On The Rebound Ch. 02

Robin and I had a nice dinner that we had worked together to make. That is, it was nice until I brought out my after meal requirements. Her eyebrows rose a bit at the three pill bottles, but when I grabbed the bottle of Southern Comfort to take them with she almost freaked.

"Mark! What the hell are you doing? Don didn't say anything about you being an alcoholic."

"I'm not Robin. Did Don tell you that I was injured in Vietnam?"

"He said something about that, but not how bad it was."

I sat down and took a deep breath. "Then I guess that it is time for a little more truth and discovery here. The last time I flew into a hot zone for dustout, it was still hot, very hot. I was injured and when I woke up in a hospital bed I found out just how lucky I was to be alive. The pilot, one patient, and I were the only ones still living on the helicopter when it got to the MASH unit. If we had gotten there any later, I wouldn't have made it either." While I was telling her my tale of woe, I was at the same time drinking most of the pint of Comfort and taking my pills during pauses. Robin's expression was wavering between horror and pity.

"Oh my god, how bad was it?"

"I lost my stomach, and about ten feet of intestine, as well as one of my kidneys. Do you want to see the wounds?"

"I don't know, are they bad?"

"That depends on how squeamish you are. They look like ugly belly buttons. The scar tissue is getting better; I have a salve that needs to be applied daily."

"Do you mind if I look at it?"

"If I minded, I wouldn't have asked Robin."

I stood up and raised my shirt. Robin gasped when she got a look at the 3 puckered scars in my abdomen.

She tentatively reached toward one and asked, "Do they hurt?"

"Not any more. The one on my left leg still twinges once in a while, but these don't hurt now. What they do though, is to make it so that I need a lot of help in order to digest food. I have to take these pills, and have alcohol with every meal. These things make the plastic stomach I now have work for me. I also have to take a large number of vitamin and mineral supplements to replace things that my system cannot recover from food."

"But don't you spend a lot of the time drunk?"

"No, alcohol doesn't really affect me now. Most of the absorption is done in the stomach, so it takes me a lot of booze to get drunk, in fact, I don't know that I can get drunk. I haven't actually tried. My biggest problem was that I wasn't 21 until this summer, my dad had to buy my booze till then."

"So you can get me drunk whenever you want to, eh?"

"No, I can't. I will give you a glass of wine or beer with dinner, that is only civilized after all, but I will not contribute to the delinquency of a minor. If I get caught at that, I would be in a lot of trouble."

"Oh, I thought that you might let me and my friends have a little fun."

"Okay princess, this is our first 'prom queen' moment. I will not be the booze connection for you and your friends; I have no wish to go to jail so your friends can get drunk."

"Oh, I didn't think of that. What do you do when you eat out?"

"I either set it up with the manager beforehand, or I drink in the parking lot after the meal. I have a card with permission to carry an opened bottle of alcohol in my car; otherwise I could be arrested for having it. They know all about me at work and no one says anything when they see me drinking."

"Yeah, I guess it would kind of shock people for you to just pull out a flask and knock back in a restaurant. I'm sorry for being so selfish Mark."

"That's okay, just remember that I am going to call you on it when you get too self absorbed. Now that you have heard some of my history, how about you tell some of yours; who is Robin Howell?"

"Well, I am from Dayton, Ohio, and I have a sister who is a year and a half older than me. Actually she is my half sister; her father is different than mine. We never heard much about him, but I think that he left when he found out that mom was pregnant. My dad married my mom right after Rachel was born. He is great. I was a cheerleader in high school, but I couldn't make the team here. There were too many seniors on the squad to let more than a couple of freshmen on it. I'm a Liberal Arts major and so far I'm carrying a 3.0. My boyfriend in high school went to Ohio State. He is playing football on the second string team this year and hopes to be first string next year."

Robin sat back, seemingly pleased with herself. She didn't realize that she had told me more about the people around her than she had about herself. That she knew what was going on with her former boyfriend was also very telling. It was also interesting that she had mentioned her dad as being great, but her mom got short shrift.

"Would you like to go to a movie Robin?"

"Sure Mark, let me go back to the dorm and change. You can pick me up in about 45 minutes."

"Do you need me to take you there?"

"No, I drove over here today. I wasn't too sure what kind of reception I was going to get, or if you would be willing to take me back. I don't drive very often, because my car isn't too reliable. Dad says that he has a replacement for me when I come home for Christmas."

"What kind of car is it?"

"It's a 1966 Ford Falcon. Daddy got a deal on it, and I thought that it was cute when I got it; but now I will be glad to just get rid of it."

"Well, we'll try to let it stay at the dorm as much as possible. Maybe I can take it over to my dad's one weekend soon. He and I can see what we can do for it." I thought of something about then, if we were truly going steady, I should give her something to display that fact with. "Wait here a moment Robin, I need to get something."

