Silver Pt. 09

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*** If you are under the age of 18 or are not of legal age in your jurisdiction, please exit this story immediately ***

Author's note: As I admitted at the end of Silver Pt. 08, I was very much dissatisfied with the Silver series ending, and from many of my reader's comments, so were a lot of others. I did however, stick with the original story ending when developing the Silver series concept. In an attempt to continue the story of Marlene and Michael's love, I present Silver Pt. 09. This particular story does not contain very descriptive sex and is not, I repeat, not a stand alone story. To better understand this story, please read Silver Pt. 08 first.

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The slight, soft fingers grasped tightly around my hand. "Marlene?" I weakly inquired, immediately followed by violent pain exploding in my head. Marlene's familiar voice frantically came to life as the softness of her hands grew tighter.

"Michael, Michael," she called.

"Where are you bringing me?" I moaned in a dry, whispering tone. I choked after feeling my throat close, as the violent pain reappeared without warning.

"Turn his head to the side," a man's voice emphatically directed.

I felt my head being cradled and gently turned. Whincing in pain, I coughed up fluid, and felt the warm remnants trickle down my cheek.

"Michael, Sweetheart, can you hear me? Try your best to stay awake," Marlene pleaded.

I could feel her hands grasping my hair as she continued holding me, begging me to remain awake. "Where are you taking me, Marlene?" I repeated in a faint voice.

"To the hospital," Marlene frantically answered.

"I'm already gone," I whispered, as a steady volume of fluid continued dripping down my face.

"No Michael," I heard Marlene cry before the unrelenting pain knocked me from consciousness.

**********

"Mr. Dalton, are you with us?"

The male voice was speaking to me. I could only moan in response, listening to his heavy breathing as he spoke. "My name is Joey; I'm a paramedic, and we're going to get you fixed up, OK?"

I made an attempt to nod my head, but instead, coughed up more fluid.

"His pulse is rapid at 103," a female voice stated.

"Try to relax as much as you can... We're going to get your blood pressure, so you are going to feel some tightness around your arm, OK buddy?" Joey explained in a panting voice. The pressure in my arm tightened and the pain in my head increased. I moaned in pain and coughed again.

"Ninety-seven over fifty-nine," the female voice stated. "We need to get some fluids started."

"OK, grab the IV kit and a litre of saline," Joey ordered.

"Marlene?" I questioned in another painful moan.

"She's right here, Mr. Dalton."

"Marlene?" I repeated.

"I'm right here, Sweetheart," Marlene stated, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"Tell them to stop," I gasped as another wave of pain shot through my head.

"No, Michael, they're taking care of you; you are going to be alright."

"No Marlene, tell them to stop, I'm already gone."

"You're going to feel a big pinch, Mr. Dalton," the female voice warned, "We're going to start some fluids before we get you loaded into the ambulance."

"Marlene, tell them to stop..."

**********

I could still feel the soft hand holding tightly onto mine. "Where are you bringing me?" I whispered; the words bearly escaping my lips.

"Michael, Sweetheart, we're in the emergency room," Marlene's voice calmly stated from my right side as the feeling of her hand traced down my exposed forearm.

"Marlene, I'm already gone."

"Michael, you're not gone, we're in the ER. Why are you saying that?" Marlene's sweet voiced asked with concern.

"I was shot..."

"Mr. Dalton, hello, I'm Dr. Schroeder," a vibrant female voice stated, interrupting my sentence. "Do you remember what happened?"

"I was shot," I managed to whisper through my dry lips.

"Michael, no," Marlene cried out, "You weren't shot... Doctor, he keeps saying he was shot. He keeps repeating he's already gone, and wanted the medics to stop, again repeatedly stating he was already gone," Marlene's tearful voice explained to the doctor, "He just keeps repeating he's gone..."

"Mr. Dalton," Dr. Schroeder began, "You passed out in the supermarket parking lot, do you remember?"

I shook my head to the side, groaning loudly as the pain in my head radiated down my back.

A female voice stated, "The paramedics said he was coughing up blood, but discovered he bit his tongue and the blood was collecting in his throat. They managed to stop the bleeding during transit. He has a four centimeter gash above his left eye which they temporarily patched with a compression bandage, and clearly has a broken nose which was also bleeding profusely, most likely caused when his face hit the pavement. His Bp was 97 over 59, and his pulse was rapid at 103. They started a saline drip, and he was in and out of consciousness before being transported, but seems to be relatively stable now, with a BP of 112 over 78 and a pulse of 88."

