Somehow – and despite all expectations - I had managed to fall asleep. The doctor's words and theories had bounced around my dreams like a drug-induced vision; part of me wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of what she had said, but another – bigger – part couldn’t help but equate those theories with what I had been experiencing since I was woken up from the MRI incident. I had known about Jimmy’s parents without him saying a word about them and all that stuff from Amy… was she really unable to conceive? How the hell could I broach that subject to confirm my… abilities… without sounding like an insensitive, stalking asshole?

But whether I wanted to admit it to myself or not, I had felt different all day, and there was no reasonable way for me to explain my experiences in any other way, at least not since doc Harris had shared her wisdom. Let me be clear here, coming to the conclusion that I was somehow the next step in human evolution would never have even occurred to me without the doctor’s input… that’s just not the way my mind works. But once the idea had been seeded, it was difficult to ignore.

After what felt like five minutes of actual restful sleep. I was pulled out of my dreams by an odd sensation, a sensation I could only describe as a fast-approaching bubble of joyful apprehension, and I knew immediately that it was not coming from me. I pulled my eyes open just in time to see Becky burst into the room like an emotional tornado.

“Oh my god!” she squealed happily as she noticed I was awake, “I’m so happy you’re ok!” She flew across the room and practically jumped onto the bed, her arms squeezing me tight and her impressive chest mashing itself into my face… there were worse ways to wake up. “After everything you have been through, thinking you had been hurt in some freak accident… on my watch… I just couldn’t handle it! I was an emotional wreck… I guess I still am.” She looked down at my face nestled comfortably between her scrub-clad cleavage, quickly composed herself, stood herself upright, and apologized bashfully.

“Nothing to be sorry about,” I grinned. “In fact, feel free to wake me up like that every morning.”

“Oh, you!” she slapped my arm playfully, allowing it to linger against my skin for significantly longer than necessary. Her outburst was a genuine result of overwhelming emotions. Amy had gotten it wrong. She didn’t feel guilty about the accident because she thought it was her fault; it was more akin to survivor’s guilt. Like she felt guilty that it happened to me and not to her or to her ex – who definitely deserved to be in a lot of pain after fucking two of her best friends and trying it on with her sister. Despite the flirtatious act she put on for Jimmy yesterday, she did actually like me; the aforementioned ex had turned her off bad boys and players for life. It was one of the reasons she had no interest in Jimmy. She wanted a nice guy, and I seemed to fit the bill. She didn’t know how she knew - neither Jimmy nor anyone else had told her much about me - but she just knew. I wasn’t bad looking either. I would probably be even more attractive once I’d had my shave and cleaned up a little – something she was increasingly excited to help me with. I may not have the smoldering, panty-wetting good looks that she usually went for, but – in the words of a recently released movie – mine was a face she would happily sit on…

The bulge she had noticed the day before was a definite improvement on any of her previous men. She’d already made her mind up to ‘accidentally’ bring it to full mast while performing her promised bed bath duties to gauge it properly. Work policies were incredibly strict, but she was sure that with some imagination, she could figure out a way to get it into her sooner or later. If all else failed, she would accept the drink I had offered, go out with me once I had been discharged, take me back to her place and fuck the ever-loving shit out of me. She had spent a significant part of the previous evening, knuckle-deep in her own wet sex, thinking about just that… Not a bad way to spend a Wednesday evening in her book.

“Holy Fucking shit! If that was anything close to her actual internal monologue, then… actually, nope, there was no ‘then’… I would be in completely uncharted territory and would be happy to just go along for the ride. Were there other girls who thought like this? Had I missed out on previous carnal opportunities because I had missed or misread the signals that had been let out? Not that Becky was giving off many outward signals… at least none that I could spot.”

“Hey…” I said, suddenly realizing that her hand was still on my arm and I hadn’t actually said anything back to her. “…a beautiful girl jumping into my bed with that kind of enthusiasm isn’t something that happens every day. Only a fool would feel anything other than lucky.”

She swooned… she actually swooned. “Such a charmer. Your girlfriend must be a very happy lady.”

