Kathy and Jess

Installment # 2

Mr. Wells had been very kind to Kathy, he had allowed her to stay in a small house neighboring the big one, he had firmly rejected her offer to pay him rent and to her surprise she found herself happy in a place where the only thing she owned was her clothes and DVD collection. He was an excellent employer, he paid for medical insurance for all his employees and their families, he also offered free breakfast, lunch and dinner, and was very considerate when it came to emergencies and sick days.

Kathy had only been in the ranch for a few months and he was very pleased with her work, she was dedicated, passionate and treated the animals as if they were her own. She always notified him of all her plans regarding the job, all the projects, the vaccines, she never took a step without his consent.

After feeding the calf and making sure she was asleep Kathy took her clothes off and threw them in the washing machine, she took a shower and felt asleep even before her head touched the pillow.

Jess spent the after noon riding a horse, she took a tour through the property to see if anything had changed since she left. Everything was the same, she loved it. It was already getting late and her stomach kept reminding her that she still hadn't eaten anything. When she got home dinner was served, her dad liked eating at six on the dot, he liked going to sleep early with an empty stomach so he wouldn't get heartburn or something like that. She would always make fun of him and call him an old man.

"Hi mom, hi dad" Jess walked in and kissed Wanda on the cheek like usual, she washed her hands and face and sat on the table with her family.

"Hey Jess, how was your day sweetie?" Josh asked taking a sip from his red wine.

"Good, I met Kathy." She replied putting a forkful in her mouth.

"What do you think about her?" Her mom asked passing the salad around.

"She's nice." She replied.

"She's a hard worker. I like her." Wanda added.

They all finished eating and Jess helped Wanda do the dishes, her dad was in his studio and her mom was sewing some curtains for the family room.

There was a knock on the back door and Jess went to check who it was, she opened the door and saw Kathy standing on the outside with a manila folder on her right hand and a worried frown on her face. She looked so much better now, her hair was loose and wet, she was wearing sweat pants and a polo shirt that hugged her curves and her boobs tightly. She smelled good too and her blue eyes were shining with what it seemed like rage.

She managed to smile at Jess.

"Hello again, Jess. Can I come in?" Kathy joked seeing that Jess was nailed to the floor.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so rude, go ahead, come in please." Jess stepped aside and Kathy walked by her giving her a full view of her tight rear.

"Good evening Wanda, how are you?" Kathy acknowledged Wanda and also her mom.

"Mrs. Wells?" Kathy smiled.

"Hello Kathy" Both ladies replied in unison.

"How can I help you?" Jess asked trying to get Kathy alone. She didn't even know why.

"Actually I came to see your dad." Kathy smiled apologetically.

Duuuughghgh... Jess thought, Why in the world would she want to see me?

"I'm sorry, I just . . . " Jess blushed and everyone realized it and gave her a weird look, even her mom, who was usual the last one to realize even the most obvious things.

"Its ok. Is he in the studio?" Kathy inquired.

"Yes." Jess felt so so embarrassed but she still wanted to find out what was going on with Kathy, why did she look so worried earlier?

Jess led the way up the stairs and to the right where the studio was located, it had the best view of the entire house. He was sitting in his desk busy doing something on the computer.

"Sorry to interrupt daddy but Kathy is here to see you." Jess walked in and motioned for Kathy to do the same.

They both sat next to each other in front of Mr. Wells desk.

"How are you Kathy?" He asked politely.

"Not so good sir, after revising the results of the tests that I sent to the lab last week." She sounded really pissed.

"Bad news?" He straighten his posture and tensed his jaw.

"I'm afraid so. 25% of the Jersey herd is infected with a contagious disease that could have been prevented and chances are that we have stumble upon it too late."

"What kind of disease."

"It's like influenza in us, if left untreated it attacks the respiratory system and also causes paralysis."

"What can we do about it?" He stood up and started pacing.

" I have a list of vaccines that we have to administer as soon as possible and also an estimate of how much it would cost us. With your approval I'll be on my way tonight and we can start this whole thing first thing in the morning."

"How can this be possible? I gave that scumbag money several times for all kinds of preventive treatment, how could he have done that to us?" He was furious.

"I took the liberty of isolating the sicker cows, so that we could treat those first, as we speak a team of cowboys are sorting them out and taking them as far away from the rest of the herd as possible."

"Are the horses ok?"

"For now they are, but I'm also worried about any skipped doses, so I'm also getting boosters for them."

"Go ahead and don't spare a penny. I'm counting on you to save my life's work."

Josh approached Jess and put his big hand on her shoulder.

"Would you go help Kathy?"

"Of course. Lets go."

They stood up an walked out with the papers in their hands. Kathy's truck was parked in the driveway and as soon as they were inside Kathy put the gear in reverse and stepped on the gas making little pebbles jump in the air.

After a few silent minutes of dark highway, Jess finally spoke.

"It's bad isn't it?" she sounded really worried.

