Side Affects, Chapter Three

I sat in my bed and tried to watch TV, but the picture was small and of poor quality, and really, what would I watch on a Monday afternoon?  Renee asked me if there was anything I needed from the house as she put on her regular clothes. I controlled myself as I asked her to pick up my laptop and some DVDs. I was not happy, because she and Anna were going to take my Firebird home to get her Mustang and take care of a few chores. I wasn’t worried that the ‘bird would be too much for her; Renee is an excellent driver. No, it was simple jealousy. It had been determined that the gals would be able to go home for limited times, and I was still trapped here.

I knew the reasons, and I agreed with them. After the incident with Jenny, I was dedicated to preventing any further exposure. That said, it didn’t mean I was happy about it. I’m a Driver. It’s how I define myself. If I can’t drive, then I felt lost, in a way. It was depressing.

Renee gave me a hug and a kiss, and promised to bring me a pizza. I asked her to get some fried chicken, instead. She looked at me and touched my arm softly, and then agreed. My favorite food had always been pizza, but after Jenny’s death, I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to eat it again.

I sulked in my room some more, but it quickly became boring enough that I fell asleep. I woke to soft hands, stroking my face. I looked up to see Min standing over me.

“I’ve never had a husband before,” she said quietly, “And I’m not sure I know how to be a wife. I’m concerned that you will reject me because of my age and the fact that I have taken care of you since you were a child.”

I sat up and pulled her closer to me. “I owe you so much, Min. I have depended on you for a large part of my life. I can never repay you, and I could not ever reject you, in any way. I love you in a way no one can describe. I understand your worries, but I want to assure you that I am not worried at all.” I stroked her face. “You may think you are too old, but I see a beautiful woman. A woman I want to know so much better . . .” Suddenly I realized what I had already noticed subconsciously.

“Excuse me, Min; I know this will sound odd, and very rude, but please answer this question for me:  have you looked at yourself in a mirror, lately?” I asked.

Her hands went quickly to her face. “Why? Is something wrong?”

I got up and went with her to the mirror. Carefully, I let down the hair I had brushed for her so many times as a child.  It flowed down, almost to her thighs, in deep black waves. She truly was beautiful, in every way. Her amazing blue eyes sparkled as I stroked her back.

“Look, and tell me that you still wonder if I could be attracted to you.” I was amazed. Intellectually, I knew that she had to be in her sixties, but the woman looking back at us in the mirror could not have been out of her twenties. Yes, I had heard of the legendary qualities of Asian women, but this was more than that. Min touched her face in amazement, but me, I was just getting horny. I kissed her neck, and she moaned, softly.

 Her scrub pants fell to the floor, followed by her shirt. As I carefully removed her underwear, I stroked her exquisite body.  She gracefully turned to face me, and I was again struck by her beauty.   “Could you truly desire me?” She asked, and I heard the disbelief and quiet desperation in her voice.

My only answer was to take her into my arms and kiss her. While she was stiff and almost motherly at first, she gradually surrendered to me, and I could feel the fire in her. Our loving was slow and patient, and she moved her body with such grace and agility that it just made our motions even more erotic. She was skilled. This wasn’t something they taught in Medical school, I was fairly sure. I tried to think, to learn from her, but the passion drove thought from my mind. Loving her was the world for me, and I couldn’t think of anything else.

Afterward, as we relaxed on the bed, I continued to stroke her, softly, just appreciating the feel of her skin, and tracing the curves of her body. I was so amazed, knowing that we were only beginning this part of our relationship. This was definitely not the Min I had grown up with.

“Thank you, Robin.” Min leaned into me. “I want to say more, but I just don’t know how. You have allowed me to be a part of your life in a way I would never have believed possible.” She stretched against me, and the feel of our naked bodies touching was getting me interested all over again. “I thought this part of my life was over, and I find myself completely surprised.”

“You thought you were surprised before?” I asked. I pulled her up to face me. “Then you are really going to like this.”

She responded quickly this time, wrapping her arms around me and kissing me with even more passion than before. “I love you, Rob!” She cried happily, and that was what I had been waiting for. I knew she did, but I wanted her to be able to say it, which was something she really hadn’t let herself do before.

“I love you, too!” I told her, and I did, repeatedly.

<->

Renee and Anna took my Firebird to our house and picked up a few things to bring back to the hospital. After that, they stopped at Anna’s to pick up some stuff for her, too. While she waited, Renee called me.