“Girlfriend?” I laughed. “Nope, it’s been a long time since I had one of those.”

“Hmm… interesting.” She mumbled to herself, removing her hand and starting on her work with the machines next to the bed. Yup, she was definitely gonna get some dick from me. She just had to make sure she locked the door before she started the bed bath. Privacy was paramount in a hospital, so nobody would question the door being locked for that duty. It would give her plenty of time to run her little experiment, and if all went well, she could get some dick sooner rather than later. If she couldn’t do it today, she could just make sure I was extra clean so the bed bath time could be put to better use tomorrow. As far as my charts were concerned, I wasn’t scheduled for any more tests, so as long as she timed it between visiting hours…

She licked her lips in anticipation.

“So, what about you?” I asked, interrupting her thoughts. “Any jealous boyfriends about to beat down my door for manhandling his woman?”

“Nope, you’re safe,” she giggled. “I’ve been waiting for the right guy to sweep me off my feet.”

“I’ll have to remember to bring my broom, then,” I smirked.

“Charmer like you? I bet you have the girls queueing up for a piece.”

“Ha!” I laughed again. “I am not now, nor have I ever been a lady’s man. I can say with confidence that there is no queue.”

“Got you all to myself then, have I?” she said with a seductive wink.

“I am all yours.”

“I’ll remember you said that.” She winked. God dammit, if she spent any more time with me, she would need to change her panties! But I was definitely giving her the right signals; single, available and interested. She just hoped I wasn’t too dense to pick up on her giving off the same vibes. She couldn’t wait to touch me.

“Well, apparently, I am more than a little dense because if it weren’t for her internal monologue, I would have absolutely no idea that she was anything more than friendly and professional. This ESP thing was starting to show some promise.”

“So, what time would you like that shave and help to clean up?” she asked.

“Erm…” I pretended to think for a second before repeating her own sentiments back to her. “Maybe it’s best to time it around visiting hours. Wouldn’t want to rush things because I am expecting guests.”

She bit her lower lip, never taking her eyes off the machine she was working on, but her mind was screaming! My words were music to her ears. I might not be in a physical position to give her what she really wanted, not with my legs in a cast. Even riding me might cause unwanted – and unexplainable – additional injuries to my already frail body. But she was adamant; the very least she was going home with tonight was the taste of my cum on her breath.

“What time is it now?” I asked.

“Err… a little after eight,” she answered after looking down at the watch pinned to her scrubs.

“And what time are the next visiting hours?”

“9:30.”

“Hmm.” I thought for a second, not failing to notice that she had stopped what she was doing and waiting for my decision with literally bated breath.

“Probably not enough time to do it now. What time do visiting hours end?”

“11:30, in time for lunch, although I guess that doesn’t apply to you,” she laughed, gesturing to the tubes attached to my arm, “then the visitors are back at around three.”

“Ah, now that’s more like it. Think I could book an appointment for my shave at, say, 11.45?”

“And how long would you like this appointment to last?” Even I couldn’t miss the seductiveness of her tone in that question.

“As long as you can spare me.” I smiled.

“I’m sure I can find enough time to make sure you are properly looked after.” She winked again. With that, and after apparently finishing her tasks, she sashayed out of the room. It was impossible to miss the suggestive swaying of her spectacular ass, a motion that I knew for a fact was entirely intentional.

“See you later, handsome.” She called over her shoulder before exiting the room.

********

“Well, at least you’re not dead.” Jimmy’s voice pulled me out of a particularly pleasant daydream I was having, although the entire scenario being played from Becky’s point of view had left me with the distinct impression that it wasn’t actually my daydream. If I was right, then that girl had some major plans for me.

I pretended to look over my body, “Nope, it would seem that I am still in the land of the living.”

“Outstanding!” he smiled as he sat into his usual chair, “So, any news on those results?”

“All fine, as far as they can tell.”

“Really? That Doctor wasn’t acting that way when she left.”

