Tragedy to Joy

"Thanks Bob. What type of damages did they do?"

"I dreaded your asking that question. She may have lost the sight in one eye and has both a broken jaw, broken leg and broken arm, along with several nasty stab wounds, internal injuries, and a concussion. But they think she will pull through."

We talked a bit longer and then prayed together for Sharon's recovery. When Bob left I put away the food and drove to the hospital with a thermos of coffee and a bag with the rest of the doughnuts, to share. It was a long night. Sharon was out of surgery by four a.m. and I was given permission to simply sit in a chair just outside her ICU room. She probably wasn't going to wake up until late morning but I wanted to be there just in case, and to pray.

Sharon woke up at about nine that morning. She was groggy due to the morphine drip. The first thing she tried to say was my name. I got up and went to her side.

"Good morning sleepy head. How are you doing?"

Her slow answer was pure Sharon, "Just fine, but I didn't get the license number of the truck that hit me."

"That's O.K. the sheriff's office did and the drivers are upstairs handcuffed to their beds. They also have a deputy sitting in the room with them. A video camera is being kept running so that if they talk to each other it will be recorded. Now, shut your eyes and try to go to sleep."

************

It was two weeks before the doctors though it would be safe to bring her home. I was given instructions on what to do. I hired two nurses to run eight hour shifts. One ran the day shift and one the evening shift. I covered Sharon for the night shift, when it was unlikely that she would be awake. It was a night in mid November when the blizzard hit. Our area doesn't always get socked in, but every now and then we really get hit hard. This was one of the hard hits.

Some of the problems I would have to face hadn't dawned on me yet. However, at about six in the morning Sharon woke up and asked for the regular nurse. Of course the regular nurses couldn't have made it to my place given the road conditions (not the least of which was figuring out where the road was under the three feet of snow that was now blowing and drifting).

"Jim, I have an awful problem. I need to use the toilet and with the cast on one arm and the stitches still in on my other hand, where the knife hit me, I can't wipe myself. Can you help me?"

Talk about stress! I agreed and told her that I would help her but that I would only do exactly what she told me to do, and in the way she said that I should do it.

She grinned at that! Then I was even more nervous!

She had me support her so that she didn't need to use her leg that was in the cast. Unfortunately the way she told me to do it put my arm around her right below her breasts.

I managed to get her to the toilet. She then asked me to remove her panties. With my hands shaking I did as she asked and then helped her sit on the seat.

She grinned when she saw my red face.

"Why are you so nervous and flustered? You've seen undressed women before. What makes this any different?"

"I'm not sure you want to hear the answer to that."

"Now I'm curious; is the difference in the general idea of nudity or is it more specific?"

"You are very perceptive. No, it is not the general idea of nudity that causes my problem. To be blunt, it's you."

"Me, why do I make a difference? Please wipe me so that I can get up and then let's go to the kitchen and have a cup of tea while we continue this discussion."

I reluctantly agreed, got her cleaned and re-dressed. We decided on the living room as opposed to the kitchen. She sat on the couch. I brought in a cup of tea for each of us and then sat on a chair that faced the couch. Then she started the discussion.

"What is it about me, specifically, that makes you embarrassed to see me naked?"

"You are going to think I'm either loosing my mind or that I'm a dirty old man if I answer that question. I don't want to ruin our friendship by saying the wrong thing. Our friendship is too important to me to risk messing it up."

"Now you have me concerned. Just tell me, I will try to keep it from damaging our relationship."

"Okay, I'll try to explain. As you remember your English lit. classes in college, Platonic love is a non-carnal strong attachment. It has no component of lust involved. I have fallen in love with you. It started out as Platonic love but I have discovered that over time it has turned into true romantic love. But our age difference is large enough to make me relatively sure that you would not feel the same. I'm pretty sure that you have, or will find someone close to your own age with whom to fall in love. It is because of my love for you that I was embarrassed. It is not just seeing a naked woman, it is seeing the woman I love, naked."

By this time I had tears forming and was looking at the floor. There was an awkward silence for a long moment.

"Jim, what makes you think that I would be uninterested? I fell in love with you four years ago but was pretty sure that you were not interested in me. After all, you never made a 'pass' at me."

