Cooper
Pulling up at the address Hightower had given me, I thanked my driver as he passed me my chair. I wished I could do this on my own two feet, but I just can’t do it yet. I had some pride, falling arse over head wasn’t part of my plan. I saw a car on the drive of the smart detached house. It was a nice area, not as nice as where Kate said she lived, but nice. Families lived here. The car was decent too, a rather sporty executive type. I bucked the trend with cars; being army born and bred, I didn’t notice anything about a car other than the tyre width and whether it can take a hammering. Settling into my chair, I asked the driver to wait and headed for the front door. I checked the number with the text Hightower sent me. It was the right address, and it looked like a family home, not the home of a divorcé to be. I cursed under my breath, and knock at the door. I heard a dog bark, a yappy little thing, and then the door opened. A man opened the door, but it wasn’t him I saw. I could see Jamie’s eyes, staring back at me from a man’s face. My gut roiled. The man looked a bit surprised to see me, looking from me to the cab, back to me. He took in the chair and his smile faltered a little. He gripped the door a little tighter. Coward, was my first thought. Was this the man Kate chose to spend her life with?
‘Er, yes, can I help you?’ he ventured, and I noticed him pull the door a little closer behind him with his free hand.
‘Neil Harper?’ I asked in a deliberately loud voice.
‘Er, yes,’ he said, pulling the door a little closer still. A quick flick of his eyes made me look to the living room, where I saw photos and ornaments on the mantel. I wondered who else was in the house.
I could hear a dog yapping its head off somewhere in the house.
I kept my back as straight as I could, and looked the guy straight in the eye. ‘I’m here about your son, Jamie.’ There was a flicker of recognition in his eyes, changing from panic to concern.
‘Jamie?’ he said softly. ‘Is he—’
‘He’s fine.’ No thanks to you, shit head. ‘He left the centre today, with your parents. I think he wants to speak to you. I wanted to come to tell you, and to find out where Jamie is. He has people worrying about him.’
Neil switched from one foot to the other. The dog barked again, and I heard a door click shut. ‘I told my parents not to get involved.’
‘That’s it? No questions about your son?’ I countered. This sack of crap was getting on my nerves.
‘I … I … who are you, anyway? Do you work with him or something?’
‘I know him, and his mother. The question is, where the hell were you? And more to the point, where do you think—’
The door opened behind him then, and he jumped.
A woman stood there. She looked like she’d just woken up from a nap. She had a stain on her t-shirt, and dark circles under her eyes. If she was shocked to see someone like me at the door, she didn’t show it. She looked at Neil and he wilted under her gaze.
‘Look, as much as I would love to sit here on the doorstep and watch you two make eyes at each other, I’m here for Jamie.’
Neil looked at the woman again, putting his palms out in a gesture of futility, and she glared at Neil as she went back into the house. The yapping continued. My ears felt like they were bleeding. Why the hell did people buy those groomed rats as pets?
He went to close the door behind him as he moved forwards I wasn’t giving this guy an inch to wriggle. I just sat there, not moving as he manoeuvred himself awkwardly around my chair. As he turned sideways on, his ankle clipped the metal on the side of my foot rest, and he hissed in pain through his teeth. I chuckled to myself, still not moving. Once he finally got himself out of the doorway, I slowly turned my chair to face him. The front of the house had a neat path all around it, and he stood kicking his toe against one of the slightly raised paving slabs. He wore trainers, the kind that a guy who didn’t sweat for a living wore. Pristine white. Kind of girly. I wanted to ask him so many questions about Kate, but I didn’t want to give myself away. The priority was Jamie.
‘So, are you going to ask about your son?’
He looked at me, and I knew right off something had changed. This guy was angry at me.
‘What the hell do you know about my son?’ he spat at me. He leaned forward, speaking in hushed, angry tones. It reminded me of a daytime comedy I once saw. A couple were fighting around a sleeping baby, whispering ‘screw you’, and gesturing silent declarations of war.
‘I know a lot,’ I said, keeping my voice neutral. He needed to back out of my face, before I decked him. I clenched my fist against my stump. Don’t hit Jamie’s Dad. It played like a mantra in my head, giving me the sudden urge to laugh. I lost my leg to protect pampered pricks like this?
