Chapter 3

Sometimes there was another hour or two with the machine for recreational purposes, though not always. Linnéa had gotten to the point where the nerves connecting her sex had begun to regenerate, and she could enjoy the experience with Jackie unaided. Still, it was far better with the machine in operation. The phrase “go fuck yourself” had never carried so much meaning before now. It literally felt to Linnéa like she was pleasuring Jackie and herself all at the same time. If the physical therapy uses weren’t so compelling, Dr. Chowdhury could make a mint selling the machine as a sex toy.

So while the two women weren’t training, they were either humping like bunnies, or wrapped in each other’s arms, enjoying the afterglow of another mind-blowing, co-mingled orgasm. Since they were both incredibly fit, and now sharing a bed, they were able to spend a lot of time in bunny mode.

“Do you ever slow down?” Jackie asked, with a big stupid grin plastered on her face.

“Do you?” Linnéa retorted with a smile of her own, “I’ve got three years of catching up to do. What’s your excuse?”

“It’s got to be these fabulous boobs of yours,” Jackie said, burying her face in Linnéa’s chest. After some giggling, the bunnies were at it again. Fingers and tongues were busy searching out new pleasure centers in addition to re-visiting familiar favorites.

“Jeez, girl, we’ve got to eat sometime,” Jackie finally complained after the women shared their third trip over the mountain together.

“Fine,” Linnéa capitulated and rolled out of bed. She was standing on her own two feet, unaided by her cane. Jackie was soon following.

“Ouch!” Jackie complained, stumbling as she got up.

“I’ve got you, baby,” Linnéa said, offering her arm. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. Leg cramp I guess. Maybe my foot’s asleep. It just feels weird.”

“You probably need some lunch. Late lunch, I should say, or maybe it’s early dinner by now.”

“Wow!” Jackie exclaimed. She was partly expressing amazement at the length of their love-making marathon, and partly covering for the fact that she couldn’t feel anything below the knee of her right leg at the moment. This was not the first time Jackie had experienced this feeling of numbness, though this was by far the most intense and long-lasting bout. “I understand the importance of the time limit now,” Jackie thought to herself.

Over the past few weeks, the two women had taken a rather cavalier attitude toward the safety limits of the machine. Linnéa was hesitant at first, but Jackie had pushed her into it once she saw the positive effects it had on Linnéa’s progress. At the time it had seemed to good to be true, and they began routinely overstepping the safety margin. Now Jackie was starting to see the flaw in that plan. Still, she kept it to herself.

As much as she hated to admit it, Jackie had fallen for Linnéa — and hard. Gone were the days of being content with one night stands and friends with benefits. Jackie was in love. And as it is with love, the heart often makes decisions that would make the brain cringe. The number one decision in that category right now was Jackie’s desire to see Linnéa return to her former glory, no matter what the cost. So Jackie kept her mouth shut and continued to make excuses for her pains and numbness.

“We have to tell Dr. Chowdury,” Linnéa insisted.

“We’re so close, and your big event is next week,” Jackie begged, “we can’t stop now.”

“I don’t like what this is doing to you, Jackie. How long was it before you could stand up on your own yesterday? It scares me!”

“I’m fine, turn the machine on.”

Linnéa shook her head in disappointment as Jackie reached over and flipped the power switch anyway.

“And here she comes after finishing a perfect run today. Linnéa Vaughn, this truly is a remarkable day for you. I’m sure our audience would love to know, what’s going through your head right now?”

“I’m just happy to be here, Mary. I couldn’t have done any of this without Jackie. I love you, Jackie!” Linnéa waved enthusiastically at the camera for a moment before turning to ski off the course.

“Alright, and there she goes, a very ecstatic Linnéa Vaughn. We’ll be looking forward to seeing her again in the upcoming Winter Games. Back to you Bob.”

“Jackie, honey! I hope you got to see it on TV at least. It was awesome! First place, can you believe it?” Linnéa announced as she burst excitedly into the condo. “Jackie?”

“Honey, why are you still in bed?” Linnéa begged, with an edge of panic to her voice.

“Can’t move my legs.”

“Oh god, no! Still?” Linnéa wept. “Honey, I’m so, so sorry. I never should have taken it so far. It was selfish and stupid.”

“It’s not like you held a gun to my head. I knew what I was getting into. It was worth it. I’m proud of you.”

Linnéa did not share Jackie’s pride at the moment. Her first place finish was insignificant next to the worry she felt for her lover, her best friend. Linnéa’s conscience was wracked with guilt. The two women didn’t know it yet, but as Dr. Chowdhury would explain later, their constant use of the machine and careless over-stepping of the safety limits had resulted in extensive nerve damage to Jackie. In fact, the younger woman was in much the same state as Linnéa was when they first met.

Though she had entered into the bargain willingly, Jackie had paid a steep price for Linnéa’s success.

