A Friend in Need

Author note: This is just a little something that popped into my head and I figured I'd write it out and see where it went. Please know there's no real sex in this one, so hopefully you won't be too disappointed. Thanks for taking the time to read my work.

Chapter 1

The private hospital room was quiet and devoid of any noises that would delay patient healing. It had been constructed in such a way to boost healing whilst providing the utmost privacy of the patient. It was an expensive outlay but worth every penny for those that could afford the opulence. Bernadette West was hooked up to every monitor the hospital provided under the guise they would alert the doctors and nurses of any slight change in her health. The truth was, and Bernadette knew this, that she was never leaving this place alive. Her illness had been slow moving, but at forty-three years of age, was now in the final stages of her years long battle. It was time for her to face everything and in a last-ditch effort, clear her conscience before departing this mortal plane.

Bernadette was one of the most beautiful women, most people had ever laid their eyes on, which was something she used to her advantage with her now husband, Thomas West. She was a blonde bombshell, with a wicked sense of humour, gorgeous smile and a body to die for. If she wanted something or someone, she'd go for it no matter what and come out on top. That was how she got Thomas. It also helped that she was adventurous in the bedroom that had led to some extremely pleasing encounters. Bernadette recalled how she had wooed her husband back in college, tempting him with offers of a life of pleasure, and it didn't hurt her two, beautiful, best friends were part of the deal. What red-blooded man would pass up the opportunity to sleep with those two women, at his girlfriend's request? It had worked in her favour and it wasn't hard given how handsome Thomas was with his six feet, two-inch frame of toned physique, his full head of dark brown hair and chiselled jawline. The man was a walking wet dream and when she found out just how endowed he was, knew he was perfect for her. It was that last detail that Bernadette thought would save her from her insatiable desires. Something she would often brag about to the others, regaling them in tales of his prowess and her exploits. It wasn't long before she had successfully married into his rich family, and set about leaving her past behind, however, she still had a dark secret that needed dealing with so that her memory wouldn't be tarnished.

Annabelle Worthington and Vivienne Maxum were her two closest friends. She had grown up with them both, and had headed to college with them to earn their respective degrees. Given they were all only children in their respective families, they bonded together tightly and often called themselves sisters, even though they looked nothing alike. Annabelle had light brown hair, hips and an ass that were rounded and sexy, with a lovely, girl next door look about her, and was married to Brad Worthington, who was a wonderful and wholesome man. He had taken Annabelle's fancy and worked his own business that while profitable, wasn't super rich like so many of the stories that seem to go around. He was doing well, but didn't have any patents or could afford the big mansion so many seemed to, but they were happy. Bernadette recalled how she liked to flirt with him and show a little flesh when they were around using the pool. It was all harmless fun, especially when it was just the two of them, showing off her body in all her glory. She loved to show off and seeing Brad become nervous but hard, always got her motor going. Then there was the ever-single Vivienne who was the geeky looking brunette, that had beautiful eyes behind those designer glasses, a pleasant smile and an hourglass figure that got even Bernadette a little turned on. The three of them knew how to turn a head or two and would often have men hanging around them, begging them to go home for the night. It was something they all partook in before Thomas came into the picture.

During those quiet moments, Bernadette would reminisce about the sexual exploits the three of them got up to, with her being the leader of their unspoken 'gang'. She would take the lead over the other two and that often was the case when they were with men as well. In particular, Bernadette's infatuation with Thomas was so strong, she made sure she finished him off, even if it meant Annabelle or Vivienne had to watch. The way Thomas would respond was what turned her on most, knowing she could wring the last drop out of him and give him something the others could not. To then talk about it with Annabelle and Vivienne, to relive those moments was magical. It didn't hurt that it also gave them ideas for any future escapades. In the end Bernadette always knew the better woman won out and her friends knew her as that, given they always looked up to her. She often saw that was the case each time they were all together, with Bernadette confident in the success of her marriage to Thomas. She knew just how to make it all work.

