John Francis

A black limo started to pull into the parking lot of the café where Richie knew Jon would be, Jon having called before the second bottle of wine. The headlights lit upon the two figures on the ground and Richie screamed “Stop!” to the driver. The back door flew open and in three strides Richie was standing over the two, not knowing whether to grin or throw his hands up into the air. Within two seconds, however, he knew something was wrong. Neither figure was moving.

“Shiiittt, bro’, what the fuck did you do?” he breathed out. The limo driver appeared at Richie’s side and helped lift Jon off the woman underneath him. Richie laughed softly when he realized that even passed out drunk Jon had managed to find a soft place to land. The two men carried Jon to the back of the limo and put him on a seat. They returned to the woman. Richie stood with his hands on his hips and then by the light of a flashlight the driver had on a key chain, he looked at the woman on the ground.

Immediately he saw a mass of dark honeyed hair, lush breasts, a trim waist, and womanly hips. He also realized that this was not Jon’s usual type lately as even lying down, he could see she was tall, maybe as tall as Jon. She also was not as young as Jon’s tastes seemed to be running since the divorce. He pretty much avoided anyone who reminded him of Dorothea.

Richie lightly stroked her cheek, trying to wake her up. No response. “Shit, Steve, we can’t just leave her here,” he motioned helplessly. The driver nodded in agreement and they both picked her up carefully as she was completely out and got her onto another seat in the back of the limo, with her head resting on Richie’s lap. “Take us back to Tico’s,” Richie advised. The car slowly pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards Tico’s Palm Beach home.

A few moments later, Richie had the uncomfortable sensation of wetness on his pant leg. Not understanding the source, he turned on an inside light and touched the area. Dark red blood stained his fingertips. “Holy shit!” he screamed out, hitting the intercom, “Steve, stop at a damn drug store.” He wiped his fingers off and gently touched the woman’s neck to make sure she was still alive, even though he knew she was. It was just the blood had shocked him that badly.

Leaving Jon and the woman in the limo, Richie rushed into the drug store. In the back of the limo, Jon was groggily getting up from the seat. He felt a twinge in his back, the pain of which caused his eyes to clear for a moment, and he saw a figure lying on the opposite seat. A boozy grin curled his lips and he leaned over.

Amanda was just starting to stir after having been knocked unconscious in the fall. Groggy herself, her eyes not even open, she felt her legs being grabbed and her body turned. Strong hands and arms roughly pulled her into a sitting position as she tried to focus through half-slitted eyes. She heard a man say “come on then, baby, let’s fuck” and suddenly she was on the floor of the limo. Her knee came up automatically and struck a very drunk Jon right in the stomach. Before Amanda blacked out again, she heard and felt the unmistakable sound of someone throwing up …right on top of her.

Richie completed his purchases of peroxide, antiseptic, and bandages and returned to the car as quickly as he could. Throwing open the door, he expected to find the two inside exactly as he had left them. Hell, it was only five minutes ago. Instead, he saw the woman on the floor, Jon again passed out over her, and the smell of regurgitated wine.

“Oh fuck me sideways!” he cursed, standing nonplussed outside the car, wondering what the hell to do now. Getting inside, as rank as it was, was pretty unappealing, but he really had to get this out of the public eye. Rolling down all the windows before he got inside, he gingerly entered, leaving them both on the floor. He was gonna need some help!

Cell phones are a gift from the gods, Richie thought as he called Tico and gave him a quick rundown on what was coming to his house. Tico, a pretty even-tempered guy, was already pissed at Jon for his black moods and was not thrilled, however, this was Jon. “Ok, man, just get ‘em here, we’ll deal,” he sighed heavily, then broke into a deep chuckle said, “glad I don’t own that limo.” “No shit,” Richie laughed, breathing shallowly.

Within five minutes, the limo pulled into Tico’s gated drive and arrived at the house where the exasperated owner was waiting outside. Richie quickly exited the car, gasping deep breaths of clean air. Tico looked inside, grimaced at the smell, but then started laughing. “Damn, even drunk Jon knows how to fall.” Richie, realizing that he had not told Tico how he had found Jon, repeated that story. Tico laughed harder. Richie just groaned, “Come on man, help me out here.”

