index


Message-ID: <54820asstr$1162361402@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: Shalon Wood <dstar@pele.cx>
Subject: {ASSM} Prudence, TX Population 1276 54 (Mff ff Mm rom)
Lines: 347
Date: Wed, 01 Nov 2006 01:10:02 -0500
Path: assm.asstr-mirror.org!not-for-mail
Approved: <assm@asstr-mirror.org>
Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories
Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d

************************************************************************
************************************************************************

SPECIAL NOTE FOR READERS OF _Jason and Kylie, Naked In School_:

You may or may not be aware, but Shalon broke his arm in two places three weeks ago; Jason and Kylie is temporarily on hold (he had a nice cushion built up on Pandora's Box, which is why he switched to that). Please see http://playground.pele.cx for details, including news on when Jason and Kylie will return.

If you have any questions, please email us, or visit our forums at http://playground.pele.cx/forums and ask.
************************************************************************
************************************************************************

Standard disclaimers apply; this story may or may not contain, in any
given part, graphic depictions of lesbianism, homosexuality, group sex,
bdsm, underage (teen) sex, magic, occultism, violence, and biting 
sarcasm.  If you're underage, or if for any other reason it's illegal 
for you to read this, or you're disturbed by the content, please don't 
read it.

Archived at http://prudence.pele.cx, and we've got a web-forum at
http://playground.pele.cx/forums as well, for discussion of both
Prudence and our other stories. Send an email to velvet@pele.cx and
I'll add you to the mailing list to be notified when Prudence
updates. 

Comments *greatly* appreciated.

Enjoy,

Velvet
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

_...eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeblip! Blip... Blip... Blip...._

"What the fuck?! We have a pulse... is she breathing?"

"She's breathing-- mostly on her own!"

"Jesus Christ. Okay... keep the machines here, stay with her! I'm going to
assist Dr. Brown with our other patient. Oh, someone let her husband know
she's okay."

Mark sagged against the wall in relief. Against the backs of his closed
eyelids, he could see the tracery of lines connecting Kristen to him and
the others. The healthy links were all glowing, energy flowing into Kristen
from him and Kayla, and a tracery of silver energy flowing into him, as
well, seeming to increase the amount he could give to her. Kristen's own
strands were a dim but solid golden glow, no longer flickering black and
red. Kayla's green one, woven around and around his blue and Kristen's
gold, brightened the gold wherever it touched it, and where it brushed the
damaged link, it seemed to heal it, absorbing the red and brightening the
line itself. The bad bond still seemed to be a drain, but not as badly, and
it looked to be at least slightly healthier.

"Mr. Hasseran?"

He opened his eyes and looked up, his face still shadowed by the pain and
shock of nearly loosing her. "Yes?"

The nurse smiled reassuringly. "She's stabilized. She's even breathing some
on her own. We're leaving the respirator in for now, just in case, but her
temperature is coming up, and her heartbeat is steady."

"Did you find out what's wrong?" he asked, knowing it would be expected of
him.

She shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. Her heart stopped for no apparent
reason, but..." She shook her head again. "It started up again on its own
after we'd given up trying to restart it. It's been steady ever since, and
her vital signs immediately started stabilizing."

"God," he whispered. "Can I... can I see her yet?"

She looked at him sympathetically. "Well... it's really against the rules,
but in this case... there's just her and the one other patient, anyway, so
come on in for a little bit. If she continues to improve, we'll move her to
a regular room in the morning."

He nodded gratefully. "You... ah, I know you probably aren't supposed to
say, but how in Angie doing? She's a co-worker of mine."

She frowned grimly. "It looked pretty bad for a little bit there. She went
into convulsions. We got the breathing tube out before she hurt herself,
thank goodness. I won't _swear_ to it, but I think she's out of the woods.
She's breathing on her own, now, too. We've got her on oxygen and can get
her tubed again right away if she needs it, but it's looking good."

"Good," he said, leaning against the wall tiredly. If Angie was okay,
Kristen would be too.

"If you're friends, would you know where her husband is? He's listed as her
emergency contact, but we haven't been able to reach him."

He shook his head. "Sorry. The police said he left her."

"Oh dear," she said. "I'll tell the psychologist to be prepared for that,
then. Come on in and see your wife, hon."

Kristen looked better, though she was still unconscious. When he took her
hand in his, her skin was warm to the touch, and she wasn't quite as pale
as she had been.

They let him stay with her for about half an hour, before the nurses told
him that he'd have to leave, and that his father-in-law was waiting him in
the lobby. He bent and kissed her forehead gently, and then reluctantly
left the ICU.