‘I know he misses his father,’ I continued. ‘Why won’t you go see the kid?’
‘She won’t let me see him. I tried, in the hospital. She sent me away.’
‘And since then?’
He looked confused.
‘Question too hard? Did you keep trying? It’s been months.’ I could hear the edge in my voice, this guy was rubbing me up the wrong way.
‘I know it’s been months,’ he darted a look to the window, but the blinds were drawn closed. ‘Look, I don’t appreciate you coming here, talking to me about this. It’s nothing to do with you anyway.’
I nodded at him, agreeing with him. He looked at me blankly. The guy was completely out of his depth.
‘Well,’ I said, moving my chair back towards the waiting taxi. ‘I’m glad I came anyway, not every day you meet a deadbeat dad up close.’ His shoulders slumped at my words, and I felt a flicker of satisfaction that my barb had hit home. Didn’t feel as good as it would to knock his teeth out, but still.
‘Will you tell Jamie I love him?’ he said from behind me. I got into the taxi. I couldn’t even acknowledge the guy. When the taxi was pulling away, I could see him staring at me through the blinds, back in the house. Hiding behind the strips of fabric. I pulled out my phone and dialled Kate.
She answered after two rings.
‘Cooper?’ Her voice was like a zap to the heart. I felt so protective over this woman that I almost asked the taxi driver to turn back.
‘I’m here, Kate. Did you find him?’
***
Kate could feel the skin ripping away from the side of her thumb as she chewed on the area around her nail. A blossom of blood sprang up and she wiped it down her jeans. The foyer of the centre was mercifully quiet. She wondered just how many people here ran the other way when they saw her coming. She knew she was causing drama, but she felt like it was all beyond her control. What could she do? Her in-laws had taken her child from the place that they lived, without her permission. Any other parent of a patient would be angry that procedures were not followed. The trouble was, the only person in the whole place that knew of her situation was Trevor, and they weren’t exactly speaking right now. She worried at the torn skin, pulling down her cardigan sleeve to cover it over. A minibus pulled up, and Kate’s whole body shook with relief when she saw the face of her son smiling through the window. She plastered on a grin and pulled the door open, running out to meet them. Jamie looked at her and she started to wave, but he turned away. He was talking to them in the van, and Kate wished she could be a fly on the wall of the vehicle. Why did her son, her little man, talk animatedly to others, when she barely got a word? The pain sliced through her heart anew, and she physically rubbed her chest in an effort to heal it. It was a physical pain, and she wondered to herself whether a heart attack would be quicker and less painless than continuing on. Sometimes, life was stranger than fiction, and harder than death.
‘Hello Kate,’ Milly said. Roger busied himself talking to the driver, who was helping Jamie to operate the motorised ramp in the flash vehicle. A number of carrier bags sat on the floor, expensive clothes stores and games shop logos showing. Kate turned away, but Milly saw where she was looking.
‘I hope you don’t mind,’ she ventured. ‘We wanted to take Jamie for lunch, so we went into town. Bought him a few things. You can’t take it with you, you know.’
Kate nodded at the woman. ‘You didn’t have to do that. I can afford to take care of my son.’
Milly scrunched her nose up, readjusted her handbag tighter against her side, as though it was shielding her.
‘I know you can take care of him, Kate. As we said on the phone, we thought it was okay to pick him up. Neil told us where you were living, and we wanted to see you both. You have done a good job, I know that. We just wanted to help. When you last called, we …’ She swallowed, and Kate touched her arm. Milly flinched, and she smiled kindly.
‘I’m sorry. We shouldn’t fight. For Jamie’s sake, at least. Neil doesn’t talk to us, I thought it was your fault, but Jamie says he hasn’t been in touch.’
She nodded then, and Roger and Jamie came forward. Roger was laden down with bags, but he set them on the ground and went in to hug her awkwardly. Kate let him, tapping him on the shoulder as though she was soothing him. Glancing at Milly and Jamie, she saw misty eyes and approving nods. She wondered what Neil would think of this, or Coop. She imagined their reactions would be as different as they were as men.
