Wheels of Steel, Book 2 (3 page)

Robin reached up and gripped him by the back of his neck. “Why can’t you see that you ARE just like everybody else? You have friends, and you’re smart, you have a talent, and YES you have some fucked up problems…just like the rest of us.” He smiled past his tears.

“I have a beautiful girlfriend that I love very much.” He murmured as he kissed her. She wrapped her arms around him. He put his hands on her cheek, pulling back enough to look steadily into her eyes. “Robin. I swear; I’ll never yell at you again; ever.”

“We gotta argue. Everybody does honey.”

“Not when it makes your stomach bleed. No! Never again.” The anger had returned to his voice. “You’re going to the doctor.”

“I can’t.” She said. “I don’t have any insurance since I left the restaurant.”

“You can go to University Hospital. If you can’t pay they will treat you for free.” Patty said.

“We can go now.” Link spoke. Patty nodded.

“What?! But you guys gotta go back to class.”

Jason was staring at her. “You got friends, Sweetheart.” Robin looked at the three of them. It felt strange; the weight that was gone from her chest. For the first time since her father died Robin didn’t feel afraid and alone.

She convinced them that she wouldn’t keel over if they waited until the end of classes, so they agreed not to skip out. Robin joked that they were just using her stomach as an excuse to get out of school and they all chuckled.

Jason kept watching her and asking her if she was okay when she lifted something or bent over. He wanted to have her ride on his wheelchair but she wouldn’t have it. After class Jason and Robin went to Emergency. Link and Patty said they’d join them in a couple hours. University Hospital was notorious for having long waits because it was a free hospital.

It did take a long time. Jason called Link to bring them dinner and they ate at nearly seven o’clock. Robin had seen a nurse that had taken her blood pressure and temperature and then she had sat for the next three and a half hours. She finally got called in to see a tired doctor who poked her, made her drink a foul tasting liquid and then took pictures of her belly. When he called her into the office forty-five minutes later he had a grim look on his face.

“Are you on pain therapy? For instance, for back pain?”

“No.” She gripped Jason’s hand.

“Do you take a lot of pain medicine like ibuprofen or aspirin?”

“No. Not a lot, just when I have a headache or something.”

“Hmmm…” Oh no, the infamous hmmm…

“It looks like you have a peptic ulcer; a rather large peptic ulcer, especially for a girl your age. You’ve been bleeding internally for a long time. Haven’t you noticed it, maybe in your stool or maybe you’ve been vomiting it?”

“I would have noticed a bloody stool. Sometimes it’s black, but never red.”

The doctor sighed. “That’s blood. It’s black because it comes from your upper intestine and has been digested.” Robin’s face felt hot. Bleeding internally?

“How long has it been like this, young lady?” She didn’t have to think long.

“On and off for about two years.” It started after her Dad died.

“What can you do to treat it?” Jason asked.

“Well, she needs to see a specialist. I’m going to refer you to a gastroenterologist. It’s free. He’ll need to find the cause of it and then treat it. Luckily you don’t have an infection…but you do have a big hole in your stomach and a lot of scar tissue.

“Oh…” And of course her belly began to churn. “A hole?”

The doctor nodded. “So in the mean time stay away from cigarettes, alcohol and if you have pain it’s okay to take over-the-counter Tylenol. I’m going to give you a supply of antacids. Take them twice a day, every day until the specialist says otherwise.”

The doctor gave them a folder filled with dietary tips, and brochures that had disgusting drawings of ulcerated stomach and intestines. She passed the folder to Jason and they went out to the waiting room to give Link and Patty the bad news.

“That’s gross.” Link said. Patty poked him with her elbow and when she did it uncovered a white package that she was trying to conceal.

“What’s that?” Jason asked. “You sick too?” Patty turned beet red.

“It’s birth control, if you have to know! And for your information, you two better get some too!” Robin’s face flamed. Jason cleared his throat. He peeked at Robin.

“Maybe we should,” he suggested. She nodded and then stood and walked awkwardly to speak to the receptionist. Jason and Robin didn’t get back to his place until close to ten o’clock. She followed him into the apartment and put away his things. She yawned tiredly, then bent down to kiss him goodnight.

“Stay, baby.”

“Huh?”

“Stay, tonight. We don’t have to do anything. But it’s been a long day and I want to hold you in my arms and to sleep with you.”

She closed her eyes settling against him. “Okay.” She was tired and couldn’t stop thinking how great it would be to snuggle into her boyfriend’s arms. Instead of heading for the bedroom Jason wheeled them to the computer. “I want to play something for you baby. It’s not long.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a song that I wrote about you.”

“About me?”

“Well…” He paused to look at her. “About how I feel about you. It’s called Sweetheart in Hamilton County.” She smiled in pleasure. The music began and it was like a lullaby. It was beautiful. She swallowed past the lump in her throat.

“Jason, I’m so…I can’t even find words. I never thought that I’d have such a talented boyfriend that would do such beautiful things for me.” She swallowed and took a deep breath and then began softly singing I Am Ready for Love by India Arie.

Jason was staring thoughtfully into her eyes. He barely blinked.

“That was India Arie-” She said nervously when she finished and there was just quiet.

“I know. It’s my favorite India Arie song.” He was very quiet; his muscles barely moved. She laid against him again, head buried in that sweet place that she loved; between his neck and shoulder.

“Will you…sing to me every night?” She lifted her head to look at him again.

“Yes. Every night.”

