Since the night at the pub, he’d been worrying about his mum, but he’d also felt a part of his sympathy going to Bess after she told him the whole truth about why she got so wasted. He’d gone over to her house to make sure she knew how serious this was with Marianne, that he didn’t want her to have a slip and start drinking again. But he’d left discombobulated because watching Bess struggle to tell him what she’d been hiding, the mess she’d got herself into, he’d realised he wasn’t only worried about his mum; he was worried about her. And that meant he was falling for her on a much deeper level than simply finding her attractive and wanting to take her out to dinner. And it was scary. He didn’t do relationships. He asked women out; they never lasted very long – sometimes they ended it or he did when it ran its course. He got the feeling that if Bess ever let him take her out on a date, it would work very differently for both of them.
Gio had only just closed the door on Aysha when his phone chimed with an incoming FaceTime call. It was his brother.
‘You’re smiling,’ Marco noted. He’d been busy for a couple of days with work, the kids, and the last contact Gio had had was a brief text to say they’d talk soon. And that had been in response to a rather long rant via voice message.
‘What’s wrong with that?’
‘Going by your voice message the other day, I expected you tobe crying. Good to see you’re accepting the doctor’s appointment for what it was – not great but not shite either.’
‘You’ve such a way with words.’
‘Look, it wasn’t a flat out no about ever returning to full duties, and sometimes that is the case.’
‘So I should count myself lucky?’
‘You’re allowed to be angry, frustrated, but try to keep positive as well.’
‘I’m trying, but it’s hard sometimes.’
‘I know.’
The fact he did the same job made Gio feel more like he was missing out on some days when he heard his brother talk about the fire station, a shout they’d been on. But on the flip side, Marco understood his pain better than anyone, even the doctors. Marco understood what Gio’s job meant to him.
Gio recapped on the sledging incident, the rescue of the young boy.
‘How did it feel?’ Marco asked.
‘Bloody fantastic to be outside in the fresh air.’
‘I didn’t mean that, I meant helping the young boy.’
‘Why do you think I’m not moaning so much right now? It felt good to help, good to not feel entirely useless.’
‘So dramatic,’ Marco laughed.
‘What if I’m confined to a desk forever? I’m not sure I could take it.’
‘Like I said… dramatic.’ But the ribbing didn’t last. ‘Remember when I broke my arm and was on desk duty for a month?’
‘I’d forgotten. I bet you hated it.’
‘Of course I did. I’m not gonna lie. I was bored out of my skull.’
‘Not helping me, bro. Did you call hoping to cheer me up?’
‘I called to tell you to buck up. Grow a pair. Whatever.’
He knew he had to, but knowing he should and actually doing it were different things.
‘I did admin when I was desk bound,’ Marco went on. ‘But there are other things. Training new recruits, for a start. One of the crew here had an op on his ankle; he’s part of the recruitment and training process now.’
‘Watching other guys gear up to do the job I want to do is hardly therapy,’ Gio grumbled.
Marco didn’t speak straight away, but when he did, he told it how he saw it. ‘Gio, you can either feel sorry for yourself and become that guy that is so miserable, nobody wants to be around him or you can find a distraction for a while. Sounds like you did that yesterday. I wouldn’t recommend hurling yourself down any more steep inclines on a sledge but sitting at home all day every day will drive you batshit crazy.’
They talked for almost an hour. Gio tentatively brought Marianne into the conversation threads, despite Marco’s reservations about trusting her again. And by the time he ended the call to answer the door, Gio had to admit that he was beginning to see the light, albeit one that wasn’t quite glowing yet.
And his mood improved another notch when he found Bess standing on his doorstep.
