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Subject: {ASSM} RP: Wynter King: Mother's Little Helper 01/03 {Hoisington} (Mg rom ped inc cons 1st slow)
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Date: Sat, 25 Feb 2012 21:10:02 -0500
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                               WYNTER
                       by Russell Hoisington
    ************************************************************

This is an erotic fantasy.  The characters and the situation are
purely imaginary, and this story is NOT intended to be a guide
for actual behavior.  Any similarities between this story and
actual people, or actual events that you should be ashamed of,
are purely coincidental.  If it is illegal in your part of the
world to access and read erotic fiction, or if you are underage,
or if you don't like sex stories, then stop now.

This story is copyright 2003 and 2005 by Russell Hoisington.
Please do not remove the author information or make any changes
to this story.  You may post freely to non-commercial (free)
sites, or in the "free" area of commercial sites.  That does NOT
mean that they are in the public domain, nor does it mean that I
give permission for you to use them in spam advertising.  I
reserve the right to determine what is "spam advertising" by MY
definition, not yours or anyone else's.

Thank you for your consideration.

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

This is a 2005 revised version of the story with errors corrected
and with a new chapter added to PART THREE:  MOTHER'S LITTLE
HELPER.

                               WYNTER
                             PART THREE:
                       MOTHER'S LITTLE HELPER

                            One of Nine

      Panic swept across Wynter's elfin features.  "Where...
where... where...?" she stammered as she flushed scarlet in
embarrassment.

      Nurse Ellen Carter held the smallest vibrator forward.  "I
saw the tip of this sticking out between the nightstand and the
wall.  It wasn't there when I left because I had cleaned this
room thoroughly, and there were no dildos in here when I
finished."

      _Dildos_.  Wynter added that to the list of words to put in
her "Sex Terminology" notebook while she tried to remember how
the vibrator could have become stuck behind the nightstand.  She
had moved them from the rollaway table to the night stand.  Later
she was picking them up to return them to her mother's dresser
drawer.  Dragon, who'd just had a drink from his doggie bowl,
stuck his cold, wet nose to her naked butt.  She jumped and
dropped them.  She thought the noise would awaken her sleeping
father, but he was more unconscious than asleep.  _Drat!_  She
had been chastising--a grown-up sounding word that she really
liked--Dragon  while she picked up the vibrators again and had
failed to _pay attention to the details_ like a good nurse would
do.

      Nurse Carter pulled back the vibrator and pushed forward the
blonde pubic hair.  "I found two of these under your father's
neck and one under his leg.  I see you got around while I was
gone."

      Wynter's father looked blurry through her streaming tears.
His upper body was lying at a forty-five degree angle.  His eyes
were fixed on the ceiling and he looked very, very upset.  She
knew he was mad at himself because she had wanted to change his
sheets before Nurse Carter returned, but he asked her not to.  He
was blaming himself for something that was all _her_ fault.  A
good nurse would have done what was _best_ for her patient, not
what he wanted because it was less work for her.

      Her father had wanted the oral sex, and the intercourse,
too.  She loved him, and she wanted to show him through the oral
sex and intercourse that she loved him.  And she had also wanted
the sexual activities.  But it wasn't what was _best for her
patient_, or for her father, _in the long run_.  A good nurse and
a grownup would have done what was best for the _patient_ in the
long run, but she had acted like a spoiled, thoughtless child
interested only in what was best for _herself_ at the time.

      Nurse Carter's voice rose and got much angrier and her face
turned very red as she shook the hair in Wynter's face.  "Jesus,
I thought he was in the good hands of a responsible nurse, not
the hands of a little slut!"

      Wynter felt the Labrador retriever's body pressing against
the front of her legs.  It vibrated with his growl, a deep,
rumbling noise that caused Nurse Carter to step back and almost
fall onto the bed.

