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I like that he didn’t blanch away or change the subject when Finn mentioned his father. In fact, I like everything about the way they’re acting with him. I can see that Finn has relaxed, especially now he’s had something to eat, too.
“Mum said that your machine is part of a game,” Finn says.
“Yeah,” Henry replies, helping himself to more sandwiches. “We all find exercise easier if we have something else to do like listening to music or watching TV. So we figured it would be more fun to do physio if it was connected to gaming.”
“Do you like Transformers?” Alex asks.
“Yeah,” Finn says. “I’ve got loads, and I’ve seen all the movies.”
“Then you’re going to have no trouble,” Alex says. “THOR looks like a Transformer you can get in. Sometimes I have a go just for fun.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Juliette tells Finn. “I’ve told him off several times.”
Finn giggles again. He’s obviously enjoying himself, and now I can see he’s excited to take a look at the machine.
“So how’s your day been, Mistletoe?” Alex asks, surprising me.
I give him a wry look at his use of my full name. “Fine thanks,Alexander.”
“Mum calls you Alexander the Great,” Finn says.
I go completely scarlet and say, “Finn!” while the others try not to laugh, and fail.
“More like Alexander the Mediocre,” James says.
Alex’s eyes meet mine and his lips curve up a fraction, although whether that’s due to my nickname for him or James’s comment, I’m not sure.
“Oh look!” Finn’s gazing out of the window, and I turn to see that a flock of mallard ducks has made their way up the terrace steps and is looking at us through the glass.
“They come up for food,” Juliette says. “They like oats. Shall we try them with one of these flapjacks? I don’t think there’s much sugar in them.”
Finn likes the idea, so Juliette wheels his chair through the sliding doors and out onto the deck, and the two of them start breaking off pieces of flapjack for the excited ducks.
I look back at Alex and discover him watching me. “Sorry about that,” I say. “The Alexander the Great comment, I mean.”
“I can think of worse compliments,” he says. “And it does explain my desire to sack Thebes.”
That makes me laugh. He holds my gaze for a moment, his eyes full of amusement, before he lowers his gaze to the laptop resting on the table by his side. “So… we were thinking about starting Finn’s program on Monday, April the third. How would that work for you?”
“Whatever’s best for you,” I reply, relieved it’s so soon.
“Okay, we’ll book him in. I think…” He trails off. He’s looking past me, out of the window, and he suddenly gets to his feet.
“What…” I watch him stride past me toward the sliding doors, and then he breaks into a run. I spin around just in time to see that Finn’s wheelchair has rolled back; he must have forgotten to put on the brake. He’s bending to feed the ducks, but one of the back wheels is an inch from the top step of the terrace, and the chair is still moving backward. Juliette’s talking to him, but she hasn’t noticed.
As the three of us inside watch in horror, the wheel goes over the step and the chair pitches back. Alex reaches him a second too late to catch the arm of the chair, but he does manage to grab a handful of Finn’s sweatshirt. Finn has sat up in shock as he obviously felt the chair tip, and the momentum of him straightening increases the speed at which the chair is falling.
The steps aren’t steep, but they are concrete. I have a vision of him tumbling all the way down, cracking his skull on the way, and a scream hovers on my lips. At the last minute, though, with a superhuman feat of strength because Finn isn’t a tiny boy, Alex hauls him out of the chair by his sweatshirt and catches him with the other arm, and the empty chair crashes onto the step below, bumps down a few, and keels over, one wheel spinning in the air.
Juliette stands in shock, and we all rush outside.
Alex slides his other arm under Finn’s legs and lifts him up. Finn puts his arms around Alex’s neck, visibly trembling.
“It’s all right,” Alex murmurs. “No harm done.” He meets my eyes, and I can see the relief reflected in his. “Crisis averted,” he says, walking past us back into the boardroom.
“Jesus.” I’m shaking like a leaf, too.
“I’m so sorry.” Juliette puts her arm around me and rubs my arm. “I was looking the other way.”