"Okay."

I went into my bedroom trying to decide what to get. I didn't have a letter jacket as I had not been on any teams. The only two rings I owned were my Army ring, and my Jefferson High School ring. That would work, but it was much too big for her to wear. Wait a minute, there was a nice gold chain that I had found under a table at work one night. Robin would never know where it came from. I walked back out and asked her to close her eyes. I looped the necklace through the ring, and placed it over her head and around her neck.

"Okay, open your eyes. Will this be enough to declare that you are going steady?"

"Oh Mark, I love it. The other girls are going to be so jealous." Robin held the ring up to look at it, and then pulled my head down for a kiss. Our first kiss was nice, no bells and whistles, but nice. I could smell her hair and perfume, and it was more intoxicating than the Southern Comfort had been. My hands moved up and down her back, and hers were locked around my neck.

After a moment, Robin stepped back. "Mmm, that is nice, and you taste of the drink you had, very sweet. Now I need to go if we are going to make a show before curfew. We'll do that again before the night is out, I guarantee it."

This having a girlfriend could definitely have its advantages.

"Butterflies are Free" was on at the theatre. All I could think of during the movie was that the cute guy got the beautiful woman, even when he was blind.

The movie let out just after midnight, and I took Robin back to her dorm. She was right about more kissing. The windows in the Dart were getting steamed up when she said the she needed to go in. I walked her to the door and gave her a peck on the cheek goodnight.

This set the tone of our dating. I knew what I was going to be doing on Wednesday and Sunday nights from then on. We talked on the phone every day at least once.

I had been overly optimistic about my trip to the VA hospital. The appointment was only to do the paperwork. I would not see a doctor for another month.

On the second Saturday we were dating I had her follow me to my folks' house. Dad knew we were coming and had the garage empty. I pulled the falcon into the garage; I didn't want to take the chance that she would scrape the narrow entry. I took her in and introduced her to my parents as my girlfriend. I then took my life in my hands and left her with mom, while dad and I went out to see what we could do with her car.

As soon as we opened the hood, part of the problem became apparent. The fan belt was worn to the point of near failure. Further investigation revealed that the oil was almost solid, and the plug wires were cracked. We put a voltmeter on the battery and it showed good; but after we started the engine, the alternator did not. Dad called my cousin Danny, who worked at an auto supply store, and told him what we needed. He would bring the parts over to us. Dad backed the car up, and then after I placed the ramps, ran it up on them. While he pulled the belt and alternator, I drained the oil and popped the filter off. We then pulled the plugs, points, and wires from the electrical system and while we were at it took out the air filter. When everything was back in this car should run much better, and be a lot more dependable.

Danny showed up before we were done with the removals and it only took another hour before we were done. When I backed it out it sounded pretty nice; nothing like what I drove in. I told dad that I would bring it back in a few weeks for brakes, they were a little spongy.

When we stepped into the kitchen, the women were working at the stove. Robin looked up at me smiled, "you guys get cleaned up; lunch will be ready in a few minutes. Your mom showed me a new way to do pork chops and I can't wait to try them. Were you able to do anything for my car?"

"Sure did Robin, you were about to be stuck on the side of the road, but you'll be okay now. It runs a lot better."

Robin was right about the chops, I had had them this way before, and they were good. After dinner I thanked dad and mom and Robin and I left. When we got to my place so that I could get ready for work, Robin was enthusiastic in her praise for the work done on the car. She said that it had never run that good.

Our plans for the evening had been worked out on the phone the night before. This had been her second 'prom queen' moment. There was a home game tonight and she wanted me to take her. I would have been glad to, but I had to work. She had started to pitch a fit until I told her, "Princess, how much good would it do for me to lose my job just to take you to the game? Go with your friends and come into the shop afterwards. I'll treat you all to a veggie deep dish. You can introduce me to some of your friends then. I am sorry, but I need the job to pay for my apartment and gas. Mom and dad can't afford to help me out like your parents do."

When I called her 'princess', she realized what she had been about to do, and capitulated. I wondered how long this would last; at some point she was likely to tell me to fuck off and die. When she did, I'm pretty sure that we would be done. If we lasted that long; the trip to meet her family over the holidays would tell the tale of our romance.

The Sunday morning after the game I was awakened by the door bell. I looked at the clock, 7:30, what the hell?

I didn't think that it would be Robin. She had told me at the shop last night how sorry she was, and her friends had all been friendly with me when I bought them a pizza. I thought that it might be Don; he was going to come over for the game today. We had made up, that is he had accepted my apology. I still didn't want to be close to him any more, but he had been a good friend for a long time and I couldn't justify hurting his feelings again.

