Wood Nymph

Jerry had noticed Sarah bending forward when she walked and at times had found her laying in her bed curled into a ball and crying when he came into the room. One time after she had urinated he saw something pink in the stool before she blushed and flushed. He felt like a heel and said, "Oh, Sarah, I didn't think about... I mean if you need female items I think Mom kept them under the sink or I could go to town and buy some for you."

Sarah did the unthinkable and reached out to gently touch his arm. "No Jerry, I found those but... Well, it's not that. I'm scared. I hurt so badly inside and I don't know what is wrong. Please can I just go back and lay down again?"

Jerry watched as she walked toward the bed bent slightly forward. She was holding her hand over her abdomen as if that would alleviate the pain. He turned and walked out of the room without saying anything. Jerry went into his office and picked up the phone. He used his every power of persuasion and even a little invective but he finally managed to get his doctor to agree to see Sarah as soon as he could get her to his office.

Jerry walked back into the bedroom and found Sarah lying on her side curled up under the covers crying. He walked to the bed and said, "Sarah, you need to get up. I've made you a doctor's appointment and he will see you as soon as we can get there."

"OH NO," she moaned. "You didn't. I can't afford to pay him. We can't go."

Jerry grabbed Sarah by the hand and pulled her from the bed. "Don't you think I know you can't afford to pay? That doesn't matter. You have something wrong with you and we need to get you to a doctor. Now come on. We'll worry about paying for it later."

Jerry had to partly hold Sarah up as they walked first to his truck, then later as they walked into the doctor's office. When the receptionist saw them coming in the door her face lost color and she rushed to help Jerry. She took them to the first available examination room and left Jerry with the papers that needed to be filled out.

Many of the questions Sarah would not answer no matter what Jerry said. He did find out she was 22 years old and had an associate's degree in business, no family (at least none she would tell him about) and no address. She didn't admit to any past health problems so that was good.

Finally the doctor came into the room and began questioning them. He examined Sarah then called his nurse into the room and asked Jerry to leave. Jerry heard him telling Sarah to take off her pants and place her legs in the stirrups.

A few minutes later the door opened and Jerry was invited back into the room. The doctor said, "Well folks I think Sarah has a bladder infection and I am pretty sure she has VD. I'm going to prescribe antibiotics and we will have a quick blood test and urinalysis ran to see if we can pin down exactly what the problem is."

"Jerry, Sarah, I am required to report this and any partner's either of you have had so we can track this disease so"

Jerry stood and said, "Whoa there Doctor. Why do you need that from me? I didn't, we haven't done anything. I just found her by the river and have been trying to help her."

The doctor looked at Sarah and saw she was crying silently, tears running down her cheeks. He asked gently, "Sarah is that right? You and Jerry haven't been intimate?"

Sarah said, "No, he hasn't touched me that way. And doctor I don't know who the man was that... Well my old boyfriend but that was last June. I don't even know if he still lives in our old apartment. There were two men that... I was camping this summer and two...they came back to my camp and we had sex but I never knew their names. They were going to bring me some groceries for it but they never came back. I didn't want to but they said that was the only way they would buy me the food so I let them."

Jerry jumped to his feet and yelled, "Son of a Bitch! You mean you were forced to do that right out there by my farm? GOD DAMN IT! Why the hell didn't you come to my house for help? Damn it if I ever find those assholes I'll"

The nurse ran back into the room and looked at Jerry as he ranted. The doctor was trying to calm him down. Finally all three of them got Jerry to calm down and they continued with their business. Sarah told them about the man on the farm and that she had been with him only about two weeks before. She once again didn't know his name but they thought they might be able to locate him from her description of where the farm was.

When he found out Sarah's circumstances the doctor gave her sample medication and quietly told Jerry he would not charge his normal charge for the office visit. Unfortunately they had to pay the full lab fee though.

Three days later Sarah and Jerry got a phone call from the doctors' office. They told them that Sarah's tests were back and that she was a lucky woman. The medication she had been given should clear up both her STD and Bladder infection. There was no evidence of HIV in her system but that she needed to be checked periodically for the next year to be sure she had not contracted it.