“Apparently, there were some weird readings,” I answered, surprising myself with the ease at which the lie came to me, “but they were something to do with the machine. Once that was sorted out, the results came back all clear.”

“Good,” he smiled, breathing a sigh of relief, “that’s really good.” Jimmy had suffered his own restless night. The threat looming over those test results had bothered him more than he would ever accurately admit. That sigh was releasing more tension than I could have realized – at least more than I could have realized in the pre-ESP days.

“So, Jimmy,” I said, pulling myself into a position where I could sit up and see him, “how are things? What’s the news? How is life on the outside?”

“On the outside?” he echoed with an amused look.

“I’m an institutionalized man,” I replied in my best Shawshank impression.

“Well, nothing much to report,” he answered after laughing at my awful impersonation of Morgan Freeman. “Obviously, I’ve dropped out of college….” My eyebrows shot up. “Well, not dropped out, deferred the semester, but I’m not there anymore, so there isn’t much difference at the moment. Everyone understood, the guys and the girls all sent their love and best wishes, they all liked you, by the way, they were as shocked as I was when you had your accident. But they have all moved on, I still meet up with them for a drink every now and again, but I’ve spent most of my time here, so….”

“Wait,” I interrupted, “You did what?!?”

Jimmy sighed and sat back into his seat; he knew this was coming. “The morning I found out about your crash, I came straight here. That was on a Saturday morning. By the time you had gone through your first rounds of surgeries, and they had decided you were going to… err…” he licked his lips nervously, “…to make it, almost a week had passed, and I hadn’t been to class, they just didn’t seem important. The following Monday, I went in and saw the admin people; I explained the situation, the crash, your surgeries, your condition, and my time at the hospital… at first, I just wanted to make sure they didn’t kick you out of college for not turning up, but then they asked what our relationship was; I guess I hesitated because she decided that we were ‘partners’ before I could say anything, maybe she thought I was embarrassed or something, the whole gay thing kinda came from there.

“Anyway, they said that it counted as a close family emergency and that we could both defer the semester. I’m not even sure what that means, but I think it means we can keep our credits from this year so far and finish the rest of them next year or make up the difference in the third year… I don’t know. But I’ve been here ever since. So…”

I nodded, grateful that Jimmy had thought of telling the college what had happened but concerned that his academic future may have been dragged down with mine. “Thanks, man,” I said appreciatively before changing the subject for him. “So… any girls on the go?”

“Actually, the girl from the bar that night was the last one.” He smiled, happy for the chance to talk about anything other than what had happened to me.

“You’re shitting me!”

“Nope, it’s true,” He laughed, “You’re looking at a man who has had no pussy in two months.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“That has got to be some kind of record.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve gone through a dry spell of this severity,” he agreed, still laughing.

“So, Chastity was your last conquest….” I joined in the laughter, “There has to be another level of irony there.”

“Oh shit, yeah, I forgot her name. How the hell do you remember that?”

“Because as far as I am concerned, it happened, like, three days ago!”

“Well, trust me,” he said, “if you saw how that girl acted in bed… hooo.” He rubbed his hands together wistfully.

“That good, eh?”

“That girl was…” he paused for a second, looking off into the distance with a smirk, “… fucking crazy!” he laughed. “An absolute demon in the sack, though, wouldn’t mind another run at her if I get the chance.”

“And what about Phillipa? Or Charlotte?”

“Aww, have you met them yet?”

“Nope, Amy was the only one left here last night, and Becky came in to say hello this morning, haven’t met any of the others yet.” I obviously – and intentionally – left out the more suggestive elements of the conversation between Becky and me. Jimmy could be accused of being many things, but discreet was not one of them.

“Dude, you are in for a treat….” Jimmy shook his head with a whistle, “… put it this way, if either of them showed even a sniff of interest, I would hang up my player card for life and wife the fuck out of her.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” An exotic-looking brown-haired beauty wearing nursing scrubs walked into the room, Becky close behind her with a wry grin painted across her features. Either they had exceptional timing, or Jimmy was incredibly unlucky when it came to talking about women.

