Forever Yours
47
Recovery
HENRY’S DOCTOR indicated his arm and leg were healing, but with the surgery to rebuild and pin the bones together, it would take a while before the casts would come off. He estimated that in two weeks he might be able to change the arm cast to just an upper arm brace which would allow him to bend at the elbow, but the upper arm and shoulder would still be immobile. Henry considered it good news as it might give him both hands to use on his computer.
Instead of going home, Germaine took Henry, Chastity, and Lisa to the office. Germaine efficiently loaded and unloaded Henry from the van which was parked in a new handicap spot in front of the office building. The wheelchair was a pain but with the lift on the van, it was efficient. He was wheeled to the elevator and up to the third floor.
When the door opened, the entire company was present to applaud and cheer his return.
“I don’t know what you’re cheering about,” Henry grumped. “I’m just one more distraction from your work.”
“Boss, you are much more than a distraction,” Conrad said. “You’ve been gone for five weeks. We’ve hardly gotten anything done without you to drive us. Speaking of which, we know it’s a pain for you to get around in a wheelchair one-handed, so we all got together and leased this electric chair for you.”
The staff parted to reveal an electric-powered wheelchair. Henry was moved. Literally, from the original chair to the new one.
“It’s so comforting to know you all want to put me in an electric chair,” Henry said. “Thank you. I know you’ve been busy. I know the Network Defense system has been released and I congratulate you all.”
“Delphos Network Armor,” Conrad corrected him. “You said to think up a name and Luke approved it.”
“I like that. It definitely has our company’s DNA,” Henry joked. To their credit, most of the staff understood the joke. “I’m not going to waste more of your time. I don’t expect to be here for long today. I’ll be back on Monday to welcome our new Director of Security Systems. You’ll all want to meet him then. For now, I’d just like to sit down with my partners and check in on the overall health of the company. It doesn’t look like you’ve suffered any without me. Thank you for this chair. It wasn’t important when I was just sitting around at home. It will help a lot now that I plan to come into the office regularly.”
He wheeled into Luke’s office and Germaine collapsed the old chair and put it in a closet. Then she had other duties to tend to.
“How are you doing, Henry?” Luke asked. “I was hoping to see you out of at least one cast this afternoon.”
“I should get partial mobility in my arm in a couple of weeks,” Henry said. “The hardest has been being confined to the house, though having Lisa there has made it bearable.” He patted Lisa’s hand. This wasn’t an official board meeting, so there was no problem having her there. It was just the friends checking in with each other. “A physical therapist has been coming in three times a week to work with me on exactly how much I can move. I suppose now that I have transportation, I’ll need to go to his office for therapy. It’s a pain.”
“Lisa, you’re looking unscathed,” Luke said. “Chas had some nasty bruises, but it looks like they’ve all faded now.”
“Mine was in the back of my head,” Lisa said. “I’m out of concussion protocol now.”
“My ribs still hurt a little if I dare to take a deep breath,” Chastity said. “Or if I sneeze.”
“I’m so sorry you were all caught up in this. And I mean all of you. Even though you weren’t in the car with us, I know Luke and Isobel were hurt by what happened and I’m sorry.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Henry,” Lisa chided.
“How can I believe it’s not my fault? That preacher guy blames me personally for causing people to turn away from God. He sent the Russian hackers and he sent that guy who rammed us,” Henry said vehemently.
“God spared you this time, Henry. You just need to mend your ways,” Isobel said from across the table. Henry squinted at her.
“Izzy, I thought it was supposed to be God who sent that bastard preacher after me,” he said coldly.
“God repented of destroying Nineveh when he sent Jonah there. God can repent from destroying Henry Pascal,” Isobel insisted.
“I see.” Henry thumbed his phone and called up a dictionary. “‘Repent: to feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one’s wrongdoing or sin.’ So, let’s see if I can get this straight. God sinned by sending that Flagston fellow to ram our car and injure Lisa, Chastity, and me. Now he regrets his sin. Right? Am I supposed to forgive him?”