By this time I was looking at Sharon with a "deer caught in the headlights" kind of look.

"You mean that you also love me, even at my age?"

"Yes, of course I do. You are a caring, gentleman who is wise and kind. I find you very easy to talk with. You are, to be blunt, perfect husband material. I wish you had shared your feelings with me sooner. We could have become very close by this point in time."

I got up and went over to the couch to sit next to Sharon. Without asking, I leaned over and gave her a long kiss. It didn't take long before I felt her tongue seeking my lips. I opened my lips and we were exploring each other's tongues. I'm not sure how long we held the kiss, but it was a lovers' kiss.

"Wow, you are a great kisser, Jim. What are we going to do about our new status?"

"I'll tell you in a minute. Let me get something."

Moments later I was back on the couch. We kissed again. It was wonderful.

"Sharon, we've known each other for about five years now. In that time we have learned each other's likes and dislikes. We've learned about each other's foibles. Effectively we know more about each other than any normal engaged couple. Are you interested in taking our relationship to a new level?"

"I thought you'd never ask. I would love to have our relationship move to a new level. What did you have in mind?"

At that point I got down on the floor, kneeling before Sharon. I got the engagement ring that I had given my first wife out of my pocket and asked her "Will you become my wife?"

Now she was crying and saying "Yes" repeatedly. I slipped the ring on her left ring finger and kissed her hand.

Getting up, I sat back down on the couch next to her and asked the obvious question.

"When do you want to set the date for the wedding?"

"How about yesterday?"

"I can't arrange that. How about after your cast comes off and the doctor gives you a clean bill of health? Then we can set the wedding for the following church service. I'm sure that we can turn the coffee hour into a mini-reception."

"Okay, I like that!"

"Where do you want to go for our honeymoon?"

"Your bedroom."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, all I want is you."

We already knew that the doctor had told Sharon that it would be six weeks before she would be medically finished with the repair work that they had done. That meant that we would have to wait six weeks before marriage and "going all the way". I knew that we needed to talk about this wait.

"Sharon, how do you want to handle the next six weeks?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I still know that we can't have intercourse until we're officially husband and wife. However, do you think that we should also maintain a total hands off policy until that time?"

"Jim, I don't know if I can do that. How do you see heavy petting before marriage?"

"In this case I think I'm for it."

We both were grinning at this time.

"How about we conserve heat at night by both using my bed, Sharon?"

"I like the way you think, Jim."

That night, after a nice dinner, we headed for my bedroom. I still had to help her due to the casts. I had her lay on her back and worked a pillow under her butt. Sharon wondered what I was going to do, but I told her to just wait and see.

We started off kissing while I gently played with her breasts. We both liked that a lot. Then, I started kissing down her neck, to her breasts, where I spent a good deal of time. Then on down to her belly button, and points south. After spending a lot of time kissing her inner thighs, and all around her lower lips I started kissing her pussy. She was vocal!

Then I started to lick her outer and inner labia spending a fair amount of time everywhere except for her clit.

"Oh, that's nice Jim. Please don't keep avoiding my clit."

I didn't say anything in response, I just licked her clit and then gently sucked on it. By the time I was done she had been through three orgasms and was sensitive enough that she wanted me to stop. We got the pillow out from under her butt and I moved to where we could cuddle. It had been years since I had as good a sleep.

The wedding took place six weeks later. I had my attorney, who is a member of our church, bring some legal documents with him. I also had my banker, who is also a church member, bring a small package of forms with him. After the ceremony I asked Sharon to sign several forms with me, and I signed the other one by myself. Most of the congregation vied to be the ones who would sign as witnesses.

Sharon had wanted to know what she was signing and I explained that it gave her power of attorney for all matters pertaining to me and gave me power of attorney for all matters pertaining to her.

It was a wonderful reception. Since it was in the church it was a "dry" reception, which was fine with me. I detest drinking and driving. At last Sharon and I left to go home.

When we arrived home we took the phone off the hook and headed for my, now our, bedroom. We undressed each other.

When we were both naked I just stopped there in awe.

"Is there something wrong, Jim?"

"No, ... no it's just that your beauty overwhelms me. I find it hard to believe that you are truly mine!"

