Andy eventually found me in the waiting room, with Jack’s mum. I couldn’t go back in that terrible room, not to see Jack like that, not when I remembered him so tall and sweet, and handsome, always ready with a joke and a big-brotherly hug for me; he knew I’d had a crush on him for years, but he’d never led me on, or made fun of me; he’d just acted like I was his little sister, and now, to see him like that…
Andy could see I was in no fit state to stay there any longer, so he took me back to the house in Eaton Square, then sat holding me all day while I cried for Jack and what had been done to him. Eventually I cried myself to sleep, waking in the early evening to find he’d ordered-in pizza and Chinese. I picked distractedly at the food, not really hungry, my head full of images of our friend wrapped in sheets that looked ominously like a shroud, no sign of life or vitality, just the slow traces on the monitor screens telling us he was still alive, but just barely.
At last I gave up trying to pretend to eat; Andy was obviously feeling the same, so we went to bed to try and get some rest for that long, long drive back to Edinburgh the next morning. I fell asleep quickly, but woke up in the middle of the night to feel Andy trembling against me; I switched on the light, and poor Andy was crying silently for his friend, his best friend since they were both six years old, which started me off again; I didn’t feel contempt for him, a grown-man crying; if you can’t grieve for your closest friends, what kind of person does that make you?
*
We stopped at the hospital to see Jack once more before we made our way home again; his condition was unchanged, but a whole bunch of his old friends from school, comrades all, had congregated in the foyer, anxious for news; it felt so bad telling them that he was in a coma, and was going to stay that way for the foreseeable future, and there was only a slim chance he’d survive. I was in tears again, and Harry took me from Andy and hugged me, trying to make me feel better; Sai Fong was sitting in a corner, her face set and expressionless, and something told me she didn’t want anyone speaking to her or disturbing her while she grieved, so I left her in peace; when she was ready, she’d call me.
We hardly spoke on that long trip home, over 400 miles; what was there to say? Harry and David and all the others were trying to be upbeat and positive, but I knew, deep in my heart, that we were going to lose him, and that scared me more than I could say; Jack had been a part of my life, in one way or another, since I was a little girl; he was Andy’s best friend and companion, together with Harry, and I knew him and loved him almost as well as I knew and loved my brother. I’d never met his half sister, Teruko; she’d never crossed my path, but I’d seen pictures of her; Jack had always carried a picture of her in his wallet, so I knew she was a real beauty; how was she taking all this?
We spent the rest of that summer in close touch with Harry; he and Sai Fong had taken it on themselves to care for Teruko; she spent all her time, day and night, at Jack’s bedside, and Sai and Harry had to physically force her to eat, rest, and sleep. But she never left his side, which definitely made her a star in my book, and told me she was much more to Jack than just his little sister.
Summer turned into autumn, and we began to hear about little improvements in him; his eyes were opening and tracking movement, he’d begun to move around on the bed, and they’d had to restrain him as he sometimes threshed around; Harry and his mother kept us updated on the little, baby-steps progress he was making, but it all seemed to be good news.
Then one morning in early December, I got an excited call from Sai Fong.
“Lin, it’s Jack… he woke up; Lindy, oh my God, he woke up!”
I screamed, bringing Andy running, and he took the phone from me because I was on the verge of hysterics again, but in a good way; he was back, he’d come back! While I hazed-out, Andy talked with Sai, then hung up, a huge, happy grin, the first one I’d seen in the longest time, creasing his face.
“Lin, LIN! Calm down baby, there’s more; shush, listen!”
His voice cut through the fog, and I began to pay attention to him.
“Lin, Jack’s awake, but he’s got retrograde amnesia; that means he doesn’t know who or where he is, or what happened, but he can still talk, so the memory loss isn’t total. The specialists think the amnesia is only temporary. I know you’d like to run down there, so would I, but the best thing we can do for him right now is let him rediscover the world slowly. Teruko, his mother, Harry and Sai Fong, they’re about as much as he can handle right now, and I don’t want to scare him with too many people and things he’s forgotten; he must be really scared and confused right now, so we have to keep away until he’s ready for us, okay?”
He was a 4th Year medical student, I assumed he knew what he was talking about, so I let it go, but I was singing inside; Jack was back, he was going to be okay! I had to cry; the only thing I’d wanted through that whole terrible summer and bleak autumn was for Jack to come back, to be alright, and now he had, tears of happiness were in order.