Steven was waiting anxiously in the lobby, and Mark gave him a relieved
smile. "She's doing better," he said. "It was... bad... at one point. She
flat lined and they... they couldn't revive her." He closed his eyes and
swallowed against the lump in his throat. "Then they did something to
Angie, and her heart restarted spontaneously. That's also when Kayla and
Aaron started providing energy."

His father-in-law went pale and slumped against the wall. "God. How is she
now? How does she look?"

"Better," Mark said. "Her skin is actually warm. Why don't we go get some
coffee, and I'll fill you in on what's going on?"

"Good idea. There are some machines down the hall."

It was typical hospital vending machine coffee, meaning it was wet and
contained caffeine, and that was about all that could be said for it. Mark
held the warm cup gratefully, nonetheless, and collapsed in one of the
chairs. "Okay. Where should I start?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, honestly," Steven said, running a hand through his hair.
"Has she woken up at all?"

Mark shook his head. "No. I think that as the drugs work their way out of
Angie's system, she'll improve as well."

"Then how does Angie look? What are her chances?"

"Pretty good, I think," Mark said. "She's breathing on her own now, they
said."

"Then Kristen should be all right as well?"

Mark nodded. "I think so. Especially because... well, it looks like Kayla
actually _healed_ Angie and Kristen's life-bond."

"How?"

"I'm not sure. The energy coming from her seemed to leave the life-bond...
less raw, and, um, 'wounded' looking."

"There must be some way to protect her from this," Steven said, shoving
back his chair so that he could pace the length of the tiny room. "What if
she tries again, more successfully this time?"

That thought hadn't been a particularly comforting one for Mark, either,
but he'd at least had time to think about it. "I think once she knows that
it nearly killed Kristen, she won't try," he said. "And if Kayla can finish
healing the life-bond, I'm not sure it would react quite like this."

Steven stopped pacing to frown down at him, and finally asked the question
Mark had been expecting from the very beginning: "So, how did this happen
in the first place?"

Mark sighed, taking a sip of coffee to delay a bit. He really, really
didn't want to answer that. "Okay. Some of this happened before I was here,
and I want you to promise you won't do anything without talking it over
with Kristen first."

"Oh?" Steven asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Angie... slept with Kristen last year," Mark said, reluctantly. "I don't
blame her. Well, obviously. That'd be rather hypocritical. But I greatly
dislike what she did to her after that." He sighed again, holding up a hand
to forestall protests. "She panicked, called Kristen a demon, and told her
never to step foot in her office again. I understand why. She considered
herself a child molester, and was trying to protect Kristen. If Kristen
hated her and wouldn't come near her, then she'd be safe... but a life-bond
is a life-bond, and all she did was cause intense pain to both of them."

"That _stupid_ little--" Steven clenched his fists, sputtering
incoherently.

"Easy, Steven. She was trying to _protect_ Kristen. She didn't know about
the bond, or what it could do."

"A trained psychologist _would_ know the kind of damage something like that
would cause _any_ young girl, though!" Steven snarled.

"I didn't say I was _happy_ about it. But... try to imagine having tried to
stay away from Kristen's mother. Imagine the pain."

"Stupid," Steven said flatly. "Her religious hang-ups nearly killed my
daughter."

"She didn't know it would, though," Mark insisted. "We talked, this
morning. I told her about the life-bond-- but not about Kayla or Aaron. I
asked her if she was going to do anything rash and she said...." He sighed.
"She said she wasn't going to kill herself. And she told me she was going
to leave her husband. I'm not sure what happened tonight. Do you think...
do you think maybe this wasn't attempted suicide? That maybe it was him,
not her who did it?"

Steven shook his head. "I know him. I don't think he'd do it, but if he
did, he's smart enough he'd have stayed to see it finished. No. She
probably just changed her mind when she found him already gone, son."

"Are you sure? Should I call the sheriff and tell him she was planning on
leaving?"

"Hmm. She should be able to _tell_ us what happened before too long, Mark.
Let's not jump the gun."

"I guess you're right," Mark said. "Oh! But I do need to call Kayla and let
her know what's up." At Steven's nod, he pulled out his cell phone,
powering it up and dialing Kayla's number.

It was Aaron who answered, though, very quietly. "Hello?"

"I think she's going to be okay," Mark said immediately.

"Thank the gods." The boy's tired voice was full of relief. "Kayla's
asleep. We're about halfway there."

"Okay, good," Mark said. "Are you driving, then?"

