Love's Dilemma (Sixty Minute Romance) (8 page)

Clair did have a full in-tray which she walked around
with, trying to get other people to deal with. She was able to sort out some of
the simple paperwork and send out a few letters and invoices. Strangely, being
back to work, made her feel a lot better. It must have been to do with routine
and returning to her life before the accident.

On Wednesday afternoon Sandy rang Clair at work to arrange
visiting Max later on. She was crying and laughing at the same time again, a
regular thing in the last four days.

“I think Max is back! He just phoned me and he sounded
like his old self. Then a nurse took the phone from him and told him he was a
naughty boy and wasn’t allowed to use a phone.” Clair was relieved and also
somewhat fearful of what they might find when they visited him. She was wise to
worry and be concerned.

When they arrived they saw Max being wheeled on a
hospital bed from a ward with five other patients in. He was being taken back
to his own private room. Max was wearing a crimson coloured T-Shirt with the
words “I’m Alive” printed on it in white.

“I want to stay in the ward!” Max was complaining.

“You had your chance; you can’t go upsetting other
patients like that.” The huge matronly nurse was walking alongside the bed to
ensure that Max would cause no further trouble. Sandy and Clair wondered what
had been going on.

“Hi Clair, Hi Sandy.” Max spotted them at the entrance
to the corridor. He was grinning from ear to ear. The matronly nurse looked up
at Sandy and Clair.

“Who are you?” She demanded in a thunderous voice.

“I’m Max’s sister. Sandy and this is his girlfriend,
Clair.” Sandy replied.

“Girlfriend? I didn’t know I had a girlfriend. Wow you
look hot! Are you really my girlfriend? What is your name?” Max’s brain was not
damaged in the way that the medical profession would diagnose it. But his free
spirit and love of life on the edge made it seem like he was a little bit
crazy.

“Be quiet young man!” The nurse demanded.

“I suggest you give me five minutes to tie this patient
down. Then you can see him.” Sandy and Clair were not quite sure what the
‘Tie
this patient down’
part meant. They didn’t think you were allowed to do
that. A few seconds later they heard the tying down process take place. It
involved a severe telling off from the large nurse for his behaviour in the
ward and a threat of what might happen to him if he didn’t start behaving
properly. Everything in the room went quiet. Then the nurse came out of Max’s
room and she looked at Sandy and Clair.

“Someone needs to control that boy!” The nurse looked
accusingly at the girls and then stormed off in search of her next victim.

They went into Max’s room to find out what had
happened. Max was sitting up in bed looking like he was king of all he
surveyed. His hair was just beginning to grow and it looked like the soft coat
of a mink. Sandy laughed with relief at the sight of him and gave him a kiss
and half a hug. All the wires and pipes made it hard to hug him properly. Clair
also gave him a kiss on the cheeks. The three of them were silent for about two
seconds as they all looked at each other. No one wanted to speak first.
Inevitably it was Max who broke the silence.

“Have you ever had a bed bath?” He asked.

Sandy and Clair looked at each other with fear and
trembling.

“Tell us what happened Max.” Sandy sat down to hear the
story of Max and the bed bath. Clair wasn’t sure if the story should have a
‘parental warning’ on it and listened in nervously.

“Well I asked to be moved to a ward where there were
other people. I was bored out of my mind. They put me in this ward with loads
of old guys who were nearly dead.”

“Max!”

“Well OK. They are very ill. None of them spoke or did
anything except groan occasionally. So I decided to try and stir things up a
bit. The trouble was that at this moment two nurses came up to my bed and
started closing the curtains around me. It was a bit spooky. They told me that
I needed a bath. I thought this was a bit rude but I admitted that I haven’t
been at my best in the last week. Then these two young nurses introduced me to
the concept of a bed bath. Have you ever heard of a bed bath? It’s amazing.”

Sandy and Clair listened in closer to hear what Max
made of this first bed bath. They were both fearful of what might have occurred
but keen not to miss out any details.

“Anyway, these two young girls proceeded to undress me,
they are like my own age, and it was amazing. If they were not at work I could
ask them out for a date, present company accepted of course. Anyway, by the
time they have got me naked, I started play acting about what they are doing to
me. These nurses are so cool. They just kept going with my naked body and
cleaning everything. And I mean everything! They changed all the bedding at the
same time. I’m shouting out things like,
“A little bit lower”
and “
Yes!
That’s the spot”
much to my amusement. These nurses just kept on going without
a murmur. Then I shouted out.
“That’s you done, it’s your turn now”
.
This upset one of the nearly dead guys in the ward and he shouted out
“Stop
it!”
I think I nearly did kill him. The nurses finished my first ever bed
bath and then the big mama nurse turned up.”

