Chained (When Bondage Meets Innocence) (5 page)

“
How long has she been unconscious?” the nurse asked while reading the thermometer she’d stuck under Krista’s tongue when it beeped.

“
About twenty minutes,” Damien replied.

“
Is she on any medications?” the nurse asked.

“
Not that I know of,” Damien answered. “She didn’t mention any, but I only just started seeing her.”

“
Was she taking any recreational drugs?” the nurse questioned.

“
No ma’am,” Damien said. “She had one drink a few hours ago, but that was it.

“
Anything else you think I should know,” she asked, leveling him with a piercing gaze. It was like she was looking right through him.

“
It was anal sex, ma’am,” Damien replied, wishing he could sink into a hole in the floor.

“
Alright sir,” the nurse said, “we’ll take her back to the ER and have someone look at her. In the meantime, you can go over to the billing office and fill out her paperwork”

“
Sure thing,” Damien said, glad he had something he could do besides sit here with the nurse judging him. He could only imagine what she was thinking. “Is she gonna be okay?”

“
Her vitals are okay,” the nurse said. “Blood pressure is a little low, but not too bad. We’ll have to take her back and run some tests, but it looks like she probably just fainted and is taking a little longer than usual to wake up.”

Damien walked over to the billing office and filled out the forms using the information in Krista’s wallet. When he finished, he moved the car and returned to the waiting room. God, he was doomed. She hadn’t wanted him before all this mess. There was no way she’d want to pursue something with him now.

After an agonizing hour of worry, Damien heard his name called. “Lance McPherson?” a man in a white coat asked, looking around. Damien jumped up.

“
That’s me sir, but you can call me Damien. Are you the doctor? Is Krista okay? Can I see her?” he asked without giving the man time to answer any of the questions.

“
Hello Mr. McPherson. I’m Dr. Gordon. I examined Ms. Hamilton and she’s okay. She regained consciousness about forty five minutes ago. We ran a few tests and she seems fine, but we’re going to keep her overnight for observation,” the doctor said.

“
Did she say anything? Can I see her,” he asked hopefully.

“
She’s resting now. She said to tell you to go on home and that she’ll be okay.” Damien’s heart sank. She didn’t even want to see him. He was desperate to reassure himself that she was okay and she wanted nothing to do with him. The empty feeling in the pit of his stomach grew.

“
Can you at least tell me what happened?” Damien asked the doctor.

“
Normally, we would only answer questions for family members,” the doctor said. “but Ms. Hamilton told me to answer any questions you may have. She appears to have fainted as a result of stimulation to the vagus nerve. It’s rare, but this sometimes happens with anal penetration. She’s doing fine now, but her blood pressure was a little low and she was unconscious a lot longer than usual for this type of thing.

“
Doc, this may sound a little weird, but did you give her a complete exam,” Damien asked, “as in… complete?”

“
Yes we did, Mr. McPherson,” the doctor said.

“
I’m only asking,” Damien said, “because this was the first time she ever had anal sex and I may have been a bit… vigorous. I just want to make sure I didn’t tear her inside or anything.”

The doctor took a deep breath. He hated these types of awkward situations.

“
After reading over her chart, we thoroughly examined the area in question and didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. She will be sore for a few days, but there was no tearing of the anal wall or tissues. Now I suggest you go home and get yourself some rest. Ms. Hamilton will be released in the morning.”

“
Thanks Dr. Gordon,” Damien said feeling lousier than ever. Krista was stuck in a hospital. It was all his fault and she didn’t even want to see him so he could apologize. He didn’t think he could possibly feel any worse as he walked out of the hospital.

Damien walked back to where he had parked his car and climbed in. He just sat there for a minute, his head leaning against the steering wheel. How on earth could he have made such a mess of this?

After a few minutes, Damien started the car and drove home. When he got there, he grabbed a cold beer out of the fridge and hit the button to play back the message that was blinking on his machine.

“
Hey Damien, this is Ralph,” the machine said. Damien felt a strong feeling of trepidation. His boss almost never called.

“
I’m aware of tonight’s little ‘incident’ and I’m not happy. I looked over video surveillance. It shows you turning off the light in the back hallway near the restrooms at nine-forty-five and emerging at ten-fifty-seven with an unconscious girl. What the fuck Damien? Am I looking at a lawsuit here?

“
Greg tried to cover for you, but I told him his job was on the line. He said he didn’t know who the girl was, but that you’d met her yesterday. So I went back to yesterday’s tapes. Do you know what I found Damien? You going into the women’s restroom just after you picked up your check. A few minutes later a girl follows you in. Then there’s Greg knocking on the door 45 minutes later, after the bar was technically closed, I might add. You’re one of my best bartenders Damien and I hate to have to do this, but you’re fired. I can’t risk them shutting down my club. You can pick up your last check on Friday.”

Damien sat down on the kitchen floor, beer in hand.

“
Fuck, fuck, FUCK!” he yelled.

Turning the bottle up, he chugged the beer and got up to grab a couple more. He took them to the living room and sat dejectedly on the couch. With no hope on the horizon, the best alternative was to get well and truly drunk. Another bottle joined the empty one on the table in front of him

After his fourth beer, Damien looked up at the ceiling.

“
You know,” he said, “you’ve got one hell of a sense of humor. I bet you’re sitting up there laughing your ass off. All the girls over the years, and this is what happens with the one I actually like. Bet you think you’re real funny.”

Krista woke up in the hospital with a blood pressure cuff pressing tightly against her arm. As the cuff released and displayed her blood pressure, the machine started to beep. A nurse walked in and turned it off. Krista stretched like she did ever morning and wiggled in bed. WOW, her whole body ached like she’d been to the gym. Hopefully, Tiffini would understand why she wouldn’t be able to make it to the gym tomorrow for their weekly Sunday session.

