Doris O'Connor (24 page)

“
I thought so. This is my fault,
isn’t it?”

“
Whatever gives you that idea,
Stella?”

Stella had suddenly looked every one of her
fifty-nine years, and Kitty’s heart had gone out to her. This
couldn’t be easy on her, either. Alex and she had been so wrapped
up in their own problems that neither of them had had much time for
her. Kitty had vowed there and then that she would change that.
She’d grown very fond of Alex’ s mother, since she so willingly
accepted her into the family, and as she had no family left of her
own, Stella was the closest thing to a mother she would ever
have.

“
Stella, why do you think that?
It’s nothing you’ve done.”

“
It’s just, he’s been so withdrawn
since the visit from his colleague. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been
so insistent that he take the discharge. It’s a desk job, after
all. How much trouble can he get in doing that?”

Kitty had smiled at Stella.

“
I don’t think he knows what he
wants to do, to be perfectly honest with you, Stella. But I think
he would appreciate you telling him what you just told
me.”

Stella had nodded and gone in search of Alex.
At least the two of them seemed to be back on track now, if the
many hushed conversations in Italian since then were anything to go
by.

If they kept this up she would really have to
learn the language. She felt at a distinct disadvantage, and she
didn’t think the many swear words she had picked up thanks to
Alex’s temper would count.

Half an hour later, freshly showered and
feeling slightly more normal, Kitty came downstairs, wondering
where everyone was. A quick look at the time showed it to be almost
the end of Alex’s scheduled physio session for this morning.
Judging by the lack of thrown objects and foul language he was
either finished already or had skipped the thing entirely
again.

With a glare at Alex’s shut door she turned
towards the kitchen in search of something to eat.

****

Alex tried his best to focus just like
Stefanov was telling him to. His muscles screamed at him, and his
back ached. This was sheer torture. He still couldn’t feel much at
all; but there was some sensation at last, and it spurred him
on.

Stefanov stood one side of him and Ian the
other as he lifted himself out of the wheelchair and put some
weight on his legs. He grabbed the frame Stefanov had brought
yesterday with a white knuckle grip.
I can do this, damn it. I
have to!

“
That’s it, Alex. Take it easy. Try
and shuffle one foot. Just a tad if you can.”

Alex closed his eyes, willing that foot to
move.
Move, damn it. I can feel you, so just fucking
move!

An image of Kitty’s emerald eyes swam in front
of him and he gritted his teeth. Stefanov and Ian’s sharp intake of
breath made him smile.

Fuck, yeah!

****

Alex wiped his sweaty palms on his legs. His
chest felt tight, and he had trouble breathing as he waited for the
specialist to check the various reports. This was the moment of
truth. Would he regain full use of his legs, or would the feeling
he now had be as good as it got? He’d been pushing himself
mercilessly, spending hours in physio, building up the strength in
his legs. He could stand for a few minutes now and had even managed
the minutest shuffle of his right leg, but it wasn’t enough.
Damn
it
. He knew Kitty and Mamma were worried about
him. He was never at home. Pleading a heavy workload at the
training centre to disguise the hours he spent at the gym, he tried
his best to be cheerful around them. He wasn’t ready to raise their
hopes, if this was all there was for him.

He
had
to regain full use of his
legs.

Mr. Lobb cleared his voice noisily, and Alex
released the white knuckled grip he had on the wheelchair’s arm
rests.
Please God, let him say I can get rid of this thing
soon.

“
These results are excellent, Mr.
Giovanni. The best we could hope for under the circumstances. If
you keep up with the exercise regime, there is no doubt in my mind
that you will regain full mobility in time.”

“
What do you mean by full mobility?
I’ll walk, right?”

“
Yes, you’ll walk. How well, I
can’t possibly predict. You’ve made amazing progress already, but
your muscles are still weak. You’ll get there, but it’ll take
time.”

“
How much time?” Alex
asked.

Grey eyes regarded him steadily, and Alex held
his breath, willing the older man to continue.

“
I can’t give you a timeframe. You
know that better than most. The human body is amazing, and you’re a
fit young man; so it may be sooner rather than later. You will need
to keep up your exercise regime for the rest of your life, though.
And even in the best possible scenario you may be left with chronic
back pain.”

Alex groaned his annoyance, and the doctor
smiled.

“
You have a family that loves you.
They’ll wait, and I can see how much you want a more concrete
answer; but medicine is not an exact science. Spinal injuries
continue to confound the medical profession. I’ve been in this
business for almost thirty years, and I’ve seen it all, believe me.
You’ll get there, without doubt much sooner than I could ever
predict.”

Chapter
Twenty-Nine

Kitty looked at Stella and had to remind
herself to shut her mouth. A quick look across the breakfast table
at Alex confirmed he was just as astonished as Kitty
was.

“
I don’t know why you’re both
looking at me like that. I’ve bought tickets every year, and your
father and I always enjoyed it, it has to be said. Made us feel
closer to you, Alex, and it’s in a good cause. There must be many
families who need the extra support.”

Her voice dwindled away, and Alex and Kitty
both reached across the table to take one hand each, sharing a look
of concern.

“
I’m ok, Mamma, really.”

“
I wouldn’t say that exactly, Alex,
but you’ll get there. And with that in mind I’m taking Kitty
shopping for suitable evening wear. I already got you a tux, so
you’re sorted, son.”

Kitty couldn’t stop the groan escaping at the
thought of clothes shopping, whilst Alex chuckled to himself. Kitty
couldn’t quite believe that chuckle. She certainly hadn’t heard
that in a while. In fact, she hadn’t heard or seen much of Alex at
all over the last three weeks. He had taken the side promotion and
had thrown himself into work at the training centre with great
gusto.