“Hi, Sweetie! How are you doing?”

“I’m feeling very tired, Honey. Umm, Min and I…”

“Did you finally do it? That’s why I brought Anna with me, hoping you two could ‘talk’ more.”

“I can’t believe it, you manipulative little brat! Well, thank you, sweetheart. It worked just fine, and Min is wonderful. We have some interesting information for you, too.”

“What kind of interesting information? You know I’m not much of a voyeur, Rob…” She stopped, suddenly. “Rob, call 9-1-1, quick!”

Suddenly she was gone, and I dialed the emergency number as fast as I could. I gave the officer the address for Anna’s house, then told Min what was going on. She called David, and a little while later, she got a call in reply.

“Renee collapsed, and they have called an ambulance to bring her here, so that you can treat her. Anna is fine, but they are also bringing Jeremy, and he seems to have been injured more seriously.”

“How was he injured?” I asked.

“Well, it seems that Anna put him through a wall!”

It wasn’t long before they wheeled Renee in, and Anna ran first to hug me, and then to Min. I took Renee’s hand, and felt that same surge with her. Within a few minutes, she had recovered, and was up and hugging us. Min still had her hair down and she looked absolutely gorgeous, even in her scrubs. We settled down to hear their story.  Min seemed like she was much more relaxed and open now, and she frequently reached out to hold my hand. Each time she did, I saw Renee smile.

Anna had gone into her house to pick up a few things. As she headed back to her bathroom, Jeremy had suddenly jumped out and grabbed her. He told her to be quiet after her initial scream, and then he tried to drag her back to their bedroom. What happened next must have shocked them both. Anna, who was already frightened, suddenly got angry. She stood and lifted Jeremy easily off of the floor, then threw him across the room and through the wall! Renee had come in and witnessed Jeremy’s flight.

The police had arrived soon after, and just as they came to the door, Renee had passed out. The officers had called an ambulance, and then searched for an explanation into Jeremy’s predicament.  According to the Emergency Room doctors, he had some bad bruising, but no broken bones. The Officers had taken him to jail, and had asked Anna to come and fill out the papers to file official charges for the assault and whatever else they could come up with.

David looked concerned. I excused myself, and went to ask him what was bothering him.

“I don’t think you are appreciating the situation you find yourself in.” He said. “Look at Min, for example.”

“Gladly,” I said, smiling. I watched as she walked across the floor. She moved with a fluid grace I had never noticed before.

“I would guess her age as somewhere in her early 20’s, wouldn’t you agree? Yet we both know that she is actually in her late 60’s. Apparently, the Fountain of Youth is a 45 year old truck driver, and as soon as word gets out…”

Oh, my God.

“Now, think about the pretty blonde that can lift and throw a grown man across a room and through a wall. I can think of several groups who would kill for your secret. We have far too many people, both volunteers and professionals, working on this research. We can’t control the flow of information this way. Very soon, I’m afraid there will be a lot of older women flocking here, wanting to be young again, no matter what. Or maybe it’ll be mysterious government agents, with thoughts of creating enhanced soldiers.  I hate to say this, but I think your troubles are only beginning, unless steps are taken immediately.”

<->

Min had the night shift that evening, so she was busy on the other end of the hospital. Renee was packing things at our house, which we had decided to sell, and I was trying to decide whether to watch a news program I had seen before or watch a Spanish-language channel telenovela.

Anna knocked on my open door, which was a little strange. We had decided that, since we are a family, unless a door was shut, it was not necessary to knock. I assumed that her knock indicated that she wanted my attention. When I saw her negligee, she truly had my attention. It was a long, dark blue gown in a shimmery satin-like material that clung to her in all the right places. It had very thin spaghetti straps that crossed over and accented her beautiful breasts. Her hair fell down her back and hung down to her calves, but I could see that her negligee had a very low back. I recommend a vision like that over any kind of coffee or wake up drink. Wow! She closed the door behind her. I grew aroused just watching her walk across the floor.

She kissed me and sensuously crawled into my arms. I stroked her back, which made her moan with passion. We spent quite a bit of time just enjoying each other, and by the time we got to the love making, we were so aroused that it didn’t take long to reach our peaks, but it was in no way disappointing.

When Min and I had made love, I noticed that it had not taken long to be able to begin again, and the second time, I had been able to perform longer. I didn’t say anything about it to Anna, although, to be realistic, she had probably heard about it from Min. Still, I hoped it would please her if we could spend more time enjoying each other more fully.