“Henry, that’s not the way faith works,” Isobel began.
“Let it go, Izzy. God had nothing to do with it. God hasn’t had anything to do with anything for thousands of years—if ever. This was all about an egotistical sermonizer who whipped people into a frenzy over a computer program. Then when people took action on his words, he denied ever having said anything that meant they should kill us. Dog whistling. It happens all the time. Next thing you know, he’ll want to run for president. I don’t even blame the stupid fellow who got himself high so he’d have the courage to ram me. That preacher is the only one I blame.”
“I didn’t realize you were so angry,” Luke said. “I don’t blame you, though.”
“Sorry, guys. I believe he’s a clear threat to each of us in this room, and possibly to everyone out there in the office. We need more security and I want to launch a lawsuit against that preacher.”
Henry had intentionally not looked at any news about the preacher since he’d launched his AI. He knew, however, that he needed to present a front that indicated he was going after him legally. Maybe that was as evil as the preacher was, but he was not going to stop until Rev. Daniel Reeves and the Sword of the Spirit Evangelical Church were no longer were a threat.
“We’ve hired more security,” Chastity said.
“And you might not even need to go after the preacher,” Luke said. “I’ve been following news about him just to be sure we were up to speed on any threats. We haven’t wanted to worry you about it. It seems he’s currently under a federal investigation for fraud and embezzlement. There’s talk about him having hired foreign mercenaries to launch an attack in the US. That puts him under suspicion of domestic terrorism.”
“It couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy,” Henry said.
Except for me. I suppose I’m really no better than he is.
Germaine held doors and helped guide his chair to the lift on the van. Henry banged his leg a couple of times, but he managed to get turned around and Germaine fastened the safety straps so he couldn’t roll or be thrown from the chair. Lisa and Chastity observed all the operations and when they got home, Germaine let the two of them help maneuver him into the house under her guidance. As good as the day had been, Henry was also exhausted. It was the most activity he’d had since the accident.
“I know it’s almost dinnertime, but I really need a nap,” he said when they were inside and Germaine left.
Lisa and Chastity helped him out of the clothes they’d customized for him. That amounted mostly to cutting off one arm from a sweatshirt and one leg from sweatpants. Henry didn’t feel like he’d made a very good impression in the office. They promised to help him with something more presentable for Monday.
Stripped to his slit boxers, they helped him into bed, both kissed him, and pulled the shades in the room so he could get some rest.
Henry awoke to the sensation of his cock in a welcoming mouth. He hadn’t felt that in a long time. His one attempt to masturbate had been unsuccessful. He didn’t think he’d have that problem now.
“Hey. What’s up, babe?” he asked Lisa as he petted her hair with his right hand.
“Yum. You are,” she said.
“This is…” he started to explain that she didn’t need to do this when Chastity pushed one of her pierced nipples into his mouth.
“Just the nipple, boy. Don’t touch the ribs,” she said.
He fully enjoyed toying with her breasts with his tongue. He didn’t have mobility on that side of his body to caress her while his right hand was still on Lisa. Lisa popped off his cock.
“I’ve been married for five weeks and haven’t had sex in four of them,” she said. She moved up to put one of her own bare breasts next to his mouth. “With my husband,” she amended. “I talked to your doctor today and he said if we could figure out how to do it, there was nothing preventing us from having sex.”
“Except forty pounds of plaster,” Chastity giggled.
“It’s not the weight that’s the problem,” Henry said. “I can’t move.”
“Oh, baby! I’ll do all the moving that’s necessary,” Lisa said.
She scrambled up onto the bed and Chastity rushed around the bed so she was on the unplastered side of Henry. She steadied her girlfriend as Lisa rose up and positioned Henry’s erection at her opening.
“I might need a little support as I move up and down on this, but I am definitely going to have you in me!”
Henry used his right hand to push between him and Lisa so he could reach her clit. He’d offered to get her and Chastity off a couple of times, but they’d been too concerned, sore, or exhausted to make it work. This time, there was nothing stopping Lisa and Henry felt the come boiling in his balls almost as soon as she sank down on him.
