I looked at his reflection. “You look great.”
He smiled back at me. “So do you. I’ve seen photos of you all dressed up, but I’ve never seen you . . . I mean, I don’t remember it.”
Jeans and a button-down shirt were hardly dressed up, but I guess to him it was when the only outfits he could remember were tracksuits and dirty work clothes. “My jeans are feeling a little tight, not gonna lie.”
I turned to check out my backside in the mirror and was reminded of all the running I hadn’t done in the last three months. Justin looked down at my legs and raked his eyes up my body. “Yeah, no. I reckon you fill them out just right.”
I laughed and gave him a quick kiss before I pulled on my boots, helped Juss with his, and grabbed our coats. I took the cane, which lived behind the front door, and Juss sighed but didn’t say anything. Squish was curled up on Juss’ blanket on the couch, so we left him in charge and made our way to the pub.
It was a quick drive, though when we got there, the car park was almost full and the walk to the pub was uneven. I handed him the walking cane, and he took it with a roll of his eyes. “I hate this,” he grumbled.
“You’d hate tripping or injuring your leg even more,” I replied. He took a few steps with it. “Does it hurt your arm to use it?”
“Nah. It’s okay. If I was sitting on the ground, I wouldn’t like to have to use my arm to get up, like to take all my weight, but like this it isn’t too bad.” He actually walked pretty good with the cane. He wasn’t gonna win any gold medals in a speed-walking contest, but that was okay with me.
I held the door for him and he gave me a cute smile as he walked in. “Thank you,” he said.
“You’re welcome,” I whispered back. I followed him, and once we were in the main bar area, he stopped.
“Do you know where they are?”
It occurred to me then that he had no memory of this place. He’d been here many times, but he’d lost all that. “There’s a bar out the back with tables and seats and a huge screen for the footy.”
“Ah.” He turned to the end of the bar area but didn’t move.
“This way,” I said, leading the way. It was busy. Not overcrowded but enough that people edged out of Justin’s way when they saw him with the cane to give him room to walk through.
Sure enough, Davo and Lauren and Sparra and his new girlfriend were seated at a round table with two spare seats. Davo gave us a wave when he saw us. “Hey,” he said. “Was wondering where you two were.”
“We’re not even late,” I said.
“Footy’s about to start.”
In about an hour, but whatever. “Then I better get to the bar,” I said, grinning. I said hello to Lauren and smiled at the new face. “Hi.”
Sparra stood up. He’d obviously put an effort into his appearance, and he even looked a little nervous. “Dallas, this is Carissa. And Justin. Carissa, my girlfriend.” He just about beamed at the word.
Carissa was short and curvy, with pastel pink hair and a stud in her nose. She had huge blue eyes and a killer smile. She stood and shook our hands. “Nice to meet you. Tony talks about you all the time.”
“Nice to meet you too,” I replied.
“Tony?” Justin asked. “Oh, Sparra’s real name. I forgot, sorry. What the hell kind of name is Tony?”
They all laughed, and I pulled out the seat next to Sparra for Juss and he sat down, hanging the cane handle over the edge of the table. “Okay, it’s my shout. What are we having?”
I took their orders and made my way to the bar, ordering for everyone. It was probably long overdue that I shouted these guys a few drinks. I tucked some menus under my arm and carried the tray of drinks back to the table. I got two Carlton Zeros for me and Juss. It was non-alcoholic but it looked and tasted like a beer, and I hoped it made Juss feel like he wasn’t missing out.
He took the bottle and shot me a look before reading the label. He gave it a sceptical once over, then took a sip. “I haven’t had beer in . . . well, I can’t remember having a beer in five years, and this actually tastes pretty good.”
Sparra clinked his bottle to Juss’ and said, “Cheers, mate. And it’s good to have you here.”
I sat between Juss and Davo and we chatted about the menus, and once everyone had decided, I went to the bistro counter and ordered and paid for that too.
“You don’t have to do that,” Davo said. He’d come with me to the service counter to collect the cutlery and condiments.