Jerry had been feeling poorly all that day and the news helped him somewhat. He rushed into the sunroom where Sarah had been listening on an extension. He hugged her as they celebrated the good news. Sarah tensed and held him back but he did get one of her rare smiles when she looked up at him.

He collapsed into a chair beside hers. Sarah sat and turned her head toward him once more. When Sarah saw how pale Jerry was she gasped and jumped from her chair. She walked the two steps toward Jerry and placed her hand on his forehead. "You're burning up. I think you have the flu like I did. Come on, you need to be in bed mister."

Jerry knew he felt miserable but he resisted her attempts to get him into bed. "No Sarah, I can't go to bed. I have to feed and check on the cattle."

Sarah looked at him with her lips pressed tightly together. Finally she said, "Ok Mister but I'm going with you to do the heavy stuff. You don't need to be out in this weather and I can do a lot of that too. One of the places I lived on was a farm and I did a lot of the outside work there."

They got into heavy winter coats and Jerry stumbled outside. Sarah watched him carefully and reached out to support him a time or two when he seemed about to stumble or fall. She also watched what he did about the cattle and his other chores. Of course by now she had made friends with the two dogs and few cats so they were no problem. In fact Blue, a blue merle Australian Shepherd had just about adopted her. She was now one of his favorite people.

It took almost twice as long to do chores that day as it normally did and when he got back into the house Jerry was exhausted. He had thrown up once outside and was totally fagged out. He stumbled back into the house and this time it was Sarah's turn to help him bathe and get into bed. She was a little apprehensive when she saw his nude body. Like most males, being nude and with a pretty woman his cock began to fill. She blushed and turned away hoping he wouldn't try anything. He didn't.

Jerry was awake off and on through the night and every time he woke he found Sarah there. She had spent most of the night in the chair beside his bed but twice he woke to find her fully clothed sleeping on top of the covers beside him. He never did remember how he got into his parent's room that night but that was where Sarah had taken him.

The next morning Jerry woke up just before ten. The house was quiet and he was worried. He had to get up and get busy with the chores. He staggered around and managed to dress himself. He looked for Sarah but couldn't find her. He walked into the kitchen and found a pot of coffee. He poured himself a cup and almost fell into a chair at the table.

Jerry looked out the window to where he usually parked his truck under the carport. It was gone! His first thought was that Sarah had stolen it and he felt an instant surge of anger. He staggered toward the door and stepped outside with no shoes or winter clothes on. The cement was so cold his feet hurt but he kept going. When he cleared the house a little he heard a commotion in the barn lot and then saw Sarah tromping around, Blue and Sassy gamboling around her feet as she fed. His truck was with her and had a big round bale of hay on the bale spike to be taken to feed his beef cattle.

Jerry stood and stared at Sarah. Then he saw her looking at him. She motioned at him like she was trying to get him to leave. Then he felt his feet hurting from the cold. Sarah finally jumped into the truck and drove toward the house, stopping to close the barn lot gate behind her. She drove the truck up beside Jerry and jumped from the cab.

When she saw him outside without shoes or a coat she lit into him. "Damn it Jerry. What the hell are you doing out here? You're sick and if you don't get back into the house you'll just make it worse if you haven't already. You aren't even smart enough to put shoes or a coat on before you come out." By then she was pushing Jerry toward the house. He staggered from weakness and almost fell down. He let her push and pull him back into the warmth.

As the hot air from inside hit them Jerry felt his stomach roll and he almost passed out. "Jerry," Sarah yelled. "Don't you dare fall on me! Now let's get you back to bed."

Jerry barely made it to the sink in the kitchen before the coffee he had drunk came up. After emptying his stomach once again he felt marginally better. He was thankful when Sarah managed to get him back to her bed once more. He felt so guilty when she got a warm washrag and washed his feet before she would let him place them under the covers.

The rest of the day Jerry stayed in bed. He was alternately too cold and too hot. He heard Sarah bring the truck back and come inside. He even felt Blue when he came into the room to tell him they were back safely. Throughout the day Jerry heard Sarah working in the house. She was singing quietly a time or two. Jerry even heard the vacuum sweeper when she cleaned the floors.

