Her Body of Muscle: Winter vs the Nanobots

Chapter 19

Jackson's poor Honda Civic creaked and rattled as he peered between cracks in the windshield in a stupor. The shattered windows no longer offered protection from the furious rain which continued to pelt the car as they traversed the bridge over the San Francisco bay and approached Winter's apartment.

Naked, wet and exhausted, Winter looked over at Jackson. His body was hunched, a dazed stare kept his eyes focused on the road. Winter's own body slouched slightly forward against the seatbelt which ran horizontally down her sternum. Pressing into exhausted pectoral muscles as her breasts bounced slightly with the rhythm of his driving.

Words and thoughts escaped them both, the relief of their escape had faded into mystified apathy as they had distanced themselves from the shocking devastation of the evening. Jackson pulled up in front of Winter's apartment building. He found himself in the same spot he'd snagged over ten hours ago when he had excitedly walked up to ring Winter's doorbell. Rain continued to pelt his arm and left torso as he took his hands off the wheel. The car idled hesitantly. With a deep sigh of exhaustion, he glanced over at Winter.

Winter had slouched further forward, elbows on knees, head in hands. Her arms, despite fatigue, shimmered in tight rivets of muscle as biceps pushed up against her forearm. Her naked broad back glistened in countless tributaries of shivering tendons, jagged contours of muscle expanded and contracted as she breathed slowly. The quiet hesitant purring of the engine combined with the water on metal ping of rain created a an aura of dramatic calm against the nerve fraying tumult of the nights escapades.

For the first time in hours, Jack allowed himself a moment to be present with Winter. He focused on her slumped figure captivated despite the pain, fatigue and soaking. What a night, and they lived to tell about it. An overwhelming sense of kinship, admiration and helpless attraction emanated from Jackson's chest, coursing through his body. In a flash, his own frustrations, pains and injuries vanished. He had eyes only for her. Despite it all, he found himself becoming helplessly excited and aroused. After months, a couple years even, of resisting the temptation to think of Winter as anything but a friend, his exhaustion lowered his guard. Somehow in the moment, he found himself helplessly admiring her body. Something about their collective exhaustion, pain, rain soaked bodies was bringing all the raw humanity flooding to the surface. Damn you. He thought to himself. Oh gaaawd I'm such an asshole. How could he let his carnal nature have a voice when his friend was overwhelmed by all that had happened.

After what felt like hours of frantic self-preservation, Jackson had not truly stopped to consider Winter's own feelings. It was Jackson that had insisted on completing an x-husband demands. Jackson had pressed to go into the house, it was even Jackson who had forced Winter to open the case and risk, well, who the hell knew what they risked, swallowing the damn things.

"Winter," she lifted her head up and turned to look at him, "I'm so so sorry. This is all my fault."

For a moment Winter stared at him silently. Then she spoke in a flat monotoned stupor. "I saw him this morning Jack. This morning."

Just as quickly as the flood of excitement had come, again it fled. Jackson hadn't even remembered as he battled his own ruthless attraction, two people were dead.

"Your arm isn't looking very good." Winter said scientifically.

Jackson flinched in pain as though the mention of it reminded him to pay attention. "I'll get you safe inside and drive myself to the hospital." Jack said. "I think it just grazed me, I'll be totally fine."

Shuffling in his seat, Jackson realized he was still sitting on the blood stained raincoat. He hefted his body up and handed it to Winter. Winter flexed her core bringing her butt off the seat. Thighs flexing as she pulled the coat over her arms and body, it was all Jackson could do not to glance towards her midsection. Winter nodded and opened the latch on the door. She had to throw her weight into it to get it to open into the rain. Jackson did the same. Winter took the first step out and yelped in pain, crumpling to the sidewalk where she moaned in a semi-fetal position. Startled, Jack tried to rush out the door and around to help but as he also tried to stand, crippling bolts of pain thundered through his body and sent him to his knees in agony.