“Oh… Hey Philippa.” He winced comically… again.

Considering this was the object of Jimmy’s fantasy, I immediately took in the new nurse in my life. Philippa was - in a word – spectacular. Mixed pacific heritage gave her flawless skin an almost glowing bronze quality, as it seemed to form to her frame in a way that screamed sexual perfection. Every move that she made, every gesture, every blink seemed to ooze with seductive energy, and a simple flick of her glance was enough to induce a granite-like erection. The deep brown molten pools she had for eyes were fixed on Jimmy with an air of playful amusement, and her thin lips curled into a smirk as she beheld Jimmy’s embarrassment.

She stood just inside the doorway – Becky had squeezed past with a giggle – and was striking a pose of faux indignation, thrusting her shapely hips to one side and holding one of her hands against it. I could definitely see why Jimmy was so taken by this woman; although – at least in my opinion – Becky had the more curvy and voluptuous body, Philippa had an air of confident, lustful sexuality that Becky seemed to lack. She was exactly Jimmy’s type.

“So, I understand you have been less than candid about your relationship with my patient.” She said to Jimmy with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

Jimmy held his hands up in surrender with a chuckle of his own. “I… err… did what I had to do.” He offered from behind his smitten smile.

By this point, Becky was standing next to my bed, watching the exchange with the same amount of amusement as I was. She wasn’t touching me, but she couldn’t resist her strong desire to just be close to me, her thoughts giving away the fact that although Philippa had come in here to introduce herself – she hadn’t been on shift since I had woken up – Becky had no legitimate reason to be here. She just saw an opportunity to be close to me and took it, a reality that excited and concerned her in equal measure.

“So…” Philippa said, turning towards me and leaving Jimmy hanging, “It’s nice to finally meet you. I’m Philippa. Good to see you awake.” Her dazzling smile was enough to make me catch my breath.

“It’s nice to meet you too. Jimmy has told me a lot about you.” I smirked. Jimmy flashed an awkward look in my direction, but I ignored him.

“Has he now?” Philippa eyed him with faux suspicion. “I hear that you have offered to take us all out for a drink when you’re all better as a thank you.”

“That’s the plan.” I nodded, “Gotta thank you all somehow.”

“Will this one be there?” she jerked her head in Jimmy’s direction.

“Probably.”

She paused for a second, making an exaggerated attempt at looking thoughtful, “I guess he can make up for lying to me with a drink then.” She smirked at my slack-jawed friend, turning to face him. “Mine is a red wine. You’d better not forget.”

“Definitely not,” Jimmy mumbled in shock

“Good thing he’s cute.” She giggled before turning back to me. “Anyway, we’re off on our rounds now that I’ve introduced myself, so I’ll see you later.”

Becky – who hadn’t moved from her place by my side, nodded and looked down at me. “You still want that shave later?” she asked with a sultry smile of her own, although her internal monologue was telling me that ‘shave’ was far from what she actually had in mind.

“Can’t wait.” I winked back. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips, and she ground her thighs together to scratch an itch that had been growing since this morning. She had no idea what it was about me, but she was starting to see the benefit of having a spare change of clothes in her locker. At this rate, neither her scrub pants nor her panties were going to make it to the end of her shift. With a flushed smile, she turned and followed Philippa out of the room.

Jimmy was so transfixed on the brunette he had completely missed the exchange between Becky and me. That was something I was grateful for. “So, that was Philippa then?” I asked with a grin.

“I… err… think I’m in love.”

“And that promise about hanging up your player's card?”

“You can have it.” He laughed. “You think she is interested?” As it happened, I knew she was interested, maybe not as interested in him as he was in her, but nursing was a busy profession that didn’t allow her much time for her to socialize with visitors, so she didn’t know him well enough to make an educated assessment, but she definitely thought he had potential. Like Becky, she wasn’t a fan of the players and bad boys either, and she absolutely despised liars, but Jimmy had a noble reason for his deceit, and – to her - nobility and loyalty were vitally important – and attractive – qualities in a man. His constant, voluntary vigil at my bedside these long weeks had given her enough evidence that his good looks hid an equally good character; if he could show her both – and the equally important characteristic of being willing to commit - then she would definitely be more than interested. Her thoughts weren’t quite as explicit as Becky’s were towards me, but the idea of Jimmy worshipping her body and her being happy to return the favor warmed her in places that had been sadly neglected of a man’s touch for longer than she would like to admit.