Sandy looked at Max. Max looked at Sandy.

“It’s so good to have you back, Max. I thought I had
lost you.”

“It’s great to be back, although I have no idea what
happened to me. I can remember up to the fantastic snog I had with Clair in the
pub car park. Next thing I know, I’m all tied up like a trussed chicken in this
place.”

This was not the time to share with Max what had
happened. Clair had sat back watching Sandy and Max together. She felt like she
was a bit of an intruder today. This reunion was for them alone. She watched as
they continued talking about old times and even about their parents’ death. It
was very personal to them and she felt like she was an invader. Her mind
wandered and she started to dream about how things might have been if Max
hadn’t been mown down by that car.

She was brought back to her senses by Max’s voice.

“Hey dreamboat, are you thinking about our next date?”

Clair was so preoccupied that she said nothing in
return. She just looked at the pair of them and stood up. She very briefly
kissed Max on the lips and made to leave.

“I’ll be back later. I just want to walk around and get
some air. And yes, I was dreaming about you.” Clair whispered to Max. She left
the room and went over to the coffee shop in reception. She ordered a black
coffee and sat down at a window table. Her mind was spinning with weird
thoughts. Her heart was jumping around and pounding with emotions she had never
felt before.

The mix was so potent that Clair did not know what to
do with it all. She went through all the times she had been with Max. There had
not been many times. She tried to analyse what she was thinking and what she
was feeling each time they had been together. She was getting nowhere. She took
her smartphone out of her bag and started looking at her messages and her
Facebook page. There was a whole world out there who knew nothing about the
turmoil going on inside Clair this evening. Everyone else was living their
lives as if everything was fine. She put her smartphone away and looked into
space. Sandy came to find her and joined her with a coffee of her own. They sat
quietly together for two or three minutes. Eventually Clair spoke.

“I wanted you two to have time on your own. I felt like
I was in the way.”

“Clair? Please look at me Clair. The very fact that you
even think like that makes you an amazing person. We did need to catch up with
each other. That was a once in a lifetime moment I had with Max. So thank you.
I can’t think of anyone who would have worked that out except perhaps Anne.
Now, what about you and Max? My brother would really like to know.”

Clair did her silent thing for a few seconds while
looking deeply into Sandy’s eyes.

”I am falling in love with Max, but he is a challenge
to be with. I can’t decide if I am up for the fight. Is that a dreadful thing
to say? Does that make any sense?” Clair voiced her inner concerns straight
out. She knew that Max was different to her. She was so straight laced and old
fashioned. He was free spirited and dangerous. How come they got on so well
together?

“I am his sister. I understand completely.” Sandy
understood Clair’s point of view.

“So what should I do?” Clair felt awkward asking Max’s
sister this.

“Tell Max. Tell Max exactly what you have just told me,
tell him the truth. He can take it. And then just see how things work out
between you, like any other boy girl thing.”

Clair nodded and stood up.

“I’m going in!”

“I’ll wait here for ten minutes and then find you.”
Sandy gave Clair a little wave, safe and secure that she had said the right
thing.

Clair made her way back to Max’s room. She looked through
the glass to see that his eyes were closed. She strode into the room boldly.

She said nothing but started closing the curtains
around the bed. Max opened his eyes with a start.

“What are you doing?” Max asked, somewhat perplexed.

“You need another bed bath!”

“No!”

Max nearly screamed out in embarrassment and they both
fell together laughing.

“Whew, I thought you were serious for a minute there.”

“I might be one day.” Clair teased him.

Chapter Eleven – A Long Road – Two Months Later

Clair’s love of singing had been forgotten by everyone
except Anne. About two months after the accident Clair received a call from
Anne asking if she was up for singing with her new band. The new band was
formed and rehearsing and she had just got the first gigs booked. Was she and
Jo interested in joining them?

Clair’s heart did its usual hop skip and a jump at the
possibility of performing while she considered Anne’s offer.

“Hello? Are you there?” Anne didn’t know about the not
speaking on the phone thing that Clair did.

“Oh, yes. I’m here. I had forgotten about singing
completely.” Clair realised the truth of this. She hadn’t sung for two months.
Not even on her own.

“Well how about it? You would be great as a lead
singer.” Anne was trying to push hard to land Clair as her band’s singer.

“I’ll check with Jo. She’s pretty busy with her mum and
things. I would love to sing. Now I think about it, I really am missing it.” Clair
was thinking on her feet. They agreed to speak in a few days’ time.

Jo was almost angry with Clair that she hadn’t said yes
straightaway. It was Jo’s second chance to sing and perform on stage. She was
ready even if Clair wasn’t.