At that, she grinned and embraced me. God was so good to me to give me such a fine woman!

"Do you want to have a bath or shower together first, or would you like to go to bed with me?"

"Decisions, decisions, I don't know Jim; what would you suggest?"

"I vote for the bed!"

"Excellent choice husband of mine!"

I picked Sharon up, carried her to the bed, and gently laid her down.

I won't bore you with the list of things that we did. Essentially we tried just about everything one would expect during a honeymoon, and then some. That night, when we were too tired to continue, we had the most restful sleep either of us could remember.

The next morning, after breakfast, I took Sharon into my den. I turned on my computer and said:

"You need to know about my financial situation. First, look at this."

I handed her the envelope that had been given me by my banker, now our banker.

In the envelope were two items. The first that she looked at was a platinum debit card from the bank. The second was a check book with a balance of ten thousand dollars.

She looked at me. "Jim, this is a joke isn't it?"

"No, this is part of what I want to give to you."

"Part?"

"Yes, you remember those papers we signed after the wedding, right?

"Yes."

"Let me explain them to you. First the paper I signed all alone was my updated will. You are my sole beneficiary and our lawyer is the executor. The forms we signed together gave you power of attorney for me and me power of attorney for you. Third, you signed papers for the bank that gave you a checking account and card as well as deposit and withdrawal access to my business account. Forth we signed a modification to my business. It is now a partnership. Let's look at the computer and I'll show you what you and I now control."

The first thing I showed her was my business account. At that time the business account held about three million dollars. Sharon's eyes were like saucers.

"You have that much money?"

"That's part of it. Now we'll go to my investment portfolio."

The summary of the portfolio showed a total balance of about twenty million dollars. Finally I led her to the bookcase.

"You see this shelf where the Oxford Dictionary of the English Language and the Encyclopedia Britannica are?"

"Yes."

"Well, behind the dictionary and the first four encyclopedia volumes you will find our safe."

I moved the books and then showed her the combination and had her practice opening and closing the safe until she could do it quickly and reliably.

"Now that you know how to open it, I'll show you the contents. Do you notice how dark it is inside the safe?"

"Yes."

That's to make it appear to be empty to a casual observer.

"Let me move this black velvet cover that I leave over the contents."

I folded the cover back and took out a large envelope. "This envelope contains my patents. The royalties on these patents run between about half a million to three quarters of a million dollars a year. It turns out that one of my patents is on a device used on almost every automobile currently manufactured. One of the other patents is on circuits that are found in almost all new computers.

Now, there is another black velvet cover, pull it back."

As she did she saw something shiny.

"What's that?"

"With our foolish government spending like drunken sailors I like to keep some money in the form of metal. There are twenty, one kilogram bars of platinum, twenty one kilogram bars of gold, and five one kilogram bars of palladium. That's about two point three million dollars."

"Jim, I need to sit down for a minute. I'm overwhelmed. I never dreamed that you were this well off!"

"There are probably only three people alive who know my net worth. I try to keep it private. If you are wondering I give ten percent of each year's income and earned interest to each of eight charities each year. It's the Lord's money and the gain is for His work. He gets eighty percent and I keep twenty percent. The charities are not all obvious Christian charities. Among others, I support 'Children of the Night' and 'The Pink Cross'."

"What are those two?"

"Children of the Night" rescues poor kids who have been trapped into prostitution and gives them a safe place to live, food, medical care and an education. The "Pink Cross" helps people leave the adult entertainment industry. The Lord would approve of the job done by both of these outfits. If you haven't guessed you can feel free to quit your job at the hospital, if you want. If, however, you want to go back to it I'll be happy to see you doing what you enjoy doing. As an alternative you could go though medical school, residency and become an Md... It's all up to you."

I received the biggest hug I had ever received.

"Thank you, husband of mine! My only goal at this point is to be the best wife you could have. I don't want to be away from you any longer than I have to be. However, I have a suggestion. Why don't we look for someone else who is in a tough spot in life, like I was, and help them like you helped me?"

"You are reading my mind, dear wife. I like where your heart is."

There is much more to tell, but it will have to wait for another chapter.

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Note to the reader: If you would like this story (or any of my other stories) to be continued please let me know. If there is enough interest I will try to continue a story or two.