood serum we call BPR-26. That's blood plasma replacement generation 26."

She held up a silver plastic sphere with little knobs protruding from it surface. "This is a scaled-up model of what we call a nanobot." She said. "Real nanobots are far too small to see with the naked eye. And this is only one of several dozen types that exist." She handed it to him. "BPR-26 contains millions of these tiny structures, and they respond to telemetric commands. In your case we could adjust the osmolarity of your blood depending on where it was flowing within your body."

She showed him an animation of a bleeding wound that transformed into an animation from the inside. "Other nanobot structures have been designed to enhance coagulopathy by interlocking themselves to form barriers." An animated mesh like structure formed next the wound preventing blood from oozing out.

"Still others provided immediate feedback as to the status of your blood chemistry, hematology, and even limited microbiology."

She lifted the IV bag. "This synthetic serum saved your life." She set it on a nearby table. "You do not want to know what a single unit of this product costs."

He was struck by her beauty, but her bedside manner left a lot to be desired.

"As it is the nanobots will remain in your system for the remainder of your life and can even replicate much like normal blood cells do. They all carry out specific functions that will greatly aid us when we commence with your reconstructive surgery. And we can send them other commands should the need arise, for instance to stimulate the release of more insulin or dopamine."

She pointed at his CAT scans. "During the period when you were in the medically induced coma, I programmed the nanobots to regulate the sleep hormones in your brain like serotonin, as well as monitoring and regulating the hypothalamus, hippocampus, and medulla." She scrutinized him as if she were looking right through his skin. "Your total amnesia is a result of my manipulation. Don't worry, most of your long-term memories will return."

He cleared his throat to test his voice and spoke, "So where do we start Doc?"

She frowned at the colloquialism. "First thing tomorrow we will take you into the OR and correct your spinal vertebrae and the underlying nerve pathways." She proceeded to flip through several pages of images on the viewer until she came to the ones she wanted. "Here is where your spinal nerves travel and you can see where these transverse processes are still badly damaged, causing neural embarrassment." She indicated the plastic toy in his hand. "While I am there I will be introducing another nanobot into your spinal cord. This particular unit is specifically designed to function within your central nervous system and interacts with neurotransmitters and neuroconduction."

"How long will that take?" He asked roughly. He was still getting used to the absence of the trach.

"It's pretty routine so I expect you will be done and back in your room by noon." She guessed. "And I should have a better understanding of your left sided deficit soon after."

"Sounds ducky, Doc." He smirked.

Chapter Two—2 months ago

Saturday, August 14^th

It was after 7am EST and John Valentino was in a hurry to finally be home. He stepped off the bus and hustled the half block to the doorway of his apartment complex, a 50-story high-rise building. The doorman greeted him with a nod as he rushed by.

'Fucking Nikkei.' He grumbled to himself for having to waste so many hours just to be in tune with the Asian markets. He reached the elevator bank and pressed an up arrow to summon a car. Two other men joined him as he waited. A door slid open to his left and they all turned to board the lift. He pushed the 36^th floor and the shorter fellow of the pair pushed 40^th. John frowned because that floor was dedicated to a Hedge Fund he worked with in the past.

"You're Mr. Valentino ain't cha?" And thick 'joysey' accent asked him from behind.

"Yeah. Who wants to know?" He shrugged not bothering to look back.

"Our buddy Lenny told us about you's. Said you's a regular shark on the markets."

"Lenny who?" He asked with a frown as he started to turn. He heard a loud rapid clicking sound just before his head exploded in a flash of white light and blinding pain.

***

"Johnny..." A man's voice sang mockingly. "Hey! Johnny!"

He was jolted back into consciousness by the biting sting of ammonia in his nose from a smelling salt. His head was pounding, and his eyes watered from the irritant. He moaned and tried to touch his face. He couldn't move.

"There he is." Said the same smooth lilting voice.

His eyes cleared and he found himself staring up into the hawk like angular face of a middle-aged man in a three-piece Italian suit. His black hair was greased back, and he smelled of some cheap cologne. He stood over him with the smelling salt held at arm's length and wore a wolfish grin. "What..." His throat was dry.

"Heya Johnny. Welcome back."

"Who are you?" John asked as he started noticing further details of his situation. He was clearly bound with his hands tied behind his back and his feet together. He was also laying on a cold hard linoleum floor, completely naked. "What is this?" He struggled to no avail.

The man straightened and tossed the capsule away, his smile unfazed. "I am Leonard Rissole. My friends call me Lenny." He answered. "And this," he waved his arm "is the first day of the rest of your life—however long that might be."

The throbbing in his head seemed to fade as he tried to come to terms with his predicament. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Stand him up boys." Lenny ordered and the two men from the elevator appeared from somewhere behind him and grabbed his arms, pulling him to his feet. He swayed unsteadily so they held him firmly. Glancing around he could not recognize where he was. He looked back at the slick haired fellow fearfully.

