Crash-n-Burn Ch. 03

Note: This is the third of a six-part series. There is incest and some violence in this installment.

SCREWS LOOSE

A couple weeks after Mom removed our bedroom doors, I was back in the hospital, talking with Doctor Jones. This time, I had come in under my own power.

"Good morning, Cole. How are we doing today?" He was dressed in his surgical scrubs but was not yet wearing a mask.

I smiled. "Not sure about you, Doc, but I'm a bit chilly."

"Ah, yes; the dreaded hospital gown. At least we let you wear a tee shirt this time. I want to quickly go over the procedure before you're prepped. As we discussed, I will only be removing the screws from the rods in your left leg. I will be able to go in through the existing scars, so you'll barely notice the new incisions once they have healed. You understand that there is no guarantee this will remove your leg discomfort?"

"Yes, Doctor. And, if it doesn't get better, you may need to go back in to extract the rods."

There were two options to alleviate the pain from the hardware in my leg -- removal of the screws only or extraction of the rods. Extracting a titanium rod from the femur employed a slide hammer that screwed onto the end. That, of course, would place a huge amount of stress on the bone and could cause it to fracture again, returning to square one. Even without complications, recovery time was six to eight weeks. Removing just the screws involved a small incision and resulted in minimal restrictions on post-op mobility.

"Correct," Doctor Jones replied. "Since we're cutting through the skin there is still the possibility of infection. You already have the protocol for that, but we'll review it before you leave today. As we discussed, removing the screws will weaken the bone until the holes fill in. For the next four to six weeks, you'll need to avoid any activity that has a high potential for physical contact or falling, especially at speed. This includes things like skiing, climbing, hockey and snowmobiling. I would advise against skating or snowshoeing. In any case, do not perform any activity that causes discomfort or pain. Do you have any questions?"

"What about cross-country skiing? Mom and I were thinking of going to Algonquin after Christmas."

"I'll say 'maybe' on that one. Let me check your x-rays in two weeks and I'll give you my recommendation."

"Thanks, Doctor."

"You're welcome." He smiled. "You'll be taken in shortly, and I'll see you just before they put you under. The actual surgery will only be about thirty minutes, but you'll be out for a couple hours. I'll drop in on you after you wake this afternoon and see how you're doing, then you can go home."

***

The next thing I remembered was waking up in a strange bed. Everything was a bit muted -- colours, sounds, the feel of the blanket under my arms -- but the lights were also a bit bright. Hey, that didn't even make sense to me.

"Hey, sleepy-head. How are you feeling?"

I turned to the sweet voice, smiling as I saw Estelle. "Pretty good now. You're gorgeous, you know."

"Well, you've said that before, so I'm going to assume it's not the drugs. Any pain?"

I shrugged. "Not much. A bit of a dull ache in my legs, but nothing specific."

"The nurse said it would take a while for the anesthetic to fully wear off, so you may feel a bit more discomfort over the next hour."

I reached out and took her hand. "That's fine. This is nothing compared to the last time. I can even wiggle my toes without screaming."

"That's good to hear," she laughed. "How long until you know if it worked?"

"Pretty much as soon as the surgery pain is gone. Maybe two to four days; it depends on how long the incisions are painful."

"When will you know if you're up to skiing?"

"Probably at my follow-up visit in two weeks. The doctor will be able to tell how I'm healing, and we'll see about skiing then. He already said I can do some hiking, as long as it's not too uncomfortable."

"Yeah, but will you know you're up to the hike before you're two hours away from the car?"

I lifted her hand and kissed it. "I guess we'll see."

"You will," she pouted. "I have to go to Angus."

"You don't have to if you don't want to. You could come with us."

"No. I have to see Mom and Dad before they go to Gagetown. And, I've got to pack the rest of my stuff." She sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"I hate Angus, but it feels like I'm losing something by moving the last of my things out. And, we don't even have any idea of where we'll be in a year or two."

"Don't worry, we'll figure it out together. For now, Mom's fine with us staying here."

She pursed her lips. "I'm not so sure about that. I still don't have my door back."

I laughed softly. "Stelle, it's only been two weeks. Give it time. She was really pissed about the smoking. And, it's turned out not to be all bad, right?"

"Yeah, I know. But it still feels weird." She looked at me, then leaned in for a long kiss. "Don't worry, I'll try not to obsess about it."

