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‘It’s a deal.’ Now all Alistair had to do was to think of something that would make the prosthetic more acceptable to Anya. And he needed to think quickly, for both Raina’s and Anya’s sakes.
CHAPTER SIX
‘I’VE HAD AN IDEA.’ Alistair didn’t bother with a Hello, or an Are you awake? Raina rubbed her eyes, and sat up in bed. Anya would be awake soon, anyway.
‘And it couldn’t wait?’ She stumbled out of bed. It had been a long time since she’d heard his voice this early in the morning, and it seemed somehow a little indecent to be talking to him while she was still in her pyjamas.
Raina rolled her eyes at her own foolishness. Alistair knew what she looked like in pyjamas.
‘Sorry...sorry, you weren’t asleep, were you?’
‘No, not really. Hold on a minute.’ Raina peered into Anya’s room to see whether the phone had woken her, but her daughter was still slumbering peacefully. Tiptoeing down the stairs, she made for the kitchen and filled the coffee machine, switching it on.
‘I’ll have a cup of coffee in my hand in a moment. Don’t throw anything too difficult at me before I’ve had my first mouthful.’
‘Oh. You want me to ring back?’
‘No, it’s okay, tell me now. What’s your idea?’
‘I was thinking of a two-pronged attack—’ Alistair stopped suddenly. ‘I mean...well, I didn’t mean we’re actually going to attack Anya.’
Raina laughed. It was good to hear Alistair so enthusiastic about something that he’d spoken before carefully considering what he was about to say. ‘That’s okay. She’s more than a match for you, Alistair.’
‘Don’t I know it. Well, the first prong of the...um...strategy, is that we hold off on giving her the myolectric prosthesis, and start her off with a semi flexible passive hand. That’ll be lighter for her, and it’ll help her to explore what she can do using two limbs instead of one. We can devise a few games for her, things like batting a ball back and forth.’
‘That makes sense. And the second prong of this attack?’
‘Is that she’s seen too much of hospitals already. Being stuck all day in our office is probably a bit like visiting the hospital in her mind. Maybe she needs to be out and about or in her own home. Places where she wants to explore and where she feels more confident about being in control.’
Raina nodded. ‘Yes, I think that’s fair. The doctors and nurses at the hospital are always great with her, but she’s always pleased when she gets home.’ Raina picked her mug up, deciding that fetching the milk was too much of a distraction at the moment, and took a sip.
‘So I’m wondering whether our spending time with Anya in your home for a whole day—a weekend even—would be something that might be of benefit. Would you consider that?’
Raina choked on her coffee. ‘What, all of you?’
‘No, just me. We don’t want to overwhelm her. Are you all right?’
‘Yes. Yes, my coffee went down the wrong way. Hold on...’ Raina filled a glass and took a sip of water. The idea had its merits. The only drawback was that it was already proving tough enough to spend time with Alistair without noticing all the little things that had made her fall in love with him.
‘It’s very kind of you to offer, Alistair, but this is going to mean a lot of your time...’
‘I’ll do whatever it takes.’
Raina had no doubt of that. She’d do whatever it took as well, but Alistair had a wider group to consider. ‘There aren’t enough hours in the day for you to spend this much time with every child...’
‘No, but this project is all about exploring possibilities. If this works for Anya, and I think it might, then we can look at the practicalities of offering it for other children.’
That made sense. And Alistair sounded so determined. He’d faced his own difficulties, and it was good to hear him reconnecting with his work so enthusiastically. Raina had to put her own qualms aside.
‘Well...if you’re sure. We’d love to have you here any time that suits you.’
‘That’s settled, then. How are you fixed for this weekend? Is there anything special she’d like to do?’
‘Uh...just the normal things.’ Raina decided she really needed coffee to face a weekend with Alistair, and took a mouthful from her cup. ‘The same as you probably.’
He chuckled. ‘I usually work...’
So nothing much had changed, then. ‘Well, we usually go out somewhere on Saturday afternoon. The park sometimes, Anya likes to feed the ducks. We like going to new places and just taking a look around.’