      "Ellen," her father said in a quiet voice that still sounded
very angry, "if your attitude doesn't change immediately, Dragon
will eat your face, and even Wynter won't be able to stop him."
Then his voice softened and his eyes looked at Wynter with love
that made her heart ache for the trouble she had stupidly caused
him.  "Wynter, honey, take Dragon into the den.  Please close the
door on your way out.  Everything will be okay, I promise.  I'm
going to have a little chat with Nurse Carter, and she won't want
to be disturbed until it's over.  Please?"

      She nodded and wiped her flooded eyes with the back of her
right hand while her left closed around Dragon's collar.

      "I love you, honey...."

       Nurse Carter glared down at him over her shoulder and cut
him off.  "Is _that_ how you talked her into your perverted...."

      "_Ellen!_" he shouted, startling her into silence.  Dragon
began growling again, louder this time, and Wynter felt him pull
forward a little.  Then in a soft, almost gentle voice her father
said, "Wynter, release his collar."

      She did.  Dragon didn't move and continued his low, rumbling
growl.  Through her tears Wynter saw the blurred white streak of
his teeth.

      Her father fixed the nurse with a hard stare.  "Now, Ellen,
I don't know with absolute certainly that he _will_ attack if you
raise your voice at me again, but do you know with absolute
certainly that he _won't_?  You know as well as I do that he will
attack if you raise it at Wynter again."

      Nurse Carter seemed to collapse inward, like a party balloon
that was losing air.

      "Honey, everything's going to be just fine.  Nurse Carter
doesn't want you to hear what I'm about to tell her, so please go
wait in the den with Dragon.  She'll be along to apologize to you
in a little while.  You can have some cookies and milk if you
want them.  Not too many this close to supper."

      She nodded and tried to say, "I love you," but her voice
broke.

      Her father gave her that big warm smile that made her heart
feel much too big for her body.  "I love you, too, honey.  We
won't be long."

      She nodded again, wiped her eyes, and took Dragon's collar.
Any other time he would have followed her out the door, but she
wasn't sure whether he would do so now.  He went out the door
with her, but his eyes never left Nurse Carter and his low growl
did not stop until Wynter closed the door.

      Wynter held her long blonde ponytail in one hand and threw
herself face down on the couch in the den, trying to control the
huge sobs that shook her body.  How could she have been so
childish and caused such a huge problem for her father, who loved
her with all his heart, when all she wanted for him was to be the
best grownup nurse possible?  How could he still love her if she
were such a huge disappointment?  And how much more trouble would
she cause him when Nurse Carter told Mother?

                               ~ ~ ~

      Dragon whimpered and sniffed his little human, looking for
clues that would explain her condition in terms his canine mind
could understand.  When he found none, he licked the hand
covering her cheek, looked over his shoulder to the hallway door,
and growled softly.

                             Two of Nine

      "Just what the fuck do you mean telling her that I'll 'be
along to apologize in a few minutes?'  I'm not the one...."

      "Ellen," Richard said in a gentle tone, "Dragon can hear you
from the den, and I can guarantee you that door won't stop him if
he wants in."  Actually, only the first half of that statement
was true.  He couldn't _guarantee_ that the hollow-core door
wouldn't stop Dragon, but he would not bet money that it could.
"Wynter could hear you if she weren't crying her eyes out,
probably face down on the couch.  You know how emotionally shaky
she is because of puberty.  Your attitude isn't helping one
goddamned bit, and I won't allow it to upset her any further."

      "_You_...."  She glanced at the closed door and forced her
volume control down, but in her fury construed his gentle tone as
meekness.  "_You_ won't allow it?  _I_ won't allow _you_ to abuse
that girl any further, you child-molesting son of a bitch!  I
ought to call Larry White to come put you under house arrest and
get Wynter to safety until Angie gets back here.  What the _fuck_
were you thinking, using her to get you off?  If the pain in your
damaged vas deferens was that bad, you should have told me and
_I'd_ have gotten you off."

      His grin, as if of triumph, took her aback, and she wondered
if he had divined her innermost thoughts.

      "Do you know who recommended you to be my nurse during these
at-home recuperations?"

      "Yeah," she snapped.  "Kevin Taylor.  What...."

      "No," he said, shaking his head.  "Kevin merely said you'd
be a good choice when I asked him about you."