"I'm sure we'll get thru it, fortunately I count with a very capable group of men, they're hard workers, and this ranch pays their bills, they'll do anything to get back into shape."

"You're so sure of what you say." Jess was beginning to see in Kathy what everyone had seen already, her dedication, her faith and positive attitude.

"Are you hungry?" Kathy asked changing the topic.

"I had just finish eating when you came home tonight. But I don't mind if you want to stop." Jess replied happy to spend some time with Kathy.

"I'm famished, there's a dinner like twenty miles away, they have the best broccoli and cheese soup." Kathy turned the radio on and browsed for something worth listening to but nothing came up, only commercials and talk shows.

"Are you ever going to tell me what people say about me?" Jess asked.

"No." Kathy replied honestly.

"How come?"

"Because if I do so, I'll be just like them and that's not the way I am. I don't talk about people behind their backs." Kathy was looking at Jess, she was the tallest girl she had ever seen, her body was delicious, her skin was so creamy and untouchable.

"So if I were to ask you right now what do you think about me, would you honestly tell me what you think?"

"Yeah." Kathy replied getting a little nervous, she never ever lied to anybody, but Jess was different, what if Jess really minded? Would she lose her?

"Ok, then, what do you think about me.?" Jess was teasing her.

"I think you're really nice, you like getting involved, meaning you love to work side by side with others, you're really tall, let me see, . . . Oh yeah, your pretty."

Jess laughed out loud, and looked at Kathy, she was funny.

"Kathy?" Jess wanted to make sure Kathy was looking at her when she spoke.

"Yeah?" Kathy turned her head towards Jess, they had arrived to the dinner already and the truck was in park.

"You're pretty too." Jess said it and after a few seconds she got off the car and waited for the confused Kathy to exit.

They walked in silence to the farthest table possible. Kathy didn't feel like bumping into anyone from the club, or anyone that she knew period.

The waiter came fast and to Kathy's dismay it was Dave, a guy that used to work in the ranch but had gotten fired because he was too lazy.

"Good evening ladies, may I take your order?" He smiled at Kathy.

"I'll have a broccoli and cheese soup and a coke." Kathy knew Dave was interested in her so she tried to keep the eye contact to a minimum.

"I'll just have a sprite." Jess said.

Dave left an came back within a few minutes during which none of the girls mentioned a word.

At the time of paying the check Dave came to their table and spoke to Kathy.

"Hey Kathy, I haven't seen you here in a long time."

"I've been busy." she said coldly.

"When are you going to give a chance huh?" he paused to make sure nobody was within hearing range.

"A chance for what?" She asked sarcastically.

"I'm going to go take care of this bill." Jess said feeling uncomfortable. What the heck was that all about? Dave was acting like if he had something going on with Kathy and Jess didn't even wanted to know, somehow she was disappointed.

"Well you know what they say, that until you try it you can't say you don't like it." he was being a pain in the ass and Jess noticed the change on Kathy's factions, she turned red, she was mad.

"Listen to me Dave, I've been really patient with you but you've already reached my limit, get out of my face and don't you dare to ever in your damn life talk to me again." She stood up and left.

Jess was waiting by the car, she was confused.

Once in the car, Jess interrogated Kathy.

"I didn't know you had something going on with Dave" Jess said almost accusingly.

"I don't he's a jerk, he's been wanting to go out with me since he was back at the ranch."

"He's handsome, how come you don't like him?" Jess was playing was fire, she knew the answer to that but she wasn't that crazy.

"If you like him so much why don't you date him?" Kathy surprised Jess with that come back.

" Because I'm not the one he's interested in."

"He's losing his time with me." Kathy got in the highway again and sped up.

"Why is it that you don't like about him?" Jess knew Kathy was getting a little impatient.

"I'm just not into him, period."

"Not into him or not into guys?"

"Jess if you want to know something why don't you just ask? Why do you have to be playing games?"

"Ok, then I'll ask you. Are you gay?"

"Yes. Happy?"

"Not really, why would that make me happy? It doesn't affect me does it?"

"I guess not."

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Jess asked praying for a no.

"Why you want to turn gay too?"

"Me? . . . Nah. I'm just curious. You're different."

"Oh really? So what am I? like some kind of freak that you want to do a project on?" Kathy didn't understand why she had gotten so mad, it was perfectly normal for other people to be curious about homosexuality.

"No, I didn't mean to offend you." Jess sounded really sincere.

Installment 3

Kathy parked her truck outside the only bovine pharmacy in town, she had spoken to the owner earlier that day and notified him of the crisis they were facing.

"Good evening Earl. How's it going?" Kathy greeted him.

"Howdy Miss Randall, hello Miss Wells." He replied and spit out a piece of chewing tobacco.

Kathy wrote a check for the estimate that he had given her over the phone and signed it. He took it eagerly and his eyes shone. It had been a really long time since he had seen that kind of money.

"I'll be here first thing in the morning to pick up the meds." Kathy stated and waited for a reply.

"No problem, I'll have them ready for you." Earl walked them outside and waved goodbye as Kathy drove away.

