Bombshell

A few moments later, Merrick heard Joann’s feet pounding up the stairwell. He braced himself for what would surely be her wrath. He’d deal with it. All that mattered was taking care of Bombshell. He looked at her on the bed. She’d thrown off the covers and lay curled up in a ball, her hands wrapped around her knees. He ran to throw the cover back on her, when Joann burst into the room. “What happened, what’s wrong, where is she?” Merrick watched her eyes grow wide at the sight of the room and the naked girl curled into a ball on top of the disheveled bed. Then she looked at Merrick, no doubt taking in his sweaty body and rumpled clothing. Confusion changed to hostility when she sniffed the air, and her face turned hard.

Merrick gulped and wished he had a tail to put between his legs.

“What have you done to her?” she screamed, then shoved him so hard in the gut as she rushed to Bombshell’s side that he staggered back and had to grab a chair for support as he tried to recapture some of the wind she’d just knocked out of him. What had he done to her, indeed?

“I think I broke her,” he said. Then he crumpled into the chair and hid his face in his hands.

“Get out!” Joann yelled.

Merrick got a hold of himself and drew himself up. Part of him screamed, she’s your employee. Don’t let her speak to you like that. But as he saw Joann attempting to comfort Bombshell, he couldn’t blame Joann for hating him. He hated himself as well.

He walked out of the room, and went downstairs in a complete guilt ridden daze, ignoring Charlie’s questions about what the hell was going on upstairs. He held his hands out for the keys of the rental car. Without a word he started the engine and drove off the property, driving around until h

e found a quiet, tree-shaded place. He parked the car and buried his face in his hands. God, please let her be okay. He hadn’t been to church in ages, but he bargained with God, swearing he’d change his ways and return to church regularly and confess all his sins, if God would just please make her alright. He’d never meant to hurt her.

Eventually, he received the message from some kind of higher power that he should stop behaving like a prick and go back and see if there was anything he could do to help. Hiding and running away from the girl was the coward’s way out, and God hadn’t created him to be a coward. At least, that’s what he thought God was trying to tell him.

He drove back, and when he pulled back up at the house, he noticed right away that Joann’s car was gone. He swallowed a few times, wondering if she’d already taken Bombshell to the nearest medical treatment facility, and felt like a heel for running off.

Through the kitchen window, he spotted movement and recognized Joann doing something at the sink. Relieved that Joann and most likely Bombshell were still in the house, he pulled his shoulders back and started towards the door, ready to face the music. Joann was at the stove with her back to him, turning on the gas flame under an aluminum kettle when he entered the kitchen. As soon as she noticed him, her face hardened. “You want to tell me what the fuck you did to that girl?”

Merrick was taken aback. Had she gotten worse?

“Is she alright?”

“I don’t think so. She’s in some kind of state of shock, pure fear if you ask me. Did you rape her? Cause that’s what it looks like to me. You asshole!”

“Oh God, no. I didn’t rape her. I’d never do that.”

“Then why is she so traumatized? Answer me that,” Joann said, her hands on her hips as she glared at Merrick.

“I don’t know. Everything was going great, and she was enjoying herself, and then all of a sudden she started flipping out and got all terrified. But I didn’t do anything to her.”

“Other than fuck her brains out after a head injury—are you a fucking moron?”

Merrick staggered and grabbed a chair at the small kitchen table for support. His breathing became ragged, and his heart beat so hard against his chest it hurt. Jesus Christ. You are an idiot, he chided himself. He’d completely forgotten about the head injury. You are a total fucking moron.

Merrick shook his head, back and forth, unable to believe what he’d done. “It was just a little sex,” Merrick said, more to himself than to Joann. He wanted the twisting guilt in his stomach to go away, but if anything it was getting worse. He’d never been so ashamed of himself in his entire life.

Remembering that he might still be able to help, he got a grip. He lowered his voice and tried to sound authoritarian. “Look, Joann. Please believe me. I never meant to hurt her. Please tell me how you think she’s doing and tell me what can I do to help?” He wrinkled his forehead, as he remembered Joann’s missing car. “Where’s Charlie?”

“He’s gone off to see if he can find Doc Mitchell. He didn’t answer his phone, so Charlie was hoping to find him in his vegetable garden.”

“So, she needs a doctor?”

“Uh, yeah, the girl’s definitely going through something. Are you sure you didn’t do anything to traumatize her?”

“Well…” Merrick said and he dropped his head.

“Well, what?” Joann snapped. “I can’t help her if I don’t understand what’s caused this behavior. How did you traumatize her?”

“I’m kind of extra-large,” Merrick said, the words barely audible.

“I’m sorry, come again?”

“My dick is too big for most women, so, yeah, that might have been what traumatized her,” Merrick blurted.

Joann laughed a little too loud and long for Merrick’s taste. His shoulders stiffened. He wasn’t making it up. It wasn’t easy being a walking tripod.