As though thinking of Cooper had conjured him, a taxi pulled up and he got out. On two legs too. He stood there, as though he had all the time in the world, casually leaning on the open car door. He looked tired but utterly gorgeous. Kate’s whole body responded to his presence. She hoped that the flame in her cheeks wouldn’t be noticed by her company. He looked across at them all and smiled politely. The driver brought round his chair, and Jamie dashed over to see him.
‘Cooper, I got the new Star Wars game from Grandma and Granddad, will you play with me later?’
Cooper sat in his chair and immediately leant forward and ruffled Jamie’s hair. A move he did often now, a relaxed point of contact. Jamie giggled and they fist bumped.
‘Of course I will big guy. You had a good day?’
Jamie looked at his grandparents and beckoned Cooper over. ‘Yeah it was awesome. We went to a burger bar, and I had burger and chips. And pudding. We went everywhere, and I got some Avengers stuff for my room too. This is Cooper, he lives here too.’
He presented Cooper to his grandparents grandly, with both arms spread wide. Ta-da, my new dad! He didn’t say that of course. He might as well have, judging from the looks Roger and Milly gave each other. Kate could only stand and watch, picking at the broken skin by her side.
Cooper smiled easily at them both.
‘Sounds like you have had a lovely day. Captain Thomas Cooper,’ he said to them both, looking them straight in the eye while holding his hand out firm.
Milly eyed him coolly, but Roger smiled and held his hand out to shake his hand in return.
‘Pleased to meet you, Captain. I’m glad to meet you. I have heard lovely things about you from Jamie.’
Cooper shrugged off the praise and Kate’s heart skipped a beat. Modest, for a hero. The man had breathed life into Jamie, had given him his smile back, his laugh. These people owed him more than she could ever tell them. More than she could ever reveal.
‘Hello Mrs Harper,’ Cooper said, turning his gaze to Milly. Roger gave her a look, and she uncrossed her arms and looking again at Jamie, she let Cooper take her hand. He shook it gently, nodding to her in deference. She seemed to relax a little then, and Kate could see her gripping his hand a little tighter. She reached forward suddenly, leaning down closer to him. Kate thought that she was going to tell him off, from her stiff stance and she locked eyes with Cooper as she moved closer to his ear.
He looked a little wary himself, but he flashed her a wink to reassure her.
Kate couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Milly didn’t speak to him at all. She threw her arms around him instead, hugging him tight to her thin frame.
‘Thank you for being there for our grandson.’
Cooper didn’t say a word, he just hugged her back. Roger came to her side and left the three of them talking as he pulled Kate further into the lobby.
‘Has Neil really not tried to see Jamie? He rang us yesterday, and told us the address of the centre. He’s acting strange, but he won’t talk to us about it. We’re going to the house from here, see if we can catch him after work.’
Kate shook her head.
‘I don’t want him to see Jamie, but he hasn’t been in touch anyway. If he does get in touch, then Jamie can see him, it’s his choice, not mine. I need to speak to him first. Roger, the house is being sold, no one’s living there. Our stuff is in storage, I left Neil’s things there. He obviously got my solicitor’s papers too, because I never told him where we were. The address is on those papers. I’m divorcing him Roger. I’m sorry.’
Roger looked at Milly, who was laughing with Jamie at something Cooper had said.
‘This will really upset her. Do you know where he is?’
Kate had a good idea, but she wasn’t able to do his dirty work for him.
‘No, but I believe he still works at the same firm. They never let me speak to him, so I’ve stopped trying. Maybe you should go there before work finishes? I have a spare key for the house too, if you want to go in. The estate agents said an offer has been made. I need Neil to sign off on it, but I don’t know if the agents spoke to him today. If you see him, ask him because I need the money from the house to buy a place for me and Jamie.’
Roger nodded. ‘I’ll make him bloody listen, and yes I’ll take that key. We can clear some of his things out for you, then he’ll ruddy well have to come to us, won’t he?’
Kate smiled at her father-in-law. ‘Thank you, and listen, you have my mobile number. If you want to visit or chat to Jamie, just ring me.’
She slipped a key from the bunch in her pocket, passing it to him. Roger took it and tucked it into his jacket pocket.
‘We will help Kate, you’re not on your own. I don’t know what happened, but my son should be here.’
Kate sighed, looking at her son who was now being wheeled around to the gardens by Milly, Cooper following in his own chair.
‘I know,’ she said. ‘He should.’