Frank groaned, and looking at the tablet once more, he smiled. His little Luke, out in the world, just like his mother wanted all along. Now that would be worth sticking around a bit longer for. That was worth getting out of this bed and getting well for. He wanted to stick around. He hadn’t broken his son, he hadn’t made him a replica of himself. Frank realised that all along, Luke had been a mixture of the best of both parents. He had their work ethic, their love of routine, but more importantly, the same sense of adventure his mother had. Frank could see it now, as plain as day. He’d done his job. He’d raised their son, and now he was out in the world to be enjoyed. Reaching for the paper, he dragged it closer towards him. Flicking it to the sports section with a slow and shaky hand and a fair bit of cursing under his breath, he waited for his meddlesome and annoying friends to come back. He had a lot of work to do, and he’d wasted enough time already. He owed it to his son, and his late wife. Not only that, he owed it to himself.
Marilyn half ran into the room with a bowl and what looked like a car sponge. It was huge. Frank looked across from his paper, right at her, and smiled. It was lopsided, and he felt as though he might dribble a little from the corners, as he sometimes did, but Marilyn’s returning smile told him that his attempt wasn’t half bad.
‘Ready?’ she asked cautiously. Frank could see her grip tighten around the sponge.
‘Ready,’ he said. ‘But only Dante washes my dangly bits.’
Marilyn’s laughter rang out into the hall, and Dante smiled as he passed, wheeling a patient back to their room. These were the moments, he thought to himself as he went on his way. These were the moments that made his job worth all the struggles.
*
Rebecca headed to the ski lift after the call had ended, wanting to give Luke a minute to recover. His dad had looked pretty beaten down at the start of the call, but when he’d made that motion, that gesture of love to Luke, her heart had nearly stopped. That was personal to the two of them, she could tell by Luke’s reaction. The fact that Luke had done it to her, it meant even more now. She couldn’t be reading into it, could she? He didn’t seem the type to have ‘moves’ like that. Robbie moves. She felt a bit panicked at first, that he’d shown that to her after a week of knowing each other, but none of this week was average. She was liking him more and more each day. The whole call she’d had a lump in her throat, a snowball of anxiety in the pit of her stomach. Not for her, but for Luke. She knew how much this call meant to him, how well it needed to go. Luke’s dad had given up since the stroke, and sending Luke away was obviously something that he’d struggled with. The love between them made her think of her own mother, and the call she’d been putting off herself. Not all the paper grenades had been detonated yet either. She still had the competition entries to defuse. Luke had entered the day before, and he was so excited about it.
They hadn’t spent a night apart since that first night, and today was the baby shower and the party after. Everything was ready, all the gifts had been delivered to the venue. The café was staffed for the day, and Rebecca had the weekend off. A whole weekend of skiing and seeing friends, with her hot new … lodgemate. Lover? Bunk buddy? Eugh. They didn’t need a label, it was what it was. ‘Not even known him a week but can’t get enough’ didn’t have a box to tick next to it on any form. ‘It’s complicated’ sounded like simplification. He’d showed her his list, and his plans, his worries about his dad just giving up. She’d shown him her scars, her emotional ones, and the physical ones. He’d ran his fingers along the surgeons’ handiwork, the neat scars that showed how they put her pelvis back together, piece by piece. What he didn’t know or hadn’t thought of, was that people were waiting for her comeback. Expecting it even. Hell, Robbie assumed she was back on the circuit. The rumour mill was a good one, even if the shit they were peddling had no substance at all.
‘Well, that went well!’ He’d caught her up, a little less unsteady on his feet since the days with Hans, and the nights with her. She’d had him up on the sofa cushions, whilst she threw things at him. He had to keep his balance, his legs and arms ready. It was hilarious, but it worked. He didn’t fall half as much now. It was less funny, but safer. His bum cheeks were still bruised enough. ‘Did you see his face? He couldn’t believe it. I really think that this is going to be the turning point.’
Rebecca smiled, but she didn’t reply. If Frank was really going to fight to recover now, Luke would absolutely want to be beside him to do it. Once the comp was done, so were they. As much as she liked Frank already, she found that she couldn’t truly be happy about the thought.
They waited for the lift, holding hands as they walked to the next available one. Sitting down, they both looked out at the view as they headed up.
‘Beautiful isn’t it?’ She was looking out at the scenery around her. Luke looked at her.
‘Sure is.’ He squeezed her hand, their gloves knitted together as they neared the top. ‘Thank you. I think my dad thinks I might be punching above