“Can you sing that Phoebe Snow song?” She smiled and then sang to him again.

She wasn’t as sleepy anymore and so they talked and kissed…more kissing than talking. “I’m going to take a shower, and you didn’t do your homework.”

“I can do my homework in calculus after I finish my problem.”

She gave him a doubtful look as she stood. “Are you sure?”

“Yep. Go shower, sweetheart. I’ll power down the computer and lock up.” Robin carried her purse to the bathroom. She had a travel toothbrush and toothpaste. She took her antacid and then showered. Afterwards she wrapped the towel around her body and padded to the bedroom. All of the lights were already turned off in the apartment except for the lamp on the bedside table in Jason’s bedroom. He was propped up in bed with his covers over his bottom half and nothing up top. She had to take a few moments to admire his chiseled body. Did he realize how impressive he looked? She wondered if he was completely nude beneath that cover as well. He just grinned at her; perhaps knowing what her thoughts were…perhaps having the same thoughts about her. He patted the bed beside him.

Robin took a deep breath and then lowered the towel, holding it behind her a moment before tossing it on the edge of the bed. She tried not to feel embarrassed as she felt Jason’s eyes scanning her nudity. There was no reason for her to feel embarrassed. His look made her feel beautiful; desired.

“Turn around,” he said, voice filled with awe. She turned slowly and heard him whistle.

“Damn…Baby got back!” She giggled and tried to cover her butt. Then she turned and hurried to the bed and dived in, lifting the sheet and concealing her body beneath it.

“Whoa…are you trying to give me a heart attack?” He chuckled. Her bouncing boobs would be fodder for a year’s worth of fantasies! He reached over and turned off the light, then scooted down in bed and opened his arms for her to lie down within them. She sighed and snuggled up against his warm, hard body.

“How does your stomach feel?” He asked hesitantly.

“Better.”

“Okay.” He was quiet for moment. She knew what he was thinking, or at least the tent forming in the bed covering was a good indication of his thoughts. She peeked up at him and saw that he was doing a good job of closing his eyes and trying to sleep.

“No good night kiss?” She asked. He opened his eyes quickly then turned and placed his lips on hers. Robin leaned into his kiss, not making it easy for him to part from her. His body felt so wonderful pressed against hers; and incidentally, he was as nude as she was. Having her breasts pressed against Jason’s nude flesh felt very decadent.

“So…” His fingers trailed down her arm causing her to shiver. “…no belly pain?” She felt his fingers move beneath the sheets to lightly graze her flesh above her belly button. She shivered.

“No.” She sighed into the kiss. “That antacid did wonders for me, not to mention the Tylenol. I’m…good as new.” Jason turned toward her and then stopped. He suddenly had a serious expression on his face.

“Robin…what we did the other day...”

“Yeah?” She asked breathlessly, waiting for him to stoke the fire that was already igniting her body.

“If we made a baby…” Her expression suddenly turned serious. “Please don’t…get rid of it.”

She was shocked at his words. “Oh my god, Jason, I would never do that!” She touched his face. Did he think she’d be so low down that she’d get rid of a baby they’d create just because of his Cerebral Palsy?

He gave her an apologetic look. “My father made my mother get an abortion when I was about ten years old. He said he didn’t want another handicapped kid like me. I heard them fighting about it.” Robin’s eyes widened. She was appalled! What type of man was Jason’s father to do such a thing; to even say a thing like that? “I’m not saying that I want to have a baby right now because I don’t; not right now. And we have birth control now so hopefully it won’t be an issue. I even grabbed some free condoms while you were getting the pill.” He reached past her and pulled open the drawer on the bedside table. He withdrew a handful of condoms and dropped them on the bed.

Robin’s lips turned up slightly and she grinned at the rain of prophylactics that fell on their legs. He touched her face and drew her attention back to him.

“But…if we already made a baby, I’d be very happy about it.”

She smiled at how sweet his words were. “I don’t want to think about having a baby right now, either. But if that happened I would definitely keep him. But Jason, we don’t have to worry about what happened last week. You pulled out-”

“Yeah, but that really doesn’t mean all that much; there is still precum.” She considered his words and hoped that they hadn’t created a baby. She didn’t want to be a mom right now when everything else in her life seemed so difficult. With Jason, she was now able to be a Robin that she wasn’t quite familiar with; a new Robin, and she liked this Robin a whole lot better than the old one. She wanted a lot more time to learn and grow before becoming someone’s parent.

She picked up one of the condoms. “Shall we?”

“You do it. Your hands move better than mine.” He propped the pillows against the headboard and leaned back with his arms behind his head watching her with a smirk.

“You want ME to do it?” Her pretty green eyes were big and nervous.

“Yes.” He was straight out grinning now. “My dick is your dick.” He pushed the covers down and his penis sprung free, bobbing for a moment before settling against his belly where the tip touched his belly button. This was the first opportunity that she had to actually look at his penis. That thing had gone inside of her??? Gosh it was big; but she thought it was beautiful—long and thick and lined with veins. It reminded her of a sculpture. It was perfect. She finally reached out and touched the downy, rust colored hair on his testicles. His penis flinched; moved towards her hand and she jumped. Her eyes met him but he had a straight face.

She reached out and a second before her finger would have made contact with his shaft it again lurched toward her hand. This time she yelped and yanked her hand back. Jason laughed.

She glared at him and then broke out in laughter. “How do you do that?!” He made his dick dance around and then he suddenly planted his hands on the bed and tried to catch his breath.