Chastity used a hand on Lisa’s breasts and one on her butt to help steady her as she slid up and down. Then she pushed a finger between Lisa’s cheeks.
“Oh, fuck! Yes!” Lisa shouted. She dropped down on Henry’s cock as far as she could take it and felt him spraying her insides as she contracted in orgasm.
“I can’t believe it,” Henry gasped. “I’m sorry I couldn’t last longer.”
“We’ll get better,” Lisa said leaning forward to kiss him while they were still connected. “I’m so glad I had a hand helping steady me. That’s a lot of exercise in a short amount of time.”
“As soon as you can roll off him, I’m going to make sure you get another one while you’re still being caressed by our lover,” Chastity said.
Lisa took her time, but swung her feet off the bed as she leaned back against Henry and he used his one good arm to caress her breasts and pull her over for a kiss. Chastity dove between Lisa’s legs and fulfilled her promise of licking her lover to another climax.
They all kissed and did their best to cuddle together on one side of the bed until they started disentangling.
“It’s time to get dinner ready,” Lisa said.
“Wait! What about Chas? What can I do for you, honey?”
“Oh, nothing this time. But it’s just the start of the weekend. I have ideas for tomorrow,” Chastity said. She kissed Henry lightly and he watched her backside as she strode naked to the kitchen.
Dinner was in the nude.
Of course, Saturday was also when Henry’s parents came to visit and his mother helped Lisa and Chastity alter some clothes they picked up at Costco so Henry could at least feel like he had pants on. He didn’t want to cut up any of his regular work clothes, so the inexpensive substitutes would do.
“I saw a picture of my father in a pair of homemade bellbottoms,” Sylvia said. “It was a triangle of paisley print fabric sewn into the seam below the knee of a pair of jeans. I scanned it and put it in the database.”
“I’m so glad you’re able to come and help Lisa and Chastity with some of this stuff,” Henry said. He looked at the expanded leg panel Sylvia had sewn into the slacks. He supposed it looked a little strange, but at least they hadn’t bought paisley material for the side expansion.
“I know you all want to be independent and on your own, but we are here for you,” Sylvia continued.
“Didn’t we all want to be on our own as soon as possible?” Ryan asked. “On the other hand, your employee Nancy is still living with her parents up the street from us.”
“In all fairness, she’s only nineteen,” Chastity said. “She should have a couple of years of parental security. She’s a good worker, though.”
“I was ready to stretch my wings when I finished school and started working at my first clinic job,” Sylvia said.
“And then you met Dad?” Henry asked.
“Well, not immediately. I’d been at the clinic nearly a year when he walked in, bleeding.”
“Bleeding?” Lisa asked.
“He cut himself while building some kind of metal shelf for computers at his office. And then, instead of asking for help, he wrapped a roll of paper towel around his hand and drove to the clinic. He’s lucky he still has a finger.”
“It was cut that badly?” Chastity asked.
Henry thought it was great that both the women in his life were so comfortable with his parents.
“Not really. He was just the first patient I’d ever sewn up by myself. I was very nervous.”
“Was that when Dad asked you out?”
“No. He had the good sense to wait until he came in to get the stitches out.”
“I didn’t want to seem too forward,” Ryan said. “I was still so overwhelmed I nearly choked on the words.”
“You said that was because I poked you,” Sylvia laughed.
“I needed your sympathy.”
Ryan and Sylvia left in the middle of the afternoon, after they were certain ‘the kids’ didn’t need anything else. As soon as they were gone, Lisa and Chastity stripped Henry and got him positioned on the bed the way Chastity wanted him. She straddled his head and lowered her pussy to his mouth as she leaned forward to take his cock in her mouth.