After two more rehearsals and a rough practice run at
The
George and Dragon
, they were ready for the first proper gig. Gail, Jo and
Clair really made a great show of the Motown songs and other soul classics they
played. The promoter booked them immediately for two more gigs later on in the
month. It was to the last of these gigs that Max came. It was his first foray
back into the land of the living.

It was not a grand entrance as he was being wheeled
around in a hospital wheelchair. But he looked pleased to be out. Sandy was a
complete mess and didn’t care who noticed. Clair had prepared a song for him.
His hair was now about an inch long very evenly over his whole head. He looked
like a hedgehog. He was wearing a yellow T-shirt with ‘Don’t Push Me’ printed
on it in Black. Because he was in a wheelchair and on special leave from his
hospital bed he was given a place to watch at the front.

“I’ve got a song for you tonight. I’ve prepared it
specially.” Clair said enticingly.

“Really? What song is it?” Max was smiling and a little
overcome.

“You’ll have to wait and see.”

The set of songs went down well and the expected encore
was demanded by a noisy audience. Clair came forward to the front of the stage.
Anne struck up a few opening chords to introduce ‘The First Time Ever I Saw
Your Face’. Clair launched into a slightly upbeat version of the classic song.
This sounds impossible to do an upbeat version, but Clair managed it anyway.
Sandy was already a mess anyway, she held back nothing. Max quickly joined her
and held onto her as if his life depended on it.

Aaron held on tight to Cora pretending to keep his
emotions inside, while Cora freely let a few loud wails in the moment. Clair
sang her heart out with tears freely running down her cheeks. The rest of the
audience sensed that something more was going on with this performance than
normal, and stood in appreciation at the end. Clair left the front of the stage
and kissed Max passionately. He was slightly limited by being in a wheelchair
but made a good job of responding to Clair’s wonderful performance. The relief
and joy on everyone’s hearts was palpable.

Chapter Twelve - Finale

Sandy had planned her Maldives holiday with Anne many
months ago. Now that it had arrived and they were due to fly out this evening,
the issue of looking after Max had finally been resolved. Max was going to stay
with the Holding family and Cora would liaise with the nurses and other medical
staff, to make sure that Max was looked after properly.

Max was nearly mobile now and was walking most of the
time with crutches. Sometimes he was forced to use a wheelchair but he hated
it. Walking was better. He left leg was now considered fit. His ribcage was
better, if a bit sore on some days. His internal injuries were now recovered
fully. His right leg had taken a lot of work and a fair bit of metalwork to
repair in the knee and hip. This was a long term injury that had to be worked
with over the next year to make it good. There was a long road for Max to
follow to get back to full fitness. He would never run again, but walking
should not be a problem. He had to take a cup full of pills each day for
various ailments and issues with his body.

Clair and Max had definitely become an item over the
last seventeen weeks. They had sat for hours and talked and joked with each
other. Clair had nearly got used to the outrageous things he said. She could
even guess when he was serious and when he was joking. More than that, Clair
had stopped fighting the way Max was, and started to enjoy it. She loved Max
and loved being with him.

Max had overstayed his welcome at the hospital due to
the fact that he didn’t have a home of his own. It was Cora who came up with
the idea of having him stay with them for a few months while he needed meals
provided and regular physiotherapy visits from the rehabilitation staff. So
Clair had her new boyfriend ensconced in the small back garden lounge. He would
be living with her in her house for the foreseeable future.

Aaron Holding had set up a strict
‘No nookie’
rule
for Max and Clair. Max asked him at the outset to define the limits of this new
house rule. Aaron fortunately realised just in time that he was joking, before
saying anything too embarrassing.

“You will know you have stepped over the line when I
throw you out on your backside, young man!” Aaron had come to like Max over the
last few months. But he didn’t fully trust him with his favourite and only
daughter. Clair liked the new rule but found it hard to stick to some days. Max
was what Jo called
‘Deelish’
. She sometimes felt like eating him alive.
She could find out more about Max in due time. For now a good kiss and a cuddle
gave her time to settle in to life with Max.

On departure day for the Maldives, Sandy said goodbye
to Max and Clair. It was a huge relief, that she could set her mind on her
holiday of a lifetime in the Maldives. She didn’t need to look after Max
anymore. Max and Clair watched Sandy and Anne’s taxi drive off. They kept
waving even though they had lost sight of the taxi. Then they closed the front
door.

“Who is going to look after me now?” Max asked.

“I will, if you will let me.” Clair responded
immediately.

“I was hoping you would say that.” Max was at home and
at peace.