"Yes, sir. She made me promise to drive her to the hospital, then she
passed out. She's okay, just a bit drained."

"Okay, then. Steven and I are here; we'll be waiting. Drive carefully."

"I will," Aaron assured him. "The road is basically empty, but I'll slow
down a bit, now that we know she's going to be okay."

"I'll let you go, then, and give both of you the details when you get her."

"Yes, sir. We'll be there soon."

Mark flipped the phone closed and looked at Steven soberly. "Kayla saved
two lives tonight."

"Quite possibly."

Mark shook his head. "I'm sure of it. I saw what her energy did to that
link. I honestly don't think they would have made it without her."

"I'm not going to pretend to understand how you know that," Steven said,
sighing. "But if you say you 'saw' it, I'll take your word for it. How is
she?"

Mark laughed. "I'm not sure I could explain it very easily, either," he
said. "She's asleep. More or less passed out when she and Aaron were...
done. They're about halfway here."

Steven nodded. "If she did heal them somehow, I imagine such things don't
happen without a price."

"Probably not. But... Steven, could I get you to do me a favor?" Mark
asked. "I want to get something for Kayla, from me and Kristen, for what
she's done. Maybe it will help."

"Oh?"

"A ring... gold, with alternating inset sapphires and emeralds."

Steven raised an eyebrow and looked at him knowingly. "A braided gold band?
Stones nestled in the braid?"

Mark blinked. "What I'd actually had in mind was just... a plain band with
rectangular stones. But I like your idea a lot better."

"Three strands or four in the braid?" Steven asked quietly.

"Um." Mark bit his lip. "Good question."

"Want some time to think about it?"

Mark glanced towards the ICU. "I'm guessing four. Unless it should be five,
and I just don't know about that."

"Nothing's ever simple that was worth having," Steven said.

Mark's mouth quirked to the side. "Point." He stared off into space for a
few seconds, then said, "Actually, make it three. For the people involved
in the bonds that actually touch _her_."

"All right," Steven said, and Mark just waited, getting more and more
nervous, until finally Steven raised a brow. "Are you waiting on me to
condemn them for loving her or you for letting them?" he asked mildly.

With a short, startled laugh, Mark said, "Neither. I'm just waiting on your
reaction."

Steven sighed. "I'm a practical sort of man, Mark. Monogamy isn't in
Kristen's best interests. She's spent more time glowing this past month
than my Jarai did in her entire too-short life. I'm not going to object to
anything that brings that about."

Mark smiled, as much in relief as with humor. "Come Christmas vacation,
we're going to see just how bright we can make her."

Steven grinned wryly. "It'll save money on Christmas decorations, anyway."

The laughter helped; it drained part of the tension out of the air. Of
course, it didn't actually solve any of the problems.

"I'm just not sure what to do about Angie," Mark said, quietly.

"Neither am I." Steven looked grim. "I don't know how these things work,
these bonds. How they form. Whether they can be broken."

"I'm not completely certain," Mark said, "But I don't think they can be
broken. So we just have to hope she can accept loving another woman."

"There's more than loving another woman she'd have to accept, son."

Mark sighed tiredly. "Yeah. I know."

Steven rubbed his forehead. "There's a hotel attached to this hospital. I'm
going to go rent a suite. Come on, and I'll give you your key."

***

"One of us should stay with her, in case she wakes up," Steven said, as he
handed Mark a keycard.

"Yeah. I think maybe when Kayla and Aaron get here... well, if we can get
more energy to Kristen, that'll _have_ to help," Mark said, blushing
slightly.

Steven just nodded. "You sleep now, then. I'll wake you up when I can't
stay up any longer. Your phone ringing will wake you?"

"It should."

"All right, then. I'll go back and see if they'll let me in to stay with
her. Call you in a few hours. I'll make sure they know to send Kayla and
Aaron to the hotel."

Mark gratefully agreed, and within minutes of locating the room, he was
asleep.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you like this, you might want to take a look at Strange Love, an
e-zine of sf/fantasy/paranormal erotica. The first issue is on sale
now for $2 at:

http://strangelove.pele.cx

Take a look!

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| alt.sex.stories.moderated ------ send stories to: <ckought69@hotmail.com>|
| FAQ: <http://assm.asstr-mirror.org/faq.html> Moderators: <story-ckought69@hotmail.com> |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|ASSM Archive at <http://assm.asstr-mirror.org>   Hosted by <http://www.asstr-mirror.org> |
|Discuss this story and others in alt.sex.stories.d; look for subject {ASSD}|
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+


  index