Desperate Measures

Guin's blood-curdling scream woke the whole house. Of course, Jack was there, first, and within seconds, she was removed from his impaler and wrapped in his arms.

Though the storm raged on outside, he carried her to the bathtub, still in a daze, and started up the cold water. It took him a moment to figure out the best way to avoid immersing her in the water, but when Kurt showed up, his first instinct to send him away so as not to see was to fetch a bucket, and that was the best answer. Jenny also appeared to help, and she was sent to grab a rag.

On their return, Jack was able to block their view and tell them that he'd handle it from there, and that they should go back to bed. By then, he'd gathered enough visual information to figure out what happened, and he didn't want them to spend too much time worrying about what happened, and he'd come up with an excuse later.

As he wiped her blood off of his dick and her cunt, he said nothing. He was too upset to say anything. The trouble with that was, Guin didn't know that he wasn't angry with her. Not for the most part, anyway.

Once they were cleaned up and frigid, and the storm was winding down, Jack wrapped her in a towel and carried her back to his bedroom, and it was there that he finally spoke to her. "Stay here."

Guin just nodded, knowing that she was in a lot of trouble, and it was best if she did exactly as he said. He was back a moment later with a bag of ice cubes, which he wrapped in a damp rag and placed on her abdomen to numb the pain she was still feeling. She was still bleeding, just not as much as she had been.

A few hours passed before Jack returned. She should have been leaving for school right now, but he'd instructed her to wait. "I've contacted your teacher; you're taking the day off because "you tripped over an end table last night and a vase fell on you, so I took you to the doctor." Jenny and Kurt have been let in on that information, and not the truth, so they'll be corroborating this story until it dies down. I'm taking the day off of work to take care of you, for the same reason. If anyone asks, the lightning caused you to jump sideways."

Guin nodded. She was scared of thunderstorms, so that made sense.

"How do you feel?"

It took a moment for Guin to answer. She felt terrible, both physically and emotionally. Part of her wanted to hurt. She'd done something she knew was wrong, and now she had to suffer the consequences. She deserved to be in pain for what she'd done. "Awful..."

Jack took a few steps closer and placed a plate in front of her. It had poached eggs on toast with some kind of red sauce, with buttered grits on the side. "You should eat. Keep your strength up."

As he walked out of the room, she stared at the plate. She loved this, but she didn't deserve it. Not after what she'd done. And to top it all off, she'd made Jack miss a day of work. That was not something she could ever make up to him. So she just poked at her breakfast. She wasn't very hungry.

Jack returned half an hour later, a hoof towel over his shoulder. "You've barely touched it. Is something wrong?"

"I'm not hungry," she groaned, moving the plate off to the side and curling up. The gravity of the bed shifted as Jack sat down next to her. As she felt his hoof on her shoulder, she found herself unable to hold back her tears anymore. "Are you going to send me away?"

"No," answered Jack. "No, of course not... Why would you even think that?"

Guin shook her head, burying her face in the pillow. "I'm a fuck-up..."

As she lay sobbing, Jack rubbed her back. "No, you're not. It's just one mistake."

"A big one. You missed a day of work and I missed a day of school and we're both bleeding and I--"

Jack put his hoof to her beak to silence her. "It's okay. It's kind of my fault, anyway..."

"How is it your fault?" sniffled Guin. "You were asleep."

"You wanted to know," he answered. "I should have brought you in here and taught you in a safe environment. Instead, I left you with so little information that you put yourself in danger. I shouldn't have allowed that to happen. I should be responsible for your safety, and because of my negligence, you were hurt. I cannot tell you how sorry I am..."

Guin felt a drop on her neck, and looked up at Jack. He was crying.

She rolled over and wrapped her claws around his chest. "I'm sorry I did this. I shouldn't have tried it. I should have listened to you."

He hugged her back. "I'm the one who should have listened to you," he replied. Taking a deep breath, he pulled her away and kissed her. "Right now isn't a good time, as you're still healing, but since we have the day, I want to hear what you have to say. I'll teach you what I know. How's that sound?"

Guin smiled for the first time that day, glad to have a place to discuss this closer to home. But first, there was something she needed to do. "Could I have some time to think about it?"

Jack nodded. "I should go pick up a few things before we begin, anyway. Do you need anything from the market before I go?"

Guin shook her head. She didn't know what she would need, as she didn't know what all was necessary, as she didn't know exactly what she wanted to do. "I'll trust your judgement," she said, pulling her plate back. "You probably know more about this than I do."

Once he left, she hurried to eat, limped out of the room to wash her plate, then retreated to her own bed and pulled out the box. When he returned, she wanted to know what questions she wanted to ask. She didn't want to look stupid in front of him, and while that ship had sailed last night, she was intent on having something that she could offer as a "good question."