      "What does that...."

      "Tommy Rosenbaum recommended you."

      "Who?"  Then she gaped.  "You know Tom Rosenbaum from
Pittsburgh?"

      "We were on the same committee for the Geological Society
several years back.  I'd been to his house a few times before the
divorce, and once or twice after.  But I didn't say 'Tom,' I
said, 'Tommy.'"

      The color left Ellen's face and her arms fell to her sides.
The strands of Wynter's pubic hair drifted to the floor.
"T...--Tommy?  Oh, Jesus."

      "Tommy.  Doctor Rosenbaum.  He was--what?  Sixteen?  Fifteen
the first time?  The father _and_ the son for over two years?"

      "Tommy _told_ you?  And....  Oh, Jesus.  And Tom told you
about us?"

      "You look like you'd better sit down," he said and waited
for her to do so after she put the small vibrator on the night
stand.  "No, Tom didn't tell me the details of his divorce other
than he'd been caught with another woman.  Tommy finally told me
who when he recommended you for my home nurse.  He said that his
father couldn't have been in better hands, but that I should
watch out because you had dependency issues.  He said that it
cost you your own marriage as well, and that you'd tried to
convince Tom to marry you.  He said you left Pittsburgh as the
price to keep Tom from filing a professional complaint and
charges against you.

      "Tommy knew about my injury and said that if I ever needed
you to relieve the pressure, that you wouldn't be satisfied with
providing just a handjob, and that things would slowly spiral out
of control.  He apparently did a couple of papers on you while
earning his psychology degree.  He also said you were the
'greatest piece of ass' he'd ever had, although that was a
personal opinion rather than a professional one."

      Ellen Carter's pasty-white face slowly reddened, this time
with embarrassment.

      "I never planned to tell you I knew, but, Ellen, two things
I can't stand are hypocrites and somebody threatening my family,
and a threat to my marriage is a threat to my family.  Naturally
I haven't told anyone else.  In a small town, a secret like that
won't stay secret for a year, and it would be a lot harder for
you to hide the facts if you were forced to leave here than it
was when you were forced to leave Pittsburgh."

      She twisted her hands together in her lap.  "So, if I
promise to keep my mouth shut and just leave quietly, you won't
tell anyone about my past?  You'll trade your silence for mine?"

      "No."

      She stiffened, and Richard was struck by the similarity
between her face and Wynter's during one of his daughter's panic
attacks.

      "I don't want you to leave.  You've overcome your past, and
you've established a good practice here, both as a private nurse
and at the hospital.  People admire you, respect you, and depend
on you.  And I hear that Dusty Hughes has taken a fancy to you.
I have only a few conditions besides the trading of silence.  Are
you interested?"

      She sighed as if the weight of the world had been lowered
onto her shoulders.  "Do I have a choice?"

      "You always have choices, Ellen.  However, you have only one
good one."

                               ~ ~ ~

      "Wynter?"

      Dragon was standing and facing the door when Ellen entered
the room.  She had stopped just inside the door, waiting to see
what the dog would do.  He wasn't snarling or growling, but his
muscles were tensed and his eyes were fixed on hers.  It was a
challenge, and she responded by lowering her eyes from his.

      "Wynter?" she asked again.  "Don't cry.  I--I came to
apologize."

      Wynter sniffed and lifted her face from the couch cushion
long enough to sob, "You aren't the one who was bad."

      "Yes, I was.  Wynter, you made a mistake, but so did I, a
long time ago.  I am still mad at myself about that, and I took
it out on you.  That was another mistake I made.  Richard
reminded me that we can overcome our mistakes and continue to be
good people.  Wynter, I said some mean things to you and your
father, things that I, of all people, had no right to say.  I am
truly sorry that I said them, and I hope that you can forgive me.
If you can't, then I understand, and I won't blame you.  But I do
hope that some day you will be able to, and that we can be
friends again."

      Her head came up again.  "I..." [sniff] "I can forgive you.
I'm not..." [sniff]"...a hypocrite."