“I think that she would be if you play your cards right,” I answered.

“What do you mean?”

“She doesn’t seem the type that’s after a one-night stand. I think you are going to have to woo her… put some effort in.”

“Well, I can most definitely do that.” He smiled with another wistful look towards the door. “I’ll buy her every bottle of red wine they have at the bar.”

“That's not what I meant.”

“I know,” he rolled his eyes. “I may be a player, but I’m not an idiot; I know how to treat a girl right… if she’s worth it. For her, I’d be Prince fucking Charming!”

“The one from Shrek?”

“Fuck off!” he playfully snorted a laugh. “So, Look.” He started, suddenly growing serious, “I had a message this morning from Professor Jacobs.”

“Jacobs?” I asked in surprise. He was the head of the department that covered our degree and the man responsible for overseeing all of the students on his courses. He also happened to be one of the lecturers for one of the modules Jimmy and I had taken, meaning we had both met the man a number of times.

“Yeah, he’s asked if he can come here for a visit later in the week… while we are both here.”

“Really?” I exclaimed. Jacobs was like the king. Most students never saw him – at least not outside of the classroom - unless they had done something incredibly good or spectacularly bad, and he never came to you voluntarily unless it was important. “Did he say what he wanted?”

“No, and – to be honest – I didn’t have the balls to ask. I just told him what times the visiting hours were and that I was here for all of them, and that he was free to come whenever he wanted… Sorry, I should probably have asked first.”

“No, man, you made the right call.” I mused. “You don’t keep the king waiting.”

“All hail the king.” Jimmy laughed.

Philippa chose just that moment to pop her head around the door, “Pete, you have visitors.” She smiled.

“Well, that was quick.” Jimmy looked at me with an arched eyebrow.

Philippa pushed the door open, stepping to one side to allow entry to the last two people I ever expected to see.

I pursed my lips, trying to stem the instant burst of anger I felt at seeing the two faces walk casually toward my bed. “Phil, Debbie.” I nodded, trying as hard as I could to sound calm and passive.

The man looked at me angrily, his ill-fitting suit hanging loosely off his overweight and sweaty frame. “Would it be too much for you to call us mom and dad?”

“Yes, actually,” I replied, noting the sudden tensing in Jimmy’s posture out of the corner of my eye.

The woman formally known as my mother – dressed in a way that reminded me of the mother in the Matilda movie – trotted over to Jimmy. “Do you mind?” she asked him, gesturing to the chair he was sitting in.

“Stay where you are, Jimmy.” I barked as he attempted to stand. “They won’t be staying long.”

“A real man would give up his seat for a lady.” My mother growled, the hostility in her voice impossible to miss.

“I agree,” I replied. “And I’ll be sure to tell him to move when one arrives.”

“Now listen here, you little….” Phil hissed before I cut him off.

“Is there something I can do for you?”

Philippa had followed the pair into my room with a frown – obviously, neither her nor any of the other nurses were aware of the strained relationship I had with my parents - leaving the door open behind her and standing – arms crossed – close to the door. Becky was standing with another group of male and female nurses, watching the exchange from just beyond the threshold. Phil – never one to mistime one of his abusive diatribes – took their presence as a hint to change the subject. “Do parents need a reason to visit their sick son in the hospital?” he answered, his own efforts at trying to sound calm only obvious to my experienced ears.

“I don’t know,” I answered curtly. “Maybe you should find some and ask.”

“You’re acting like a child.” Debbie cut in from her place behind Jimmy with a scowl of her own, “It's not like you were dying or anything. It was only a car crash!”