"You see Johnny, it's like this," he turned and began pacing back and forth in front of his naked captive. "You have been working diligently on manipulating the currency markets in the interests of... a colleague of mine." He stopped and grinned in his face. "And you have been doing a great job for him." He waved a device in front of John's face that looked like a handheld cattle prod. "And I know that you have been scrapping a lot of this colleagues capitol of the side and dumping it into a discrete little offshore account to protect his assets from 'taxing eyes'."

A cold sensation ran up Johns spine. 'How? Nobody knew of his under-the-radar disbursements but himself and his employer Andre.' Not another soul. Unless...

"I don't know..." He began to deny everything, but Lenny moved like a snake and activated the stun gun just as he punched him in the sternum with the metal probes. A scream interrupted his statement as 50,000 volts coursed through him, causing all of his alpha motor neurons to fire at once seizing every voluntary synapse in his body. The pain was incredible, and he blacked out momentarily.

"Do not take me for a simpleton, Mr. Valentino!" Lenny shouted in his face angrily. "My patience and goodwill are finite. And they are wearing thin." He grabbed John's clammy face and held his jaw firmly to stare into his eyes. "I want to know the account numbers and access codes to those offshore accounts, and I want them now. This will only become more painful for you the longer you try to screw with me."

"Please..." He gasped as his voice returned. "You don't understand... No! Wait!" He cried as the probe was raised up once more.

Lenny tsked and shook his head unpleasantly. "Johnny, Johnny, Johnny." He shook a finger at him. "Ellie was right about you, you know."

His heart sank at once. Eleanor! They must have taken her and tortured her first. His wife of just under a year, was waiting for him to get home from work to celebrate their coming anniversary. They must have captured her just after he left his office, he had spoken to her just as he was leaving.

"Eleanor?" He struggled with renewed fervor as the two thugs held him firmly. "What have you done with her?" He demanded. "I swear..."

Lenny laughed hard as if he had just heard the best joke. "What have I done?" He howled. "Jezuz ain't you a tool?" There was more laughter behind him as he wearily turned his head from side to side.

"Hey Ellie baby! Come here and tell this putz what I been doing to you!" He called.

John turned his head towards the soft click clicking of high-heeled feet as she suddenly appeared in his vision. "Hello Johnny." Her rich smooth voice said as she went to stand beside Lenny and pressed her body against him.

Shock, confusion, heartache. All competed for dominance in his throbbing head as he stared at them wide eyed. There was no emotion in her cornflower blue eyes as she regarded him.

Eleanor Dimercurio-Valentino stood 5' 8" tall and radiated elegant beauty. Her hair shone like burnished bronze and was cut to shoulder length. She wore a fashionable sea foam green evening gown with 4" white leather stiletto heels and entered the room like she had just stepped off a fashion magazine cover.

"Ellie... what?"

"Oh Johnny." Lenny chuckled. "As smart as you are you can be a real shit-wit." He smirked gleefully at the men holding the confused trader up. "You don't have a freakin clue, do you?"

More laughs sounded to either side of him.

"You see this dame here, that you married." He put his arm possessively around her waist. "This is my girl!" The two kissed in front of him, locking their lips together as they wrestled with their tongues.

Disbelief and outrage battled each other, and he felt his legs start to give out as he surrendered into the firm grasp of his handlers. How could this be?

"I bet you didn't know that my spunk was running down her legs as she was walking down the aisle to you." He laughed again. "I been banging Ellie here since she was old enough to sneak outta her momma's house."

Defeated John drooped his head and stared at the floor in misery. He closed his eyes tightly to prevent tears of frustration from leaking out.

"Ah baby." He heard her croon. "Look you made him cry." She giggled cruelly.

It was all one big lie. He took several ragged breaths as he came to terms with his ultimate betrayal. How had he never had the slightest clue. He looked up to find her standing right in front of him leering at him with an evil expression he had never seen on her lovely face before. She was a completely different woman than the Eleanor that he fell in love with and married. This Eleanor was darker, more confident, and utterly devoid of compassion or love.

"Tell him what he wants to know Johnny and it will go so much easier for you." She told him flatly. She lifted his chin with a manicured fingernail. "You said you would do anything for me right, baby?" She suddenly transformed back into the woman he once knew and trusted with his life, his love... all his deepest secrets. "Don't you want me to be happy sweetheart." She begged in her suggestive lilting voice.

Rage filled his heart as he glared back at her, catching her off guard for a moment before the cruel mistress returned. She sneered at him, releasing his face while her other hand reached down and grabbed him firmly around the base of his flaccid penis. Her nails dug painfully into his scrotum. She shook him playfully from side to side. "As if you could ever make a girl happy with this puny excuse for manhood!" He cried out as she dug her nails into him even harder, crushing his testicles. "Give us the accounts and codes!" She shrieked in his face.

"Hey easy easy there sweetness." Lenny pulled her away from her husband laughing. "We save the jewels for a last resort babe." Then he turned her to face him while he reached down and undid his trousers. "You wanna go for his manhood, let's just show him what you get to work with."