      Tears suddenly streamed down both of Ellen's cheeks.  "Thank
God for that.   One of us is already too many."

      Wynter suddenly bolted upright, startling Dragon.  "Daddy!
He's all by himself," she said, brushing away tears and wiping
her running nose.

      "He'll be okay for a little while," Ellen said.  "Can we sit
together and talk?"

      "But Daddy might need us."

      "Right now he needs us to be friends again more than he
needs anything else."  She began easing toward the couch,
avoiding any sudden movements and watching for any sign of
displeasure from Dragon.  "He explained a couple of your
questions to me and said he'd like me to help answer them for
you, if you don't mind."

                               ~ ~ ~

      Dragon watched for any threatening sign as the tall human
female sat beside his short one.  They held each other and made
sad noises.  He didn't understand why they did this, but he did
sense that no threat to his human remained.  Dragon watched and
listened, trying to comprehend, unaware that the expression on
his face was very similar to that shown by his human male when
he, too, was trying to comprehend females.

                            Three of Nine

      Richard shook his head.  "You two are a mess."

      Ellen and Wynter looked at each other's red eyes and
tear-stained clothing.  "I guess we are," Ellen admitted.  A lot
of tears and mucus had flowed for almost two hours.  "Would you
like for us to call in the other nurse?"

      "_What_ other nurse?"

      She looked down as Dragon brushed past her legs.  "Here he
is."

      Richard laughed.  "I don't think he can hold the urinal
steady."

      Mother Hen worry appeared on Wynter's face and she sprang
into action, retrieving the container from its storage place
under the foot of the bed.  Then she hesitated and offered it to
Ellen, who shook her head.

      "You can handle it," she said.  Richard laughed again, and
she realized what she had just said.  She rolled her eyes.
"Jesus.  I mean, it's your job.  You do it for him."  This time
both Richard and Wynter laughed.  "Oh, to hell with it!  I'm
going to clean up."  She turned and headed down the hall to her
room.

      Wynter looked at him with twin blue-green pools in a sea of
red beneath a brow furrowed in concern.  "Do I have time to raise
the bed the rest of the way?"

      "No," he said, shaking his head, "but I do have time for a
quick kiss."  He hummed contentedly as she gave him a kiss on the
end of his nose and a quick daughter-like kiss on the lips.
"That's better," he sighed as she pulled down the sheet and
raised his hospital gown.  "So do you and Ellen have things
worked out now?"

      "I guess," she said as she began working the flat pillow
under his buttocks.  "She said she was sorry and, Daddy, I think
she really meant it."

      "She did, honey.  She was surprised and reacted before she
had time to sit down and think.  I gave her time to do that."

      Wynter paused to glance at his face before resuming her
task.  "I think you did more than just let her sit and think."

      Richard grinned.  She was burning with curiosity.  Obviously
Ellen hadn't told her everything, but she wasn't about to pry.
She was giving him the opportunity to volunteer information.  It
was one of the devices her mother used.  "Well, sometimes people
need a gentle nudge in the right direction when they aren't sure
what they should think about.  And speaking of gentle, that was
the first time my leg didn't hurt when you put the pillow under
me."

      She broke into a wide, happy grin that warmed his heart.
"Maybe you're finally healing."

      "Or maybe you're getting to be an even better nurse."

      The smile faded, and she ducked her head before threading
the head of his dick into the urinal.  He saw a faint tinge of
red spread across her face, one that he wouldn't have noticed if
he hadn't been watching for it.  She had regressed back into the
little girl who didn't know how to handle a compliment.  So much
progress these past two days and now a setback.  He'd spent
enough time in hospitals and home sick beds to know that setbacks
were temporary.  Still, it almost broke his heart to see his
daughter slipping back into the little girl who, just one day
earlier, he had wanted her to remain.  Ellen's next task would be
to explain to Wynter how a lady accepts a compliment from a
gentleman.  He wasn't going to wait until Angie returned to begin
teaching Wynter how to interact with other people, one of many
things she'd know by now if he and Angie hadn't insisted on this
isolated lifestyle without giving thought to their daughter's
needs.

