Sumter Point

by K. G. MacGregor

  “Your lips are shining already.”

  Beth continued her outline, drawing only slightly closer to her need on each circuit. She was determined to make the experience last as long as she could, especially when she saw that Audie had begun stroking her own slippery slit.

  With her free hand, Beth teased her nipple to a peak. “I usually imagine”—she paused to draw a deep breath—“that it’s you doing this.” She darted the vibrating head over her clitoris, which caused a sudden contraction in the muscles around her vagina.

  “That looked like it felt good.”

  “It did.” Beth did it again, allowing the head to linger near the spot that begged for her attention. She didn’t want to come yet, but Audie’s hand was moving faster and her eyes had taken on a smoky haze. Unable to resist, she bore down on a sensitive point just below her clitoris. “I’m gonna come.”

  “I’m watching you.”

  With those words, Beth had the presence of mind to spread her legs wide as the steady contractions began.

  “God, that’s beautiful.” Audie’s hand stopped. “That’s what I’m going to see from now on whenever I close my eyes.”

  Beth backed the buzzing head off her clitoris to draw out her orgasm, then collapsed, dropping the vibrator silently at her side.

  She could do three, sometimes four in a row like this, but that hardly seemed fair, since Audie hadn’t yet come even once.

  Audie nudged Beth’s knees together and crawled up her body to straddle her hips. “How do you feel about sharing your toys?” She picked up the vibrator and flicked the switch, gently wedging it between them so that it touched both of them.

  Beth watched mesmerized as Audie glided forward and back, her long hair swaying with every move. Their contact increased rhythmically as they rocked until finally Audie froze, her mouth open and her eyes shut tight. Beth held her breath as another orgasm erupted from within, matching her first in intensity and duration.

  Two sets of hands tangled as they fought for the on-off switch.

  It really was possible to get too much of a good thing.

  “God, that was good,” Audie sighed, sinking into place alongside Beth. “I need more kisses.”

  Beth met the searching lips in a tender kiss that left her breathless.

  “I’m starting to think you weren’t kidding about having a list,” she gasped. “You’re just one surprise after another.”

  “I can’t get enough of you.” As if proving her point, her fingers wandered to the curly patch of hair and she began to tease the damp folds. In no time, she was probing for entry, and when Beth raised a knee, she slipped two fingers inside and held them still. “I love being inside you. I want to be connected to you… and show you how I feel.”

  “How do you feel, Audie?”

  “I want to know all there is to know about you—things no one else gets to see.”

  “I’ve never shared these things with anyone else, not like this.”

  Audie pushed a little deeper inside and kissed the corners of Beth’s mouth. “What do those feelings sound like to you?”

  She rested her fingers on Audie’s lips. “I don’t want to put any words in your mouth.”

  “Then let me say them.” She looked Beth directly in the eye, and in a voice barely audible, uttered a simple phrase that shook them both. “I love you.”

  “Audie.” Beth took her face and pulled it close, packing all the tenderness she could into a kiss. She knew she was being given a gift, probably a gift Audie had never given anyone. Their passion escalated, and Audie’s gentle strokes brought her to yet another climax.

  “I love you,” Audie said again, falling onto her back. “And I love saying that.”

  “I love hearing it.” Beth curled into the crook of her arm to sleep. “You make me feel so beautiful.”

  “You are.” Audie stretched and turned out the bedside lamp.

  “Come back here before BD gets between us.”

  They snuggled close and in a matter of minutes were on the verge of slumber. Audie shifted one last time and said, “If I wake up in the night, I’ll probably go on home to Buster, okay?”

  “Okay, but I don’t like it when you leave.”

  “You can always stay at my house.”

  Before Beth could answer, the phone rang. “Who in the world calls me this late?” She plucked the phone from its stand. “Hello?”

  “Beth? It’s Norma.”

  “What is it?” She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. If the second shift charge nurse was calling at this hour, it was most certainly urgent.

  “I was hoping you had another number for Audie Pippin. I’ve called her at home, but there’s no answer.”

  Her heart began to pound. “What’s wrong, Norma?”

  “Dr. Causby says you’re going to be just fine, sweetie,” Grammaw said, brushing Audie’s hair off her forehead. “You’ve got the flu, just like Grampaw.”

  “I don’t feel so good.”

  “I know. I bet staying home from school for a few days will make you feel better, don’t you think?”

  Audie didn’t care much about missing school. She was sore all over and her throat and sides hurt from throwing up. All things being equal, she would rather feel better and be at school with her friends.

  “Sit up, honey. Drink some of this juice for me.”

  “Is Grampaw in bed too?”

  “He sure is. He said he’d take you fishing down at the river when you both got well.”

  “How come you don’t ever get sick, Grammaw?”

  “I have to stay well so I can take care of my family. What would I do without my little Audie… my little Audie… Audie—”

  “Audrey? Audrey Pippin?”

  Audie shook herself awake and sat up, disoriented to find herself on a couch in the hospital’s waiting room. Beth was curled up beside her, resting her head in her lap.

  “I’m Audrey Pippin.”

  “Your grandmother’s awake, hon. You want to go in and see her?”

