A martyr for keeping him.
Chapter twenty-seven
Greg could see his eight-year-old son was annoying the people swimming in the fast lane beside them. Joe kept swimming under the rope and interrupting their strokes. The flumes and slides in the children’s pool were closed, and the only swimming Joe and he could do was in the lanes. After being in the water for nearly half an hour, Joe was clearly bored. They couldn’t even play tag or throw a ball to each other, and Greg was feeling guilty for not checking out the timetable and planning their day more thoroughly. He could see it was time to go, and he would have to think of something else to do to keep a small boy entertained .?.?.
Perhaps they could check out the Theatre Royal and see if there were any seats left for the afternoon pantomime. Peter Pan was on, although he wasn’t too sure of the show times, but he’d overheard two female officers raving about it the other day and now thought Joe would probably love it. But he didn’t want to scupper any plans or surprises that Sue may already have to take him over the Christmas holiday – she usually had something planned for his first day off school. Maybe they could go to the cinema instead; there was bound to be something on that they could both enjoy.
It would be better than staying here and letting Joe annoy people. Greg had had enough of the water as well. He wasn’t much of a swimmer as a rule, preferring a workout at the gym or a game of football.
Still, he decided determinedly, the day was not over yet. There was plenty out there to do. They could play tourists and visit the Pump Rooms and the Roman Baths .?.?. His son would probably be happy kicking a ball around in a park as long as there was a promise to visit McDonald’s afterwards.
Every other Saturday he spent the day with his son. Between his work and Joe now living in Oxford he couldn’t commit to more. It didn’t bother his ex-wife, Sue; she never moaned at him for not seeing their son more often, nor badgered him about too much else for that matter. She just did what was right by Joe and supported their relationship in any way she could. She was a good woman, and a good mother. Their marriage ended not because she hated her husband, but because he was never there to love, and her feelings for him had simply stopped. Like an unwatered plant, her love had slowly died until it was impossible for it to grow again, and then she had asked him for a divorce.
Greg still loved his ex-wife, but not in the same passionate way he used to. She was more like a close friend, someone he would never hurt and would always help, no matter the situation. He would always love her for being Joe’s mum, and that was a fact.
He shivered, realising he was cold, and called over to Joe that they were getting out.
‘Can I just jump in once?’
Greg looked around and saw that if Joe was quick enough he could get out and jump in before anyone noticed.
‘Go on, then, but make it quick.’
A woman had come out to swim; she had her back towards him as she hung her towel over a rail. She had tawny wavy hair, loosely pinned up to the back of her head, trailing damp tendrils. Her legs were slim from what he could see, ankles finely boned and calves well defined. She slipped off a towelling dressing gown and he saw a long slender back and a small curvy bottom.
Too thin, he thought, maybe even a little skinny, but she was beautifully shaped and her bottom in the olive-green swimsuit was pert and sexy. She turned and he swallowed hard, and felt his face suddenly warm. Alex Taylor was about to step into the pool.
Then Joe let out a blood-curdling scream.
Chapter twenty-eight
The sight of the blood cleared the pool fast. When he saw his son’s bloody face, Greg almost flung people aside in his frantic haste to get to him. There was blood all over his lower face and Greg feared he was going to find something serious.
Alex Taylor took control of the situation by leaning down over the edge of the pool and hoicking Joe out. She immediately wrapped him in her towel and then grabbed someone else’s to hold against his face. When she saw Greg hurrying towards her and saw his anxiety she guessed the boy and the man were related.
‘Let’s get him to the first-aid room,’ she calmly instructed. ‘I can look at him better there.’
Joe cried all the way to the first-aid room, and Greg was churning with guilt for not seeing what had happened because his eyes had been busy elsewhere.
In the small room, Alex Taylor again took charge. She informed the first aider that came rushing to help that she was a doctor and she would deal with it. She asked for some gauze, a bowl of warm water and some ice.
Patiently and calmly, ignoring Joe’s hysterical cries, she wiped his face clean of blood with warm water. Next she pulled his lower lip down and inspected his teeth and gums before giving the same attention to his upper lip. She took a cube of ice out of a plastic container and put it in between Joe’s fingers. ‘Hold that between your lips as if it’s an ice pop. Only don’t suck it.’
Amazingly, Joe did as he was asked. She took some more ice and wrapped it in gauze, and then with one hand holding the ice pack to the back of Joe’s neck she used her other hand to pinch his nose.
‘Well done,’ she said encouragingly. ‘We’ll have you sorted out in no time, and then Daddy can buy you an ice lolly to make your sore lip better.’
She was amazing. In no time the blood flow had ceased and the damage was easy to see. He had bitten into the flesh inside his bottom lip and given himself a nosebleed. ‘I hit my head, Daddy, and my nose, and hurt my chin.’ Joe said, dribbling melted ice cube down his chin. ‘I tried to jump out and fell back in.’ Greg imagined he had likely shot up for the ledge, but hadn’t cleared it properly and instead crashed his head into it.
He was grateful there was no lasting damage and that he could hand Joe back to his mother with the reassurance that he had been checked over by a doctor.
‘Sorry for mucking up your swim,’ he said to Alex Taylor.
They were all dressed and standing in the foyer ready to leave. He felt real guilt when he saw the shadows beneath her eyes, and suspected she could have done without the hassle of this emergency. She should have been enjoying a relaxing morning.
‘I was only going in for a quick dip. I have to be somewhere else in an hour.’
‘What are we going to do now, Daddy?’ Joe demanded impatiently.
His nose and lower lip were both slightly puffy and Greg’s guilt bit deeper. ‘Give me a minute, sport. Let me say thank you to Dr Taylor. She probably saved us a trip to A & E, which, believe me, sunshine, you would not have liked.’
‘But what are we going to do?’
‘How about the cinema?’
‘I’m going to the cinema tomorrow for Matthew’s birthday.’