      "Finished?"

      Her question brought him back to the real world.  "What,
honey?"

      "I asked if you were finished.  You stopped almost a minute
ago."

      _A minute?_  Yes, the pressure in his bladder was gone.
"I'm sorry, honey.  Yes, I'm done.  I guess my mind went on a
trip and left my body behind."

      She stripped the remaining piss from the Beast in two pulls
that would have it hardening if it weren't exhausted from the
number of times she'd brought him to orgasm the past two days.
"Did it go visit a nice place?"

      "I'm not sure where it went."  He glanced at the snow
melting in the spring sunshine outside the window.  "Maybe it
went looking for some spring flowers because it was tired of all
the snow."

      She gave him an odd look and frowned for an instant.  "What
kind of flowers?"

      "Probably columbines," he said, watching her grin spread
when he mentioned her favorite blossom.  "Maybe some other
flowers, too, like in that glade down by the pond."

      "Maybe you'll see some soon," she said.  "I'll go empty this
and be right back for the pillow."

      "Would Nurse King do her patient a favor when she returns?"

      "Sure.  What?"

      Richard wiggled his newly-freed fingers.  "Could you bring
back a washcloth and some soap?  My fingers feel like they've
been in a mine sump for a month."

      "Sure!"

      Richard smiled as she hurried as fast as she dared into the
bathroom.  Nothing like a little occupational therapy, especially
when it benefitted the patient as well as the nurse.  He
wanted--needed--to talk to her about their relationship and the
guilt he knew she had placed on herself, but she wasn't
emotionally ready.  Plenty of time for that after she had slept
on it.  One thing he had learned after hours, days, weeks at a
time in hospital beds was patience, even if he didn't like it.

                               ~ ~ ~

      Richard pressed the channel selector again and found himself
back where he'd started.  "Damn," he muttered, then selected a
news program for background noise.

      Wynter had placed the remote control on top of three large,
thick books and adjusted the suspension of his right cast until
he could reach the channel, volume, and on/off switches.  After
giving him a quick kiss she cornered Ellen in the hall, spoke
with her in whispers for a moment, and then disappeared into her
room to clean up.  She hadn't emerged or even opened the door
after the shower stopped.  Now Ellen was in the kitchen preparing
supper.

      For the first time, Richard felt lonely in his room.  He
didn't realize how much he'd grown accustomed to Wynter's
constant presence.  He didn't mind solitude.  He occasionally
welcomed it.  The unceasing presence of someone else, even his
wife, occasionally wore on his nerves, but that wasn't the case
with Wynter.  Her invariable worrying every time he hiccuped or
sneezed might become a minor irritation, but not her presence.
Even a visit from Dragon would be welcome, but the black Lab
would never leave the room with Wynter in it unless he had to.
Richard sighed and tried to become interested in the latest
Middle East flare-up.

      "Richard, do you need anything before we eat?"

      He hadn't heard Ellen's approach.  Maybe he'd dozed off.
"No, I'm fine."

      She nodded and knocked on Wynter's door.  There was a pause
before Wynter invited her in.  Richard wondered if his daughter
had been practicing "solitary sexual techniques," or some similar
adult-sounding term.  He found himself wishing he could have been
there to watch.

      "I'm almost finished," Wynter said.  Ellen's body blocked
his view of her desk, but he suspected there was nothing to see
on it.

      "Ten more minutes?"

      "Okay."  When Ellen turned to leave, Wynter smiled at him
from her doorway.  "I love you, Daddy."

      That cheered him up.  "I love you too, honey."

      Her door closed.  Five minutes later it opened.  She flashed
him a bright smile, all coral lips and teeth as sparkling white
as her pullover blouse, low-rise socks and tennis shoes. She blew
him a kiss before disappearing toward the main part of the house
with her four-legged shadow in tow.  When she reappeared she was
carrying one of his metal rulers, a razor knife, and something
else in the pocket of her pink jersey shorts.  She blew him
another kiss before closing the door.

