“Did you use a crutch and then a stick for a while?”
River nodded.
“How long since you’ve not used anything?”
River held up two gloved fingers.
“Two weeks?”
River nodded.
“Wow. Then you’re doing well. You’ll be chasing seagulls pretty soon.”
The sun came out, cheering River’s success, as they finally reached the frill of foam at the water’s edge. The waves crashed down onto the sand, running in a long way until they fizzled out with a hiss and drew back. He marvelled at the colour of the water. Under full sunlight, it looked just as enticing as any tropical sea. Then the sun went in and that was no longer true. He found himself smiling and when he registered Newt was looking at him, he wiped the smile away.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Newt said. “Awesome and scary at the same time. If I didn’t think my toes would fall off, I’d go for a paddle.”
Really?Newt was shivering. That jacket was useless. He was irritated that Newt not being suitably dressed was spoiling his enjoyment.Oh fuck, listen to me. I’m such an arsehole.But why wasn’t he in decent gear? Had Max just told him to pack a bag fast? He knew he only had one bag because he’d seen it in the hall when he’d come down for lunch the day Newt had arrived.I can’t even fucking ask him if he wants to go back to wherever he’s come from and get some more stuff. If hecango back.
“Uh oh. We need to run. This wave is going to swamp us.”
River turned round, set off back up the beach and stumbled. If Newt hadn’t caught his arm and kept him upright, he’d have fallen. Newt hurried him on, laughing as the wave came closer and closer to their heels. Finally, they were safe and Newt let him go.
“Usually, I’d say no running until you can walk,” Newt said. “No dancing until you can skip. No flying unless you grow wings. My three rules. But no getting caught in a tsunami is in there too. That was close.”
River concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and by the time he was back to the promenade in front of the line of beach huts, he felt more stable. Still limping but maybe not quite as badly. He should walk more often, not use the treadmill. There were plenty of routes in the area around the house.
Though by the time they’d reached the car, he’d changed his mind. He was shattered. He’d not felt so tired for a long time. Not just physically, mentally tired too.
“Sorry,” Newt said. “I’ve made you do too much.” He started the engine and turned up the heater.
He hadn’t made him do too much. Well maybe he had, but River had wanted to do it. He took off the hat and scarf. Newt had to help him out of the coat. When he struggled to fasten his seat belt, Newt had to do it for him, much to River’s embarrassment.
“We can do this again, whenever you like. Maybe if I pull up a map on my phone, you can point to where you’d like to go.”
River nodded, but he doubted he could. He was pretty sure he’d recognise a map of the UK, but no way could he point out towns.
“I’ve foundhomeon the guidance system but I’m not going to find you have another place in Finland or somewhere?”
River shook his head and smiled.You’re funny.
“Doesn’t seem much wrong with your comprehension, but there was at first.”
River nodded.
“That must have been horrible. Bad enough not to be able to speak or write but much worse not being able to understand what was being said to you. Global aphasia.”
So he did know what he was dealing with and wasn’t some guy Max had plucked off the street.
“But it’s not that now. When you regain comprehension, it changes from global aphasia to Broca’s aphasia, or expressive aphasia.”
Well, whoopy do, Mr Know-it-all.But that was news to River.
“Still shit,” Newt said. “But it’s a sign you’re getting better. You should start to find the right words coming out ofyour mouth, but not always, so don’t get despondent. Managing to produce fluent, grammatically correct sentences will come in time but you’ll probably start with short phrases. The important thing is that you’ll be understood. Think how much you’ll enjoy telling me to do more thanfuck off.Maybe you can masterget stuffedorget lostor evenfuck off, dickhead.”
“Fuck off.” River hid his smile when Newt laughed.
“Want to call and get fish and chips?”