Henry was a little awkward, using just one hand to hold her and get his fingers in her as he licked. He managed to find the spots she loved to have stimulated and before long, Chastity came. Then she changed positions so that she could post on his cock the way Lisa had the day before, while Lisa took Chastity’s place on Henry’s face. It wasn’t too long before Henry emptied himself into his lover and Lisa bathed his face in her juices.
Monday morning, Chastity left for the office early so she could welcome Nathan Schwartz to the company and get his paperwork completed. Lisa made sure Henry was dressed and ready when Germaine got there at nine. Germaine helped get Henry into his chair and made sure the lift for the van was lined up for him to guide the chair onto. Once he was in the van, she connected the straps and made sure he was belted in.
Lisa kissed her husband deeply before she got out of the van to go back in the house for her workday. She supposed she could avoid traveling down to Louisiana for another few weeks before her father wanted her in the office. Still, she had a job to do, even remotely.
At the office, Germaine helped Henry out of the van and into the elevator. Once he was in the office, she entered her number into his new cell phone so he could call her any time he wanted to leave. Then she went to check for errands on her whiteboard.
Chastity and Nathan came out to meet Henry.
“Welcome to Open Cloak, General,” Henry said.
“Retired,” Nathan responded. “Let’s leave the rank in the Pentagon. I report to you now.”
“That will be hard to get used to. I’m excited to get started. Everything set?” Henry asked Chastity.
“He is a bona fide employee of Open Cloak Design,” Chastity said. “Put him to work. He’s costing us a lot of money.” She turned and went to her own office and checked to see if Germaine had any questions regarding her tasks for the day.
“Ready?” Henry asked Nathan as they headed to the conference room.
“Hardest thing was deciding what to wear to the office today,” Nathan laughed. “Haven’t had to do that in thirty years. How are you doing?”
“Still learning to get around in this thing,” he answered. “It should only be a couple more months, though. Hopefully I’ll at least be able to get around on crutches then if I need support.”
“I should have expected this,” Nathan said. “We knew there was a cyberattack. I should have expected a physical attack to accompany it. I ordered a civilian watch on the facility in San Jose and instructed Rebecca to be on alert at the office with her three reports.”
“Thank you for your concern. I could see the involvement of the Pentagon in our cyber defense because the attack was launched from outside the country. I wouldn’t expect you to be active in anything domestic,” Henry said.
“We weren’t directly. Like I said, we used a civilian security force to keep an eye on the facility in California. That was only a stopgap until I could get with Luke and transfer it to his control. Major Bernard was here on a secret military asset development and therefore attacking here would have been an attack on an Army installation. As soon as Luke had security arranged here, she was recalled to the Pentagon with her team.”
“Major?” Henry asked. The last time he’d seen Rebecca she was a captain.
“She was up for promotion and we decided to tie it to her return to the Pentagon, triumphant, with the fully tested network defense system ready to deploy,” Nathan said.
“I haven’t even seen Conrad long enough to ask how things are going with them,” Henry said.
“It seems Conrad has been visiting Washington on weekends,” Nathan said. “For further details, you’ll need to talk to him.”
“Right.” Henry finally found a position at the conference table where he wasn’t wedged into a wall and motioned toward a chair for Nathan.
“What are my marching orders, boss?” Nathan asked.
“We have some nervous developers down on the second floor. They were hired to work on the network defense and now they’re afraid their mission is accomplished and they’ll be let go. I want to make sure we retain them. They’re great employees. They are your department now. Conrad is back in his office up here and will be focused on the other development we’ve got going on. The guys downstairs are security hotshots. Right up your alley. And Darrel has specified an entire suite of security apps that we’ve had on a back burner while the Delphos Network Armor was developed,” Henry said.
“I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of thinking these past few weeks. The cyberattack on our server farm proved unsuccessful because the security software was installed on every server. I’ve no doubt someone will try it again, if not soon. But our server farm needs power to operate five hundred to a thousand boxes. Our biggest vulnerability is our power source. We need to protect it.”
“Hmm. We could attempt to convince the power company they need the network defense system or…”
“Or create a perimeter defense system that protects it for them.”
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