  “Yeah.” She rubbed her face with both hands to clear her head.

  “Let’s go, Beth.”

  “Maybe you should go in alone, Audie. It’s you she’ll want to see.”

  “No, I want you to come too.” Audie knew her Grammaw would take comfort in seeing them together.

  “Just for a few minutes, okay?” the nurse cautioned.

  Audie nodded and pushed open the door. Her stomach dropped when she saw the array of equipment positioned around the bed—monitors, IV tubes, the oxygen mask. No matter how many times this happened, it was a sight she would never get used to. As she walked closer to the bed, she saw that her Grammaw’s left eye was closed.

  “Hi, Grammaw. I brought Beth.” She brushed her knuckles against a wrinkled hand, which was bound with tape holding the IV in place. A lump formed in her throat as she fought back tears.

  “You scared us again.”

  Violet tried to smile, the only sign a slight upturn of her lips on the right side.

  “They said Dr. Hill would come see you first thing in the morning, about seven o’clock. We’ll come back and visit while he’s here so we can hear what he has to say. Is that all right?”

  A feeble nod and blink of her right eye was all Violet could manage.

  “You get some rest, Grammaw. I love you.”

  Audie waited until she closed the door behind her to let her sob escape.

  “Shhh… come sit down again,” Beth said, her voice soft and low.

  “I can’t believe her heart stopped this time. She almost died.”

  “But she didn’t. Thank goodness Norma found her right after it happened.”

  “Why does this keep happening to her? I thought the medicine was supposed to fix it.”

  “I don’t know, Audie. That’s something you should ask Dr. Hill.” Beth led her back to the couch. “He won’t be here for another couple of hours. You should lie down here and get some sleep. I have to go home
and get ready for work.”

  “I wish you could stay.”

  “Me too, but I can’t. Wanda’s out this week and they’ll be shorthanded. But I’ll be back after work.”

  “You’re going to be so tired. You don’t have to come back.”

  “I’ll be okay. I want to come back.”

  “I should go let Buster out.”

  “Give me your house key. I’ll do it.”

  Audie pulled the key off her ring.

  “I’ll leave this in the mailbox, okay? Now lie down and go to sleep. I’ll make sure they know to wake you up when Dr. Hill gets here.” She planted a quick kiss on Audie’s lips and was gone.

  Audie barely remembered closing her eyes before a nurse was shaking her shoulder. “Dr. Hill’s just about done with your grandmother.”

  She was on her feet immediately and returning to the room, where she met the doctor on his way out. “How is she?”

  His grim expression gave away his diagnosis. “Let’s go sit, shall we?”

  Audie followed him anxiously back to the waiting area.

  “Your grandmother’s had another severe stroke. This one has left her totally paralyzed on her left side. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  Audie nodded. “But she still… can function, right?”

  “Yes, but it’s going to be a struggle. It will be more difficult for her to breathe and to swallow.”

  “But they can mash up her food, though. I see lots of people out at the nursing home who eat like that.”

  “Yes, I’ll move her to a pureed diet. But I want you to understand what we’re facing here, Audie.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and sighed, obviously distressed at having to deliver the news.

  “We expect very little improvement in her present condition. But more important, this could happen again, and each time, it will be more and more devastating.”

  “Can’t you give her more medicine?”

  “Well, we could. But it’s a delicate balancing act. We thin the blood so that little pieces of sludge don’t get stuck and stop the flow. But sometimes, damaged blood vessels can rupture, and if the blood is too thin, the patient will hemorrhage. Right now, we’re about as close to that line as we can be.”

  “But it may not happen again?” As always, she needed a ray of hope.

  “It may not, and even if it does, it may be a long time from now. Your grandmother’s in very good health otherwise, and that works in her favor.”

  “Then let’s just try to keep it that way.”

  Chapter 18

  Beth turned her back to Francine and lowered her voice, knowing there was really no way to keep her phone conversation private in the nurses’ station. “I’ll come to the hospital as soon as I get off work, I promise.” Over her shoulder, she saw Hazel go into her office. “Bye.”

  “How’s Miss Violet?” Francine asked when she hung up.

  “Audie says she’s stable for now. We’ll probably get some orders from Dr. Hill for a pureed diet.”

  “Med change?”

  “I doubt it.”

  Francine nodded. “Any idea when they’ll move her back?”

  “Too soon to tell.”

  Hazel stuck her head out of her office door and said sternly, “Beth, may I see you in here, please?”

  Beth swallowed hard and looked at Francine for reinforcement.

  She had little doubt that Norma would eventually tell Hazel about finding Audie at her place, but she couldn’t believe it would happen so soon. “That didn’t sound good, did it?”

  Francine shrugged. “She’s probably just worried about Miss Violet.”

  Like a march to the gallows, Beth’s gait was apprehensive. It didn’t help at all that Hazel closed the door as soon as she entered.

  “Have a seat.” She slid the candy dish across her desk, but for once, Beth declined, her stomach in knots. “I just got off the phone with Dr. Hill. He gave me the full report on Miss Violet.”

  “We almost lost her.”

  “We were lucky. Norma said she was making her last round before shift change.”

