Postmodern Pygmalion, Part 19

Story Guide -- Story List
Length (rounded up): 2000 words, 8 min.
Previous (Part 18) -- Next (Part 20) -- Contents -- Gallery Folder

Postmodern Pygmalion, Part 19

‘Were you actually expelled from France, because you slept with the treasured daughter of the Minister of Interior?’ Sharon laughed so hard that even the heavy and all-wrapping body cast slightly resonated.

Peter became delighted, pleased that Sharon was enjoying the story. He recalled the bittersweet memory of the plaster fetter, which had captured his broken leg, making him rather disabled.

‘The cops didn’t catch you, and didn’t take you to her father, but they let you run away?’

‘To be precise, I couldn’t run away at that time. I was hardly able to walk because of the cast on my leg... And why did the policemen let me hobble away? Legally, Anne-Marie and me didn’t commit any crime. We both were over the age of eighteen, and it wasn’t rape but consensual sex. Perhaps, those cops were tasked with keeping an eye on the girl, but they failed to protect her, and didn’t want to report their unforgivable mistake to their boss. Officially, I was never thrown out of France. De facto, I voluntarily left the country in the afternoon, cutting short my holiday urgently. And it's not advisable for me to return there while Monsieur Legrand has influence on local politics there.’

‘But weren't you forbidden from sharing the story with anyone?’ she asked. ‘Yet, you told it to me.’

He gestured, giggling. ‘Oh, this is already an old thing. It happened fifteen years ago. And it has an epilogue. A few years later, I met Anne-Marie. She became a surgeon, too, and we bumped into each other at a buffet table during a medical conference in London.’

Sharon opened her eyes wide. ‘And...?’

‘We just started laughing when we suddenly saw each other. The first few minutes were a bit awkward, until she told me that her father was very strict and religious, and didn’t tolerate any sex before marriage. All the local guys stayed away from her, because they were all afraid of her influential father. So, when Anne-Marie saw me with my leg cast, and found out that I was a foreigner, she quickly assumed that I would be the perfect partner for a one-night adventure with her, because I didn’t know who Monsieur Legrand was.’

‘What happened after she met you in London?’ Sharon asked.

Peter shook his head, making her a little disappointed. ‘Nothing. She was already married with two children, and she was happy with it. However, she was grateful to me for the night. Oh, she wasn’t able to get up for a whole day, because her muscles were so stiff. She told her parents that she had overtrained herself to the point of exhaustion the day before, so she couldn’t get out of the bed.’

‘And before she met you, Mademoiselle Anne-Marie Legrand was a virgin,’ Sharon said.

‘Ahem, to be honest...,’ Peter cleared his throat, slightly uncomfortable with the sensitive subject. ‘Before that very night, Mademoiselle Anne-Marie wasn't the only person who was inexperienced.’

Sharon beamed, and her smile reached the rims of the fibreglass head cast surrounding her face. ‘Please don’t tell me that you lost your virginity to a woman with casts? It explains everything.’

She tittered, thinking that she had figured out why Peter spent so much time with a mummy-like living statue like her.

‘No, it doesn’t explain anything,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t a virgin. But before Anne-Marie, I made love only nine times in my life. You know, my girlfriend at the time and me weren't a perfect match.’

‘Because she didn’t have any casts,’ Sharon said, joking.

‘It's not that simple,’ he said seriously. ‘I firmly believe that a good relationship isn't just about whether your partner has a cast or not. But casts can add a special flavouring to affection.’

‘I think I get it.’

‘Do you?’

Peter’s attention shifted away from the mind-blowing and seductive sight of the full-body-casted woman who statically sat in the wheelchair. He cleverly used the silence to his advantage, and changed the subject.

‘This is the first time you've left your room since you were admitted to our hospital. Do you like the view from here?’

He swung his arm in the air to show the breathtaking scenery visible from the flat roof of the high building. On the horizon, a dense, green forest surrounded the quiet, small town that was built on a range of hills.

‘This place is called Aphrodisias. According to an ancient myth, this city is under the patronage of Aphrodite...’ Peter paused, as he realised that he wasn’t hired as a knowledgeable tourist guide.

‘It’s wonderful,’ Sharon said. Her head was captured in the unyielding Minerva cast, forcing her to stare forward.

As they shared their stories, the hours had passed fast, and now the evening was falling. The rays of the sinking sun painted red streaks across the white patches of the clouds.

‘I wasn't lying when I told you how beautiful our town is.’ Peter was grateful to Sharon for her willingness to keep their conversation on a neutral topic.

He was relieved, as he didn't intend to share too many personal memories with her now. Standing right beside her wheelchair, he mesmerisedly worshipped the cast-wrapped fashion model. Illuminated by the setting sun, the early evening lights embellished her blue-coloured, shape-fitting fibreglass full body cast with a halo.

She closed her eyes to savour the last moments of sunshine. Wearing a double shoulder spica that held her arms high in the air, and away from the armrest and the control panel, she was perfectly prevented from driving her wheelchair.

Stuck in the fibreglass suit, and confined to the wheelchair, she felt helpless, unable to do anything. The contiguous cast robbed her of her bodily functions, limiting her moving abilities to zero.

