IT WAS FRAUD–Part 4 of 6

IT WAS FRAUD—Part 4 of 6

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We were still asleep in bed when I heard my cell ring. Scarlett reached over to the table to retrieve it. “It’s your mom, Sean.” She answered the call, telling my mother almost immediately, “Hi, Mrs. Sloan; it’s Scarlett. We’re still out in Hershey. Sean took me to the park yesterday. Yes, we had a wonderful time, but some drug-crazed kid tried to steal Sean’s car. Sean beat him off, but he received a minor stab wound in his left abdomen. We finished up with the police around 1:30 and I told him I didn’t want him

to drive home so we’re in a motel.”

I told Scarlett to have mom and dad use their key to enter the house and turn off the alarm. We agreed to get up immediately and drive home as soon as we could get some new clothes. “Expect us sometime early this afternoon, Mrs. Sloan.” We were up a few minutes later and dressed in our bloody and torn clothing. The motel management pointed us to a Tanger Outlet Mall only about a mile down the road. Scarlett parked the Porsche and we walked together into the Calvin Klein store.

I explained what had happened and told the staff that I needed new everything. Scarlett needed a new top and shorts at a minimum. We walked out fifteen minutes later looking like different people, our old clothes in their trash. I sat in the passenger seat, falling asleep once Scarlett had found her way onto the Pennsylvania Turnpike eastbound. I knew she could find her way from there. All she had to do was follow the signs toward Reading and then take Route 422 to Route 100 north to Boyertown and Gilbertsville.

I stirred a while later and saw immediately that she had driven past 100. “I think you missed our turn.”

“No, Sean—I’m taking you to the hospital—to the ER. Any surgeon would give you an antibiotic after surgery with sterile instruments, but who knows where that knife has been? There’s always a chance of an infection with a knife wound. I want to speak with one of the doctors about a preion for you.”

She parked in the doctors’ lot and led me into the ER. She had her lanyard and ID around her neck by the time we walked through the door. We were intercepted by a receptionist and I allowed Scarlett to take control. This was her environment, after all. “I’m Scarlett Davies. I work here as a surgical nurse. Who’s on duty today?”

“Dr. Marino, why?”

“My boyfriend was stabbed last night at Hershey Park and I’d like Dr. Marino to check him out…possibly give him a preion for….” She stopped then as a middle-aged man with a receding hairline strode into the room.

“Scarlett, what are you doing here?”

“Dr. Marino, this is my boyfriend, Sean Sloan. He was stabbed last night out at Hershey Park. It’s already been reported to the police there and the man who did it is in jail. I’d like you to take a look at the wound and I think Sean could use a preion for an antibiotic.”

“Okay, come in here with me.” He led us into a small room where I pulled up my shirt. He felt the area around the wound, but made no effort to remove the dressing. “Is this Bacitracin, Scarlett.” He continued once she had nodded. “It looks like they did a very commendable job. I assume it’s painful so I’ll give you two preions—one for a broad spectrum antibiotic for possible infection and another for a painkiller. If it makes you woozy just take it at night when you want to sleep. Otherwise, you can take Tylenol or ibuprofen. Scarlett, I’ll give you a few of the vinyl dressings and a few packets of Bacitracin in case you need some.”

He wrote the two preions, faxing them to my pharmacy in Boyertown. When I asked him about payment he replied, “Don’t worry about it; I consider it as professional courtesy. I’ve worked with Scarlett several times. You couldn’t be in better hands.”

He shook Scarlett’s hand and mine and we were out the door. But when I walked to the driver’s door of the car Scarlett just laughed and pointed to the other side. She parked in the garage almost thirty minutes later once we had picked up my preions. We walked in, passing my dad who was sitting in the family room watching a Phillies game and up the stairs to the kitchen where I introduced Scarlett to my mother. She had already met my sister Gail. Rather than help, I was banished to the family room. Before leaving I pulled two cans of Bud from the refrigerator.

Dad thanked me for the beer as he commented, “She really is a beautiful woman, Sean.”

“Yes, Dad—she really is—but most of her beauty is inside where it really counts.” Scarlett appeared a few seconds later, a huge scowl on her face, as she handed me one of the antibiotic capsules. I swallowed it with a swig of Bud then introduced her to my father. She excused herself a minute later, telling us that there were about a hundred hamburgers yet to be made. I had just sat on the couch when she leaned over to kiss my cheek before turning and walking back up the stairs to rejoin my mother and sister in the kitchen.

I could hear laughter coming from the kitchen so Scarlett was obviously getting along well with my family. Dad and I watched the Phillies blow yet another lead and we were on our second can of beer, the latter coming from the family room kitchenette and its refrigerator. We were barely paying attention to the game when I heard footsteps accompanied by lots of talking and laughter coming down the stairs. They were about three steps from the family room when I heard Scarlett say, “No worries about that, Mom.”

“MOM? What the…? When did that happen? What’s going on?”