"There's a hotel in town, hopefully they'll have vacancy for two rooms." Kathy was mainly talking to herself but thought Jess should know what they were doing.

"Ok." Jess knew Kathy was upset so she decided to stay quiet.

The hotel was really old but they managed to keep it neat and as updated as possible, it was small and cozy. They walked together to the reception counter and greeted the young lady behind a computer screen.

"I'll like to get two rooms for tonight please." Kathy spoke clearly.

"I'm sorry but we only have one left, we're doing some repairs on a few rooms we apologize for the inconvenience." The girl replied bored, chewing a bubble gum.

"That one will be fine." Jess spoke before Kathy said anything.

Kathy excused herself and pulled Jess gently to the side.

"By tomorrow everybody will be gossiping about you and me." Her voice was low but firm.

"I don't care what people say." Jess got loose from her grip and proceeded with the check in process.

After the receptionist gave them the key they went to the room. Like all hotel rooms it smelled funky, the walls were pinkish with a lime border. The bed sheets were white and so were the towels. The full bed had a nightstand on each side and a bible inside the drawers.

"While you take a shower I'll go buy some tank tops and boxers to sleep in." Kathy was out the door before Jess could reject or approve.

Jess did as told and got in the shower, she was tired and nervous, they were going to sleep together and after all day flirting she had a faint idea that they were attracted to each other. The water took forever to get warm, she washed her hair, and took her sweet time. She heard the door open and some bags rustling. The door to the bathroom opened and before Jess could cover herself Kathy stormed in with a white tank top a pink underwear and a black boxer in one hand. They both froze in place, Kathy got a full view of Jess's body, she blushed and turned around.

"I'm so sorry Jess, I thought you were behind the curtain." Kathy was embarrassed to the bone.

"Its ok, its not like you haven't seen a girl naked before." Jess finished drying herself and got dressed, Kathy had walked outside and was smoking a Newport when Jess got in bed.

After taking a shower and getting dressed Kathy joined the little bed, she was having a hard time to stay on the right side of the bed without brushing some part of Jess's body.

"Kathy? Are you awake?" Jess almost whispered.

"Yes." she replied.

"Can we talk.?"

"I'm sorry for being a jerk earlier, Dave pissed me off and I got it off on you." Kathy tried to be as sincere as possible.

"I understand and I'm sorry too for not being supportive."

"Ok, now that we have cleared that, lets try to get some sleep." Kathy knew for a fact that it wasn't going to happen, but she still had to try.

"Good night Kathy."

"Good night.''

To both Kathy and Jess's surprise they fell asleep quite fast, the next day was going to be a long and busy one, their bodies needed rest and also their minds.

It was almost dawn when Kathy opened her eyes, something had awakened her, like a pressure, she was feeling crushed. Jess had one of her legs across her middle and her hand was resting on Kathy's breast, their bodies were so close that Kathy could feel perspiration building up between them. Jess was mumbling in her sleep, she said something about a cat and a spoon. Kathy couldn't help but notice the effect that this closeness was having on her, she was nervous and at the same time excited. Jess smelled delicious, her body felt perfectly normal against her, it was like the perfect fit, like your favorite pair of jeans.

Before Kathy could enjoy the feelings any longer Jess opened her eyes and stared at her.

"I'm on top of you." she stated smiling a bit in a husky voice.

"It's ok, I can handle it." Kathy replied without any attempts of changing her position, she didn't know what she was getting into, but whatever it was she liked.

Jess slowly removed her leg and arm from Kathy's body and put some distance between them.

"Kathy I don't want you to get the wrong idea, I swear I was asleep when all of this happened, I would never . . . "

"You would never what? Go ahead it's ok, you can say it. You would never be with someone like me?" Kathy was hurt, she didn't know why she felt so defensive.

"It's not that, come on any girl would die to be with you, look at you, you're such a hard worker, you're smart, your funny, you're so hot, beautiful." Jess felt like a moron, she had hurt Kathy by saying that, she was feeling so many things, she was thinking about so many ways out of this situation but she felt frozen, unable to speak, or move.

"Yeah, but your not gay."

"I'm sorry, I really am."

"It's all my fault, I should have never allowed myself to look at you this way. I should have never. . . "

"What do you mean? In what way?"

"With eyes of a woman."

"You mean you like me?" Jess's heart accelerated, Kathy actually liked her.

"Yes. I do."

"How did that happen?" That was the stupidest question she had ever asked in her life.

"I don't know, it just did.'' Kathy lowered her head and allowed a single tear begin the journey down her cheek.

"Please don't cry, look at me." Jess took Kathy's face gently in her hands and wiped away the tear.

"I'm making a fool of myself, aren't I? Kathy asked Jess bitterly.

"Don't say that, sweetie, I care about you. I feel honored that you feel attracted to me."

After a few more minutes of silence Kathy got off the bed and got dressed, Jess did the same and they walked out of the room in silence, it was really early, but Kathy was sure that Earl had everything ready just like he promised.