I was sitting up in the tiny bed, and Anna was leaning up against me, nibbling my ear.

“I love you, Rob,” she said quietly. “I can’t believe how intense it is. I thought Jeremy and I were good together, but I have never felt this way. I feel alive! I want to run through the hospital and shout it out to everyone, I love Rob Heister!”

I smiled. “And if you wear that outfit, I’m sure you’ll get a standing ovation!”

She giggled. I like her giggles, they are very cute.  She is so beautiful; I couldn’t believe she would want to be with me. As I stroked her body, I started noticing that another part of me was becoming interested, so I slowly moved around so that I was above her again.

Apparently, she hadn’t talked to Min, because she was very surprised. This time I spent less time on foreplay, and more on our lovemaking. Unlike Min, who carefully orchestrated our lovemaking to drive me crazy, Anna was wild, moaning loudly and bucking against me. It just made me work harder, enjoying the responses I could get from her, and then I realized that the difference between Anna and Min was that I was the one in control, and it felt very good.

Afterwards, neither of us felt like moving, so we cuddled very close together on the narrow bed.

I resolved to do something about this. Loving three amazing women is wonderful, but I spent entirely too much time in bed now, and this narrow little thing was simply not working out!

Anna and I gradually recovered, and then she spent so much time kissing me that I was able to go for a third time! I felt like I might have a heart attack, I was so aroused. When we finished, she clung to me, crying against my chest.

I worried that perhaps we had done too much, and that I might have caused her pain. I softly asked if I had hurt her. She shook her head, and smiled up at me.

“There are no words…I love you so much!” She held me even tighter, as if she would never let me go. It was a great feeling, and I found myself weeping a bit, too. Eventually she got up and kissed me.

“Go to sleep, my love, dream of me!” She whispered in my ear, and then she quietly left the room.

I knew that dreaming of her was just what I was going to do.

<->

I was talking to David about beds, hoping to solve my problems with the standard hospital bed, when two men walked up and asked to speak to us. They were friendly enough, but it was quite easy to tell that they were plain clothes detectives. The first man to speak to us was a tall, muscular black man. His partner was an equally imposing man of Asian descent.  They both wore gloves and a face mask, part of the quarantine precautions. They showed us their badges.

“Excuse me. I’m Detective Jack Monfort, from the Chelsea Springs Police Department. My partner is Michael Woo. We’re investigating the death of Jenny Davis. We are told that there was a suspicious substance in her blood which may have contributed to her death.” He looked at a small note book he was carrying.  “According to our sources, the Hospital here is researching this same chemical. We have been told that you, Doctor Stevens, are currently the authority on this chemical, and we would like to ask you some questions.”

David smiled. “I would be happy to assist you, gentlemen. I’m afraid we are still in the early stages in our research, and much of our information is still very tentative, but we will do our best to answer any questions we can. Would you mind helping us, Rob? You are going to be involved in this, and I think it’s best if you help us right from the start.”

Detective Woo turned to me oddly. I was wearing pants, a long sleeve T- shirt and gloves.

“And you are, sir?”

“Robin Heister. I am a driver and part owner of Partners Intermodal Express.”

“Yes, I am familiar with your company.” He said, as he wrote in a notebook of his own. “How are you involved with this situation, sir?”

“Not to be difficult, Detective, but I think Doctor Stevens should explain, first. It is a little unbelievable. David, shouldn’t Min be a part of this, also?”

David nodded. “I’d have to agree with that. Gentlemen, could we please take this to my office, while I have Doctor Aldurson join us?”

We walked to a room next to the rooms the girls and I were staying in, which had been converted to an office with some chairs and a desk with a computer. Min joined us in a few minutes, and after David introduced her, we sat down for the interview.

David began with a general explanation of “Fred”, without bringing me into it.

“This substance seems to be a highly mutated virus. We still are not sure what may have contributed to its creation. Unlike a virus, though, it seems to create a stable, beneficial presence in its primary ‘carrier’. Female secondary victims become addicted, in a way.  If a secondary victim does not receive regular replenishment, through personal contact with the Primary, the subject would go through extremely severe withdrawal symptoms, which we believe is the cause of Miss Davis’ death.”

“So this “substance” is like a drug?” Detective Monfort asked.  “Does it only affect females?”

