A Family Matter
Part Six
By Martha Mills
martheeny@yahoo.com

Thanks also to Sharon, Debbie, Cathy and Ally for their invaluable feedback, encouragement and support. And to everyone else who sent along a kind message, or enjoyed this story.

Note: This story was somewhat inspired by a movie called "Liar’s Moon." I highly recommend it.

"I was feelin' so bad.
I asked my family doctor just what I had.
I said Doctor, Mr. M.D.,
Could you please tell me what's ailin' me?

He said all you really need is good lovin'"

Abbie fumbled around in her purse, trying to find the key to her room. John stood behind her, with his hands on her waist, kissing her neck, and working his way up to her ears. He stopped, briefly, as another guest in the hotel walked past them, and switched to the other side of her neck when the coast was clear. She quivered, and thought her legs were going to fail her before she could find that damned key

"Got it!" Abbie declared, as she opened the door. She threw the key in the general direction of the dresser. Her purse and jacket landed somewhere near the bathroom. After catching her breath, she turned around to face John. He had taken his jacket off and was loosening his tie.

"John, let me do that," she purred. He stopped. She walked over to him and put her hands over his, gently pulling them back down to her waist. She disentangled his tie, and threw it over her shoulder. Then, starting at the top, she slowly unbuttoned his shirt. Once she had reached the last button, she opened his shirt and reached her arms around to his bare back. She began kissing his bare chest. John whispered in her ear, "Ohhhhh, Abbie..."

She began to lightly stroke his back, working her way down. She felt him tense up as she neared the small of his back. "He must be ticklish," she thought. Then she felt the scar, and John pulled away.

She looked into his eyes. "Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no, no. Abbie, I don't want you to think it's you. It's me. I'm just a little self-conscious." He looked up at the ceiling, nervously.

Abbie took a step toward him. "What happened? I mean, I thought I felt a scar on your right side. Did you have some kind of surgery?"

He chuckled and calmly said, "Yeah, surgery. I had several of those. After some lunatic stuck a blade in my back " His voice trailed off, and he felt humiliated. In the ten months since the attack, John hadn't been intimate with anyone. Why hadn't he told Abbie about this before? Why didn't he think ahead? In the back of his mind, he had known something like this would happen. He went over to a chair, sat down, and stared out the window. How could he face her?

Abbie stayed put. She had learned, after dealing with countless assault victims, that there were times they needed a lot of elbow room. Those were usually the times that they needed someone to listen. She asked, "John, do you want to talk about it?"

Even though telling her how he had failed as a doctor and as a teacher was the last thing he wanted to do, he knew that if she were going to be a part of his life, she needed to know about it. So he turned the chair around, in her direction, but couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes. "It was this past Valentine's Day. I was in charge of a medical student named Lucy Knight. She had a patient that was disoriented and belligerent. I should have seen that he was psychotic, the signs were there, but I didn't. I left her in charge of him." John stopped, for a moment, and hung his head. "At some point, he stole a knife from the lounge and, uh, he stabbed her. I don't know how long she laid in a pool of her own blood, or how long she was conscious, scared out of her mind."

Abbie took a seat on the bed. Her heart went out to him. He obviously hadn't dealt with his survivor guilt. Sometimes, time itself would heal the emotional wounds. But Abbie also knew that there were cases when therapy was needed.

He continued, "When I finally went looking for her, I walked into the exam room, and he got me from behind. I went down to the floor, but before I passed out, I could see Lucy. Looking at me."

He was sobbing. "When they found us, the doctors on shift that night tried to save us. But she died a little while after she got out of surgery."

Abbie went to him and held him as he cried. "Let it out. Just let it out. It's okay, John." She ran her fingers slowly through his hair, until he calmed down. "Stay with me tonight. You really shouldn't be alone. I want to be here for you."

"Abbie?" he leaned over and kissed her hand, "I'm sorry I fell apart like that. It's just that, well, I haven't, you know, made love to anyone since then. I know how lucky I am to have survived. And for me to get bent out of shape over a scar, a scar! I mean, Lucy died, she's gone. And I'm here freaking out because you're going to see the mark on my back. How pathetic is that?"

"Don't be so hard on yourself. I have something to show you. So you'll know that when I say I understand, you can believe me." She stood up and pulled her dress up, revealing her upper right thigh. She was modestly careful, because she didn't want to make him any more uncomfortable than he was, but this was something he needed to see. "Take a look," she said.

He saw white, circular faded marks all over her thigh. "Are these .?"

"Cigarette burns," she said matter-of-factly. "All courtesy of my father. I don't remember any of it, I was so young. But I know how it feels to have a physical reminder that doesn't go away. It's always there, begging to be explained to whoever sees it I know, John."

John ran his hand across her thigh. "I am so sorry, so so sorry." He pulled off his shirt. "Do you want to see my back?" he asked.

"Only if you want me to. You don't have to show me, if you aren't ready."

He trusted her. He went over to the bed and laid on his stomach. She joined him, and examined his back. There it was, maybe six inches long, and a half inch wide. She gently ran her finger over it, and leaned down to kiss it. Then she laid down beside him, and settled into an embrace.

They stayed like that, for a long time. Abbie dozed off. She was roused by John's tongue flicking in her ear. She pulled back and gave him a knowing look, "Are you sure?"

"I want you. Now." His hand moved down to her breast, and he caught her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. "Do you want me?"

"Oh, yess."

They made quick work of getting each other undressed. John's fingers explored her body, as did his mouth. He positioned his body down at the bottom of the bed, and started kissing her inner thighs. His tongue danced back and forth as he worked his way upward, until Abbie found the pleasure too intense to hold still.

"Wait," Abbie whimpered. "Two can play this game." John poked his head up, questioningly. He understood what she meant when she turned her body around so that her mouth had full access to him, as well. She took the tip of him in her mouth, her tongue teasing the underside. He gasped as the sensations ran through his body. They pleasured each other until John thought he would explode. He forced himself to pull away from her mouth.

He repositioned himself and penetrated her. Gently, slowly, their bodies met in sweet rhythm. He noticed that Abbie's eyes were closed, and she was moaning his name. Then he felt her body shudder, and he knew that she had climaxed. The thought of her orgasm was enough to push him past the point of no return. His release came seconds later.

"Oh my god," Abbie breathed, as she felt him come inside her. Her kegel muscles tightened involuntarily, and John cried out in ecstasy. Then they both fell back onto the bed, dizzy and sated.

"Thank you," John said. "That was I mean you, you were, uh, unbelievable "

"No, thank you." she murmured, and kissed his cheek. Her last thought as she fell asleep in his arms was, "I am never letting you go, John Carter. Never."

END PART SIX