Andy bear-hugged me, his happiness transmitting itself to me and mingling with mine, and quite without knowing it, I began kissing him; his neck, his chin, his ears, his cheek, and lips, peppering him with small, happy kisses even as the tears rolled down my cheeks. He responded by holding and squeezing me against him, and then somehow we were on the couch, his hands touching, squeezing, fondling me as his lips found mine, and his tongue brushed and circled mine, kissing me properly, happily, for the first time in what seemed like forever.
As I wriggled against him, he pushed my panties down as he squeezed and kneaded the cheeks of my bum, and I responded by rubbing my mound against the increasing bulge in his jeans, wanting him so much as the fear for our dearest friend dissipated and joy replaced it. I think deep down we were celebrating life, and how it had found a way to bring Jack back and it felt good, and right, to be doing this now, with the best news in the world still echoing inside us.
I found myself naked, with Andy rearing above me, his lovely thick cock prodding at my wet slit, and I took him and guided him into me. Andy is a large man, and I’m only slightly built, but he’s a tender and considerate lover, and when he entered me it felt wonderful, slow and gentle, no jamming himself in to get himself off; he knew how happy I was, and his first aim was to make me even happier.
We made love all afternoon, months of tension and apprehension melting away as my big brother made love to me as only he could, and I gave myself to him as many times as he wanted, in any and every way he wanted. I don’t remember falling asleep, but when he kissed me awake dusk was filling the room, and the emptiness inside told me we’d better get something to eat to replace the energy we’d used-up bouncing around like mad, happy things all day.
Two weeks later, we heard that Jack’s memory had returned; going home had been the trigger that finally unlocked his memories, and, other than a few blank spots, he seemed to have made a good recovery.
In the run-up to Christmas, Andy picked me up early one afternoon and told me we were going shopping; as I didn’t actually need anything, I was curious what we were buying, until we arrived at a small but quite exclusive boutique on Prince’s Street.
“Buy a nice dress, Lin, we’re going to the Old Boy’s Dance on New year’s Eve; Jack, Harry, Teruko and Sai are going to be there, so get something stunning, I want to show you off!”
What a sweet boy!
*
The dance itself was great; I spent a lot of time re-connecting with old friends, sisters and girlfriends of Andy’s friends. We saw Jack and Teruko, but kept our distance; they were obviously completely wrapped up in each other, and we didn’t want to intrude.
Jack looked terrible, thin and drawn, just a shadow of his former self, which was understandable, and he seemed to be leaning on Teruko on occasion, which concerned me; should he even have been there? Harry and Sai hovered around him a lot, I noticed, obviously as concerned as I was, and keeping close in case he needed them.
Everyone else kept a discreet distance, and deliberately didn’t see him dancing closely with Teruko, which I thought was sweet and considerate, instead giving him understanding little pats or quick squeezes on arm or shoulder.
Then, as he’d led Teruko back to their table, the last person in the world I’d expected to see, Slimy Fineman, appeared from nowhere and punched poor Jack between his shoulder blades, nearly sending him flying; Andy was at my side, and suddenly he was behind Slimy, holding him off the ground by the scruff of his neck.
I was outraged; Jack was obviously still weak from his ordeal, everyone could see it, and that despicable coward saw his chance to have a go at a man who’d normally have wiped the floor with him, and I think he’d have tried if Teruko hadn’t stopped him, then rounded on Slimy and told that piece of shit exactly what she thought of him, and just how far beneath notice he was.
Andy shook Slimy, hard, saw me and winked, so I did what I’d wanted to do for over a year; I slapped that bastard so hard it made my shoulder hurt, while telling him exactly what I thought of him, which got a loud cheer. Andy dragged him outside, and I felt confident that now he had him, after what he’d tried to do to me, Andy was going to dismember him and chuck the bits in the river.
While Andy was (hopefully) killing Slimy, Jack introduced me to his sister, stumbling a little over my name; it was obvious to me he’d almost completely forgotten me, which saddened me a little, obviously there were still a few blank-spots left, understandably enough, but most of the old Jack still there, which was a definite plus. I felt quite disappointed when Andy came back and told us he’d shoved Slimy in a cab after giving him a heartfelt warning about his future if he ever showed his face again.