Philippa took this as her cue to cut in, “Actually, Mrs. Roberts, Pete suffered some very serious injuries during the accident and is very lucky to have survived.” The warning in her voice was unmistakable.

“He did die,” Jimmy added, the anger in his voice rising. “Three times, in fact.”

“Nonsense,” Debbie snorted dismissively. “We all know he has always wanted extra attention, and you nurses like to look for ways to justify your jobs. He’s obviously fine.”

“Are you fucking crazy?!?” Jimmy barked incredulously.

“And I don’t even know who you are,” Debbie went on, not skipping a beat. “But this is a family matter, so you can leave now. I’ll have a cup of tea if you don’t mind,” She finished with a contemptuous glance at Philippa. A single look from me told both of them to stay exactly where they were.

“What do you want, Debbie?” I asked with a growl

“Don’t speak to me like that, young….”

“What – do – you – want?!? It’s taken you this long to turn up, so whatever it is, it’s obviously not important.”

“Look,” she said after an uneasy glance around the room and at our audience, “I know we haven’t been much but….”

“Much?” I interrupted, “I’m sorry. Did you say much?”

“You’re acting as if this is the first time we have been here.” She said, trying to hide the condescending hiss in her voice. A quick perusal of her thoughts told me that was exactly the case, and even if her thoughts were not available to me, the blatantly obvious look shared between her and my father would have been enough to call her on her bullshit… but I decided to play along.

“Isn't it?” I asked her.

“Of course not,” she replied with her best impersonation of a motherly smile. “We haven’t been here as much as we would have liked to, but we’ve come as often as we could.”

Both Philippa and Becky – who had now wandered into the room next to her colleague – shared a confused and skeptical glance between them. Again, more than enough proof of the lie.

“Is that true?” I asked Phil.

“Of course, son.” Another awful excuse for a paternal smile spread over his lips. “It hasn’t been much, and you have every right to be upset, but we have visited a couple of times a week since you were admitted. You were just sleeping when we were here… and nobody else was around.”

“Well, obviously.” I nodded, “I was in a coma.” I glanced over to Jimmy. His knuckles were white with the anger he was venting into the armrest, his jaw had tightened, and his face was flush. It was not the only time I had seen Jimmy angry over the course of our friendship, but this was genuine rage. Becky and Philippa weren’t looking any happier about the situation. All three of them knew just as much as I did that these two assholes were talking total bullshit.

“It’s funny.” I put on a jovial smile, “There are loads of things I thought I knew about being in a coma, but there’s one thing that they don’t put in the documentaries; did you know they keep a guestbook?” I lied, “They keep track of every person who visited me while I was ‘asleep,’ and then they gave it to me when I woke up… Kind of a ‘look how many people care about you’ exercise so I wouldn’t get depressed.” Both parents gave each other a worried look, both nurses looked confused, and Jimmy started to relax as he realized where this was going… Phil and Debbie weren’t the only ones able to lie. “Do you know how many names were in the book?” Pause for effect. “One! … His!” I pointed to Jimmy.

“I… err…” Phil spluttered in a desperate attempt to think of a way to explain their absence in this fictional book, a book he would have known didn’t exist if he had ever been here before today.

“So,” I continued, “I have been here for eight weeks, and you have visited a couple of times every one of those weeks, so even taking into account the extra visit one week or the missed visit another, you are saying that you have been here… what… ten, fifteen times? And your name isn’t in the book once. The nurses won’t let you even enter the room without signing it, so how do you explain that?”

“We… erm…” Phil was still spluttering, “…We called.”

“Ah, I see….” I laughed, “I can understand the confusion. It’s an easy mistake to make, you know, the difference between visiting your son in the hospital a couple of times a week and ‘you called.’ Lots of people have trouble telling the two apart.”

“Pete,” Becky spoke up from the other side of the room, “I know this is upsetting, but they’ve traveled a long way to get here. Maybe it's best if…”

She was interrupted by my snort of laughter. “Becky, if you were to leave this hospital right now, how long do you think it would take you to get to your front door?”

