FOUR YEARS LATER
"Is that everything, Steve?" his mother asked.
"Yeah I think so," Steve said as he wheeled himself out of his flat and to the waiting lift.
"Me and your Dad can always bring anything you've forgotten," his mum said as they descended to the ground.
Outside, Steve's father was loading the car with the belongings that Steve had packed for his trip. Steve's wheelchair would be the last thing to be packed.
"You ready?" Steve's father asked Steve who was in the back seat for the journey.
"Yeah," replied Steve.
"Then let's go," his dad replied before starting the engine.
They were headed to The Grove, a rehabilitation centre for injured police officers three hours away. They offered physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, psychotherapy and a whole load of other therapies as both outpatient or inpatient for members of the force.
Steve had recently been injured in the line of duty, being thrown down some stairs by an assailant. Amongst other injuries he'd broken his back. His mobility was severely limited at present, being restricted to a wheel chair, although with therapy the doctors believed he would be able to walk again.
After searching different facilities with his parents, they had found The Grove which the Arnott family thought the best option for Steve. He would be an inpatient for twelve weeks for an intensive course to get him on his feet again.
Steve was sat in the back of his parents car in silent contemplation as his parents chatted away in the front. This was his only chance at getting his full mobility back. He couldn't fail otherwise he was going to have to kiss his job goodbye.
His stay in hospital had triggered memories about the last time he had been in the same building. Kate had been the patient then and not him.
He'd done his best to get over her but somehow still had thought about her daily. Where was she? What was she doing with her life now? Those thoughts were getting more frequent after dealing with his own assault. He'd tried starting a couple of relationships with other women, but none had succeeded and was now pretty much reconciled to a life alone.
It wasn't long before the car was heading up the sweeping drive to the large Grade 2 listed building that would be Steve's home for the next three months.
It may have looked old on the outside, but inside it was ultra modern. The bedroom that Steve had been allocated was on the ground floor due to him being in a wheelchair. Nearly everything in it could be operated from his smart phone once an app had been downloaded, the only exception being the adjustable bed that was remote controlled.
"Posher than Hendon, isn't it?" Mr Arnott noted, remembering the basic room they had left their son in to begin his police training.
"Well times have moved on , Dad," Steve replied. Hendon had been nearly twenty years ago now.
"You're going to be ok, aren't you?" Mrs Arnott said as they prepared to leave. She knew she was being a little overprotective, but it hadn't been that long ago that she had faced the possibility their son might not make it.
"I'll be fine, Mum," Steve promised. "I'll call every day, to let you know how I'm getting on,".
"Maybe we come and see you some weekends?" Mrs Arnott asked hopefully. Steve's treatment would happen during the week, leaving his weekends free.
"Maybe," Steve replied hesitantly. He didn't want to appear as a bit of a Mummy's boy to the other residents.
The next day was when Steve met his therapists. His first was to the rehabilitation physician who reviewed Steve's scans and developed his rehab programme. The next was with Abi the senior physio.
"We'll usually meet in the gym or the pool," Abi explained, "but this first meeting is in my examination room," she explained before assessing Steve and how best to deliver his therapy.
The last meeting was going to be with the psychotherapist but not until the afternoon so Steve headed to the communal area for the patients.
It was the other side of the building and had a TV and chairs, a snooker table and other games as well as a little kitchenette area where patients could socialise with each other.
The room was empty when Steve wheeled himself in as everyone else was probably with a therapist so he decided to watch a bit of TV.
He had just selected a channel when he thought he heard a noise and turned to see what it was. He couldn't see anything so continued to watch the TV until he heard it again.
Curious, Steve pushed himself around the room in his chair to see what it was. It wasn't long before he saw a little boy dressed in a Spider-Man suit, hiding behind a door. It was a little unusual to see a child in the building but Steve presumed he had probably got lost whilst visiting someone. He should try and help getting him back to his parents. But how to do it? The child obviously thought he couldn't be seen and Steve decided to play along.
"I thought I heard something," he said out loud. "Must be mistaken," he continued and heard the little boy giggle at his perceived cunning. "Shame," Steve continued, "I was going to share my sweets if it was someone,".
That did the trick in luring the child out. "It's me!" the little boy declared as he appeared behind the door. "I'm here. I was hidin'!" he shouted. "What sweets have you got?" he asked exuberantly before running over to Steve.
Except he tripped and face planted in to the floor. There was silence for a nanosecond until the little boy realised he'd hurt himself at which point he started crying.
Shit! Thought Steve. He hadn't intended the little boy get hurt.
"Oh mate," Steve said as he wheeled himself over to the crying child. "Have you hurt yourself?" he asked.
The little boy looked up and Steve could see that he'd bitten his lip in his fall. His bottom lip was swollen and bleeding.
Steve reached down and lifted the child on to his lap before heading to the kitchen area. He wet a piece of kitchen roll before pressing it against the child's lip to try and stop the bleeding.
"I don't think you've done too much damage," Steve told the child who was sniffing and wiping his tears on the back of his hand. There was something vaguely familiar about the child's features but he pushed it to one side. "Shall we go find your Mummy?" he suggested.
The little boy nodded.
"Where is she?".
"Don't know," the boy admitted.
"Are you visiting someone?" Steve asked instead.
"No," the boy replied. "Ben got the chicken pox so I couldn't play with him so I had to come to work with Mummy," he explained as if Steve knew exactly what and who he was talking about. "Abi was looking after me but then I saw a doggy and followed him. I think I'm lost,".
Steve recognised the name of the physio amongst the boy's reply so decided to head to the gym. "Let's go find Abi then,".
"I can't," the boy said. "Mummy said I shouldn't go off with strangers,".
"Your Mummy is right," Steve admitted. "I'm Steve. I'm a police officer and my job is to help people-,".
"My Daddy helps people," the boy interrupted. "He's like Spider-Man!" He boasted proudly.
"Wow!" replied Steve, wondering exactly what this child's father did. "That's some Dad you've got!". The little boy smiled with pride. "So what's your name?".
"Josh,".
"Hi Josh," Steve said. "We're not strangers anymore are we?". Josh shook his head. "Shall we go find Abi?". Josh nodded. "You ok to keep sitting on my lap?". Josh nodded again.
"Why can't you walk?" Josh asked bluntly as Steve started wheeling the pair in the direction of the gym . It was the question that Steve dreaded being asked, but coming from a child it didn't seem so bad.
"I had an accident," Steve answered. "I'm here to get better and learn to walk again," he admitted as the chair rolled down a small slope.
Steve was still getting used to the wheelchair and it picked up a bit of speed before he was able to apply the breaks.
Josh smiled. "That was fun. Can we do it again?" he asked.
"You're a little dare devil aren't you?," Steve teased Josh. "Your Mummy will tell me off if we go much faster,".
"She won't!" Josh replied confidently.
"I think she's already going to be mad at me that you've got a bruised lip," Steve replied, not sure how the woman was going to react when she saw her son's swollen and bleeding lip.
"It was a accident," Josh reminded him as they rolled down another slope. "Faster 'teve!" Josh commanded.
"Maybe another time," Steve replied. "We're at the gym,".
"Oh," replied Josh a little disappointed.
As Steve wheeled in to the gym he found everyone in a bit of a panic, clearly looking for Josh.
Abi spotted him on Steve lap, first. "Kate!" she yelled. "He's here!".
Josh's mum came running out of a room at her friends words. She saw her son on someones lap before looking at the face of the stranger who had found Josh.
Steve locked eyes with Josh's mother at the same time as the mother looked at him.
"Fuck!" he couldn't help but exclaim as he saw a very familiar face from his past.