Page 20 of The Long Walk Back

Kate was raring to go as she walked into the treatment room that morning; ready to put Cooper through his paces, to take her mind off Jamie and the sheer frustration she felt. She bounced into the room, clipboard held tightly under one arm, and an air of determination firmly set on her features. Cooper was sat at the table, a bacon sandwich between his meaty hands. He looked at her, one eyebrow raised in a question. She faltered in her step, catching herself quickly. Putting the clipboard to one side, she crossed her arms.

‘Ready for a busy morning, Captain? We have lots to do today, and I have decided that today is the day when we look at that leg.’ She fixed him with a stare, hoping he wouldn’t see her nervousness underneath. He frowned slightly, wiping at his mouth with a napkin, before silently pushing a large paper cup of coffee towards her. She shook her head, ignoring the pull of caffeine he had dangled in front of her. ‘No thanks, I’d rather get cracking.’

He shrugged and pushed the cup closer still with his fingertips. She noticed his hand shook a little with the small gesture and looked closer at him. He looked tired, less put together than usual. She was just wondering what was wrong when he spoke.

‘Drink your coffee, Missy. It’s getting cold, and I still have my breakfast to have. We won’t be doing any therapy today. I declare today “skivers day”.’

She looked at him, incredulous. ‘Skivers day? Are you for real? I work here you know, supposedly helping you, and you want a day off? I don’t think so.’

Cooper looked across at her, and she noticed the red lines around his eyes, which were bloodshot. ‘Well Missy, you’d better go and find someone else to work on then, because I’m doing nothing today.’

He dismissed her with his eyes then, returning to his breakfast in silence. Kate didn’t know whether to punch him or cry. Was it pick-on-Kate day today? She could feel the tears welling up, and a hard lump forming in the back of her throat. Fine, she thought to herself. She started to walk to the table, but instead of taking the coffee, she kept walking until she was behind Cooper. He turned in surprise, but she was too fast. Taking the brake off the chair, she wheeled him towards the door. He still had his coffee in one hand and a bacon sandwich in the other, so he couldn’t do much to stop her. He started to put his leg down on the floor, but she tilted the chair back, causing a drip of coffee to fall onto his crotch. ‘Hey!’ he said, stopping the struggle. He looked back at her, a mixture of surprise and anger on his face. ‘What the hell are you doing? Stop this damn chair, NOW!’ he bellowed. Kate kept wheeling, shouting ‘No!’ into his face. His eyebrows shot up in shock, and he turned back around in his chair. He shoved the rest of his breakfast in his mouth, taking a deep swill of coffee to chase it down.

The nurses on the corridor looked at the pair of them in surprise, and Cooper even nodded to a couple as they strode along the corridor. Rita came out of the kitchen with a bunch of menu sheets in her hand, doing a double-take at the pair. She smiled at Kate. ‘Taking old grumpy guts for a walk? Good for you!’

Kate waved at her, her face red and shiny from the exertion of pushing him so fast. Cooper laughed then, a lazy low rumble and Kate realised he wasn’t angry any more.

‘That’s right, Rita, a nice romantic walk,’ he quipped, even turning to give Kate a wink. Kate smiled for Rita’s benefit as they passed, then leant in towards Cooper’s ear. She ignored the jolt she felt as her lips brush his ear, and whispered to him, ‘You do that again, Captain, and I will poke that eye out.’

Cooper flinched at the contact from her lips and laughed again. ‘Be worth it,’ he whispered back, his stubble against her cheek. She abruptly stopped and pressed a button on the wall. The door opened, and Kate wheeled him in. In the room, Cooper saw Kate’s son sitting in a chair by the window, staring at them both in obvious surprise.

Kate opened the window a little, letting in the fresh air from outside. Walking to the door, she faced them both.

‘Captain Thomas Cooper, meet Jamie Harper. My son. Jamie, meet Cooper. Since you both insist on being stubborn, I’ve decided, just for today, to leave you both to it. So, I’m going out for the day, and you two can damn well amuse each other. Good luck!’ she trilled, pressing the door button behind her as she went. She passed Trevor in the corridor, pretending to discuss lunch menus with Rita, as she headed to her room.

‘Trevor, I’m taking the day off!’ she shouted at him as she went.

‘About time,’ Trevor replied. ‘Have some bloody fun!’ he commanded. Kate gave him a thumbs up.