“I know. I want to. As thanks for what you and Sparra have done, but also as a bit of a celebration. This is Juss’ first time going out somewhere for a meal. Like to a restaurant type thing and to watch the footy. He usually falls asleep on the couch watching with me at home.”
“I wasn’t sure if you’d be here, given he didn’t have a real good day yesterday.”
“Yeah, he’s okay. He’s just no good if he bottles stuff up. His brain trips a circuit if he gets stressed. But we talked it out and he slept it off.”
“Good.” Then Davo nudged me. “Have you ever seen Sparra scrubbed up like that? He’s on his best behaviour. Showered and shaved and everything.”
I chuckled. “Ah, bless him. She seems nice.”
“He’s a goner already,” Davo said. “Smitten kitten.”
I snorted. “How’s Lauren? Keeping you in line, no doubt.”
“She’s great. She’s, uh . . .” He looked around, still holding a bunch of forks. “She’s pregnant. Six weeks. Don’t tell anyone. I’m not supposed to tell anyone.”
Holy shit. “Oh my God, Davo,” I tried to whisper. “That is such good news. The best news.”
He nodded, his smile proud. “Yeah, we’re pretty happy.”
I could see that. Man, that was just the kind of news we needed. Something wonderful to look forward to. “I’m really happy for you. And if you need any time off for appointments or whatever it is—” I waved a wad of serviettes. “—they do. You just say the word.”
He looked back over to the table, where Lauren was watching us. She sipped her lemonade, and with a smile, she shook her head. She knew he was telling me. I laughed and gave him a nudge. “You’re in trouble now.”
Davo hadn’t stopped smiling yet. “Always.”
We went back to our table and we finished our meals just before the footy started. “I better get some more drinks,” I said. “Juss, you want another or something else?”
“Yeah, I’ll have another one of these,” he said, draining the last of his bottle. He was all smiles and laughter, no alcohol required. He was just happy to be out and socialising with his friends. And it didn’t help that Carissa was also a Knights supporter.
My God, it made me happy to see him smiling like that.
And we watched the footy, and we laughed like we hadn’t in months. But it was loud and busy, and I could see Juss was getting tired. The noise had to be killing his head. I squeezed his thigh. “You ready to go?”
He gave me a nod. “Need to pee first.” He looked around. “Where’s the loo?”
I gave him his cane. “It’s just through those double doors on your left.” There was a small step into the bathrooms . . . “You know, I can show you.”
“I got him,” Sparra said. “Need to go shake a leg anyway.”
They walked off and I watched, of course. “He’ll be fine,” Davo said.
“Can’t help it,” I admitted. If he fell or got dizzy . . .
“He looks good, Dallas,” Lauren said. “Dave’s been keeping me up to date with how he’s going. Bit scary there for a while, huh?”
“Frightening,” I agreed. “But he’s getting better every day.”
“And his memory?” she asked, hopeful.
I shook my head. “Not much, snippets here and there. Nothing new this week. He can’t remember this place at all.”
She frowned. “I can’t even imagine.”
“To be honest, neither can I. I dunno what I’d do if it were me in his shoes,” I
admitted.
“You’d be right where he is, only it’d be him looking after you,” Davo said. “No questions asked.”
I almost smiled. “Probably. You should have seen his face when I told him I’m a Bulldog supporter. He was horrified.”
They were still laughing when Sparra and Juss came back. Juss didn’t sit down, so I stood. “You ready?”
He nodded and slow blinked. But he gave them a smiley wave. “I gotta tap out,” he said. He smiled to Carissa and Lauren. “Nice to meet you. And I’ll see you boys at work.”
After a round of goodbyes, we made our way back out through the bar. Juss was leaning on the cane more, evidence of his tiredness. “Wanna stay here and I’ll bring the ute closer?”
“Nah,” he said, still smiling. We made our way through the car park, real slow and steady, until we reached the ute. I opened his door for him and helped him get in, then got into my seat and helped him do up his seatbelt. “Had a real good day, Dall.”