‘Yes, this is amazing. Thank you for showing it to me,’ Sharon said.

The conversation had taken a sudden turn, leaving her feeling a bit embarrassed. Earlier, they had started to share their most private secrets. But now, they were back to exchanging meaningless words about the landscape. Although the panorama was particularly impressive, it wasn’t that important at all. Sadly, she felt that the magic of the moment was rapidly fading away.

‘What could we see from the other side of the roof? Towards the East?’ Sharon asked.

‘Beaches and the ocean. Next time, I’ll roll you to the other side of the roof. But it’s a bit late now.’ Peter noticed the darkness that was setting in after sunset.

‘Beaches? Can you show me the place where I...?’ Sharon wasn’t able to finish the question. It was too traumatic to remember the emergency landing, which had pushed her shattered body into a form-fitting fibreglass casing for a year.

‘It's quite far from the city centre, but you can see it from there.’ He pointed at a distant corner of the flat roof. Unfortunately, Sharon’s gaze couldn’t follow his gesture, remaining fixed in the rigid, restrictive casts, which tightly locked her whole body.

‘Can you tell me something about that day?’ Sharon wanted to know all the details about the disaster, but, ambiguously, she’d rather completely forget it.

‘On the day of your accident, it was said that the storm of the century was coming. Luckily, it didn’t hit the town, because the darkest clouds bypassed us. It was early afternoon on Sunday, and I was on duty at that time, when my team was alerted that a small jet had crash-landed on a beach near here.’

‘It was our plane.’

‘Yes, it was. It was madness for you to try to fly through the storm.’

‘It seemed like a good idea at that time. Or rather, it was our last chance. We were running out of fuel, thus we had to reach the land, no matter what. And we paid a heavy price.’ Sharon thought of the tremendous amount of fractures in her body, arms, and legs, which all were treated in the massive medical shell.

‘I didn’t know that.’

‘I’m sure the accident investigators have already talked to the pilot. How is he doing? I haven’t heard anything from Jeff in a long time.’

‘He suffered injuries similar to yours. According to modern medical protocols, he underwent surgery immediately after the accident. Within a few months, he'll be out of all his casts, then he’ll start physiotherapy. His dual hip spica cast has just been removed. Now, he’s relearning how to walk, but it isn’t easy with two long leg casts. However, I’m sure he can come to see you soon.’

‘Oh, having long leg casts! I’m going to be in a full body cast for a whole year.’ She sighed resignedly.

She felt so vulnerable, imprisoned in her voluntarily chosen, maximum-security cast prison, which embedded almost every square inch of her figure. Apart from her face, fingers, and toes, which were free of casts, she couldn’t control or move any other of part of her body, since restraining and rigid layers of bandages trapped them completely.

‘Is your career as a fashion model worth all this trouble of being in a full body cast?’ he asked. ‘The feeling that you cannot do anything on your own for such a long time, and...’

‘At least, I won’t have scars on my skin,’ she said. ‘Who would like to see an ugly fashion model with wounds? I wouldn’t find a job in any fashion company anymore. Then what should I do?’

‘Don’t you have any other dreams? Only the fashion world? Or anything else?’

Sharon didn’t find answers to the question about the purpose of her life. Undecided, she wanted to discuss a topic that could be as significant as life itself. Love.

‘Peter, may I ask you a question? When we arrived here, I asked you why you spend all your free time with me every day. You didn't give me a straight answer, but you told me a nice story about you and Anne-Marie. So, I'm asking you once again. Do you like me only because of my full body cast?’

She didn’t know surely what kind of answer she would like to hear.

Peter frowned, and gazed at the bandage-bound girl in the wheelchair. Captured in a body-fitting fibreglass exoskeleton, the heavy layers of stiff gauze mysteriously covered most of Sharon’s body.

Creating an enchanting halo around her head, the helmet-shaped fibreglass Minerva cast wrapped her skull and surrounded her unbound face. Her slender arms were useless, immobilised in a double shoulder spica cast at shoulder height, bent at the elbows. To stabilise her injured spine, she wore a customised torso cast, which tight-fittingly mantled her entire trunk.

Adapted to the magical contours of her body, the set of central casts was smooth and flat, but for a part appearing to be stone-hard bras. In addition, all her lower body was nested into a gargantuan dual hip spica cast absorbing every joint between her pelvis and her feet. All in all, the medical ‘container’ was a textbook example of a full body cast: all-encompassing, rigid and thick, rendering her completely reliant on his devoted assistance.

Peter had made this fibreglass suit for Sharon to save her life and to treat her injuries. But, more importantly, all these hard bandages included and concealed the phenomenal shapes of the body of an exceptionally attractive woman. He was tempted to hug her cast-wrapped figure and never let her go.

The sight of the mummy girl was alluring, but the attraction wasn’t merely physical... an intense human emotion had already been born in his heart.

‘Sharon, as I said... a relationship is much more than wearing casts or not. I’d like to spend all my time with you... because I've fallen in love with you.’

to be continued

Previous (Part 18) -- Next (Part 20) -- Contents -- Gallery Folder

Story Guide -- Story List