Today however, Bernadette didn't have much time to reminisce. Her two best friends were visiting, towards the end of visiting hours and it was at this moment, Bernadette needed her friends the most. Bernadette's husband, their eight children, and his elderly parents had visited earlier, leaving the two women to spend time alone with Bernadette. Her parents had passed away a few years ago, leaving her with only, Thomas, the children, Annabelle and Brad, and Vivienne as her family now.

"Thank you for coming," Bernadette said softly as she felt herself getting weaker by the day.

"Of course," Annabelle said warmly.

"I... I need to say some things," Bernadette said taking a moment to gather her thoughts. This wasn't any different from what she had always done, just that now she was in bed and dying. Still, her friends would support her in her time of need.

"Okay, we're here," Vivienne said softly, trying her best to put on a brave smile for their dying friend. Bernadette smiled.

"You two are closer to me than any blood relative. I mean that, we're sisters forever," Bernadette said sweetly.

"Yes, we are," Vivienne said holding out her hand over the bed, for Annabelle and taking it, giving her a loving look before they let go. It warmed Bernadette that these two women had each other through her illness and would in the future as well.

"Belle," Bernadette said looking at the lovely woman to her right. "I'm sorry my stupidity got you pregnant all those years ago. I wasn't thinking and if I knew what would happen..."

"Ssshhh, it's okay," Annabelle said with a smile as her face contorted slightly. "I have a wonderful son and that's what I focus on. Don't worry yourself about that. It's okay."

The truth of the matter was that Bernadette's proposal to all sleep with Thomas, led to Annabelle becoming pregnant. What Bernadette never let on at the time, was that she toyed with her best friend's birth control as a joke, which led to her pregnancy. What no one could have known, was the birth almost cost Annabelle her life. She had an emergency hysterectomy to stop the bleeding, which meant she could not have any more children. At twenty-three that was devastating news to the young woman who wanted a big family. It took Annabelle time to come to terms with it, with Vivienne being an incredible support pillar for her through that trying time. Thomas vowed to look after Annabelle and was always there for their child, bringing him up the best way they knew how.

"Thank you," Bernadette said weakly. "I'm still sorry though. But it has been an honour to see Samuel grow up into the wonderful man he is today, and that we could all be so close with one another."

The mistake and resulting reputation damage was enough to cause Bernadette to want to have a child of her own, to try and give Samuel a sibling to grow up with and have someone that none of the three women had when growing up. But the ironic joke was that Bernadette had to see a fertility clinic to make that happen. It took a year but she finally fell pregnant with her first child at twenty-five years old.

"Thank you," Annabelle said with a smile while she thought about her son. He and Thomas had been her ray of hope in those early dark days. Vivienne too.

"Can I ask for a favour?" Bernadette asked reaching for Annabelle's hand.

"Of course."

"Look after Thomas for me, please," Bernadette said before looking at Vivienne. "Both of you, please?"

"Of course. We love him, you know that and we wouldn't let anything happen to him," Vivienne replied stoically. "Remember, we told you that years ago."

"I know. I just love him like no other and want to make sure he's well taken care of," Bernadette said swallowing hard. "He's given me so much... so much that I don't deserve." It was true that Thomas had captured her heart and she loved him like no one else, but that feeling was only enough to sustain her for five years, then things changed. When she wasn't pregnant, her urges started to come back.

"He will be, don't worry," Annabelle said giving her a smile.

"Thank you," Bernadette said before taking a deep breath. "There's one other thing I need taken care of..."

"Name it," Vivienne said.

"Anything," Annabelle said with a nod before looking at Vivienne who nodded in response.

"Okay, please don't hate me for this, but I have to tell someone," Bernadette said before closing her eyes and composing herself. This was a secret she had kept hidden for a long time now, over ten years and it was nerve racking to let her best friends know. But she needed to, to make sure there was no evidence left.

"What is it?" Vivienne asked looking concerned.

"Okay, but you have to promise me not to tell anyone, please?" Bernadette asked looking at both women.

"Of course," Vivienne replied.

"Promise," Annabelle replied with a nod before looking at Vivienne briefly. Vivienne gave the briefest of shrugs.

"Okay," Bernadette said taking a breath. "I haven't told anyone about this, ever. So here goes. Do you remember how I had a thing for black men when we were younger?"

