Chapter 13

Laughing with Dorothea, Mel reached into the brown bag and took out the two items she brought. Placing the plastic sniffer on the coffee table, she showed the large cobalt blue glass bottle to Jon and Dorothea.

“This is the oil blend that I made for you. Its base oil is Grape Seed, so it won’t be too greasy and it will not stain your clothes. The active ingredients are the Essential Oils of Helichrysum, Ginger, Clove, Nutmeg, Roman Chamomile and Lavender. According to my literature search, they should promote and expedite muscle healing. Ginger also has warming properties, so you might feel some tingling and warmth. And Lavender should also help in decreasing the swelling.”

Jon and Dorothea were listening intently. Seeing their nods of understanding, Melody went on with her explanation.

“Ok, then. What you will do is gently shake the oil by inverting the closed bottle few times, then pour a small amount of oil into a palm of your hand and gently massage it into the injured area of your calf until all of the oil is absorbed. Then just re wrap your leg and you’re good to go!”

“How often do we need to do this?” asked Dorothea.

“I think twice a day should be enough. Once in the morning and once before you go to sleep.”

“Wanna do the honors and put it on to start me off?” Jon smirked at Mel.

“Sure! Just roll up your pants for me!” Mel accepted the challenge.

She gently agitated the bottle to blend the oils while Dorothea helped Jon roll up the left leg of his sweat pants. Pouring a small amount of oil into her cupped hand, she bend down and gently massaged it into the back of Jon’s lower leg.

Jon closed his eyes and let out a loud moan.

Mel jerked her hands away and looked at her patient’s face in alarm. Seeing his closed eyes and a smirk, she glanced at Dorothea with confusion. Dorothea shrugged in response.

Jon opened one eye, cocked an eyebrow and deepened his smirk.

“Was it as good for you as it was for me?” He grinned at Melody.

Melody’s jaw dropped to the floor as she looked from Jon to Dorothea helplessly.

Dorothea quickly reacted by cuffing her husband lightly on the back of his head.

“Cut it out Jon! She is here to help you! But she is a fan, so please be considerate of her feelings.” Then she turned to Melody.

“I’m sorry Mel! Here you are on your own time, trying to help and he is playing games with you!”

Melody regained her composure and gave Jon and evil smile.

“Maybe now is a good time to mention one of the major side effects of this oil combination.” she said and gave Dorothea a conspiratory wink.

“These particular oils, when absorbed through skin, tend to significantly lower libido and potency in males.”

The look on Jon’s face was priceless.

Melody quickly glanced at Dorothea and was relieved to see her wink back at her and grin at her husband.

“Well thank God! Now I can rest easy and sleep though the night without worrying about him getting into all sorts of troubles with those groupies! Mel, you‘ll have to make me enough of this stuff to last through the rest of the tour!”

Jon wisely chose to remain silent.

Melody gently cleared her throat and slipped back into her “nurse mode”. “Jon, how bad is the pain?”

“Same as last night, after you gave me that “industrial strength Advil”. Not too bad…manageable!” he grinned at Mel.

“So the pain medications are working for you then?”

“Yeah, that once-a-day pill is good.”

“Were you able to sleep?”

“Sure!” he nodded.

“Liar!” snorted Dorothea.

Melody raised an eyebrow at Jon “Didn’t you take the Vicodin?”

“No” he smiled sheepishly.

“And why not?”

“Didn’t want to cloud up my brain I guess.”

“Says the man who admits on film to washing down his sleeping pill with a bottle of wine! And besides, one or even two Vicodins will do less damage to your brain then all those chemicals you’ve consumed in the 80’s! And, come to think of it, why do you need a clear brain in the middle of the night?”

Dorothea dissolved in a fit of laughter and sat on the sofa next to Jon. She elbowed her husband “Do tell dear! I would love to hear answer to that one!”

Jon huffed “Well, I write some of my best stuff during the night!’’

“Really!” snorted Dorothea, “I thought you wrote your “best stuff” in Richie’s bathroom!”

“Ha ha!” came her husband’s response.
“And about the 80’s…” he smirked “You must be confusing me with Sambora or Bryan!”

Melody grinned and shook her head. “Nope, pretty sure I remember seeing a video clip on You Tube where you confirmed to a reporter that you’ve tried EVERYTHING!”

“Alright! Alright! I confess! Damm fans…” Jon rolled his eyes and wiggled the toes of his injured leg “You know, this actually feels better now! Thanks Mel!”

“Well, I’m glad I could help! You need to re wrap your leg now Jon.”

“Awww, can’t you do it for me?” he pouted “I am the injured patient after all!”

“Nope, a return demonstration is actually in order. I need to make sure you understood my discharge teaching!”

“Darling, you need to re read her T shirt!” chimed in Dorothea.

Jon sighed in defeat, sat up and wrapped his leg.

“There!” he gestured to his handy work “Satisfied?”

Both women grinned and nodded.

“Very nicely done!” complimented Melody “You just earned yourself a reward!”

“Oh yeah?” Jon smirked “And what will that be?”

Melody smiled and picked up the white plastic tube from the coffee table and handed it to Jon.

“What’s that?” Jon eyed the offered item suspiciously but took it from Mel.

“Its Lavender oil inhaler. Just sniff it few times when you need some help to relax. Make sure you keep it tightly closed and it will be good for a couple of months.”

“Aha, and what side effects should I expect from this treatment?”

Melody giggled “Jon, I was only kidding about the side effects. I would never use anything on you that might cause ANY side effects without your permission. I take the “do no harm” oath seriously! And then of course there is that issue of informed consent!”

Jon exhaled dramatically and made a show of wiping his brow.

Dorothea shook her head and faced Melody. “Seriously speaking, is there anything that could be used to “damper” someone’s sex drive? Without any side effects of course.”

“Why do you ask dear?” Jon sat up and looked concerned.

“Relax honey! I’m thinking of our two lovely teenagers!”

Melody laughed and shook her head “No, unfortunately, I am not familiar with any safe way of doing that! Though lately I wish there was something I could use!”

Seeing both Jon’s and Dorothea’s intrigued looks, she explained “I have a teen aged daughter myself, and believe me if something like that existed, I would’ve either added it to our high school’s water supply or sprayed it in the halls by now!”

Dorothea nodded and smiled “How old is your daughter Mel?”

“She is 15, going on 30!” grinned Mel “And she will be the death of me, but I love her dearly!”

“Why doesn’t her father lock her up in a high tower or at least threaten away the potential suitors like Jon does!”

Mel bit her lower lip and sighed “Her father is not involved, as a matter of fact, he is not even aware of Nicole’s existence.” she answered quietly.

The look that came over her face tugged at Dorothea’s heart. She got up from her seat and hugged the younger woman.

“Aw man! Am I missing some girl on girl action?” came from the doorway.

Both women turned to see grinning Richie.

Dorothea gave Mel a parting squeeze and sighed “Here comes the Big Bad Sambora to spoil our fun!”