“Now hush up, Sean. I want to see your wound and I want the benefit of Scarlett’s expertise. I’m sure she’ll explain once we’ve gone. Stand up and raise your shirt.”

I’m thirty-one and I’ve lived on my own for years, but I still follow my mother’s orders so I stood and pulled my shirt up to my chest. Scarlett sat on the couch and pointed out the wound and the discoloration. “Obviously, the areas that look blue are pooled blood. That will disappear in a week to ten days. See these jagged areas on Sean’s skin? That happened when he forced the knife out and away from his body. I doubt that he even felt being stabbed. The EMT’s did a great job of cleaning the wound then they applied Bacitracin ointment and this clear vinyl dressing. That’s an even better option than stitches. Dr. Marino from the ER gave me a few extras and some Bacitracin packets, but these things don’t often fall off. Sean can go into the pool, but no swimming for at least a week.”

“Thank you, Scarlett; I’m glad to know that Sean is in such good hands.” Mom stood up to tell Dad they were leaving. She and Gail hugged and kissed Scarlett before coming to me. “I know how stubborn you can be, Sean. Please follow Scarlett’s advice.” She hugged me, kissed my cheek and then they were gone.

“Scarlett, I need for you to explain what’s going on…please.”

“Of course, Sean–we were in the kitchen and your mom asked me how I found living with you. I told her it was a totally new experience for me because I’d rarely had even a third date with anyone before you. It didn’t take Gail long to figure out that I had been a virgin when I met you. I’m sure my face was as red as a beet then, but your mom was really understanding and supportive. She hugged me and asked, ‘Are you in love with my son?’

All I could do was whisper when I told her, “Hopelessly.” Of course, she asked if you felt the same way about me. I told her that you had said you loved me many times. Then she hugged me again and told me I should call her ’Mom,’ so I did. Are you angry at me?”

I pulled her to me and held her tightly even though my side was hurting. “How could I be angry about that? It tells me that my family has accepted you and loves you. Not even close to how much I do. C’mon, I need to get the beans started. Normally, I’d reach up to the top shelf in the garage, but today I’ll need the stepstool.” I kissed Scarlett then we walked into the garage for my twenty quart soup pot.

I sent Scarlett into the pantry for ten of the big cans of beans while I washed the pot. Scarlett had begun to open the cans before I was done. I set the burner to low as Scarlett poured the beans into the pot. Next I pulled the griddle out and cooked a pound of bacon that we cut and pulled into small pieces, adding them to the pot. Finally, I added a tablespoon of molasses for every quart of beans. By now the entire volume was almost twelve quarts, but I knew from experience that a lot of the liquid would evaporate as the beans simmered. I’d season them to taste tomorrow morning.

“I’m going to need some help from you, but first I think we need to eat something. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. How about some cheese steak subs?” She agreed so I had her drive us to Talarico’s. It’s a sandwich shop and their food is great. We ate at one of their few tables, chatting with folks I knew from town. Once we were done we ordered a large Italian sub that we could split for dinner.

Once back at the house I told Scarlett that I would need her help. I had rented two cabanas so our guests could change their clothes. I needed to drag them toward the pool. Normally I would just pick them up and carry them. They were only light canvas on a PVC frame, but I doubted that I could do that with the throbbing pain in my side. Once they were fairly close we carried the interlocking vinyl panels there and I set about making a temporary walkway from the cabanas to the pool deck. Then we carefully adjusted the location of each cabana to exactly fit the pathway I had created.

Scarlett and I stripped off and stepped into the hot tub naked. “I think it will be kind of funny swimming tomorrow actually clothed.”

“That reminds me; I have a present for you. It’s in my trunk. Now, don’t go anywhere.” She ran out of the tub and around the corner of the house, returning with a bag from Dick’s Sporting Goods. “I bought two sizes—large and extra-large so I’m sure that one of them will fit you.” She grinned as she pulled two swim shirts—white with blue and gray trim—from the bag. “Dry off for a second and let’s see which fits best.”

I dried off quickly then tried each of the shirts. The Large fit well, but placed some pressure on my back and my wound. The Extra-Large was looser, but we agreed that might be the better choice. “I feel a bit funny wearing a shirt while the rest of me is exposed.”

“Don’t worry. I think I can use that to my advantage.” I was laughing as she led me back to the hot tub by my painfully erect penis. Scarlett kissed me once I was seated, breaking it to remind me to remain still. “If you do I’m sure we’ll be able to do it again.”

“And again? And again?” Scarlett laughed and I would have, too if the laughter didn’t hurt so damned much. Then she stopped so she could peer into my eyes. Whoever said that the eyes were the pathway to the soul certainly knew what he was talking about. I could see all the way into Scarlett and all I could see was her total love for me. I prayed in that instant that she could see the same in me. She knew that I loved her, but I knew I’d tell her every day—several times a day—just so she’d never forget.