      Most un-Wynter-like.  She was obviously up to something, but
what?  He amused himself by trying to guess.

                               ~ ~ ~

      Wynter was smoothing down the last piece of tape when Nurse
Carter knocked on the door again.  "Wynter, it's time to eat."

      "I just finished.  I'll be right there."

      She heard Nurse Carter say something to her father, but
didn't hear his reply.  She stood back and looked at her work.
"I dunno, Dragon.  What do you think?" she asked picking it up
and showing it to him.  He sniffed it and looked up with his head
cocked to one side and his ears alert.  She called it his
"curious pose".

      "I supposed it will have to do," she said, holding her
blonde ponytail with her left hand at shoulder level and pinching
her lower lip with her right, "but I wish I could have done
better for Daddy.  Maybe if I wrap it, he might like it better.
What do you think?"  He perked his ears, and she assumed that
meant, "Yes."

      Nurse Carter was placing the tray on the rollaway table when
Wynter opened the door.  "If you and Wynter don't mind, I'd like
to bring mine in here and eat with you tonight."

      Both Wynter and her father said they'd love to have her join
them.  Nurse Carter was about to return to the kitchen when she
saw the flat, wrapped packet in Wynter's hand.  "Do I get to stay
for the unveiling, or would you rather be alone with your
father?" she asked with a smile.

      "You can stay.  If it's okay with Daddy, I mean."  When her
father agreed, Wynter handed the flat package, wrapped in silvery
foil paper and sporting a big yellow bow, to Nurse Carter.  "You
can unwrap it for him," she said.

      Nurse Carter held the present where he could see the bow and
the wrapping paper.  Wynter always kept a roll or two of wrapping
paper and some bows in her room for presents that she gave to her
parents and sometimes to special visitors like Doctor Taylor.
She had placed her father's present face-down against a piece of
cardboard to protect it.  Nurse Carter held the present so that
her father could see it first and slid the cardboard away at his
nod.

      She watched her father for his reaction, her fingers crossed
and a worried frown on her face.  He stared at it for a moment
and tears began collecting in his eyes.  "Oh, my god," he
whispered so softly she almost didn't hear it, and then he shook
his head.

      _Drat!_  She just _knew_ it wasn't good enough and that he
wouldn't like it, and she was right!  She should have taken more
time with it, but she wanted to give it to him right away.  And
now, instead of making him happy, she had made him sad.  She had
been a _child_ again.

                               ~ ~ ~

      Richard understood the gesture.  Allowing Ellen Carter to
unwrap his present for him was Wynter's way of saying that all
was right between the two of them.  He admired the way the
present was wrapped.  His very best efforts rarely equaled Little
Miss Perfection's worst efforts, which were usually when she was
wrapping something for Aunt Diane or Uncle Bob.

      Ellen held the piece of cardboard before him and asked,
"Ready?"

      "Go," he whispered in anticipation, and she slid the
cardboard away.

      Wynter had used woodgrain-patterned posterboard to make a
frame around an eight-by-ten, intricately detailed,
colored-pencil drawing of the pond, looking down from the
northside hill.  The field of wildflowers lay to the west, but in
the foreground she'd added a patch of columbines.  The scene was
breathtaking.  Angie had accidentally seen a sketch of Dragon in
front of a waterfall in a notebook that Wynter had left open, and
she had told Richard that Wynter had shown talent, but he had no
idea that his daughter was _this_ talented.  He felt tears puddle
on his lower eyelids.

      "Oh, my god," he whispered, shaking his head in disbelief
and continuing to study the detail.  He tried to look at Ellen
but couldn't.  "Ellen, this is incredible."

      Ellen Carter turned the picture slightly and leaned sideways
to look.  "Jesus!" she whispered in a voice as awe-struck as his
own must have sounded.

      "Honey, how long have you been working on this?"

      "I started after I got out of the shower.  I'm sorry it's
not any better."

      The tremble in her voice caused him to drag his eyes away
from the drawing for the first time.  "Sorry for what?  You did
all of this, in this much detail, in just a couple of hours?"