Doctor Jones chose that moment to enter the room. "Well, I guess you're awake. How are you feeling?"

Estelle sat back in her chair, blushing.

"Pretty good, Doc. There's a bit of discomfort, but it's not too bad."

He nodded. "That's to be expected. The pain will fade over the next couple days as you heal. If you suspect there may be any problems, contact my office immediately. We'll see you again in two weeks unless there is a reason to come in earlier."

"Thank you, Doctor Jones," Estelle said.

He smiled at her. "Just doing my job, miss. You'll need to make sure that he doesn't move around too much for the next couple days. He's not on strict bed rest, but he needs to be careful not to pull open the sutures. Walking around the house should be fine, but nothing more than that. He must also avoid any activity that could cause him to fall or impact the leg. That's going to be the case for the next four to six weeks."

"I'll do what I can to keep him from getting too energetic."

"That would be for the best." He looked at me. "The nurse will be in shortly to go over caring for the bandages and give you some paperwork. Take care, Cole. See you in two weeks."

Doctor Jones left, but the nurse didn't arrive for nearly an hour. By the time we finally got out of the hospital, it was late afternoon. Estelle insisted in using a wheelchair to take me out, but we took a regular cab home. She had me sit in the front seat, as there would be more room for the leg. Once we were home, Estelle made me lean on her as we went inside. I didn't really need the support, but I wasn't going to object to having her close like that.

***

CHRISTMAS

A couple days after seeing Doctor Jones for my follow-up visit, I wrote my last high school exam. The next week I did my final Christmas shopping and prepared for the trip Mom and I had planned. I knew that I had passed my exams, and I was ready to begin college in January. But that would be a concern for later. Right now, it was Christmas.

I had still been recovering from the crash the first winter Estelle was with us. I was still using a cane when the school year had ended, but I had gained a lot of strength over the summer and this Christmas was different. My bones had healed, and even the incisions from the screw removal had closed up. There had been no complications, no infection, no concerns at all from that last surgery. For all intents, my injuries from the crash had healed. I could honestly say that I was looking forward to what the future held for me.

Estelle and I still did not have our bedroom doors. We had not given Mom any more reasons to distrust us, but I think that she was making a point. There was no hiding that we had become much more intimate over the past few months, but we were not yet having sex -- at least, not intercourse. I was ready; Estelle wasn't.

I woke early on Christmas morning with Estelle bouncing on my bed. Her blonde hair was loose over her shoulders, framing her face like a halo of gold. She was wearing a flannel nightgown that was inexplicably sexy. It covered her fully from shoulder to knee but clung to her in a way that made my body respond. As usual, I was naked under my blankets.

"Merry Christmas, Cole," she shouted. "Come on, get up and let's open some presents."

I pulled her close and kissed her. "Can I open this present first? It looks very nice on the outside, but I'm sure what's inside is even better."

She laughed, "Stop it. Aunt Maisie will be up any time, and there's no way you want to get all intimate when she could walk in on us."

I kissed her again. "Knowing that I shouldn't doesn't mean I don't want to. You are very beautiful, Stelle."

She let her body mold to mine. "You too, Cole. I love being close to you."

"There's room under the blanket," I whispered in her ear.

"Don't tempt me."

"Oh, so you are tempted?"

She looked at me, her eyes clearly communicating her arousal. "Hell, yeah. If you had a door, I might just give you a very special Christmas present."

I groaned. "Damn. We won't have any private time until Mom's back at work."

She kissed me, hard and deep. "Let's see how much we can do with me out here and you under there."

I smiled wickedly. "Can our hands travel?"

She giggled. "When in Rome..."

"Let your fingers do the roamin'," I said.

"That's the Yellow Pa..."

I cut her off, pulling her down for another kiss while my free hand slid down her chest, rubbing her small breasts. She groaned into my mouth and ground her hips against my crotch. One of her hands slid under my blanket, driving down to grab my cock. As she started to stroke me, my hand moved from breast to pussy, pulling up the hem of her nightie to gain access.

She had slid off me to get a better grip and bent her leg to give my hand more room. We were kissing and rubbing each other as if we were alone in the house. I could tell she was close to coming, and I knew I wasn't far behind. I broke the kiss and lifted her head slightly.

"I want to taste you."