The third day of Jerry's illness he was well enough to be up. Sarah still would not let him go outside however. Most mornings she was up and out feeding before Jerry even woke up. His guilt was overwhelming. When she was inside Sarah spent way too much time in his opinion mothering him, bringing him things to eat or drink. He even had to ask her to please quit doing so much housework.

On Friday Sarah came to where Jerry was sitting and sat looking at him. "Jerry, we're running out of some things in the kitchen. Would you trust me to give me some money so I can go to the store? I won't steal it or your truck or anything. I won't go if you don't want me to but."

Jerry looked at her and said with a smile, "I know you won't Sarah. I can go with you if you would like. I'm getting cabin fever anyway."

Sarah walked to him and looked in his eyes then felt his forehead. "NO. You still have a fever it feels like. I need you to promise to stay here in the house and I can get things we need. I won't spend much I promise."

Jerry sagged back into his chair and said, "Ok. I'll just sit here and miss you then. My wallet is on my dresser. You can either take some money out of it or bring it to me and I'll give you some."

Sarah turned and walked toward his room, returning soon with his billfold. Jerry took it from her and gave her a hundred and a fifty. "Buy whatever you think we need and if you want, get yourself something too."

Sarah smiled and began to gather her outside clothes and purse. Everything in it had been soaked in the flood several months ago but her driver's license was still readable. When she got to town Sarah carefully drove to the small local grocery store and went inside.

While she was loading her purchases into Jerry's truck she heard a voice behind her. "Hey Sweet thing. What're ya doin' with Jerry's truck? You didn't steal it from him did you?" He gave a booming laugh then walked up until his chest was almost touching hers. Sarah began shaking when the large man reached out and began caressing her arms and neck. "Hey honey, ya wanta go somewhere for another roll in the hay? I know how much you like it and, hell, I'm a little horny now myself."

She moaned, "NOOO Please leave me alone. I didn't do anything to you and I promise I won't tell. Just please leave me alone."

The man laughed once more and said, "Hey honey I don't know what you're talking about but if you go spreading rumors around town you could get hurt, know what I mean? Ya givin Jerry a little pussy now? Hey girl, ya get tired of his pencil dick come on back out ta the place an I'll give ya another good workin over."

When she got home Jerry could tell something was wrong. Sarah was pale and shaking. There were tear tracks down her cheeks. "Sarah, what's wrong," he asked. Sarah looked at him and shook her head then ran into her bedroom.

Jerry slowly followed her. When he got there she was laying on the bed crying, sobbing so loudly and hard the bed was shaking. He sat beside her and began caressing her hair. He felt her tense up, then, almost as if she were forcing herself to do it she began to relax once more. All at once Sarah rose from the bed and threw herself at Jerry, she hit him so hard he fell across the bed and she clung tightly to him. Her tears rapidly wet his shirt.

Finally she was all cried out and Jerry asked once more what the problem was. Sarah looked at him and licked her lips. She turned her head away then looked down at his knees while she talked. "The man from that other farm saw me today at the store. He came up to me in the parking lot and... he told me... he touched me and said I needed to keep my mouth shut or I could get hurt. He told me to come back to his place when you got tired of me."

Jerry felt an instant surge of anger. He never thought that Sarah could be lying. He trusted her fully now. Rather, he was angry that not only would one of his neighbors do something like that to Sarah or any other woman but that he had the pure gall to threaten her if she told.

Jerry tried once more to get Sarah to tell him who it had been. She still swore she didn't know his name. She just said he was a big man and wore boots and drove an old white ford pickup.

As the winter progressed Sarah settled into Jerry's home and made herself useful. She kept the house, made the meals and did all the inside work. She also made it a point to help Jerry outside whenever she could if she thought he needed it or if he asked. Many times he told her he did not need help but almost before he got started she would show up to help.

Sarah worked hard. Jerry sometimes thought she worked harder than he did. Since they burned wood for heat he cut a lot of the wood during the winter months then stored it for future use. Sarah would go to the woods with him and work herself almost into collapsing moving brush, carrying wood to his truck and rolling the big pieces over near the wood splitter so they could split it.