A gleam entered her eyes as she quickly dropped to her knees in front of him to help. She pulled his zipper down and reached inside his pants. She looked back at John and grinned wickedly as she pulled Lenny's enormous penis out and rubbed her cheek against it. "See this baby!" She gloated at John. "This is a real man's cock!" She could barely fit her hand around it while it was limp.

John watched helplessly as she opened her mouth wide and placed it over the head of Lenny's dick, her cheeks hollowing with suction. The noises she made were foreign to him as she slurped her tongue all over the shaft and took nearly the entire length into her mouth. She had never given him head the entire time he knew her, saying it was a disgusting form of subjugation. She had no problem with him eating her out though. He looked away only to have his head wrenched back towards the two by one of his handlers.

"Ah yeah!" Lenny groaned with a grin as he grabbed her head by her hair with both hands. He began thrusting himself in and out of her mouth as she began drooling and gasping for breath. "That's it Ellie baby. Suck that fat dick!" Once he was fully erect his shaft stood out from his pants by at least 8 inches.

Nausea swept over him as he was forced to watch his wife filatio another man. She gave head like a porn star if Lenny's expression was any gauge. And the noise of her gagging, moaning, and drooling on his cock was beyond his tolerance.

Suddenly Lenny pulled himself away from her mouth and dragged her back to her feet. He spun her around and pushed her so that she bent over at the waist, yanking her dress up to reveal her naked ass. With no preamble he grabbed her waist with one hand and guided his erection into her with his other. Her response was a loud groan of pleasure as he buried himself inside her and began pumping in and out with wild abandon.

Tears fell from John's face as he felt the last shreds of his love and devotion burnt away by his white-hot rage. The betrayal was hard enough for him to take, much less her wanton whorish response to the doggy style pounding she was getting.

Lenny grunted with each thrust and was soon panting like a steam locomotive, with his face scrunched up in concentration. Then he yelled and began slamming his pelvis into her ass cheeks, forcing himself deeper and deeper into her. She matched him yell for yell as she lost herself in the throes of her tell tale orgasm. He forced himself into her a final time as he rose onto his toes while he pumped his seed deep into her.

Once he was spent he turned to John with a grin and nodded to the guys on either side of him. "Lay him down on his back boys."

John felt his legs kicked from under him and he fell backwards in a controlled fall until his head struck the hard floor once again. He saw Lenny pull his softening member from her pussy and turn her towards her naked husband. "Go show him your cream pie baby doll." He urged.

A wicked smile crossed her lips as she moved to stand over John's head and squat down, holding her dress out of the way. John panicked as he looked up at her clean shaven, swollen lips as they dropped closer and closer to his face. He tried to turn away, but she grabbed him by his hair and forced his face stationary. He could smell the combined odors of their sexual embrace and see the creamy drainage starting to drip from her pussy. Before he could stop himself from crying out she dropped her pussy directly onto his partially open mouth and mashed herself against his face with her weight. Lenny's cum oozed out of her and smeared all over his mouth and nose as she ground her crotch against his face. "That's it baby. Eat the cum of your betters." She laughed. He struggled to breath and some of the spunk entered his mouth. He began thrashing as his oxygen depleted from his body.

Then she was off him, and he choked as he tried to breath. There was a chorus of cruel laughs all around him as he gagged and wheezed. "Hope you enjoyed that cuck, because we have business to conclude, now." Lenny said menacingly. The stun gun clicked ominously as he activated it briefly.

"Oh, baby lemme try it." Ellie asked with a sweet voice. "Please?"

"Sure doll."

John looked up to see her crouch over his body again with a cruel twist to her smile. "I've always wanted to do this..." She giggled eagerly and shoved the metal probes into his scrotum before activating it.

His scream was ear splitting and feral. If he were cognizant he would not have believed the sound emanated from his lips. The pain was like nothing he had ever experienced. White hot electricity punched through his groin as it interrupted all of the motor neurons once again, forcing him to clench every fiber beyond its constriction capacity. Then everything went dark once more.

***

He was jolted back to consciousness by the powerful salts once again.

"There he is." Lenny's voiced crooned over his head. "Hey look, I'm really sorry about that." He said as John focused on his grinning face. "What Ellie did was totally uncalled for and she wont touch you again, I promise." He wore a pained expression. "I cannot promise that I wont fry your balls again though if you don't start cooperating."

The pain in his groin was even worse than the throbbing in his skull and he moaned, fighting back tears. He was pulled back up to his feet and then dumped unceremoniously into a chair.

"Now, I need those access codes and pass codes from you, and I am prepared to get as nasty as I have to be to get them." Lenny stated evenly. "I'd rather just be done with this because I have places to be ya know?"

John looked around him and saw Eleanor glaring at him from a couch across the room. She had a laptop in front of her waiting. The two goons from the elevator stood to either side of him relaxed and waiting.

"Now whattaya say you just give me what I need so that we can avoid any more unpleasantness." Lenny asked politely. "Otherwise, I gotta let Sal and Pauli here work you over a bit."