The two women laughed which made Bernadette smile.

"Ah, yeah, you were in heat. You'd always say 'Q O S', whatever that stood for... and I think you had screwed half of the eastern seaboard by the time we were nineteen," Annabelle said with a smile which made Bernadette recall just how turned on she got. Even though she was ill, remembering those three letters made smile for a brief moment. She loved knowing things other people didn't. "What about it?"

"You have to know, Thomas saved me from that life... for a while," Bernadette said letting out a sigh. While she started to get the itch after about five years of marriage, her pregnancies contained that somewhat, with Bernadette only fantasizing online during that initial period. But that didn't last either. "About ten years ago, I met a man while out working... it was at a conference. He was black... There was just something about him and I slipped..."

The room was silent for a minute as the two women came to terms with what she just said.

"Slipped?" Vivienne asked to which Bernadette nodded.

"I had an entanglement. Just one night, but I was hooked, badly," Bernadette said softly. "I started sleeping with black men again..."

"Holy cow, how did we not know? Wait, not when you were pregnant?" Annabelle asked with a concerned tone.

"No, no, not at all. Pregnancy seemed to have the opposite effect. It was in between all those times. The hormones, the checks, the visits all of it changed me for a while. I was thankful for being pregnant, it seemed to level me out, but afterwards, it was like something came over me and I just had to have them. I'd set it all up while I was away for work... But I need to be clear, I made sure it was all above board, they got tested, I got tested so we were clean, always. And... anyway, I needed it. Things had changed between Thomas and I, and then I was feeling frumpy at being a mother..." Bernadette said shedding a tear she wiped away. "We had separate bedrooms at home. It made it somewhat easier."

They had a ten-bedroom home, on a massive block, that had a pool, tennis court and three-bedroom servant quarters out the back.

"Bernie! How could you?" Vivienne asked in shock. "Does Thomas know?"

"No, he doesn't and I'd like to keep it that way," Bernadette replied with a sigh. "We were always promiscuous. We had lots of parties, all of us... you two were there, you know. Hell, even when Brad came on the scene you were still there. So, I always figured what's a little something on the side for me? But Thomas can't know..."

"Then why tell us?" Annabelle asked with her eyebrows raised. "You could have taken this secret to the grave?"

"I, ah, I kept records and there are photos, I received gifts," Bernadette replied looking down at the bed and not wanting to make eye contact with either of them. "There's some stuff in there that people wouldn't understand. I don't want Thomas to think ill of me, I need someone to destroy all of the evidence so he doesn't find out."

"Shit, Bernie," Vivienne said turning away and moving to the window for a moment. She looked out the window before turning back to her dying friend. "We're best friends and we'd do anything for you. But this is going to be tough. It's not right!"

"Please, I wouldn't ask unless I was desperate. Please, I don't want to hurt him with my... entanglements, my urges. I couldn't help myself," Bernadette said trying her best to convince them to help her. There was no way she would have been able to go back home. Initially, Bernadette thought it would be a quick visit to the hospital to get her back on her feet, but things hadn't turned out that way. "Please, just destroy it and then no one will ever know."

Vivienne looked at Annabelle who nodded and kept a straight face. She then looked at Bernadette.

"Okay, consider it done. Where do we find it?" Vivienne asked empathetically.

It was the ray of hope Bernadette was looking for and a faint smile appeared.

"I have a lock box in a hidden compartment in the dressing room. North wall, behind the dresses. You'll have to slide the wall to the left," Bernadette said with a relieved tone as Vivienne nodded. "Thank you, Viv, it means a lot that you would do this for me."

"Don't mention it. Look, we should probably go, let you get some rest. We'll take care of the problem and let you know as soon as we are done, okay?"

"Okay, thank you. I love you guys," Bernadette said resting back happily in her bed knowing her friends would take care of things. They had always taken care of each other and while Bernadette knew it was a long shot given what she had done, was hopeful that they would help her. Now she knew they really did have her back and she could rest peacefully.

"We do too," Annabelle said before the two women said their goodbyes and then left the room.