She grinned and nodded, spinning around and pulling the blanket down to my knees. Her mouth was on my cock before she had stopped moving, and I pulled her hips over my head. My tongue dove into her pussy as she sucked my cock.

"I'm coming," I cried into her pussy a moment before I started pumping jizz into her mouth.

Estelle grabbed my hips and pulled her head against my groin, forcing the my cock further in. As I came down her throat, she began to shake, her pussy juices flowing into my mouth. I drank it all down, greedily lapping her clean. When we were both finally done, she slowly turned back to kiss me, pulling the blanket back up as if nothing had happened.

"Merry Christmas, lover."

"Merry Christmas, my little star." I sighed happily. "Do you want to stay here until Mom's up."

She giggled. "Too late. I think she caught a glimpse of us."

"Oh, shit."

"Oh, I don't think it's a big problem. She opened her door a bit, then closed it again. She'll be out again when she thinks it's safe."

"Damn. What do we do now?"

She snuggled against my chest. "I don't think we do anything unless she brings it up. In the meantime, I'm going to cuddle with you for a bit. If you don't mind

"Oh, I definitely don't mind."

***

Mom got up about fifteen minutes later. She stuck her head in to say breakfast would be ready in twenty minutes, and not to be late. She then headed downstairs without a word about noticing our earlier activities. Estelle kissed me and slipped out of my arms, heading back to her room to get dressed. I waited a few minutes, then followed suit. I was stepping out my doorway just as she came by, and we went downstairs together.

"Breakfast is almost ready," Mom called from the kitchen. "Waffles, bacon and eggs. Could you two set the table?"

We were just sitting down when she brought the food out, placing the serving dishes on the table. We didn't usually have a properly set table for breakfast, but Christmas was a special day. Mom began serving food as she started talking.

"So, did you sleep well?"

"Yes," we said together.

"That's good. I know you were both excited to get the day started early. I remember when I was like that on Christmas. Some good memories there. So, any plans for today?"

"Just the usual," I said. "Eat, open presents, eat some more. Relax and maybe play a couple games."

"That sounds nice. Estelle, what do you think?"

She shrugged. "I'm good with whatever you want. I don't have any plans other than being with you guys."

"All right, it's settled. We spend the day lazing around at home. A perfect Christmas."

She raised her mug of coffee, and we matched her toast.

***

I actually don't remember a single present I received or gave that year. I don't know how much was due to the impaired memory from the crash, or whether the presents themselves were not that important. But I know that the three of us had a great day. We played a couple board games, and Mom cleaned up in Trivial Pursuit. Estelle won the Monopoly game, though I may have helped her a bit. However, I won Chinese Checkers.

We ordered in Chinese food that night. It wasn't our usual choice for Christmas dinner, but we would be leaving early the next day and didn't want to deal with dirty dishes before going to bed. After dinner, we all enjoyed some wine while watching Miracle on 32^nd Street. Estelle was curled up with me on the couch while Mom relaxed in the easy chair.

"Do you two have your things packed for tomorrow?" Mom asked as the credits began to roll.

"I've got my pack ready and clothes laid out," I replied.

After waiting a minute, Mom asked, "Estelle?"

"Yeah," she said quietly, "I'm packed."

"Is everything okay? You don't seem too excited." Estelle just shrugged. "Did you want to come with us instead of visiting your family?"

"Um, not really. I mean, I wouldn't mind skiing with you. I'm not sure about the winter camping, though."

"Is there a reason you don't want to go home?"

She shrugged again.

Mom put down her glass. "Estelle, if you don't want to go to Angus, I'd like to know why."

"I do want to see my family. I just wish we could meet somewhere else. I don't like that place any more."

"Are you going to be all right with us dropping you off? I don't want you to feel that you're being forced to go there."

She put on a thin smile. "I'll be okay, Aunt Maisie. I'm just there for a week, I can handle it. Thanks for everything you've done for me. I know it hasn't always been easy to have me here."

Mom's smile was genuine. "You gave Cole a lot of help while he was recovering. I would not have been able to give him as much attention as you did. I'm the one who should be thanking you, Estelle."

"Well, I'm the reason he..."

I stopped her with a finger on the lips. "Stelle, never blame yourself for the bike crash. That's all on me, and I know it. I was stupid and selfish, and you both had to pay the price. Like Mom said, you've been a great help for me for the past eighteen months. I don't know if I could have done it without you."