"OK," the doctor began, "Let's get some blood drawn, stat and we'll use dilaudid to ease his pain."

"Right away, doctor," the female voice replied.

"Mr. Dalton, can you still hear me?" Dr. Schroeder asked in a raised voice.

I could hear her, but I couldn't get any words to come out of my mouth. "He squeezed my hand," Marlene stated.

"Mr. Dalton, you had a very bad fall. We're going to give you something to relieve your pain, OK?"

"He squeezed again," Marlene advised the doctor after I clenched her hand.

"You did quite a job on your face," the doctor continued, "You clearly have a broken nose, a nice gash on your forehead which I'm going to take a look at as soon as the pain medicine takes effect. You bit your tongue pretty bad, either from a possible seizure or when you hit the ground."

"Let me get this started," the female voice said, "He should begin to feel comfortable in a few minutes."

Shortly, I could feel my entire body begin to tingle, and my head go numb , just as the female voice had stated. "Marlene?" I asked, hearing my own, weak voice return.

"I'm right here, Sweetheart... I'm right here with you."

"Put your boob in my mouth," I stated, beginning to feel a bit loopy.

"What?" Marlene gasped, not quite understanding what I said.

"Your boob, put it in my mouth," I repeated.

"Michael...why?" Marlene responded in disbeleif.

"To prove to me I'm not dead."

"Michael, Sweetheart, what are you talking about?" Marlene asked with a hint of laughter in her voice.

"You told me... you would put... your breast in my... mouth if I... were ever on... life support," I answered with a noticeable slur to my voice.

"Michael, you aren't on life support," Marlene laughed.

I heard the doctor and who I guessed was the female nurse begin to lightly giggle as I continued. "C'mon Sweetheart, slip your luscious nipple in my mouth to prove me wrong."

"Michael, stop... I'm doing no such thing, people are here, do you realize that?" Marlene responded with an embarrassed laugh.

"Ok then, I'll just have to ly here dead," I said in a long, exaggerated voice, "How about you Doc? Care to lend a..."

"Michael!" Marlene exclaimed in a raised, stern tone.

Dr. Schroeder interviened, "OK, Mr. Dalton, let's take a look at your head; I think you are feeling pretty good right about now!"

"Ahh, you girls are no fun," I replied, "My Marlene would have whipped out her gorgeous tits and ran them right over my lips if you weren't here..."

"Michael, please..." Marlene exclaimed, "You are in sooo much trouble..."

"Promise?" I replied.

I heard her voice turn away, "I can't win with him; I just can't win..."

"Alright Mr. Dalton, I'm going to remove your bandage and see what we're dealing with here and get you fixed up."

"I'd rather have a nipple..."

**********

An hour or so later, Dr. Schroeder finished working on my head. She decided to use Steri-strips instead of stitches to close the wound. The medics had done an excellent job cleaning out the cut, and since my forehead was split in a perfectly straight line, she felt the wound wasn't deep enough to require stitches. She did however, warn me if it broke open, or didn't heal correctly, it would need to be stitched closed at that time. She also felt I didn't need anything done to the cut on my tongue and it would heal itself, but would feel very sore for the next couple of days.

Upon returning from having x-rays on my nose to view the severity of the break, Marlene ran her fingers through my hair and whispered in my ear that my sister Rose and her husband Matt were there. "Hey jackass, what in god's good name did you do now?" Matt asked as his hand rested on my calve.

"Just trying to get Marlene to put her boob in my mouth," I grinned, not being able to feel myself speak.

"Michael," Rose chastised.

"Don't bother, Rose, he's past in trouble with me," Marlene giggled, as she tenderly traced her fingers along my arm.

Rose continued, the shock in her voice disapating into a sympathetic tone. "Mike, I called Monica to let her know you were in the emergency room. She was quite upset and wanted to know what happened. The only thing I could tell her was what I knew at the time, you passed out in the parking lot and needed to be hospitalized. I told her we would call her as soon as we found out more about your condition. She was pretty upset, so I need to call her as soon as I can."

My precious Monica... She was away at school, finishing up her last semester before receiving her Bachelor's degree. I wanted to call her right away, but had to wait until I could thinkmore clearly.

"So, what happened?" Rose asked.

Marlene began, "He was leaning against the back of my SUV when I returned from placing the grocery cart into the coralle. I leaned over to pick up a glove he had dropped and noticed he had a smudge on his forehead, probably from rubbing against my dirty truck. I reached up to rub it off and as my finger touched his head, his face lost all color and he disappeared from my sight. Before I could blink, he was face down in the parking lot. I dropped to my knees in a panic and rolled him onto his back. His poor face was covered with blood. I was screaming for him to wake up. I asked him repeadily if he could hear me and until he moaned and said something, I thought he was in serious trouble. But then, he coughed up blood and began choking..."