‘And eat something other than salad!’ Rita added.

Back in Jamie’s room, Cooper rubbed the stubble on his cheek with an open palm. She’s got more balls than I gave her credit for, he thought to himself, amused. In all honesty, he found himself attracted to her again. Looking at her son, staring at him blankly, he pushed that thought aside.

‘So, Jamie, what you up to today?’ he asked. Looking around the room, he was surprised that it looked pretty much like his: bare, impersonal. As far removed from a child’s room as he would expect. He somehow had the feeling that this was more to do with Jamie, rather than Kate. He found himself wondering whether her mood this morning was about more than just his refusal to work. He felt a pang of guilt, as he realised how much she had to contend with. He spied a games console and a few games under the TV, all boxed up. Moving over to the box, he pointed at it, motioning to Jamie. ‘Do you mind if I set this up?’ Jamie turned to him then, looking him over with eyes so much like his mother’s. He nodded and a faint smile appeared on his lips. Cooper smiled back and opened the box.

Kate was in heaven. She whipped her head from side to side as her body cut through the water. Breath after breath, lap after lap, she kept going, powering through the water till her limbs ached. Some girls shopped, some did lunch or the salon; Kate swam. She had started early on, when her parents were never around, paying for lessons herself. She took to it like the proverbial duck to water, and it was her go-to stress buster. Hacking away in the centre’s pool, she felt the stress and anger roll over her like the water, splashing into droplets in her wake. Eventually exhausted, she sat at the pool’s edge, dipping her legs in the water. She had missed the feel of the water – she hadn’t been in since before being deployed. She made a silent promise to herself to try and fit it in, some badly needed time for herself.

Flicking her legs in the pool, she lamented the state of her legs. Not much time for pedicures, or shaving for that matter. Maybe she needed to sort that out too, make herself feel a little better. Even her eyebrows were starting to look a little crazy these days. She didn’t dwell on the fact that she had only noticed these things since working with Cooper. The two things were entirely unrelated. She just didn’t want to give him one more reason to judge her. Yes, that was it. Bound to be. Looking at the clock, she was surprised to see it was nearly lunchtime already. She decided to go and face the music early, apologise and at least make sure both her son and her patient got fed. She could only imagine the moods they would be in by now, she mused as she went to change.

Heading to Jamie’s room first, having put on a fresh uniform and tied her wet hair back in a tight bun, she steeled herself till she heard a sound so familiar that she ran towards it. Stopping herself at the door, she peeked around the doorjamb, and she couldn’t believe her own eyes. Jamie was laughing. Actual, God’s honest laughter, right from the belly, a boyish sound that she knew as well as her own heartbeat. He was laughing, his face bright, head thrown back. She looked to see what he was laughing at, and her hand gripped the doorframe. Captain Thomas Cooper was sat on the floor, game controller in hand, with a bandana she recognised as Jamie’s wrapped around his head, Rambo style. The pair were playing a fighting game on the computer, and apparently Jamie had just thrashed the captain. She was about to go in, to say hello, to see if Jamie’s smile would fade when he saw her, when she stopped.

‘Loser!’ Jamie shouted, laughing once more. The solitary word came out croaky, and broken, like someone getting their voice back, but it was there. The word sounded like a love song to Kate, and she snatched it from the air and tucked it into her heart. Cooper feigned being mad, adjusting his Rambo band.

‘Loser, eh? I don’t think so, kid – best out of three?’

It came again – the croak. ‘Deal… loser!’

Kate grinned so hard she thought her face might crack, and she slid down to the floor, careful not to be spotted. Tears ran down her cheeks and she covered her mouth with her hands to stop a happy sob escaping. It was there, ten minutes later, that Kate fell asleep, bolt upright in the corridor, swept under by sheer exhaustion, lulled into slumber by the sound of her son.

An hour later, Jamie’s lunch came to his room, and Cooper made his excuses, promising to come back soon. On the way out, he closed the door behind him and nudged Kate. She jumped, throwing her hands out in front of her in a chopping motion.

‘Whoa,’ Cooper said, as softly as he could. ‘Steady on there, Missy.’

Kate lowered her hands, embarrassed about being caught asleep in full view. She wiped at the corners of her mouth and eyes quickly.

‘Don’t worry,’ Cooper teased. ‘I find drool and eye bogies a turn-on.’

Kate’s face dropped, and she scowled and swatted at him when she realised he was kidding.

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