When spring came and Jerry had to once again work in the fields Sarah made herself useful around the yard. She mowed the yard, ran the weed eater, planted a large garden and fixed all the meals. She even brought his hot lunch out to the field for him. She would always sit and eat with him. She was slowly starting to change. She had a sunny smile and a quick wit. Jerry really enjoyed their conversations the few times he could get her to talking. She still had depths of despair and fear he had not plumbed and he was heartbroken to see such a beautiful intelligent woman so downtrodden.

One day Jerry had broken some machinery and needed to go to town to buy parts. On the way past the house he stopped and asked if Sarah wanted to ride in with him. She agreed and grabbed her purse then ran to the truck ahead of him. Jerry smiled to himself when she ran past him. She was wearing one of his old shirts tied under her breasts. The way they jiggled when she went past he knew there was no bra under the shirt.

Jerry let Sarah off at the small store while he went on down the street to the implement dealer for his part. When he got back to the store he saw Sarah backed up against a white F250. She had a cart full of groceries beside her. There was a large man standing in front of Sarah. He was saying something to her and when Jerry pulled into the lot beside them he could see she was crying.

Jerry had the windows open and he heard her saying, "I told you no. I'm not interested and I want you to go and leave me alone. I don't need your 'help' and I would rather starve than put up with your filth ever again."

"You little slut. You've gotten right uppity now that you've got Jerry in your bed haven't you? I have a notion to just slap the shit out of you then take what I want. You liked it rough before didn't you. I bet you'd really cum if I did that to you again wouldn't you?"

Jerry got out of his truck and ran around it to confront the man trying to manhandle Sarah. "I might have known it was you Darrell. I should have known you were the only one around as fat and dirty as Sarah described. Instead of forcing her into your bed you should have just helped her like a decent man would have done. She works hard for her keep and won't even let me pay her. She says the room and board are enough. I guess you just like to pick on people though; makes you feel like a big important man I suppose. Nothing's changed since you were in high school has it? Once a bully, always a bully."

When he heard Jerry Darrell pushed Sarah away causing her to fall on the parking lot. He turned to Jerry with a roar and said, "You little holier than thou pissant. I beat the crap out of you once before and I'm about to do it again. First ya steal my woman then when I'm trying to talk her into coming back to me ya start bad mouthing me. I've had enough of your crap. After I beat your ass I'm gonna take my woman back home with me."

Darrell swung at Jerry and looked surprised when Jerry just stepped back and let the blow whiz past him. While he was off balance Jerry stepped into him and landed a flurry of blows. Darrell was knocked back against his truck. He stood upright and launched himself back at Jerry. This time his fist landed and Jerry fell to the ground.

Darrell ran toward Jerry trying to kick him. Jerry twisted toward Darrell and as Darrell pulled his right leg back to kick Jerry slammed his right leg into Darrell's crotch. Darrell screamed and fell to the ground clutching himself. Jerry stood and watched as Darrell writhed on the ground. Finally Darrell started to get up. He was white faced and said, "I'm gonna beat ya bad fer that asshole."

When he was half up Jerry moved in and gave him a knee in the face then kicked him once more. This time Darrell just lay there moaning. Jerry knelt beside him and said, "Darrell the last time you beat me I was a snot nosed kid a year younger than you in high school. Now I am a returned Army Ranger and a full-grown man. I have kept myself in shape and you let yourself go. You will never beat me in a fair fight and if I ever even think you are going to bother me or Sarah again I won't even fight as fairly as I have today. Do you understand me?"

Darrell looked up at Jerry and you could see the fight go out of his eyes. He slumped back onto the ground and nodded his head. Jerry grabbed Darrell by his shaggy hair, pulled his head up until he could look in his eyes and said, "I didn't hear you. Do...You...Understand...Me?"

Finally Darrell croaked out "Yes". Jerry dropped his head and stood. He walked over to where Sarah was sitting on the parking lot crying. He reached down and gently helped her to her feet. Without thinking he pulled her to his chest and hugged her as she hugged him back. He bent and gave her the first kiss they had ever shared on the top of her head. "Come on Honey," he said. "Let's get your shopping and go home."