I leaned over the console and gave him a quick kiss. “Me too, baby.”
He was asleep before we got out of the car park, and when we got home, he was too drowsy to climb the stairs. “I’ll carry you,” I said, helping him out of the car.
“Mm,” he said, clinging to my neck. “This way.”
“Okay, hold on,” I said, then put my hands on his arse and hoisted him up onto my hips, like a front-ways piggyback. “You gotta hold on, baby.”
He used his left arm to hold the back of my neck, but his right arm wasn’t much good, and his left leg went around me, but I had to be careful of his right leg. It wasn’t exactly easy, but step by step, I got him up the stairs and through the door. Except when I went to put his feet on the floor, he snuggled his face into my neck, hung on tighter, and refused to get down.
I thought about setting his arse on the kitchen counter, because it was closer, and then the couch, but it was too low. So I walked him into our room and gently lowered him onto the bed. He pulled me down with him and I had to be careful not to land on his leg or bump his head.
He was all smiles, his eyes closed, and he hooked his left leg around me and locked me on top of him. I was going to say something or kiss him or laugh, but he was already asleep.
Juss was pretty wiped for most of Sunday. I did a groceries run in the morning and we took a drive in the afternoon to the beach to soak up some rays. He took his scooter because the pathways at the beach were long-and-wide smooth concrete.
Justin opted for shorts because his legs were paler than pale, and spring was coming to Newcastle so the sun was warm, but I threw in a hoodie because the breeze off the Pacific still had some bite.
He didn’t care if people saw the scars on his leg. The fact he used a mobility scooter and had a huge scar down the side of his head kept them staring enough. But he was still in a good mood from yesterday.
“What have we got on this week?” he asked.
We were lying on a blanket on the grass before the sand, staring up at the bluest sky, holding hands. “Just a workday tomorrow, but Tuesday we have your physio appointment and then your session with Doctor Chang. We have to be there by eight. We can go out for breakfast before if you want, have some fancy eggs benny. Or after.”
“Sounds good.”
“Rest of the week is pretty normal. You got that scan next week though.”
He smiled at me before he turned back to the sky. “I hate that MRI machine. And they inject me with that stuff.”
“Just think, you’ve got this next scan appointment, then you’ve only gotta go in every two weeks instead.”
“Thank God.”
“And no more scans for another three months.” It was hard to believe it had been three months already . . .
He was quiet for a bit. “They say six months is about the cut-off,” he said. “For memories to come back. If they haven’t come back by then, chances are they’re not coming back.”
I squeezed his hand. “I wish I knew what to say, Juss. I know you want them back, and I hate that they were taken away. But we get to make new ones.”
“Like this? Lying here, holding hands, and staring at the sky?”
“Yep.”
“Is this like date number six or something? I think I’ve lost count.”
“We can go back to one if you want. Dinner, candles, a movie.”
He chuckled. “No. No more back-to-square-one bullshit. We can go with date number six, right?”
“Hell yes, we can.” I laughed. “We can do that tonight if you want. I bought steak for dinner. I’ll let you pick the movie.”
“Something funny.”
“Deadpool.”
“Dead-what?”
I laughed. “Oh, baby. You are in for a treat.”
We arrived at Justin’s physio appointment on Tuesday morning with his cane in hand. He wasn’t a fan of it, but it was easier to use and he was far more mobile now. This would also be his last weekly physio appointment, moving into the fortnightly slots with his other appointments. His MRI scheduled for next week meant no physio and Juss wasn’t mad about missing it. He did all his exercises regularly, and physically, he was doing great.
Doctor Chang was her usual happy self, pleased with all of Justin’s progress. He’d had no new memories this week, and she reassured us that that didn’t mean Justin wouldn’t recover any memories ever again. His focus was improving and his cognitive connections were too. Overall, he was improving every day. He told her about the newspaper article and how the insurance was a relief. Then he mentioned what he’d read online about the likelihood of getting dementia, and with a reassuring smile, Doctor Chang had discussed medical research and reassured him with facts and statistics.