      She sniffed.  "I can do it over.  I'll take my time 'n' do
it better for you.  I was in a big hurry to give you some flowers
to look at, 'n' didn't have time to do a really good drawing."

      "Didn't...."  He glanced up at the nurse, who hadn't moved.
"Give us some room, please?"

      Ellen straightened and moved aside without shifting her
eyes.  "Jesus!" she whispered again.

      "Kiss?"

      Head down, Wynter moved beside him and gave him a quick kiss
on the lips.

      "Honey, if you tell me you can do a better version of that
drawing, then I believe you, but I really, honestly, truly don't
see _how_ you could improve it."

      She sniffed again and kept her eyes down.  "I could put more
detail in the background trees 'n' the mountains 'n stuff, 'n'
the water in the pond's not quite right."  Before he could
interrupt her she added, "'n' I could put Mother in the picture
for you."

      "Jesus!"

      Richard gaped at his daughter.  "You can draw people, too?"

      "Uh huh," she said in a small voice.  "They take longer to
make them look right, though.  They're harder than Dragon."

      "Jesus!"

      "Ellen, you sound like a revival meeting."

      Ellen Carter looked at him for a second and then focused on
Wynter.  "Did you overlap the frame pieces before you cut the
miters for the corners?"

      Wynter turned to face Ellen, her thin blonde brows pulling
together.  "You can do that?"

      Ellen shook her head.  "Yeah, I thought so.  Here.  Look at
these," she said, turning the picture toward Richard and pointing
at the corners.  "Freehand!  Wynter, I know only two surgeons who
can make cuts that precise.  You make the rest of them look like
amateur butchers."

      Wynter flushed a bright red, lowered her head, and stared at
the floor.

      Ellen glanced at Richard, who mouthed, "We need to talk
about that," and indicated Wynter with his head.  She nodded.

      "Let's put it where I can see it.  We'll figure out where
while we eat.  And thank you very much for my flowers and for
loving me enough to draw them for me."

      Her head came up and she gave him an almost pleading look.
"You really like them?"

      "Honey, they are the fourth most beautiful thing I've ever
seen.  Honest."  He frowned, twisted and looked down at Dragon,
looked at the picture, and looked back to his daughter.  "Maybe
third."

      She exhaled pent-up breath, then giggled and threw her arms
around his neck, strangling him with a huge hug.  Then she pulled
back enough to give him a big kiss.  He felt the tip of her sweet
tongue on his lips and gently, briefly, caressed it with his own.
When she pulled back her face glowed with delight.  "Oh, Daddy, I
was _so_ afraid you wouldn't like it because of the mistakes."

      Richard heard Ellen stifle a laugh, but ignored her.
"Honey, maybe _you_ can see mistakes in it, but _I_ can't.  I
can't draw good enough.  How long have you been able to draw like
that?"

      She shrugged.  "I dunno.  Four or five years, I guess."

      "And in all this time you never let Mother or me know?"

      She shrugged again and looked down at her left hand resting,
from habit, on his arm cast.  She slid her hand down to grasp the
two exposed fingers.  "I didn't want to show you until I was good
enough," she said in a low voice.  "You wanted to see some
flowers to make you feel better, so I thought maybe I could help,
but I wasn't sure they'd be good enough for you.  But, it was
what you said you wanted, so I took a chance."

      "Jesus," Ellen murmured again as she examined another area
of the drawing.

      Richard threw her a quick glance.  "Amen."

                               ~ ~ ~

      Ellen Carter sat in one of the padded chairs reading a book.
Richard half-watched a science program and half-watched Wynter.
She had scooted down in the overstuffed chair adjacent to the
door.  Her feet rested on the front edge of the seat cushion, and
her left hand pinned a drawing pad to the easel formed by her
long, slender legs.  Her face was screwed into a mask of
concentration that occasionally flickered an eyebrow or mouth
corner or eyelid as her hand guided a number two pencil across
the paper.  Sprawled across the floor at her feet, Dragon began
twitching his paws as he chased a rabbit or perhaps a squirrel.
Or perhaps he raced across the fields with his little blonde
human.  The flower drawing was on the wall over her head, on the
wall opposite the window so that he didn't have to see the snow
while he was looking at the springtime meadow.