"What. Is. This??" Winter said, struggling to speak loudly enough as the rain fell splattering thickly on her raincoat.

Jackson had managed to half crawl, half hobble walk to the trunk and was opening it. Winter watched him pull a small white medical kit out and he slammed the trunk as he sunk down on his knees again.

"It's... it's got to be the nano, the, nanobots." He said with difficulty. He crawled his way to Winter.

"Hospital?? Winter asked.

Jackson shook his head. "I... I can't..."

As Jack looked at Winter, he noticed a slow deliberate change in her demeanor. Just as he had witnessed before she plunged from Phil's window, resolve formed and solidified across Winter's face. Her sweat, blood, rain abused posture hardened into deep resolve. Not only was it the second time that night, but Jackson suddenly remembered where he had first seen that look. The very first day he met Winter in the gym. The gritty determination that conquered absolutely anything in its path. A soaked stained raincoat, sopping hair sucked to the sides of her face, the vision Jackson had in the moment was completely divorced from the current devastation. Winter was a Phoenix, rising from the ashes of the single most overwhelming day of either of their lives. Winter gritted her teeth, the cover model beauty of her features magnified by the sucking in of her cheeks. Reaching for Jackson's arm, he found her prying his hobbled body off the ground, forcibly bringing him to a half standing position.

Throwing her long muscular arms around his back, Winter held Jackson up, yanking him off the ground under his armpits.  Stumbling as she walked, she dragged him towards the apartment door. Mustering all he had left, Jack forced his feet to keep moving as they tumbled through the glass door into the entry of the apartment building in a wet mess.

Leaving Jack in a puddle, Winter put a hand on her abdomen as she hunched in pain, reaching up a shaking hand to tap in the door code. There was a buzz, and a click, as the front door opened. Still in a fully hunched position, she pulled the door open with one arm, grabbed Jackson's good arm with the other and pulled him into the apartment building.

A similar process followed getting into the elevator where they lay on the ground, eyes closed with rattled breathing, as the floors dinged away. Finally, at Winter's floor, she dragged him out of the elevator and into the hallway. As pain cascaded and shook her frame, Winter again fell to the ground moaning and rocking. Slowly, she crawled the ten feet to her door.  The entire painful length of carpet Jackson ineffectually giving his all, pulling and kicking on his side, slithering in her direction.

Locked. The door was locked. Of course it's locked, Winter thought. "Ooohhhowwee" Jackson groaned as Winter ground her teeth. She glanced down at her wet, stained pants still tied around Jackson's shoulder.

"Ja... Ja.... Jaack I, I have to get m-m-my pants." She croaked. He nodded and with trembling fingers Winter tore at the pants. Finally loosening them, she pulled the ragged cloth from Jackson's shoulder, reached into her pocket, found her keys and in one motion clicked open the door. They crawl-tumbled into the apartment and Jackson kicked the door shut behind him.

"O-oo-open" Jack said sliding the medical kit towards Winter. Her fingers struggled to open the container so she took it and banged it aggressively on the floor spilling tubs of gels, bandages and antiseptics across the floor. Jack was pointing at a bottle of antiseptic. Winter cupped the bottle with her hand pulling it towards her. Reaching her head down to the bottle she twisted the cap off. Using both hands she hoisted it up to Jacksons bleeding shoulder pouring the entire contents into the wound.

Already lying on the ground writhing in pain Jackson moaned at the sting of the liquid. He pointed at gauze and bandages. Slowly, in ever increasing pain, Winter followed the same process. Jack had slipped onto his slide which allowed Winter a steady position low to the ground to drop gauze on the wound. She breathed heavily closing her eyes. It would take one last herculean effort, she told herself. Using her numbed fingers she took the bandage and wrapped it once, twice, three times around Jacksons shoulder tightly. A far more secure sterilized balm for his wound than her blue jeans. Complete, she shuddered and collapsed to the ground.