I was surprised to see Robin at the door.

"Well hello sweets, to what do I owe this honor?"

"Let me in Mark, I have some making up to do."

"Oh, did you do something wrong Robin?"

"Yes Mark, I tried to force you into doing what I wanted without thinking of how it would affect you, I was wrong and I need to make it up to you."

"No you don't Robin, I understand and I'm okay with it."

"Well, there is another reason. I'm horny, and while you have been a perfect gentleman with me, I need some loving. I don't know that I'm ready to go all the way with you, but I would love to see what you can do with your hands."

The way she was talking, it was as if she expected me to object. Silly girl. I didn't even speak; I just took her hand and closed the door. I led her to my bedroom and took her in my arms. I had thrown on a T-shirt and shorts when I got up, and Robin's hands snaked up under the shirt as I held her.

"Wait here a moment honey, I need to rinse out my mouth before we kiss, you woke me up."

"Okay Mark, but don't take too long."

Like I was going to stay away one second longer than I had to. When I stepped back out of the bathroom, Robin was sitting on my bed, wearing a pair of pink panties, and nothing else. Her 34B sized tits had medium dark nipples that were not excited; I guess she was a little nervous.

I reached down and pulled my shirt off, I couldn't be dressed more than her. She flinched a bit as my scars were exposed, but then she looked down at the bulge in my shorts, and smiled.

"You are beyond beautiful Robin; I want to spend the day exploring every nook and cranny of that marvelous body."

I moved to the bed and Robin got an apprehensive look on her face. "Relax dear, you told me your limits, and I won't push them, even if you change your mind in the heat of passion. I know that you have heard this before from boys, but trust me, I will not hurt you. The difference is that I am not a boy; I am in no hurry here. I just want to please you, so relax and enjoy."

I lay her back on the bed and kissed her. I then proceeded to kiss, lick, and rub every inch on her porcelain skin that I could reach. By the time I got to sucking on her nipples, they were rock hard. I removed her panties and finally ended up with my head buried in between her thighs.

Robin may have intended give me a present for being patient with her, but she was the one getting a reward today. I was happy as well, of course, the chance to see and feel her naked body, as well as taste her trimmed pussy, was truly rewarding. The best reward was when she screamed out her release, several times.

When I thought that she had gone as far as she could today, I moved up beside her and held her trembling body against mine. She soon stopped trembling and her breathing smoothed out. Her free hand began exploring my side and chest.

"This was supposed to be a reward to you for putting up with my 'prom queen' moments; instead I get the reward from you."

"Trust me Robin, I feel rewarded."

"That wasn't the first time for you to have done that, was it?"

"No, it wasn't; but it was the best. You taste delightful dear and I would be happy to go down on you whenever I may. I enjoy that a lot."

"But I thought that you had trouble getting dates?"

"Yes, I did; but lady who cleaned our hooch taught me a lot about pleasing a woman.

"Now, it is time to move back to the mundane world. Would you like to go swimming with me? I need to get in some exercise today, and swimming is on my schedule."

"That sounds like fun, Mark. Do we need to go to the field house?"

"No, one of the reasons I chose this apartment complex was because it has an enclosed and heated pool. Go to the dorm and get your suit and we can swim for a couple of hours. In fact, why don't you pick up a selection of clothes to keep over here? There will be many times that it would be inconvenient for you to have to go back to the dorm to change clothes. I'm not suggesting that you move in with me, that would be pushing things a bit fast, and the school won't let you while you are a freshman. What I mean is that having some clothes over here would be helpful. Okay?"

"Yes Mark, that sounds like a good idea. Give me a little while. Would it be okay if my roommate comes over to swim as well? She says that Don has plans today and she is lonely."

"Sure, bring Brenda along. I hope that she is not upset that Don's plans are to watch the game over here. I was going to tell you about it, but I didn't have the chance to last night. He came into Roman's last night and we talked a bit. We decided to go back to our old habits, except that most of my time would be with you. I hope that is okay with you. Will you be uncomfortable around Don?"

"No, I don't think so. Do you think that he is about to dump Brenda though? I would hate to bring her over here for that."

"Even if he is, I'll make sure that it doesn't happen today. Go get your stuff and your friend, I'll clean up and get ready for you. I'd say that I would clear space for you in my closet, but it is mostly clear space anyway." I leaned over and gave her a nice kiss, "I need to wash my face, so I'll let you get dressed."

I got up and went in to the bathroom to do as I had said. When I came out, Robin was dressed, and she gave me a smack on the lips before leaving. I changed the bed and cleaned up the dirty clothes and such, then made coffee and waited for the girls to come over.

(to be continued)