Olympic-sized Disappointment

“Welcome back to our continuing coverage of the women’s downhill events in these Winter Games. Team USA is still faring well, but with the absence of one of their strongest skiers, Linnéa Vaughn, their dominance is anything but guaranteed.”

“I know a lot of Linnéa’s fans are still upset about that, Bob.”

“For those of you who are not aware, the International Ski Federation’s decision to strip Linnéa Vaughn of her World Cup title earlier this year, has caused quite a ripple in the skiing community. It also resulted in her being dropped from the Olympic team and barred from further competition.”

“And this is all based on accusations that the experimental treatment, used to reverse her paralysis, constituted illegal doping. Her supporters, however, would argue that the treatment is no different than any other form of physical therapy already in use. It’s a tough call.”

“Well, Chris, the International Ski Federation and the Olympic Committee would seem to disagree. OK, it looks like the first skier from Team France is in the gate. Let’s see if Team USA’s score will be enough to keep them in medal contention.”

Linnéa watched the scene unfolding on television with mixed emotions. On one hand, she was excited for the women she still thought of as her teammates, even though she was not allowed to join them. On the other hand, she was disappointed about the way things had turned out — and for that, she placed the burden of blame squarely on herself.

“Don’t stay up too late, honey,” Jackie reminded her, “we’ve both got to work tomorrow.”

“I’ll be right there,” Linnéa responded as she watched Jackie wheeling herself down the hall.

Things had definitely not turned out the way either of them had expected or hoped, but at least they were still together. They were sharing the second bedroom in Jackie’s parent’s apartment. The living situation was less than ideal, but the couple had welcomed Linnéa into their home as if she were their own daughter. It was a far better reaction than she had received from her own mother and father. To say their relationship had become strained, after Linnéa had professed her love for Jackie on national television, would be an understatement.

For her part, Linnéa was slowly acclimating to big city life. She had managed to get a job as a records clerk at the hospital where Jackie worked. The pay wasn’t much, but she and Jackie could ride the train together, to and from work. Linnéa was also enrolled in online classes, hoping to advance her career by studying to be a medical assistant, but right now she was knee-deep in prerequisites. Apparently, the title of former Olympic hopeful didn’t rate her any transfer credits.

Jackie was coping with her disability as well as she could. She had to leave her job as a physical therapist behind — it was tough to help other people heal when your confined to a wheelchair yourself — but she did take a part-time consulting position with Dr. Chowdhury’s research team. After all there was nobody with more firsthand knowledge of his experimental therapy, particularly when it came to what not to do.

Like so many other souls in New York City, the young couple was getting by, one day at a time. Each week they managed to put away a little money, hoping to someday get married and move into their own place. But until then they trudged along, with millions of others, in the daily grind of wintertime in the big apple.

Linnéa was up early, despite the fact that it was Saturday and she didn’t have to work. The apartment was dead silent. Jackie’s parents were out of town for the weekend, leaving the young couple alone together. Not that it mattered much. The only thing Jackie seemed to be interested in using the bed for these days was sleeping. At Linnéa’s suggestion they had tried using a strap-on. She had hoped that her lover would at least enjoy the sight of Linnéa riding her to orgasm, even though the nerve damage Jackie suffered wouldn’t let her feel anything. It lasted for about a month before Jackie lost interest.

It seemed that all Jackie was interested in anymore was sleeping. Linnéa suspected it was depression, after all she had first-hand knowledge of the feelings experienced after losing the use of one’s legs. Jackie wasn’t willing to admit it yet, so Linnéa cared for her love the best she could until she was ready to seek the help she needed. The cold, dark days of winter in the city certainly didn’t help the matter. “If ever somebody needed to get laid,” Linnéa thought to herself.

Linnéa was restless and pacing the apartment. She wasn’t comfortable going out for a run on her own, nor did she think the neighbors would appreciate her running the stairs at this early hour. She settled for walking down to the apartment lobby to check the mail and was surprised to find a package waiting. It was addressed to Miss King and Miss Vaughn. She knew of only one person who, after all this time, continued to refer to the couple so formally. With the package tucked under her arm, she eagerly trotted back up the stairs.

Placing the package on the kitchen table and opening it up, Linnéa discovered she was right about the sender — it was from Doctor Chowdhury. There was a hand-written note inside.

Dearest Miss King and Miss Vaughn,

Please accept this gift of version 2.0 of the nerve therapy machine. The improved model has no time limit. While I do not hold out any hope that it will be capable of reversing Miss King’s paralysis, it should at least allow her to feel again. I have taken the liberty of pre-programming for both of your unique nerve signatures, so there is no setup needed. It is plug and play, as they say.

Sincerely,
Dr. Deepak Chowdhury

Linnéa wasn’t sure if Doctor Chowdhury’s plug and play reference was the rather serious man’s attempt at humor, or if he was hinting at the alternative use that she and Jackie had discovered some time ago. Linnéa didn’t spend too much time dwelling on it. After all, Jackie wasn’t the only one in this apartment who desperately needed to get laid. She plugged the machine into the wall and flipped the power switch.