Rachel first, then Karen

John had to get them apart and fast. He went over and helped Rachel to stand up. It was no small task with one arm out of commission. He helped Rachel onto the bathroom counter. It was hard to look at her, Sekhmetanen supped-up sexuality or not her naked and beaten body was hard to look at. John dabbed her wounds with a ball of crumpled toilet paper. She was sobbing.

Rachel had no idea what had happened. One second Karen was helping her the next she began ranting about what a horrible human being she was and began to beat her savagely. Now, here was her knight in shining armor, or at least blue jean and red shirt. Just a moment ago he had pulled Karen off of her like she was some wild animal, and now he was so gentle as he tended her cuts. His left arm hung low, he must have hurt it getting into the bathroom. ‘I never would have thought he had it in him,’ she thought.

“Okay, that is the best I can do Rach,” he sighed. He was obviously tired. He needed time to rest. But she needed him. “Rachel,” said as he looked at Karen’s **** body, “get a bath, a long soak, it will help.”

John kept his attention on Karen now, he was afraid of what he might have done. He new how dangerous a regular sleeper hold could be and he had never had any practice. She was breathing and that was what was important. At least he knew he hadn’t killed her, but he was still worried he might have hurt some other way. As Rachel stepped into the shower, he hefted Karen’s limp body on to his shoulder. “Rachel,” he said, “Stay up here until I come back; I have to take care of Karen.” He carried her out of the room and down stairs into what seemed to be a smoking room/library. He laid her down on the red silk couch.

He sat in the leather arm chair by the cold fireplace. The pain his shoulder was worse than ever. He began to worry he had dislocated it, but he had not the skill to confirm this truth. As he waited there, the cold empty fire place gave the room a haunting feel. It killed him to do so but he managed to start a fire. By this time the pain had him in tears. He sat there waiting, waiting, waiting for the longest hour of his life for her to wake up. His only hope was that something about the Sekhmetanen that had made her lose her mind and that getting her away from Rachel would cure it.