He was up at the crack of dawn and didn’t come
home ‘til late, and even at the weekends he was mysteriously busy
out of the house a lot of the time. At least he was happier in
himself. Being back at work was doing him the world of good; that
much was clear. He almost looked like the old Alex. He smiled at
her now, a little twinkle in his eye, and Kitty’s heart skipped a
beat. If Stella had suggested attending The Fire Industry charity
ball two weeks ago even, she would have gotten her head bitten off,
Kitty was sure.

The mere thought of going to a ball was giving
Kitty palpitations. She envied Alex’s assured calmness as he poured
himself another coffee, smiling at Noah who was getting his
breakfast cereal everywhere as usual.

“
Alex has been so busy lately.
It’ll do you two good to get away together for an evening. I have
it all planned, and I’m not taking no for an answer.”

“
Fine, Mamma, just don’t expect me
to swing my wheelchair around the dance floor. That could get a bit
dangerous!”

“
I wasn’t expecting you to, silly,
but there’s no reason why Kitty can’t have fun. After all, it’s
back to work for her, too, next week.”

Kitty grimaced at the thought. Yes, work. She
hadn’t thought about it much at all and felt ill prepared to say
the least. So much had changed over the summer holidays that she
barely recognized her life. Still, now was not the time to think
about that. She had to get through this shopping trip
first.

****

Five hours and goodness only knows how many
London shops later, Kitty’s feet were killing her. They had finally
found a dress that Stella was happy with. It was a dark green silk
shift that clung to every one of Kitty’s curves, and the asymmetric
neckline left far too much of her back and cleavage exposed for
Kitty’s liking. And it was way too short!

But Stella had just smiled and explained that
it was perfect for her coloring. She dragged Kitty round a few more
shops to get matching shoes, impossibly high heeled ones at that,
and was now on a mission to get the perfect underwear, in Ann
Summers of all places. They finally settled for a see-through lacy
basque that left little to the imagination, whilst making sure
Kitty’s cleavage would poke people’s eyes out.

Kitty was by no means a prude, but having
Alex’s mother now examining the adult toys section was too much.
Kitty had no idea what half of these things were used for and hoped
to all that was holy that she never would find out. The overeager
sales assistant was approaching again, a knowing smile on her
bright red lips.

“
Ah yes, the deluxe rabbits are
some of our current bestsellers, satisfaction guaranteed every
time.”

Oh pleaaassee!
Kitty groaned to herself
when Stella and the sales assistant launched into a discussion of
what went where. There were some things a woman really did not need
to know about her boyfriend’s mother, and the fact that she seemed
intimately acquainted with half of the paraphernalia in this shop
was definitely one of them.

But when Stella picked up one of the many
couple’s toys and tried to hand it to Kitty with a wink, suggesting
that Alex and she might have fun with this, Kitty fled from the
shop as though the hounds of hell were after her, Stella’s amused
chuckle ringing in her ears.

At least now she knew where Alex got it
from.

****

Kitty caught a reflection of herself in one
the full length mirrored panels in the foyer of the expensive hotel
where the ball was held. The dress looked good on her. Not that she
needed reassurance after seeing the look on Alex’s face when she’d
tottered down the stairs in her stilettos. He’d just wheeled
himself out of his room, looking impossibly handsome in his
tailor-made tuxedo, and he had literally stopped dead when he had
spotted her. He had looked her up and down with such heat in his
gaze that Kitty had been surprised she hadn’t melted on the
spot.

His voice had been very low and gravely when
he’d given her his most sinful smile.

“
You look utterly stunning, Kitty,
and good enough to eat.”

Before Kitty could respond, Stella had
appeared from the kitchen, clapped her hands and shooed them out of
the door to the waiting taxi.

“
Now you two have fun. I forgot to
mention that I’ve booked you in a suite at the hotel for the
weekend, so I’ll see you on Sunday at some point.”

Alex had chuckled all the way into the
wheelchair-adapted taxi, and Kitty had shaken her head at his
meddling mother.

“
She can’t help it. She’s always
been the same. I’m afraid she’s in full match-making mood, so we
had best do as she commands.”

Laughter had given way to sensual awareness
when Alex had cupped her chin and dropped a kiss on her lips.
Kitty’s heart had started hammering in her chest at the thought of
that hotel suite.

“
Penny for them.”

Alex’s deep voice made her smile. He had the
tickets in one hand and looked up at her with a slight frown on his
face.

“
Nothing to report, Alex, just not
looking forward to this ball thing.”

“
At least let’s go and have dinner.
I’m starving, and I have every intention of using up lots of
calories tonight.”

And he wheeled himself to the entrance of the
ball room to hand over the tickets to the smiling hotel employee,
who gave him an assessing look that made Kitty bristle. It gave
Kitty some small satisfaction to the see the woman’s face drop when
Kitty walked up, and Alex took her hand and kissed it.

“
Ready, baby?”

****

Alex shifted in his wheelchair, once again
cursing the damn thing. If he had to see Kitty in the arms of one
more man, he was going to break something. Call this dancing? More
like a glorified groping fest. None of the numerous men she had
danced with already seemed to be able to keep their hands to
themselves, but the bastard she was dancing with now really took
the biscuit. He’d been looking at Kitty all evening from across the
room when they were having dinner, his dark eyes mentally
undressing her. Alex knew that look only too well, and he was going
to take the bastard out with his wheels soon, if that hand of his
found itself one more time on Kitty’s backside.

“
Why hello, Alex. I thought I would
find you here.”

Alex spun around as fast as he could manage
and looked straight into Irene’s poisonous smile.