Lisa Jones put her coat and purse into her locker then checked her hair and her face in the mirror inside the door of the locker. Her hair was dark red and cut short. The hair framed a round face with a peaches and cream complexion; the eyes were large and emerald green. Her lips were full; her cheekbones high and there were no lines yet. She made sure she was presentable and went out to the nurseâs station for report.
Lisa had been a RN for 6 years. For the past few months she had been working at the Williams Recovery Center. Sharon Roberts, her roommate from nursing school, had helped her get a job there. She enjoyed it much more than her last 5 years at the local general hospital. The base pay was about the same, but the hours were better. There was also extra money to be made doing special duty work. Another big advantage, as far as Lisa was concerned, was not having the unwanted advances of interns, residents and otherâs with MD after their names. The ones whose egos made them think they had the right to bed any woman they wanted then discard them when the next pretty face attached to a nice body caught their eye.
Sharon and Lisa exchanged greetings, then the information on their patient. They both liked to take extra duty work, and often worked patients together. When they did they alternated the 3 to 11 PM and 11pm to 7 AM shifts so they wouldnât get bored with the same shift all the time. Their current patient was Mr. Eugene Miller. Mr. Miller had been in a car accident. His wife and daughter were killed in the accident, and heâd been left in a coma. Heâd stayed in the hospital until his wounds had healed, but once comatose patients no longer needed hospital treatment they were sent to places like this one to be cared for until they recovered, if they did recover.
Mr. Miller had been there about a week, and it soon became apparent that he had no other family that cared much about him. No one visited him. The only person whoâd come had been a man claiming to be his uncle. This man was the one who wanted the special duty care for his nephew. Since his nephewâs insurance would not pay for special duty nurses the uncle said that the bills should be sent to his office.
Mr. Millerâs doctor was concerned that there was no one to visit him. People in comas needed to have people around them, talking to them and making contact. When he found that Mr. Miller would be getting special duty care the doctor talked to both Sharon and Lisa about filling the family void for the patient. Both young women had agreed they would do what they could.
âThere have been some changes,â Sharon said. âHis body waste functions are working on a regular schedule. He can be raised to a sitting position for a bedpan to be placed, and all someone has to do is place his penis in a urinal at the right time and he will void his bladder. All of his bodily functions seem to occur during the day shift so you shouldnât have to worry about them tonight. Other than that his condition hasnât changed much.â
They said goodbye and Lisa joined her patient. She checked the I.V. and feeding tube, his vital signs, and chart. She noted the last time he had been turned then rolled him on to his side because it was time. The whole time she kept up a one way conversation with him as if he was able to talk to her. She also held his hand for a while and stroked his face gently as a loving relative would do. Mr. Miller did not have movie star good looks, but he was not unattractive. His chart said he was 35, he had dark hair and a handsome face. It was difficult to tell what his body was really like. It had been a month since the accident and the lack of activity had allowed his muscle tone to sag.
When she was finished she pulled a chair next to his bed, and sat down with the book she was reading and read aloud. She tried to vary her reading material as much for the patient as for herself. She didnât know how much he actually understood, but felt kind of silly when reading a romance novel to him, like the current one. But she had a wide range of topics she liked, and figured most of what she read he would like if he could say so.
Later that night, after rolling the patient to his back and taking vital signs, she was straitening the bedclothes when she noticed the covers were tented across his hips. She reached to smooth the covers but her hand encountered resistance when she tried to get the covers to lay down again. She lifted the covers to see what was causing the problem she was astonished to see an erect penis staring back at her. Mr. Miller's hospital gown had ridden up so his groin area was completely exposed. Lisaâs experience, with men and their equipment, was limited, but she knew enough to realize that this was a very nice specimen. The column of rigid flesh in front of her almost begged to be stroked, but she resisted the urge to do that. She realized she was staring at the fleshy pole, and felt her cheeks flush as she quickly lowered the covers.
She took a movable screen and placed it so that the bed could not be easily seen from the hall to protect the patientâs modesty. Then she wondered what she should do about the situation. She reached for his chart to make a note of the phenomenon sure that this was an encouraging sign for the patient. She returned to her seat and continued reading, then caught herself stealing glances at the tent in the bedclothes and was disappointed an hour later when the tent was gone.
Lisa stayed around longer than she usually did the next morning in case Mr. Millerâs doctor had any questions about the night before. She was talking to one of the orderlies when the doctor came in and looked at the patientâs chart.
âMiss Jones,â the doctor said.
âYes, Dr. Morris?â
âAre you positive about what you put in the patientâs chart,â he asked?
âYes Dr.,â she said. âI am.â She felt her face flush as she said it.
âThis could be significant,â he said.
âDo you think so?â
The doctor explained that there was no physical reason for Mr. Miller to be in a coma. He said that a CT scan, EEG and MRI done in the hospital had all shown that there was no significant damage to the brain that could cause the coma. Yes, Mr. Miller had received a bump on the head in the accident, but the tests showed it was not severe. One explanation was that shortly after the impact he was conscious and was able to see that his wife and daughter were dead. The shock from his injuries caused him to loose consciousness and the psychological trauma of his loss could have caused the coma that followed. What happened last night might indicate that his mind was coping with his loss, and would soon let him wake up.
âWhat have you been doing for him at night,â he asked?
âWell, I try to talk to him a lot. I also hold his hand from time to time and stroke his face some. Most of the time I read to him.â
âKeep it up. It may be helping him more than you know. What do you read to him,â he asked?
âI try to vary it. Iâve read action adventure, murder mysteries, biographies, and romances,â she said.
âWhat were you reading last night,â he asked?
âA romance. Whatâs known as a bodice ripper actually,â she replied.
âDo you remember what you read just before you noticed Mr. Millerâs reaction?â
Lisa thought for a second then blushed. Sheepishly she told him, âThe man in the story had just come on the woman he was after in the woods. She had found a stream with a quiet pool and decided to take a swim. He watched her remove all of her clothes and wade into the pool.â
âWas the description of the woman and the disrobing graphic,â he wanted to know?
Lisa blushed again as she said, âAs a matter of fact it was. It was quite graphic and erotic.â
The doctor smiled at her then said, âWould you try something for me tonight?â
âSure. If I can.â
âIf you can, read him another such passage and see what happens. Do you think you can do that?â He could see she was a little uncomfortable with all this.