He was relieved; I could tell by the set of his shoulders. When we sat at the café and ordered our brunch, I gave his hand a squeeze. “Feeling better now?”
He smiled but rolled his eyes. “Yes, but it’s still not fair that you know everything I’m thinking just by looking at me.”
I laughed. “Wanna know what else I know?”
“What’s that?”
“That it’s been a week. We should be getting our full clinic test results back today or tomorrow.”
His smile widened and his left eyebrow shot up. “Now that is good news. Well, if we get a green light, it’s good news. If they tell me I need more tests and I need to wait longer, then that will be bad news, and . . .” His eyes shot to mine, panicked. “Dall, what if they tell me—”
I squeezed his hand firmly. “Then we do whatever they tell us to do, and if we have to wait, we wait.” I gave him a nudge. “Not that we’ve exactly abstained anyway. And the rapid testing is usually the only tests a lot of people do. We were just being extra cautious.”
He hummed as he sipped his decaf, then cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. “Do you think the mail will have been delivered by now?”
I chuckled and checked my watch. “Yep.”
Juss looked around for the waitress. “Where the hell is our food?”
I laughed, and admittedly, we ate our meals pretty quick. I managed not to speed on the way home, though my mind was now on one thing . . .
We were only a block from the shop when my phone rang. The call from work came through my Bluetooth. “Hello?” I answered.
“Hey, Dall.” It was Davo. “How far away are you?”
“Just around the corner. Why?”
“Someone’s here to see Jusso. Pretty sure he’s not gonna like it.”
I frowned and Juss looked at me, worried. What the fuck? “Davo, we’re just pulling in.” I ended the call and turned into the shop, driving around the back. There was an old silver car in the customer parking, but I didn’t recognise it.
I pulled up around the back and helped Juss out of the ute. Davo met us at the roller door. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know what to say. She’s in the breakroom and wouldn’t leave until you got back.”
She . . .
We wen
t inside, Juss using his cane and me close by his side. And sure enough, like a bad, bad dream, sat the one person who could topple everything. With her emotionless eyes and forced smile, the bitch didn’t even stand up.
Juss froze. “Mum?”
Chapter Seven
“What are you doing here?” Juss asked warily. He was barely in the doorway, a safe distance from his mother. Janet had short dark-brown greying hair, hard eyes, and her lips were pressed into a constant thin line. She wore some hideous grey tracksuit pants and white sneakers that looked plastic. Her sweater was pink, and also hideous, but the look on her face . . . her contempt made her fake smile a sneer.
“Thought I’d come and see you. Rebecca told me about the accident.” She looked him up and down, giving the walking cane a once over. “You seem okay now.”
I bristled, and maybe I growled because both Juss and his mother looked at me. I was too angry to speak.
“I see you’re still . . . ,” she said, waving her hand to the both of us, her fake smile tight and uneasy.
“Still gay, still together,” I bit out. “Shall we just go with whichever one you hate the most?”
She sneered, but Juss put his hand on my arm. “I got this.”
She shot me a satisfied smirk, and I wanted to pull her off that chair and throw her the fuck out of my shop.
Juss limped in and pulled out a chair. He gently lowered himself into it and kept his cane between his legs. I stood in the doorway with my arms crossed, and Justin smiled up at me before patting the chair next to him. “Sit with me, Dall.”
Janet’s smirk died, and at least that made me smile. Juss turned back to his mother. “I’m still not sure what you’re doing here,” he said. “The accident was three months ago.”
“Becca said you needed time to recover,” she said, as if that was a justifiable excuse.
“I almost died,” he said, turning his head and pointing to his scar. “It’s called traumatic brain injury. I was in hospital for weeks and you never even called.”
“I know we didn’t leave on very good terms last time,” she began.
Pieces Of Us: Missing Pieces Series, Book Three Page 7