I could hear Marlene's voice trembling as she told the story. I reached out to feel if she were close enough to touch and felt the familiar warmth of her hand take hold of me. Her touch, the beautiful softness of her hand, her never ending tenderness; it was all too much, and I shook as my eyes began to well.

"Sweetheart, are you alright? Are you in pain?" Marlene asked in a concerned voice.

"I'm sorry, Marlene," I whispered in a quivering voice.

"No, no, no, Handsome, there is nothing to be sorry about," she cooed in an empathetic voice.

"I made a mess of everything," I continued.

"No, no, you didn't make a mess of anything; we were just food shopping," Marlene whispered gently in my ear.

Dr. Schroeder reappeared and began speaking without noticing I was a bit unsettled. "Good news Mr. Dalton, there are no signs of a stroke, no concussion, but your blood results indicate you were severely dehydrated. Most likely, that was what made your blood pressure drop so low. The x-rays showed you indeed have a fracture of the nasal cavity. It's located just at the bridge and is pretty much still in place. We're going to place a piece of plastic over your nose and tape it down until the nasal bone heals."

"Plastic?" Marlene inquired.

"yes, kind of like what the life guards at the beach wear to keep the sun from blistering their noses," Dr. Schroeder explained, "But, it will form snuggly and assist in keeping the bone aligned. His eyes will be much darker tomorrow, so don't be alarmed, otherwise, he should be feeling much better. We'd like to keep him overnight for observation."

"No, I can't," I blurted out, pulling on Marlene's hand in a failed attempt to sit up. It was the most vocal I had been since my fall. "I can't I repeated in an emphatic voice.

"Michael, relax Sweetheart," Marlene said in a surprised voice, "It's OK, calm down, they just want to keep you overnight in case something goes wrong."

"Doctor?" I asked, looking to where her voice had come, "Can I speak with you and my sister for a moment?"

"Handsome? What's wrong?" Marlene asked in a concerned voice.

"Nothing, Beautiful, I just need to speak to Dr. Schroeder and Rose for a moment. I promise, nothing is wrong."

"C'mon Marlene," Matt gently said, "Let's take a walk, OK?"

"OK, I guess," Marlene responded in a soft, dejected sigh.

After Matt and Marlene exited the area, Rose spoke, "Mike, what is wrong?"

"Rose the ring... The engagement ring is in the back of Marlene's SUV. I slipped it into a grocery bag. I wanted Marlene to find it when she was unpacking the groceries in her mom's kitchen."

"Oh Mike," Rose began, "You were going to propose to Marlene today?"

"Yes, I was so stressed; I couldn't eat the previous day. My brain must have had enough and shut down in the parking lot when the reality of my beautiful Marlene stood before me at the back of her truck." I took a deep breath, "Doctor, I can't stay; I need to go home with Marlene... Please, I feel fine, it was just stress and apparent dehydration which led to my passing out. Please, please let me go home with Marlene..."

**********

"So my dear Michael, what did you say to the doctor to have her change her mind and release you?" Marlene asked in a teasing, but inquisitive voice, as we sat together in the back seat of Matt and Rose's SUV.

"Oh nothing," I quietly stated, "I just turned on my regular charm! Sometimes it's just too hard to turn off!"

Rose and Matt drove me and Marlene to my house to pick up a change of clothes before heading to the grocery store parking lot to retrieve her SUV. It was close to eight-thirty in the evening, and the February night had grown bitterly cold. Rose and Matt had already picked up Misty and dropped her off to Marlene's mom before they arrived at the hospital.

"Marlene, are you going to be alright with him staying at your house?" Rose asked from the front seat.

"Yes Rose, I'll be fine. I don't think he'll be too much trouble, and he certainly won't be moving too quickly for the next couple of days!"

"Alright, but if you need us, please don't hesitate to call and we'll get him out of your hair," Matt added.

"You know, I can hear you; I'm sitting right here," I groaned, now feeling the pain in my mouth and nose begin to reappear.

We were soon pulling into the parking lot and easing along side Marlene's SUV. Marlene started it up with her remote while Rose and Matt helped me out of the car. I was a little wobbly on my feet, but not as bad as I thought I would be. Marlene ran into the store to fill the prescription for my pain medicine while Matt got me settled into Marlene's SUV.

