He tips his head and leans in to kiss me on the cheek.
‘Don’t be giving me a big head,’ he jokes, and I swear Meg beside me looks like she might need a fan to cool her down. ‘Did you enjoy the game?’
‘I enjoyed watching you, yes,’ I say, also enjoying the tease as poor Meg looks on. ‘I didn’t really see much more than that, to be honest.’
He blushes now a little and shoots me a look not to take it any further.
‘You’re such a sweet couple,’ Meg swoons, when David casually drapes his arm around my waist as he surveys the room and I stand beside him glowing with pride.
‘Thank you,’ I reply, looking up at his chiselled dark good looks and I make a wish that it could be like this all the time.
It should be, shouldn’t it? It really should be like this all the time. I lean my head on his arm and hope that it will be very soon.
DAVID
‘You’re a life-saver, thank you!’ I say to Kate the next morning when she brings me a pint of cold water and paracetamol to bed. ‘How could you possibly have known?’
She slides beneath the covers beside me, and the feeling of her skin on mine soothes my busting head already, but I need to hydrate quickly so I sit up and down the water with vigour.
‘I think watching you down those ghastly bright blue shots like you were a teenager last night gave me the foresight to look after you this morning,’ she says, kissing my shoulder. ‘It was a wonderful evening and I was so proud of you. Thanks for making me feel such a big part of it.’
I get a brief flashback of the drinks she is talking about and how we danced so closely under the flashing disco lights into the wee hours in the little sports hall, her arms entwined around my neck and mine round her waist. Part of me cringes when I realize how many of my colleagues were probably making notes when we became a bit too amorous. We couldn’t help it. The adrenaline from the rugby game, the drinks and the music and having Kate so relaxed by my side made everything so perfect.
‘It wouldn’t have been the same without you,’ I say, feeling the need to lie down again quickly. ‘I can’t believe how much the game managed to raise for charity.’
‘It was awesome, well done to all of you,’ Kate replies, running her fingers lightly along my arm. ‘The whole thing inspired me, to be honest, and it was so lovely to hear everyone singing your praises. They think the world of you round here.’
It’s nice to hear that from Kate. I smile in appreciation as she continues.
‘It also made me realize just how lucky we are on so many levels for everything we survived, David,’ she tells me softly. ‘But sometimes I feel like I should be doing more, you know, just in gratitude for having this wonderful second chance at life.’
I tuck her hair behind her ear, listening with intent to what she has to say. I know exactly what she means. Surviving an atrocity like we did makes you rethink everything in life and, once my initial anger after the bomb subsided, I’ve had many moments of gratitude where I feel very lucky to be alive, which is why doing charity work when I can feels so fulfilling.
‘What do you have in mind?’ I ask her with a smile. ‘A skydive? A bungee jump? A sponsored walk?’
She pauses and looks at me intently then lightly slaps my shoulder.
‘Ha-ha, no I’m thinking of something much more structured and long term,’ she tells me seriously now.
‘I know you are, I’m teasing.’
‘I’m a trained trauma nurse. Every day in work I see little children fight the biggest battles of their lives,’ she says, looking at the ceiling, ‘and I know that while we see how they heal on the outside, they have to heal so much on the inside too, so I’d love to help fund a way for them to do that, you know?’
I nod in agreement. I know the physical scars we both still bear are incomparable to the trauma in the minds of so many others who experienced the bomb that day.
‘I love the idea of planning something permanent, you know, to give something back in a way,’ I say to her. ‘Maybe we could do something together?’
She looks lost in thought and I can feel her energy rise as her plans start to shape up in her mind.
‘Sorry, what did you say?’ she asks when she catches me trying to read her mind.
‘Nothing, I’m just thinking along with you,’ I tell her, letting her go back to her own train of thought. ‘I know you’d lead a great campaign for trauma victims. You’d be perfect at it.’
Her eyes widen.
‘Silent Steps!’ she says. ‘How does that sound? You know, to represent the quiet little steps we take towards our future that say big things.’
‘Yes, Silent Steps,’ I whisper, and she looks at me in return as though she’s just won the lottery. ‘For sure.’