Little did Bernadette know she had less time than she realised.

Chapter 2

Overnight, Bernadette had taken a turn for the worse and had an oxygen mask put on. The downside of the turn was that she was now unable to speak. It was now the end game and the doctors were doing everything they could to make her comfortable, but also give the family more time to make arrangements and say goodbye. It had been a rather quiet morning, with only his elderly parents, Thomas, Brad, Annabelle and Vivienne visiting. Thomas and Brad had agreed to take his parents out for a bit given how tired Bernadette appeared. It was only for a short while, giving Annabelle and Vivienne time with her. It was the least they could do now that there was a finality about all of it. Once they knew the coast was clear they filled Bernadette in on what they had done overnight.

"We found it where you said it was, obviously we saw some photos, and your diary, but we didn't watch the DVDs or anything, and bagged it all up," Annabelle said softly. "You must have really gone wild. What's with the temporary spade tattoos?"

Bernadette smiled and nodded. She knew full well what the tattoos were for and was hoping to get a permanent one before she fell ill.

"I wish I hadn't looked at your diary, but a page fell out and you were at something like two thousand men," Vivienne said to which Bernadette looked at her and nodded, a smile still on her face.

"Mmmm," Bernadette said with a slight gurgle. She seemed pleased with herself and happy her friends were okay with it all. However, that wasn't the case.

"Well, we destroyed the evidence, but it didn't matter, really. You see, Thomas has known all this time about your affairs. We all have," Vivienne said bluntly which wiped the smile off Bernadette's face. "We should have known what you were like when you got Annabelle pregnant, but we were young and stupid back then. Well not that stupid. It was the orgy you tried to set up with those eighteen-year-old college students that made us aware of your manipulative games. We thought things had changed, but there you were trying it on again. So, we came up with a plan. Or I did. I wasn't going to let you get away with what you did to Belle, so how do you combat a manipulative, sociopathic narc? Easy, I took a play out of your book and used your own game against you."

Bernadette looked on with her eyes wide, and her hands gripping the sheets. Unable to speak and only make noises, she looked at the lovely brunette.

"Ahhh," Bernadette said with some force.

"Do you remember that big two-week trip Thomas and I took to the west coast to seal that big deal for our business?" Vivienne asked. "We were just starting out and wanted to land a big fish..."

Bernadette looked worried, but nodded her head gently because she wanted to know what Vivienne was on about.

"Remember, I flew out for a couple of days as well," Annabelle said with a look of anger. It was all coming out now.

"He knew back then and, so I planned the trip to get him away. He was beside himself, worried you had given him some disease... thank God you hadn't. But just so you know, I spent a week calming him down and had to call Annabelle for help. We were able to soothe him, but I made him a promise. It was simple really. I devoted myself to him, not that I already hadn't, but I made it clear. I gave him everything, all of me... because," Vivienne said but paused as she got a little emotional before composing herself. "Because I love him with every fibre of my being. Why do you think I never got married? Why do you think I agreed to live in the servant quarters? You stole him away from me and once he told me about your treachery, I vowed to do anything for him."

"I did too," Annabelle said firmly. "Why do you think Thomas was so willing to help us buy the house next door? I would be your nanny, look after the kids while you all worked. Let you hang yourself with your cheating rope. Then I could be close to all of them, provide our children with the best, most loving environment possible. You were never there. He would never have to be alone with you... and lord knows, Thomas is a wonderful man. The best, but that wasn't enough for you, was it?"

"It was easy to do. I told him everything, our past, what you did to Belle, what I had done to you, everything, and he was adamant he was going to divorce you, but we convinced him otherwise," Vivienne said with a smirk. "Didn't you ever wonder why you two have never had sex in the last ten plus years?"

Bernadette looked at Vivienne and her eyes went wide before she moaned loudly. She then looked at Annabelle, who simply continued unloading.

"What I didn't know at the time, was that your first two children were actually Vivienne's," Annabelle said bluntly that caused Bernadette to look suddenly at her friend. "She never told me that she was getting back at you for what you did to me. I will always love her for that. She played with your birth control and if you remember, told you to go to the clinic..."