She kissed me furiously, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck. It felt like five minutes before she finally let go, tears in her eyes.

"I'm going to miss you, Cole."

"It's just a week, love," I whispered.

"I know. But, I'll miss you."

"Me too."

"Aunt Maisie, do you mind if I just spend the night cuddling with Cole? We won't do anything more, promise."

Mom drained the rest of her glass. "Well, I'm going to bed. We've got a long day tomorrow. I expect you two to get a good night's sleep, so don't stay up too late. And, don't make any noise to wake me, all right?"

She stood, coming over to kiss me, and then Estelle, on the forehead. She collected our empty glasses and left. We heard the kitchen tap as she rinsed them, then her soft footsteps climbing the stairs.

"She didn't say no," Estelle whispered.

I smiled. "No, she didn't. It will be tough to hold you all night and not do anything."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing we had some fun this morning." She kissed me gently. "I meant what I said, though. I really do just want to hold you. Is that all right?"

"Perfectly, babe. Shall we?"

She nodded and we got off the couch. She led me to her room, and we climbed into bed together. She hummed contentedly as she put her head on my shoulder. In a couple minutes, she was asleep. I wasn't far behind.

***

BOXING DAY

We had been told to get a good rest, and I woke the next morning feeling completely refreshed. I'm not sure which of us woke first, but we lay awhile in each other's arms before moving. Eventually, Estelle kissed me softly.

"Morning," she whispered.

"Morning. How did you sleep?"

"Mmm. It was wonderful. I'm already looking forward to the next time we do this. Do you think your mom would mind us sleeping together from now on?"

I chuckled. "Well, we could ask, I guess. But, I'm pretty sure the answer would be no."

She sighed, "Yeah, you're right. I mean, it's not like we're having sex or anything."

"Well, I'm not sure about the 'anything' part."

Estelle giggled. "Okay, so we're not entirely innocent."

Mom picked that moment to show up in the doorway. "Hey, are you two getting up? I'd like to be on the road in an hour."

"Yeah, we were just talking," Estelle said, still looking in my eyes. "I'll get dressed and be down in a jiffy. But, Cole better go get changed in his own room before I take off my nightie."

"What, don't you trust my self-control?"

Estelle laughed as she jumped out of bed. "I trust yours just as much as I trust mine. And, after holding you all night without doing anything, that's not at all."

Mom was still waiting as I got up from the bed. I kissed Estelle briefly, then left the room. Mom followed me down the hall, giving me a quick hug before I turned into my room, then continuing down the stairs. It just took me a couple minutes to change, then I gathered my pack and headed down for breakfast.

We had discussed our meal plans for the next week, and Mom had decided that she was going to do some preparatory cooking. As a result, she had about two pounds of bacon frying, spread among four pans. One of the frypans had just enough for the morning's breakfast, and she had some eggs ready to put in as soon as that bacon was done.

"Cole, could you get the orange juice out? Coffee will be ready in a few minutes."

"Sure," I said, opening to the fridge. "Not a lot left in here."

"That was the plan. I didn't want to leave anything that would go bad while we're gone. The freezer is pretty full, and we have meals ready to reheat when we get back."

"You know, Aunt Maisie," Estelle said, entering the kitchen, "I don't think I can eat that much bacon."

"Very funny. This will make it quicker for Cole and me to make meals while camping, as well as removing a possible source of food poisoning."

"You're sure your leg is healed enough for this, Cole?" Estelle asked.

I smiled and pulled her into my arms. "Yes, I'm sure. Doctor Jones said no rock climbing, snowmobiling or downhill skiing. At the checkup, he agreed that I can do cross-country as long as I avoid any steep hills. He said he'd prefer the skis to snowshoes, since you can easily get the shoes caught or twisted. Cross-country skiing is a smoother, gentler action."

"As long as you don't fall. He said that's still a concern," Estelle said.

"Yes, it is. But, we're going to be sticking to the cleared trails. We won't have to worry about rocks or roots tripping us up." I gave her a light kiss. "Tell me, are you more worried about me or visiting Angus?"

"I'm worried about you. I dread Angus."

"Hey, we'll both be fine. This will be a light workout for me, so there's nothing to be worried about. And you'll be with your folks, who love you. Just focus on being with them and don't worry about anything else for a few days."