They loaded the truck and were on the way back home shortly after eight in the morning. Jess was quiet, there was an emotional roller coaster inside of her, she was attracted to Kathy too, but she didn't have the balls to admit it, not even to herself.

They got home without a single word spoken, the men were ready to help them and the day went by flying, they took care of almost one third of the sick Jerseys and decided to call it a day as soon as the sun went down. Jess had worked hard by Kathy's side, she had held the cows, she had prepared syringes, she had logged the animals' numerations in books to avoid any overdoses, it had been an extremely long and busy day.

After helping Kathy clean up and prepare everything for the next day Jess approached Kathy hoping to give her some comfort and also for her own sake.

"How come you haven't said a word to me in the whole day.?" Jess wasn't mad, she was concerned, that wasn't the Kathy she thought she had met.

"I truly don't have anything to say."

"Your hurting my feelings." Jess spoke very low, Kathy barely heard her.

"Good night Jess, thanks for helping me out." Kathy turned around and pretended she was busy, she prepared a bottle for the calf, the men had taken care of her the previous night and almost the whole day. Tears were burning her eyelids, Jess was so wonderful, she had fallen for her so fast that she couldn't believe it herself.

Jess walked away pissed, she headed for the house, she needed to take a shower and relax, she needed to think.

Installment 4

Jess arrived at the clinic before Kathy the next day, she brought a single flower and she placed it on her desk. She had thought about the situation the whole night and decided to give her best shot at trying to be friends again, she didn't know where the idea about the flower came from but she decided that for once in her life she would follow her heart.

Kathy walked in and her eyes widened when she saw the purple flower, it was so fragile and beautiful, it had a little post-it on it that read: "I missed crushing you last night. J.W"

Kathy's heart melted, that had been the sweetest thing that anybody had ever in her entire life given her. It meant so much to her. She looked around and saw nobody, it all seemed like she was alone so she picked up the flower and held it tight close to her chest. She smelled it and it reminded her of Jess. Everything reminded her of Jess, she was going insane.

"Good morning" Mr. Wells made Kathy jump like a foot off the floor.

"Oh my god!!" she exclaimed. That was a good one.

He smiled and apologized.

"I came to offer my help, and to appreciate your job, you're magnificent."

"I just have great help sir, no big deal."

"Your modesty is a big deal for me Kathy, I hope you stay with us for the rest of our lives."

If he only knew that that had been her first option, to run away, to leave. But she knew she couldn't do it, she felt attached, emotionally tied to this ranch.

Jess walked in and saw her dad talking to Kathy, she got a little afraid. What if Kathy was quitting of something like that?

"Hey Kathy, hey daddy. What's going on?" Her voice sounded alarmed.

"Nothing honey, just business, you know how it is." he replied and just like he came in he left, silently.

Jess felt an irresistible urge to touch Kathy, to hug her or something but she felt frozen.

"Are you ok?" She finally asked.

"Yeah." Kathy replied putting the flower down on her desk again.

"Did you like it? I picked it myself on my way over here." Jess sounded like a little kid, so happy, do proud of her actions.

"Thank you, it was nice."

"Nice?"

"What else do you want me to say?"

"I don't know, maybe you should stop treating me like the bad guy, I'm just trying to be your friend again, but no matter what, you always have to end up mad, ignoring me and maybe I should just go and leave you alone."

Jess stormed out of the room, she slammed the door behind her and cried all the way home. She went to her room and didn't speak to anybody for three days, she was going insane, she couldn't stop thinking about Kathy and she kept crying, she kept tossing and turning at night waking up some times with nightmares and some other times with wet dreams involving Kathy.

On the fourth day she finally got out, her dad told her that they were almost done with the treatments for the animals and that he was very pleased with Kathy. Jess ignored his words, all he could say were good things about her, she wasn't in the mood to hear them. Everyone in the house suspected something by the way the girls were acting but they decided to stay out of it, it was the most convenient thing at the moment.

Jess walked to the stables and got a horse ready, she went for a ride for almost an hour, and after battling with herself for quite a long time she decided to swing by the clinic and see if maybe from a little far she could take a peak at Kathy, she missed her terribly but her pride was stronger. She galloped the horse by the front and saw only the cowboys doing their chores, she went by the back and right in the moment that Kathy looked up and their eyes met the horse tripped over some wooden logs and sent Jess flying thru the air. She landed hard on her butt and slammed her head on the grass.

Her vision was blurry but she could see a bunch of people running towards her, the first one to arrive was Kathy, the look on her face was priceless, her factions were distorted by fear, she was talking to Jess but she couldn't hear her, it all sounded unreal. After a couple of minutes reality kicked in.

"Jess, Jess, are you ok? Oh my god baby what were you thinking?" Kathy was kneeling next to her, she was crying, she looked desperate.

"I'm sorry Kathy, I'm so stupid."

"It's going to be ok, I promise." Kathy gently moved some strands of hair away from Jess's face.

"What happened?" Mr. Wells had been notified and one of the boys drove him to the site.