"So, I guess tonight is the big night, huh?" Matt asked as he buckled me in.

"Yeah, I guess, but it wasn't exactly supposed to happen like this," I replied.

"Hey Pal, she is going to be over the moon when she finds that box in the grocery bag," Matt smiled.

"I guess that is the main goal, right?" I asked with a half smile.

"We'll be sure to call Marlene tomorrow, OK?"

"Yep, she won't be able to contain herself and will want to tell the world! Well, hopefully anyway. Maybe you'll get a call tonight!" I answered.

"You are so fucking lucky, dumb ass," Matt laughed, "How did you ever manage to snag such a wonderful, caring person, yet alone beautiful woman?" Matt laughed.

"I just turned on my charm like I said in the car!"

Marlene soon returned, breathing heavily as she quickly got into the driver's side. "Oh my God, it's cold," she exclaimed between chattering teeth.

"Are you guys OK?" Rose asked as she made her way around to Marlene's side.

"Yep, we're all set," Marlene replied, "Thank you for everything! You and Matt are too kind!"

"Any time," Matt responded from my side. "If you need anything, please don't hesitate to call, OK?"

"OK, I will," Marlene said as she continued to warm up in the SUV, "I'll give you a call tomorrow to let you know how he's doing."

Matt and Rose gave Marlene a kiss goodbye and wished me luck before jumping into their car and driving away. "Good luck for what?" Marlene inquired.

"I don't know, probably for me getting laid tonight," I grinned in a half smile, before placing my hand up to the growing pain in my mouth.

"You'll never change, will you?" Marlene giggled before noticing my hand over my mouth. "Oh Sweetheart, you're sore, aren't you?"

I shook my head up and down as I held my mouth. "OK, let's get home and get some of these meds into you," Marlene said in a worried tone as she put the SUV in gear and began driving. Her hand rested on my thigh and softly rubbed my leg until we pulled into her driveway. Mrs. Cassidy was waiting at the door and quickly slipped on her coat before coming out to help. "Marlene, is Michael alright?" she asked.

"Yes, but he is pretty sore and basically exhausted."

"Michael, you poor thing, are you alright?" Mrs. Cassidy asked as she opened my door.

"Hi Mom," I said, as I continued holding my hand over my mouth and began swinging my legs out of the door.

Marlene and her mom guided me into the warmth of the house while Misty anxiously pranced in the doorway. Mrs. Cassidy directed Misty to stay inside and get out of the way. "C'mon baby girl, let daddy inside, he's not feeling well."

The sound of Misty's paws pouncing on the carpet filled the living room with the slightest hesitation before she dashed down the hallway. Marlene assisted me to the sofa and helped me sit, adjusting a pillow until I was comfortable.

"Are you alright, Sweetheart?" she softly asked.

"Yes, I guess so," I replied raising my hand up to my mouth again.

"Oh Michael, I'm sorry" she continued in the same soft tone. "Let me get your meds and see if it will ease your pain.

An increasingly loud screech could be heard from the hallway which was soon accompanied by the thunderous paws of the over-excited black Lab. Misty raced into the living room with her pet monkey in her mouth. She abruptly stopped and dropped at my feet, wildly thumping her tail on the carpet. "Did you bring me your monkey?" I painfully asked, doing my best to acknowledge my precious pup.

Marlene let out a laugh, returning with two tablets, advising me I had to take them with food after reading the bottle. The doctor had advised me to eat soft foods for the first couple of days to allow my tongue to heal. Mrs. Cassidy stated she had chocolate ice cream and soon had a bowl filled and sitting in front of me. I took the pills and ever so slowly ate the ice cream. The pain was escrutiating as the frigid ice cream slid against my tongue.

"Mom, can you keep an eye on him while I bring in the groceries?" Marlene asked.

"Sure, Marlene sweetheart, do you need any help carrying them in?"

"No thanks, there aren't too many bags," Marlene replied with a long exhale before turning away and walking out the door.

"Hmm, Mom," I said, placing my hand back to my mouth after swallowing the ice cream, "Marlene's engagement ring is in one of the bags!"

"What? Are you kidding me?" Mrs. Cassidy exclaimed.

"No, it's in the bag with the pretzels and potato chips. I wanted her to find it when she unpacked the bags, but wasn't planning on it turning out with such disastrous circumstances. She's exhausted, Mom. She is mentally at the end of her rope."

Mrs. Cassidy raced to the door to hold it open for Marlene as she carried the bags through the living room and into the kitchen where I heard them bang onto the counter. "Just two more," Marlene panted as she passed through the room and back out the door.