came into my mind. I loved Leo’s sense of humour.
‘You’ve set him off now.’ Scorpio grinned.
Leo grabbed his drinks and threw me one. I was laughing too hard to catch it. It fell on my lap. The cold tin shut me up. I grabbed the can off my thighs.
‘Good job it was just your legs that were blown off.’ Leo looked pointedly at my pants.
‘I know. Although, even if anything else had blown off, it would still be bigger than yours,’ I replied, laughing when he squirted his mouthful of lager over Scorpio.
‘Mate…!’ Scorpio chuckled, wiping it off his face.
‘Least I’ll get all the girls now,’ Leo said.
‘Not when they see me walking on three stumps, you won’t,’ I replied.
Chapter Nine
The sun caressed my bare arms. I let the corners of my lips curl into my cheeks as I closed my eyes. It was the first day I felt able to go out of the house. Natalie pushed me down the street as I savoured the feel of the air on my skin.
‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ she asked.
I nodded without replying. We had worked together for a whole week. I enjoyed spending time with her but she kept me at a professional distance. I was grateful. My moods were all over the place.
‘I need to see them,’ I replied, opening my eyes when I instinctively knew that the fire station had come into sight.
‘There he is!’ one of my colleagues called.
They were waiting outside for me. Natalie must’ve let them know we were coming. They ran up to me as we drew nearer.
‘Bloody hell, how big are your arm muscles!’
‘You’re looking well, son.’
The greetings were positive. None of them showed how bad they really felt. They had asked to visit me in hospital but I hadn’t allowed them to.
‘It’s good to see you,’ I said as my boss pushed his way through the small crowd.
He shook his head at me and pointed at my stumps. ‘I keep thinking if I had just pulled you back.’
‘I saved them, didn’t I?
He nodded as a tear came to his eye.
‘If I still had my legs, two women would have died that day.
The realisation hit me as the words left my mouth. Natalie squeezed my shoulder, and for the first time, I was happy that she was there.
‘Did the other person survive?’ I asked.
‘There wasn’t anyone else in the building. You’re no hero, Aries. You’re stupid,’ my boss said.
He leant down and hugged me to his chest, thumping my back.
‘I may be stupid but at least I’m still good looking.’ I chuckled. There wasn’t anyone in the building? I had lost my legs for nothing? I swallowed the rising heat. I wanted to enjoy my time with my former colleagues.
He stepped away and shook his head at me. ‘Still as cocky as ever, eh?’
He spoke to Natalie. She must have nodded her agreement, because he grinned at her. I breathed though the revelation. There was no point in hanging onto something that couldn’t be changed.
‘When are you getting new legs? Are you going to get them springy ones?’ one of the lads asked.
‘I’m going to be fitted with something called ITAP. They’re going to insert the metal into the bone in my thighs and have the attachment sticking out here.’ I pointed at the end of my stub. ‘I’ll be able to attach different types of prosthetics without the risk of infection. Also, I won’t get sore and should be able to walk around all day.’
‘That sounds amazing!’
‘Is it hard now, though? As you’re waiting?’
I nodded, keeping the smile on my face. When I worked with them, we had mucked around, like men do. They were like my second family.
‘Yeah, I wish I could come back to work,’ I replied, looking at my boss.
He ruffled my hair and went back to work, keeping his head bent as he walked away. I could tell that he struggled to see me in a wheelchair. He had trained me well and had hoped that I would take over from him one day. I had always wanted to drive the truck and be in charge of the oxygen.
‘We’ve got to go,’ Natalie
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