"She fell off a horse." Kathy replied moving away a little.

"Can you move your legs sweetie?" He asked worried.

She did as told, she looked fine, there was a bit of blood coming out her nose, but she was talking and the only thing she was complaining was of a headache.

"Kathy?" Jess said weakly.

"I'm right here baby, I'm right here."

As Kathy spoke Jess fainted. The ambulance had been called already and they arrived super fast, they strapped her in the bed and where pleased to inform that she didn't have any serious injuries, but still she needed to be seen by a doctor.

Tina was already in the ambulance when they got Jess inside, she was sick with worry, her whole body was shaking, this was the first time that something so serious had happened to her daughter she had always been very careful.

Kathy got in her truck and followed them to town. She knew Jess was going to be ok but she felt responsible for what had happened maybe if she would have treated her different nothing would have happened, but it was too late to feel repented, now Jess needed her by her side and that was exactly what she was going to do.

She was basically tailgating the ambulance, she couldn't control her anxiety. After half an hour that felt like three they finally arrived at the hospital. A nurse wearing a green scrub set brought a wheelchair and help the ambulance crew relocate Jess.

The pain medication they had given her was finally kicking in, she felt drowsy but still really sore. She scanned her surroundings looking for Kathy but couldn't see her only her mom and dad's worried frowns were there.

She was taken to the x-rays room while her parents filled out papers and gave insurance information.

After doing all kinds of tests on her and coming to the conclusion that she was fine the nurse took her to a room were she was going to spend the night just for safety measures.

The room wasn't very spacious but it was big enough to fit a TV and a recliner for any family member that wanted to keep her company.

As soon as Jess put her head down she felt asleep and started mumbling and tossing like usual.

Tina stayed with her for a few minutes holding her hand and admiring her daughter's beauty. She smiled when the door opened and Kathy walked in with flowers in her hand.

"She's sleeping." Tina said in a whisper.

"That's good, she'll feel better when she wakes up."

They both walked outside after placing the flowers by the bedside.

Josh was talking to the doctor in the hallway, and Tina and Kathy approached them.

"Good evening doctor." Tina said and Kathy just nodded.

"How you doing Tina?" he replied.

The doctor was a family friend. Kathy had never seen him before, but he seemed like a nice man.

"I was telling Josh that there's nothing to worry about, Jess is ok, she felt hard but no internal damage was found and after a coupled of days she should be riding again."

"I'm relieved to hear those words Andrew, we were all so worried." Josh shook his friend's hand.

"I want her to stay the night just to keep an eye on her. But we're all completely sure that she'll make a successful recovery." After that Andrew said goodnight and walked away to take care of the next patient.

"Tina, Josh I'm so sorry about what happened, I feel so responsible." Kathy just blurted it out without a second thought.

"What are you talking about Kathy, it was an accident." Josh sounded surprised, almost confused.

"I think it happened because Jess and I have been fighting a lot."

"We know that Kathy, were not blind, its very obvious that there's something going on between you two, but that has nothing to do with Jess falling off a horse, it happens." Tina said.

"Come on stop the nonsense. Are you staying tonight with Jess?" Josh asked.

"I would love to but is that ok with you?" Kathy suddenly felt happy, she was finally going to have a moment to speak to Jess, privately, also her family loved her and didn't have a problem with their relationship, or lack there of.

"Well now that we know she's ok, we can go home, besides you guys need to talk." Tina kissed her on the cheek and Josh waved goodnight.

Kathy opened the door to Jess's room and smiled, she was mumbling, that was good, it meant she was deeply sleep.

Kathy felt dirty, she had been working since early in the morning and she smelled like one of her patients, there was a bathroom in the room but she didn't have any clean clothes. She looked around and found a gym bag that Tina had brought for Jess, it had two changes of clothes including underwear. She didn't hesitate, she stepped into the bathroom and took a set of clothes, sweat pants and a white shirt. It took a while for the water to warm up, but at the end the shower left her feeling relaxed and clean. She got dressed and turned the TV on, the volume was really low, she didn't want to disturb Jess, she needed the sleep or else the pain medication was going to make her feel miserable.

Kathy had been thinking for hours what she was going to tell Jess, the things she had to point out, the things she would like to clear. But somehow she suspected that once Jess opened her eyes and looked in to Kathy's she would freeze and she would have to improvise because that was just the power that Jess had over her.

Kathy was sitting on the recliner and was beginning to doze off when she heard the nurse come in the room.

"Hello." she said and went to check Jess's blood pressure, temperature, the usual routine stuff.

"Hi." Kathy replied and looked at Jess, she was tossing a little bit, that meant that she was about to wake up and Kathy didn't feel ready for the confrontation so she stepped out for a bit, with the excuse of buying a coffee. She walked down the hall and found a bunch of vending machines, there was chips, sodas, honey buns, cookies, everything but coffee.

She headed back and saw the nurse walk out the room, she took a deep breath and opened the door.

Jess was awake.