“It does exhibit several similarities to some drugs,” David said. “I am not implying that Miss Davis was using drugs, or even had any idea that she had become addicted. The substance was only recently discovered, and we believe that, due to its unusual behavior, no one was aware of its creation or even its presence. There have been three known male secondary cases, but in all cases they only experienced short term flu-like symptoms, with no unwanted residual effects.”

“You’re telling us that this stuff just popped up out of nowhere, and no one knew about it until a pizza delivery girl died?” Detective Woo said, sarcastically.

“No, there have been other victims of this substance, and fortunately for them, a treatment therapy was discovered by accident.” David told them. “Had we known of Miss Davis’ condition, we feel sure that the outcome would have been different.”

“What does this therapy involve?” Detective Monfort took it seriously, but I felt that Detective Woo was not accepting any of the explanations.  “And how is this virus/drug transmitted?”

“Direct contact with the Primary seems to be the only way to relieve the symptoms.” David explained, “All efforts to synthesize an antidote have failed, so far.  Fortunately, transmission is also only through direct contact.”

“Fortunately?” Detective Woo said.

“We believe it is a mutated virus, as I said. If it could linger in the air, or grow on a surface, the victim count would be much higher. This substance, which has been named ‘Fred' by its primary and secondary carriers, cannot live when exposed to the outside environment.”

“Fred?” Both Detectives questioned.

“It’s the first thing that popped into my head.” I said. “I also suggested ‘Sparky’, but she (I indicated Min, who raised her hand) thought that ‘Fred’ was funny. It’s also easy to spell, unlike everything else in here.”

“How are you involved in this, Mr. Heister?” Detective Monfort seemed to take a dim view of my levity.

“I, unfortunately, am the primary carrier.” I explained.” We believe Jenny became “infected” when she brought me a pizza. At the time, no one knew anything about ‘Fred’.”

“How did you become this, what did you say, ‘primary carrier’?”

“I have no real idea,” I admitted. “It certainly was not intentionally.”

“I have a question, “Detective Monfort said.  “Dr. Aldurson, you said that ‘Fred’ formed a stable and beneficial presence.  Could you explain how this could be beneficial?”

“We have seen examples of augmented strength, and remarkable regenerative qualities, but only, so far, in the secondary carriers. Robin, as yet, has exhibited no major changes that we know of. He is, however, remarkably healthy, which is a vast improvement over the condition he was in only a few weeks ago.”

“Yeah, I was dealing with Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and possibly some other problems that I was unaware of.” I smiled. “At least this thing has had some good qualities. Detective, while I know that there was no way to know that I was contagious, and there were no precautions that I could have reasonably taken, I still feel bad about Jenny. I don’t believe I did anything wrong, but I will carry this guilt with me for the rest of my life. I don’t know what else to tell you.”

“Could we speak to one of the ‘secondary carriers?” Detective Monfort asked.

Min said “You are. I became addicted during the first accidental therapy.”

“How many ‘secondary carriers’ are there?”

“There are currently two other women, besides myself, being treated here, along with Rob, our primary, and you are welcome to see them, also.  I believe they would cooperate with you fully. He is quarantined, to prevent the further spread of this condition. No one else can spread the condition, but the three of us must have ready access to Rob for treatment as necessary. One of the other women is Rob’s wife, Renee, who is the manager of a local video store, and the other is Anna Reynolds, who works at a local discount store. She is also the Heister’s neighbor.”

“Very convenient,” said Detective Woo, but he didn’t say anything more, so I wasn’t sure what he meant.

“Since it seems to be a mutated virus, could this ‘Fred’ thing eventually disappear, like a flu bug?”

“As I said before, we are still in the early stages of my research.” David reminded them. “Is it possible? Yes, it is, but it doesn’t act entirely like a virus. It seems to be very stable in nature, but what the future holds? I wouldn’t place any bets.”

Detective Monfort closed his notebook. “We have to make a report to the District Attorney, of course, but I think we have all we need for now. Mr. Heister, in my personal opinion you should cut yourself a break. I don’t believe that you are responsible for Miss Davis’ death, any more than I blame my kid for giving me a cold. Thank you very much for your co-operation. “

Detective Monfort was a great comfort, and I resolved to try to ease up on my guilt. Detective Woo scared me to death, as I could tell that he did not believe us. It made me very nervous. Min came up and kissed me, then told me to relax; she knew just what to do. I lifted her into my arms, and told her I knew what to do, as well. Her smile made me feel wonderful.