      Ellen lowered the book and looked at her watch.  "It's
bedtime, young nurse."

      "Three and a half more minutes," Wynter mumbled.  Ellen
raised her eyebrows at Richard and looked at her watch again.

      Three minutes and twenty seconds later Wynter lowered the
pencil, relaxed, and sighed.  "It's probably not very good 'cause
I did it from memory."

      She couldn't get out of the chair without awakening Dragon,
which was the reason the dog had chosen that spot.  She poked his
ribs with a toe and he jumped to his feet.  While he shook
everything back into place, Wynter rose and showed Richard the
drawing of her mother.

      Richard blinked in surprise.  "Honey, that's incredible.
Show Ellen."

      "Jesus!  You know, Wynter, if you can't make any money as a
nurse, you could always moonlight as a police sketch artist or a
bank note forger.  She looks like she should speak to me."

      "Well," Wynter said, pointing to a spot, "right here I...."

      Ellen gently pushed the girl's slender arm down.  "Wynter,
maybe _you_ see mistakes, but you don't have to point them out to
everyone.  Let other people enjoy what you've done.  I look at
that, and I feel as if your mom is right here in the room with
me.  It helps me forget that she's half of two continents and a
whole ocean away, and I'm sure it helps your father forget that,
too."

      "Yes, it does," he agreed, switching off the television.

      "But when you point out your mistakes, it keeps people from
enjoying the feelings you inspired.  You put a _lot_ of effort
into creating something people can enjoy.  Let us do so, please?
And when you point out mistakes that only a museum art critic
might notice, you make those of us with no talent, and whose
mistakes would probably include putting both eyes on the same
side of her nose, even more jealous of your talent."

      Ellen smiled to take the sting out of her words.
"Perfection as a goal is admirable, but it's a goal you can't
achieve.  Not consistently, anyway.  And certainly not in the
medical field, where you will have far too many problems, far too
few resources, and far too little time.  And even with something
like this," she indicated the drawing with a sweep of her hand,
"you do the best you can in the time allocated.  Don't be
concerned with the fact that it wasn't perfect; be concerned that
it's better than what you did before within the same amount of
time.  Understand?"

      Wynter was looking at her bare feet.  "I guess so," she
mumbled.

      "You'll find that out when you become a mother, and you'll
realize you've...."  Her mouth worked without sound for a moment,
and then she sighed.  "Well, it's not so much that you did your
parents an injustice as it is that you didn't do them a favor."

      Mother Hen worry settled on her face as her eyes rose to
meet the older nurse's.  "I don't understand."

      "Well, your job as a parent is to raise your child to be an
adult.  The measures of progress are the development of your
child's new skills, her first time to roll over, her first time
to sit up, her first steps for instance, and how her skills
improve--first time to take two steps without falling, then three
steps, then four and so on.  But when you go from having a child
who, as far as you know, has no drawing talent to having one who
is Leonardette da Vinci in one afternoon, you realize you've
missed out on watching her improve and in sharing the joy of her
successes with her."  She shrugged.  "I guess you could say it's
rather selfish."

      Out of the corner of her eye she saw Richard wince.  She
understood as much as he did the impact that would have on
Wynter, but it needed to be explained to her in those terms, and
neither of her parents could, or would, do so.  As an "outsider,"
she could phrase the situation in the necessary terms.  His
silent nod of thanks assured her that he understood.

      "Now:  recuperating patients, growing girls, and old women
need their rest."  She looked at Dragon.  "And he looks like
eighteen hours of sleep weren't enough."  She hugged Wynter,
stood, and said, "I'll be in my room if you need me, but I won't
be the least bit surprised if you don't, Nurse King.  You give
him his bedtime medications.  Good night, Richard."

      She pulled the door shut on her way out.

(Continued in Chapter Four)

Copyright Russell Hoisington 2003, 2005

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

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Russell Hoisington
State of Confusion

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
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