Kathy walked in and smiled nervously, she hoped Jess wouldn't realize it.

"How you feeling?" Kathy asked sitting once again in the recliner.

"Better. Where's mom and dad?" Jess's voice was husky.

"They went home, the doctor said you're ok, that you're getting discharged tomorrow." Kathy replied.

"Are those my clothes?" Jess tried to sit up but a bolt of pain ran thru her back making her moan.

Kathy was by her side in seconds, she held her up and helped her so she could rest her back against the bedpost.

"You ok?" Kathy looked really worried.

"Yeah, just my back, it hurts like hell."

"Do you want me to call the nurse? Maybe she could give you some more pain medication."

"No please, I hate it, it makes me feel nauseous." Jess held Kathy by the arm and pulled her closer.

"I hope you don't mind that I'm wearing your clothes, I just didn't have time to get anything."

"It's ok, I don't mind." Jess was pale and her hands were really cold.

Kathy went to the linens closet by the bathroom, she had seen an extra blanket there when she went to get a clean towel. She brought it over and spread it over Jess, the room was really cold and there was no thermostat so she opened the door a bit so that the air could flow and hopefully get warmer.

"Thanks." Jess was shocked to see Kathy there, taking such good care of her, the last time they had spoken they ended up fighting like usual and Kathy never tried to contact her so Jess thought she had completely forgotten about her, but when she had opened her eyes after the fall she remembered clearly when Kathy had said "I'm right here baby." Kathy had called her baby, she looked awfully worried also, when she was kneeling by her side. She cared.

"It's the least I could do. After what happened you don't know how much I regret not looking for you and trying to fix things up. I feel so guilty of your accident. You scared me silly." Kathy's eyes were watery and Jess saw all the emotions that threaten to spill in her eyes.

"The only one that's guilty is me, I acted immature, I wanted to see you, I didn't have the courage to walk up to you and tell you that I missed you, and when I saw you looking at me I just forgot I was in a horse and that I was supposed to be controlling him, I lost it." Jess was crying, she sounded really hurt and sorry.

Kathy hugged her tight, careful not to hurt her, but tight enough to show her that she was there, that she would support her no matter what.

"Jess please don't cry. I promise you that as soon as I get you home we're going to talk and we're going to find a solution to this mess that we have created."

"Can we be honest with each other?" Jess asked.

"Yes honey whatever you ask, I'll do it." Kathy kissed her softly on the lips.

Jess rested her head on Kathy's shoulder, she felt a lot warmer now, maybe it was the extra blanket, or maybe it was Kathy's body against hers.

"You smell so good." Jess whispered

"Thank you" Kathy felt the electricity run thru her body like a wave.

Kathy held her for a bit longer and against her will she had to let her go, she knew Jess was in pain and the only way she was going to recuperate was resting.

"You have to go to sleep, tomorrow is going to be a long day." Kathy helped her lay down again and covered her up to her nose.

"Is there another blanket for you?" Jess asked when she saw that Kathy curled up in a ball in the recliner.

"No but I'll be fine. Good night." Kathy turned the night lamp off and closed her eyes trying to block Jess away from her mind. She was cold and uncomfortable but she would make it thru the night for sure.

Jess on the other hand was in pain and it wasn't only body related, her heart ached for the girl only a few feet away, the girl that didn't know she was in love with her, the girl that she would die for without a second thought.

"Kathy?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not sleepy." Jess said.

"What do you want to do?" Kathy couldn't sleep either.

"I can't believe you're actually here with me"

"Why not?" Kathy sat up and turned the light on.

"Well after what happened I thought that you really didn't wanted to see me anymore. That you had decided to get away."

"I should have talked to you, I was afraid. I still am." Kathy decided to go with the truth.

"Afraid of what?" Jess was beginning to understand a little better.

"Of being rejected by you, because you're not like me, you don't like girls."

"I like you. I've tried to tell you but you've been so busy pretending to be so strong that you haven't even given me a chance. Kathy I like you." Jess emphasized in the last sentence, what was the matter with Kathy, she had rules, she had insecurities.

"Jess you don't know what those words imply." Kathy was shaking. Could it be possible that Jess had fallen in love with her?

"Why don't you explain to me what they imply? What are you so afraid of?"

"I honestly don't know, I don't think you're ready for this, besides you're going back to school in a few weeks, we can't get attached." Kathy didn't want to get her heart broken, she wanted to keep working and having a good relationship with her boss.

"Fair enough, as long as you're sure that's what you want, I promise to respect your decision." Jess's heart skipped a beat, she wasn't expecting that from Kathy.

"I'm sorry, I know you expected more." Kathy was crushed, she had turned down the girl she felt so attracted to, and the worst part was that she hadn't even given her a chance, she thought that it was better to be safe than sorry and prayed that she had made the right decision.

"Everybody gets disappointed at some point, its ok." Jess covered herself again and closed her eyes, she wasn't going to show Kathy her tears.

Kathy turned the light off and tried to get comfortable, she could hear Jess's soft sobs, she knew she had hurt her.