The men, including the driver, lifted Jon off the woman and carried him into the house to one of the upstairs bathrooms. Laying him on the floor, they quickly returned to the car. Tico helped Richie get the woman out, but after getting her in a better position, Richie nodded, “I got her, lead on.” They took her to another bathroom on the second floor.

Richie, hands on his hips, looked at the woman, looked at Tico, and smirked, “yeah, ok, you go take care of Jon.” Tico, also getting a better look at the woman, grinned, “sure, bro’, leave me with the real pussy!”

Richie started the shower, figuring that was the best way to get her cleaned up so he could check her head wound. He thought the second trip to the floor of the limo probably didn’t help her any, but other than being pale and still unconscious, she appeared to be alright.

Stripping to his underwear, he quickly removed her clothing, having to strip her bare as the vomit had soaked through. He stood her up, supporting her weight fully, and lifted her into the shower with him. He let the water hit her hair and was startled at the blood that colored the floor of the shower. She stirred in his arms, suddenly standing on her own. Her eyes were closed from the water, but Richie heard her murmur softly “Jeremy?”

Not knowing who Jeremy was and not wanting to upset her he just made an “um hum” sound and carefully feeling his way through the mass of her hair, he felt a small laceration and a large bump.

“Keep your eyes closed,” he instructed softly, hoping to get her out of the shower quickly. He shampooed her hair and soaped her off, and tried very hard to keep his mind on her injury instead of her lush figure. He was only mildly successful, however, and by the time he had her out of the shower and dried off, he had a real hard on going. Shit! Stop it, you asshole, he chided himself, chuckling. Christ! I need to get laid! He really missed his current girlfriend and vowed to make Jon pay for this in some way!

Amanda had submitted to Richie’s ministrations in the shower and was able to comply with his instructions to stand while she was dried off and to walk over to the bed when he guided her to it. Richie left her to sit on the bed while he gathered the medical supplies he needed. In that few minutes Amanda had started to doze off from the effects of the bump and the warm shower.

She felt a burning sensation in her head brought her back a little further from where she had been. Gentle hands were in her hair and a soothing voice spoke, “it’s ok, honey, you fell. Let me clean your cut.”

Hanging her head in response to the pain, she couldn’t see who was speaking. “Who are you?” she asked in a husky voice. Her voice startled Richie as it sounded like whiskey and smoke.

“Richie, babe, just relax.”

“What happened and where am I?” Amanda asked, slowly coming more to her senses.

“At my friend’s house and we’re gonna take care of you. Listen, you have to stay the night. You may have a concussion and you need looked after. Is there anybody you need me to call?”

Amanda gave a deep sigh and answered in a small voice, “No, no one.”

Tico had less fun cleaning Jon up than Richie did with Amanda and after getting him reasonably dry and at least partway sobered from the shower, he threw Jon into a bed in another room and left with a “sleep it off, asshole” thrown out as he was leaving.

The room was too dark with her hair over her face for Amanda to see who was speaking to her. She heard the voice say, “I need to shine a light to check your pupils, babe, so get ready.” Her hair was moved and the brief flash of light allowed Richie to see that her pupils were even, but quickly made Amanda shut her eyes before she got a look at the man helping her.

Her head throbbed and she asked in her honey-smoke voice “Can I have some Tylenol?”

“Sure, hon, hang on. Be right back.” The light was turned off and footsteps could be heard leaving the room. Amanda was not sure what had happened or where she was, but she appeared to be safe and that was all her pounding head could handle right now. She was not even aware that all she wore was a towel.

Richie returned quickly with the pain medication, but left the light off. “Here ya go, sweetie” and handed her the pills.

She gratefully took the pills, swallowed, and then slumped a little. “I need to rest.”

“Lie back, you’re on a bed” came the male voice. “The only other thing I remember about possible concussions is that you need to be woken up every few hours, so if you fall asleep, you’ll be hearing from me again soon”, he chuckled.

She carefully laid down on the pillow and gave a soft sleepy sigh. “No problem, thanks for keeping an eye on me. You have a good bedside manner for a doctor.”

Richie was startled and started to correct her, but not knowing her personality he was afraid she might start screaming the house down if she knew she was not under real medical supervision. “See you soon, ma’am. By the way, what’s your first name?” He heard “Amanda” as he quietly left the room.

Amanda rolled on her side, away from the sore spot on her head, and relaxed. She quickly drifted off into a lighter, more normal sleep, still waiting for the pills to take effect.