She pulled back, a huge grin on her face, as she moved to straddle my legs. My strong hands tenderly found her breasts, her areolas, and her hard sensitive nipples as she moved my manhood to her slit and into her velvet vise. My hands gently massaged her breasts as my fingers found their way to her nipples. Between those sensations and the ones in her incredible pussy I could see her orgasm rapidly approaching. I knew that my motions—driving my cock deep into her core—would help her over the top, but just as I was thinking that Scarlett told me, “Don’t even think about it.” I nodded, knowing that she was right. I still didn’t like it, but I felt a lot better when Scarlett came the first time, her body exploding in orgasmic bliss. A few minutes later she came again, only seconds after I had gnawed on her nipple.

Meanwhile, she had done a magnificent job on me. It took every ounce of my strength to remain still as my balls emptied into her. Scarlett sagged onto my chest once I was done. “Damn, but I love you. I think that going through all of that torture was worth it if only to meet and fall in love with you.” I took her head in my hands and pulled her into the sweetest kiss imaginable. It went on and on as we became lost in each other until Scarlett accidentally kneed my side. Then she was off me in an instant, helping me out of the hot tub. She sat me on one of the lounges and dried me carefully.

“You’re not going to drive tonight so I think you should take one of the painkillers, Sean. I can see you’re in distress. C’mon, my love; let’s go inside.” She led me upstairs where I checked on the beans. The heat was low enough that they hadn’t burned, but they had thickened up nicely. I turned off the heat and started to move the pot to the refrigerator until Scarlett stopped me so she could do the job herself. Then she led me to the shower where she washed me right after seeing to it that I had taken two of the pain pills.

She washed and dried me, dressing me in a tee and running shorts before returning to the shower to wash her hair. Normally, I would do that, but not today, and probably not for at least the next week. I was lying on the bed when the phone rang. I could see it was Fred. “Your mom phoned to tell us that you had been stabbed.”

I spent the next ten minutes telling him all about it until Scarlett took the phone from me. “So no roughhousing tomorrow, Fred; Sean isn’t even allowed to swim. He can go into the pool, but only to stand around and kiss me.” I could hear Fred laughing and Judy joined him when she heard what Scarlett had said.

“Don’t you worry, Scarlett. I’ll make sure he toes the line,” Judy commented. We talked together for a few minutes until Fred and Judy told us they’d come early to help out with any physical work that had to be done. Scarlett ended the call as she tucked me into bed.

“Try to get a little sleep, Sean. I know you didn’t sleep much last night.” She leaned forward to kiss me again. It was only a quick one, but she whispered that she loved me before walking out and closing the door. I slept, but fitfully as I played the events of last night over and over in my head. I knew that I would have given the kid the car and called the cops if Scarlett hadn’t been with me. It was my love and concern for her that had led me to act so recklessly. Scarlett was right, though. I had never felt the initial stabbing.

I was awakened about an hour later when I heard the house phone ring. Scarlett was on it in a flash. I couldn’t hear her talking, but the light on the bedroom’s extension phone went out about a minute later. She opened the door to check on me so I told her I was awake. “That was Roy. He and Marianne and their kids are also coming early to help out. If anyone else comes early we might as well just start the party early. It must be nice to have such good friends.”

“It is. I always know that they’ll support me even when I do something stupid like marrying Lori.”

“That wasn’t your fault, Sean. She and everyone else involved lied to you, but they’re getting what’s coming to them now, aren’t they?”

“I guess they are.” I started to sit up and Scarlett propped the pillows behind me. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about two things. First, can you get a week off from work? I have to go to Houston the second week in August to meet with a big contractor at NASA headquarters there. I have a contact at NASA and he has told me that the contractor—Omni Manufacturing—wants me to make something for them. You can be a big help to me.” She started to smile. “Well…in that way, too. I’ll be in meetings all day so you can go to the spa or shop and buy yourself a new wardrobe. I’m sure there will be dinner and cocktails almost every night and you can really help me there. People have a tendency to talk too much when they’re drinking and especially to beautiful sexy women. Having an extra set of ears will be a huge help.”

“I haven’t been there long enough to qualify for vacation time, but I think with enough notice that I should be able to take a week’s unpaid leave. What’s the other thing?”

“In the two years that I’ve lived here I’ve never had a problem with crime or vandalism. Part of that might be my reputation here in the community, but with the expansion going on I see myself putting in a lot of extra hours. I don’t like the idea of you being here alone, especially after last night’s adventure. I only see two alternatives. Actually, I only see one. I have some guns, but I doubt that you could or would shoot someone.”

“I couldn’t, Sean. What’s the other thing?”

“A dog…a big dog. Dogs have incredible hearing and they’re very protective of their owners. I’m thinking about a Lab or maybe a German Shepherd. The dog will bark if anyone comes near and you’ll be able to phone the police. We could go out to Reading to the SPCA and the Humane Society next Saturday if you agree. If they don’t have anything we can use we could go in to King of Prussia the following week.”

“I haven’t given the idea much thought, Sean, but you’re right. We are kind of isolated here, but I’ve never had a dog. I wouldn’t know what to do.”

“All you have to do is show the dog that you love it.