“
No need to worry, honey. We’re taking good care of you,” the nurse said writing down her vitals. Krista asked for a glass of water. She was starting to feel better and looking forward to going home.

“
When will I be discharged?” she asked. The doctor had explained last night what happened and how. She had never heard of a vagus nerve, so that part she kind of tuned out. She was just really tired and wanted to lie down in her own bed and go back to sleep. It’s no wonder people were always dying in the hospital. The beds sucked.

“
Probably in about an hour,” the nurse said. “Sylvia has to finish your paperwork and Dr. Gordon will want to come in and have a last look at you. Then you can go home.”

“
Did he tell my friend he could leave?” Krista asked. “I didn’t want him to be stuck here waiting when there wasn’t anything he could do except watch me sleep.”

“
Yeah, he told him,” the nurse said. “Mr. McPherson left last night. Is he coming back to take you home?” the nurse asked.

“
I don’t think so,” Krista replied, “I can just take a cab.”

“
Alright then,” the nurse said, “we’ll get started processing your paperwork and the doctor will come by in a few minutes.”

The nurse walked out, leaving Krista alone with her thoughts. Despite the fact that she was lying in a hospital bed, and really sore, she felt great. Her body ached, but she figured that was the price you pay for amazing, mind-blowing sex. She thought back to the night before. Damien was amazing. He pushed her to her limits, no doubt, but she couldn’t deny the extreme pleasures he’d given her.

Never in a million years had she believed that she would have anal sex, much less with a “stranger” in a night club. Of course he wasn’t a stranger now, at least not technically. She rolled his name around on her tongue. “Lance Damien McPherson,” she said softly to herself. Damien definitely fit him better, what with his devlish good looks and the dark side of his personality.

She went back over the events of the last few days and was surprised to find that she felt no regret. The way he made her feel, the things she was willing to do when she was with him – it may be that he knew her better than anyone ever had before, better even than herself. He obviously saw some dark potential for passion within her, something she would have denied if anyone had ever asked her before.

She loved the way he made her feel, but it also terrified her. She didn’t want to be a freak. She didn’t want to crave things that normal people found depraved and twisted. She didn’t want to feel that way about herself. All of the excuses sounded childish. She was a grown woman and was going to have to accept this new aspect of her personality. It didn’t change who she was, right?

Clearly, she had some issues. She wished she could talk to Damien about it, since it seemed like he would understand, but she didn’t have his phone number. Maybe she should call Hannah and see if she would pick her up. Then they could talk about everything. She reached over and grabbed the hospital phone.

After the phone rang a few times, Hannah answered the phone.

“
Hello?” she said.

“
Hey Hannah,” Krista said, “It’s Krista. I need a favor.”

“
Krista, why are you calling me from the hospital?” Hannah asked. “Are you okay?”

“
I’m fine. I just need a ride home and someone to talk to,” Krista said. “Are you busy?”

“
No, not at all,” Hannah said. “What’s going on?”

“
I’ll explain when you get here,” Krista said, figuring that maybe it would be better in person. “Don’t rush. I won’t be discharged for another forty-five minutes to an hour,” Krista said.

“
That’s okay,” Hannah said. “I’ll come early anyway and we can talk. How long have you been there?”

“
Only since last night,” Krista said. “Besides, it was nothing and I didn’t want you to worry. They just kept me for observation.”

“
Observation of what?” Hannah queried.

“
I’ll explain everything when you get here, okay?” Krista asked.

“
Okay, sure,” Hannah said, wondering what was going on with her best friend. “You know you’re acting kind of strange. Is everything okay?” Hannah asked.

“
Yeah, just had a few major revelations over the last couple of days,” Krista said. “Thanks for coming to get me. I could really use a friend right now.”

“
You big dummy!” Hannah exclaimed. “You could have called me last night and then you’d already have a friend there. Anyway, I’m on my way. See you soon.”

As Krista placed the phone back on the cradle, she thought about the last few days. It was hard to believe that it had all started on Friday night. How was it that you could go years living a certain way and then have your entire life change in two days? She had accepted that she had crossed the line into freakish territory. Her response to everything Damien had done to her was unexpectedly extreme. All of it appealed to her. She couldn’t deny the way her body or her mind had reacted. Truthfully, she didn’t want to.

Well, a part of her did, but that was because she was afraid of how people would react if they found out. Hannah had been her friend for eight years, and was always telling her that she needed to break out of her shell. She would be supportive, thrilled even. Heather would probably be okay too. She had a very open mind and mostly just wanted people to do what made them happy. It was Tiffini that would be the hardest sell, with her old fashioned ideas about relationships and men.

Hannah walked through the door about half an hour after they got off the phone. “Sorry it took me so long,” she said. “Hospital food always sucks, so I figured you might be hungry and grabbed us lunch.” She handed Krista a small bag and a soda. “One double cheeseburger with no pickles and no mustard, a small fry and a Diet Dr. Pepper,” she said with a grin.

Krista grabbed the bag greedily and ripped it open. She hadn’t realized she was starving until she smelled the food. “I love that you know me so well,” she said as she unwrapped the burger.

“
Now, spill it,” Hannah said. “What’s going on and why were you in the hospital for observation overnight?”

Krista wasn’t exactly sure how to go about having this conversation. She figured her friend would take a little while to understand and decided to have a little fun to pay her back. Unless Damien really was a rapist, something she didn’t believe, he could only have found out about her fantasies if Hannah had told him. Hannah was the only person she’d ever told. “Apparently, I had some kind of negative reaction during anal sex that made me pass out. Something to do with the vagus nerve,” she said as she picked up a few fries and stuffed them in her mouth.