  “What do you think will happen now?”

  “Dr. Hill believes she’ll be able to come back on Tuesday. She’s going to need a lot more hands-on care.”

  “I know.”

  Hazel smiled wryly. “I know you know.”

  That was the confirmation she expected. Norma had indeed relayed the news about finding Audie at her house. “If this is about last night—”

  “Relax, Beth. I’ve got no problem with you and Audie Pippin. You’re not the first nurse here who’s gotten involved with a patient’s family member.”

  Beth shook her head in disbelief. “It’s really scary how you find out every little thing, Hazel.”

  “I told you, it’s my job. Besides, Norma called me at home last night, and I was the one who suggested she get in touch with you to see where Audie was.”

  “So if you don’t have a problem with it, why am I in here?”

  “I thought it might be a good idea just to touch on the rules, which I’m sure you already know.”

  “I’ll keep this away from work, if that’s what you mean.”

  “I know you will, but it’s more than that. You also have to remember that Miss Violet is your patient, and your obligation is to provide what’s best for her, even if it isn’t best for Audie.”

  “Of course I’ll do that. But whatever is best for Miss Violet is best for Audie too.”

  “I know that seems obvious. I just want to emphasize it because you never know what will come up.” Hazel helped herself to a piece of chocolate. “One of these days we’ll have to sneak out of here and grab some lunch or something. It would be nice to talk about things other than work for a change. I can’t keep up with what everyone is doing.”

  “I’d like that, Hazel.”

  “Oh, I almost forgot.” She drew an envelope from a stack of papers on her desk and handed it to Beth. “I got this in the mail this morning. Your copy is probably in your mailbox at home by now.”

  Beth looked at the return address and began to shake. It was from the testing service.

  “Go ahead, open it.”

  She turned the envelope over and inserted her fingertip beneath the slit, tearing it gently.

  “Just rip the damn thing open so we can see what it says!”

  She did, pulling out a letter and a stub with numbers. Hastily, she scanned both papers looking for her score. “I passed! Eightyeighth percentile.” She looked at Hazel with wide eyes then back at the paper just to be sure she had read it right. “It says my scores are being sent to the state.”

  “Which means you’ll get your certification in a few weeks.”

  Hazel seemed as happy with the news as Beth. “Which also means I’m going to put in for your transfer to charge nurse immediately.”

  “Immediately?”

  “It’ll take a while to process. But I’ll talk to Francine today. I want you to start taking over her paperwork now.”

  “That bad, huh?”

  “You have no idea.”

  “Does it hurt anywhere, Grammaw?”

  Violet grimaced ever so slightly.

  “I know you don’t like being stuck to the bed like this, but they said you needed to get your medicine through here.” She touched the IV tube that ran into her grandmother’s hand. “And the mask will help you breathe better until you’re stronger.”

  Audie pulled the stiff recliner closer to the bed. “Can you see me if I sit down here?”

  “Mmmm,” Violet mumbled through the mask.

  “I called Oscar and told him you were back in the hospital and that I wanted the day off. You know what he said?” She was accustomed to the one-sided conversations. It was always this way when her Grammaw used a respirator. “He told me to take off the whole rest of the week. I’ve got ninety-one hours vacation time that I have to use this year, or I’ll lose them. I figure I can take a few days now, and then a week or so a
t Christmas.”

  Violet tilted her head to the side to get a better view with her good eye.

  “I wonder when Beth has off. Maybe we can go somewhere, like to Joel’s cabin at Dale Hollow. Wouldn’t that be fun?” Joel had offered the use of his lakeside cabin whenever she wanted it, and she made a mental note to ask him later if she could use it in December.

  “You like Beth, don’t you?” By now, she recognized the glint in her Grammaw’s eye as her best effort to smile. “I like her too. In fact, I told her last night that I loved her. Can you believe that? I never said that to anybody before. It’s true, though. One minute we were friends, the next minute I couldn’t get enough of her. And we owe all that to you, you know. It’s hard to imagine something good could come out of you going into the nursing home, but it did. Did you know Beth practically raised her little sister, the one I played basketball with?”

  She went on to relate what Beth had told her about becoming Kelly’s legal guardian. “I can’t imagine having all that responsibility at her age. Heck, I probably couldn’t do something like that now.”

  “Hmmpf.” That was Violet’s way of disagreeing.

  “You’re right. I’m better than I used to be.” She thought about it for a minute and realized she had grown quite a bit more responsible, especially since she and Beth had become friends. “I actually own my own home now, and I’m doing a pretty good job of taking care of it, if I must say so myself. I’ve kept up with all the bills and I even clean the whole house every Monday. And before you know it, I’ll be starting a job that pays a lot more than I’m making now, and Oscar says it could be a career job.” Also, she had smoked pot only twice in the past three weeks, both times over at Dennis’s house, but Grammaw didn’t need to know about that particular mark of maturity.

  “I guess the biggest change is Beth, though.” Beth was all she really wanted to talk about, but there was only so much she could share with her grandmother. “I’ve never felt like this about anybody before, Grammaw. She makes me want to… I don’t know, do things right. I feel like if I don’t she’ll think I’m still a kid or something.”