It was around seven am when the nurse came in and woke them up, she brought breakfast to Jess and told her that as soon as she was ready she could go home.

Jess thanked her and attempted to get up on her own but she failed, Kathy helped her and handed her some clothes.

"I need to use the bathroom." Jess said without looking at Kathy.

Kathy didn't reply, she just held Jess tight by her arm and slowly walked her to the toilet.

"I know this is awkward but I'm going to take your underwear off so that I can help you sit. Ok?"

Jess nodded her approval.

Kathy's hands found their way up Jess's thighs giving her goose bumps, she lowered the pink panties down to her knees and slowly helped Jess sit.

Jess blushed to her roots, she had never felt so much pleasure before from a single touch. She felt dizzy.

Kathy saw the reaction that Jess's body had to her touch, that had been the sexiest thing ever considering the circumstances.

After Jess was done Kathy helped her up and walked her to the shower, she let the water run and took Jess's hospital robe off her body. The view was breathtaking even better than what she had so many times imagined. Jess's back was covered with light freckles, her back was long and it ended on a perfect ass, round and whiter than the rest of the body. Kathy took a deep breath and helped Jess turn around. They looked into each others eyes and stood there for a second.

"Your touch is driving me insane." Jess said looking at Kathy's hard nipples.

"I'm sorry. Lets try to get this over with fast." Kathy grabbed the shower head and gently wetted Jess. She still had her panties on, and Kathy couldn't bring herself to take them off again, that was a dangerous territory.

Kathy grabbed the liquid shower gel and poured some in her right hand, she made a rich creamy lather and started bathing Jess, first her arms, then her chest and back and quickly got over with Jess's smooth legs.

"I'm going to take off your underwear again. Ok?"

Jess once again just nodded.

Kathy followed thru and put some shampoo on her hands, she massaged carefully Jess's hair, trying not to do it so hard, she knew Jess had banged her head hard against the ground when she had fallen. While Kathy did her hair Jess washed her boobs and privates, she was extremely wet between her legs and she knew it wasn't water, or soap, she ignored it and washed it away.

After rinsing all the soap from Jess's body Kathy wrapped her in a big soft towel and dried her gently, taking her time in each body part except her breasts and pubic area. Jess took care of that. She was so aroused, that it was almost painful, no matter how hard she tried not to think about that her mind totally betrayed her.

Kathy dressed her up and grabbed everything that was theirs and walked out the door to get a wheelchair.

Jess was feeling a lot better, she was in a lot of muscular pain, but she knew that the only way to get better was to exercise them, so they could go back to their normal self's.

Kathy was back within a few minutes. She had the discharge papers with her and a couple of prescriptions also. Once again Jess was helped to the wheelchair and pushed down the hallway into the parking garage by a silent Kathy.

Kathy's truck looked like mission impossible, it was so high from the ground, she knew she wasn't going to be able to climb on.

"Hold on tight." Before Jess could object Kathy took her in her arms and sat her on the passenger seat.

Jess smiled at her and caressed her face sweetly making Kathy blush.

"Thanks for everything you've done."

"You're welcome. I know I hurt you Jess, and I'm sorry, I'm just trying to spare us both more pain."

"I understand, I'm not mad."

"Can we be friends again?" Kathy almost pleaded.

"Of course, forever." Jess smiled feeling a little better.

Kathy hugged her and kissed her cheek tenderly.

"Lets go home." Kathy closed the door and got into her seat, turned the car on and got on her way.

Installment 5

Jess's body aches had gotten a lot better, it had been three days already that she had been home and she could do everything by herself already. Her mom was always by her side just in case, she was a great listener and Jess had bared her soul.

The days were flying by and the date on her plane ticket was approaching, she would be gone for a good four months until Christmas vacation. She had to talk to Kathy at least one more time and she didn't have any excuses, this time honesty was going to have to do the job.

It was Sunday and Jess had slept until 9, she had been watching movies all night long in an attempt to forget about Kathy for a while, it didn't work.

She got dressed and went looking for her, the clinic was closed and the men working told her they hadn't seen her. Jess headed to Kathy's house, she knocked on the door and waited patiently for Kathy to open up. After a few minutes she opened the window blinds and after seeing who it was she opened the door. Kathy had just rolled out of bed, her eyes were puffy and she was wearing a tank top and boy's brief.

"Good morning Jess" she smiled melting inside.

"I'm sorry for waking you up." Jess apologized.

"Its ok, its late anyways. What brings you here?" Kathy motioned for Jess to come inside. Jess closed the door and followed Kathy to the kitchen getting a full view of her hot behind.

Kathy poured orange juice into two tall glasses and sat across from Jess.

"I wanted to have a word with you if that's ok." Jess took a sip, it was really sweet and cold.

"Sure. Anything you want."

"Really?" Jess's tone of voice changed, she put the glass down and stood up.

"Yeah." Kathy replied wondering what Jess was going to do next, she was dangerously close.