“Erm… I don’t know,” she replied in confusion, “Maybe forty minutes, depending on traffic.”

“These lying fuckers live twenty-five minutes away.”

Becky’s eyes widened in shock, “But they said…”

“They lied.”

Phil’s simmering anger came to a sudden boil, and he burst from his place against the wall to my right, his hands balled into fists. Jimmy leaped to his feet in a show of athletic reflexes that impressed even me; Jimmy was a good measure taller than me, and I was a few inches taller than Phil, it took less than a second for the overweight old man to realize the futility of his actions and he quickly - and sheepishly - backed down. “Do it,” I barked at him, holding a hand up to calm Jimmy down. “Then hide… I won’t be in this bed forever, and we both know what happened last time you raised your hand to me!”

“I think we should leave.” He mumbled to his wife

“Good idea.” I replied coldly, then watched as they both timidly made their way toward the door. “One more thing,” I called out as they were about to leave the room, “it’s probably for the best if you don’t come back… and do us all a favor… lose my number.”

“We’re still your parents, you ungrateful little…”

“Not anymore.” With an almost amusing pair of scowls, they walked out into the corridor. “Thanks for coming, though,” I called after them.

Silence fell on the room, nobody wanting to be the first to speak as my other guests’ eyes flashed amongst themselves. It was Becky who spoke first; “Are you ok, Pete?” her mind was a storm of mixed emotions, anger, pity, disgust at my parents, and impressed with the way I handled them. But there also was an overwhelming urge to comfort me, to rush into my arms and let me know that despite my parents, there were people out there that genuinely cared for me and that she was quickly becoming one of them. If it wasn’t for Jimmy – her thinking went – I would be the loneliest person in the world; her relationship with her parents was rock solid, she loved them more than she could ever describe, and she knew – knew – that they felt the same way about her. She couldn’t imagine what it was like to be me, and the jovial, happy, easygoing personality that I had displayed since waking up was even more impressive than she had already thought.

“I’m fine.” I smiled at her, “I would be lying if I said that didn’t hurt, but I’d also be lying if I said I was surprised.”

“Fuck, dude…” Jimmy muttered, having returned to his seat and apparently calming himself down. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything.” I smiled again, “But thanks for the backup, I appreciate it.”

“Anytime… can’t have some old prick beating up a cripple.” He smirked.

And that was it. The burst of laughter that came from the two nurses and me evaporated the last remaining tension in the room and – not that I could ever tell him – scored Jimmy some major brownie points with the silently swooning Philippa.

“Well, I hate to break up the gathering,” Becky said as the laughter finally died down. “But it’s 11:20; visiting hours will be over soon and… err… Pete and I have an appointment with a razor.” Her tongue instinctively slipped out to wet her lips, a gesture that seemed to have been noticed by the astute Philippa. The brunette seemed to know exactly what was on Becky’s mind but in no way disapproved. In fact, she was pleased that her friend was letting her hair down and – in Philippa’s words – ‘going for it.’

Jimmy’s smile narrowed to a smug grin, “See, I knew as soon as you woke up I wouldn’t get a look in with the ladies.” He joked.

“Well, that depends on how you play your cards, doesn’t it?” Philippa winked, still impressed – and more than a little moist – at Jimmy’s display of manliness a few minutes ago.

Jimmy – in an uncharacteristic display of shyness – felt his jaw hit the floor before quickly composing himself and flashing a beaming smile at his admirer. With a nod to me, he got up and followed Philippa out of the room, “I’m sure I heard something about you handing your player's card in…”

Philippa’s teasing words to my friend were the last things I heard before the door swung shut, leaving Becky and me alone in the room.

We stared at each other for a few moments before her face split into a dazzlingly beautiful and seductive smile. “So…” she said, “… ready for that shave now?”

My body – or at least one particular part of it – instantly forgot the stress that my parents had brought into my day and immediately stood to attention. Becky noticed immediately, arched an eyebrow, licked her lips, and left the room without waiting for my reply. Apparently, a raging erection was all the confirmation she needed.