"Kiss me" Jess said and gently caressed Kathy's face.

"I can't." Kathy replied closing her eyes enjoying to the fullest Jess's skin against hers.

"Why not?" Jess's heart was beating fast, she was centimeters away from Kathy's mouth.

"Because I might not be able to sto . . . " Jess didn't let Kathy finish her sentence, she brushed her lips against Kathy's and wrapped her arms around her waist pulling her closer making her unable to escape. Kathy stood up and firmly pinned Jess against the kitchen counter returning her kiss hungrily.

Jess was gasping for air, she had been wanting this for a long time and now that she was finally getting it she didn't know what to do, Kathy was much more than what she had expected, she was experienced and she was taking Jess to places she didn't know existed. Kathy's hands were all over Jess, she caressed her arms, her waist, she took her time teasing her before she finally placed her right hand over Jess's left breast making her moan loudly.

Jess was extremely turned on, she was moving against Kathy sensually letting her know without words that she wanted to keep going. Their mouths never separated, their tongues danced together, exploring every little chamber of their warm mouths. Kathy led the way to her room, it was dark and cold, the bed was unmade and there was a mountain of clothes on one corner.

Jess kicked her shoes off and resumed kissing Kathy, their clothes came off and their bodies became one, Kathy took her sweet time kissing every little part of Jess's body, making her moan and scream out her name every time Kathy took her to another peak. After hours of making love and various missed calls on both of their phones the girls decided to take a break. Kathy was hungry and Jess was sore, her legs hurt, her privates were swollen and her lips were red from all the kissing and licking.

They were laying on the bed a little sweaty and out of breath, Jess was cuddled close to Kathy and it felt wonderful, she wished time could freeze right there and stay in her arms protected forever. But in reality Jess wondered whether happily ever afters really existed.

They hadn't spoken to each other, Kathy didn't regret their actions but she knew it shouldn't have happened. She couldn't afford to fall any deeper in love with Jess, she had gotten the surprise of her life when she saw her there standing in front of her door, and her willingness to be physical, to be close made her heart ache. Kathy wanted to hold her like that forever, to wake up next to her and kiss her good morning for the rest of their human life. She didn't need a signal from any god to know this was the real deal, but still somehow she couldn't bring herself up to wording it to Jess. Her heart had a few scars, it had taken her a whole lot of time to get them to heal and she wasn't willing to go to all that trouble once again. Jess was so young and still believed that anything could be possible, even long distance relationships, but the years and experiences had taught Kathy otherwise.

"Why didn't you tell me you were a virgin?" Kathy asked while she caressed Jess's back gently.

"I don't know, what made you think I wasn't?" Jess replied.

"To be honest with you I never thought about that until after what happened." Kathy summoned all her will power and got out of bed, she got dressed in the same clothes she had been wearing earlier. She put on her house sandals and picked up Jess's stuff from the floor and handed it over.

"Kathy why are you treating me like that?" Jess was hurt, she felt like a slut. Kathy was being cold, bipolar almost.

"How am I treating you?" she sounded defensive.

"Like I made you do this, like you don't want me around you." Jess got off the bed and wiped two tears that rolled down her cheeks despite her effort to contain them. She got dressed and put on her shoes.

"Jess is not that, you know how I feel about us, I don't want to give you false hopes of a relationship that I'm not ready to embark in."

"Fair enough. By the way I never got to tell you why I came here this morning. I'll be gone in a week so you don't have to worry about me or the feelings that I have for you, I'll never bother you again." Jess finished off sobbing and feeling like crap. She had always imagined her first time to be magical, to be meaningful, she wanted to remembered it forever and now thanks to Kathy she would but it hadn't been perfect. It had lacked affection and love.

Jess stormed out the door slamming it shut behind her, she left crying and she was right about Kathy's behavior, very far from ladylike.

Kathy stood there for what seemed like hours sorting things out, mad at herself for acting so selfish, for hurting an innocent person, for giving her the cold shoulder.

As soon as Jess got home she started packing, she called the airport and changed the date of her flight to that same afternoon, only a couple of hours away, if she hurried up she would make it on time, she couldn't bear the thought of staying at the ranch another minute, she wanted the security and peace of her dorm room, she was eager to meet her new roommates, to get to know them and make new friends, Kathy was going to have to go rest in the deepest chamber of her heart and soul for a few weeks, she needed to get over things and fast.

Josh was as astonished as Tina and Wanda when Jess asked him to please drop her off at the airport that she couldn't be there another minute.

"What in the world happened Jess?" Her dad demanded to know.

"Kathy doesn't love me and I can't take it daddy, I can't be close to her, it hurts too much." Jess was sobbing with her suitcase in one hand and her coat in the other one.

Josh hugged his daughter. He knew what that felt like.

"You'll be fine sweetie. Lets go." Jess said goodbye to her mom and Wanda and got in his dad's truck.

He put the suitcase in the back and got into the drivers seat.

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Josh asked hoping to help out a bit.

"Yes, please take me away from here." She replied still crying.