Chapter 15
Before his injury, Alex had only ever intended to stay for a weekend.
However, now that he had been invited by the family to stay for a lot longer, possibly over the summer as well, he needed to collect some more belongings from his flat.
Unable to face the long train and tube journey on his crutches, he took Dodgy Del’s taxi into London, leaving Tiny behind with the family.
He didn’t take long in his flat, merely packing up a few more bags of clothes including some lighter summer wear as it would be the middle of May by the time his foot would be mended.
Grabbing a couple of books on his bedside table that he had never had time to read, he briefly opened up his bedside drawer and stared down.
It was the collection of medals that he had won and placed in there for safekeeping.
He was pleased to see there were quite a few but never gold, that elusive medal had always remained just out of reach.
He briefly thought about calling his dad before dismissing the thought, and pushed the drawer closed before asking Dodgy Del to help him down to the street with his bags.
Still in quite a bit of pain from his broken foot, Alex tried to rest up as much as he could over the next couple of days. He was enjoying the camaraderie of staying with the family. But he still wasn’t sure how long he would stay with them, not wanting to overstay his welcome, however warm.
And yet he found himself tempted by the peace that Maple Tree Lodge might give him whilst he recuperated.
After the weekend, the number of rooms occupied went down to a minimum so he felt able to relax in the lounge without getting in the way of the guests.
But relaxing was a state of mind that he wasn’t used to and after only half an hour on the sofa, he headed out onto the veranda.
With time on his hands, he couldn’t help but dwell on the last conversation he had had with his dad.
He’d shared texts with his mum since then, mostly her checking that he wasn’t in too much pain.
But still, the guilt over his abrupt walking away from the competitions hung over him.
He was also bored. Having always either been working or training, with the odd date or meet-up with Ben and Jake included, he just wasn’t used to sitting around.
Out in the fresh air, the spring sunshine shone down and he realised how warm it was now suddenly as the days began to get a little longer.
‘Lovely spring day,’ said Dotty, suddenly appearing next to him.
‘It certainly is,’ he replied.
‘In fact, it looks almost perfect weather for my first swim of the year,’ she said. ‘Care to join me?’
He glanced at the water and it looked very inviting, he found himself thinking. But still he hesitated. Surely he was trying to get away from swimming, running and cycling?
‘Give me a good reason why not?’ said Dotty, who had always been somewhat gung-ho in her attitude to life. ‘The water would be great therapy and as you’ve not got your leg in a cast, what have you got to lose?’ She burst into a grin. ‘Long as you don’t try to make it into a triathlon, of course.’
Alex found that he couldn’t find a single reason to refuse her and she took his silence as a positive response.
‘Excellent,’ said Dotty. ‘I’ll meet you on the beach in five minutes.’
Not wanting to upset her, Alex reluctantly headed upstairs to change into his swimming shorts.
He met Dotty outside on the sandy beach by the hotel.
‘It’s only April. It’s going to be a bit chilly in there,’ he warned her, with a shiver under his hoodie and tracksuit bottoms.
‘Oh, I’m sure it is,’ she replied, with a grin before whipping off the large towel that she had wrapped around herself to reveal a black swimming costume. ‘But the cold’s good for the circulation, isn’t it? After all, how else can I keep myself looking so young?’
She smiled at him before beginning to head towards the water.
Suddenly more concerned about Dotty’s safety than his own, Alex swiftly stripped down to his swimming shorts and slowly hobbled across the sand to join her in the shallows.
The water was icy cold and he took a sharp intake of breath as he adjusted to the freezing temperature.
‘I’m normally wearing a wetsuit,’ he said, with a shudder. ‘But I couldn’t get into it with my broken foot.’
‘It’s a pain, isn’t it?’ she said, with a sympathetic look. ‘Literally, I imagine.’
He nodded, hobbling in a little further up to his knees and once more wincing at the cold temperature of the water.
‘Let’s get this over with,’ he said. ‘Ten minutes absolute maximum. It’s too cold otherwise for the body to cope with.’
He was making adjustments for Dotty’s almost eighty years but he wasn’t sure that he wanted to be in the water for too much longer either.
‘Spoilsport,’ muttered Dotty.
But Alex could see the goosebumps on her arms before they both finally pushed forward into the deeper water and he let the water take his weight.
Once immersed in the water, Alex immediately began to feel in a much better mood.
The swim had always been his favourite part of the race but normally he hadn’t got the time to enjoy his surroundings.
This time, though, he had no choice. His foot was too sore for him to strike out with his normal fast crawl so he merely used his arms and one leg to float around, enjoying the buoyancy.
Because he wasn’t up against the clock, he was able to take his time and look around at the glorious setting. The lake sparkled all around him under the warm sunshine and the view of both the hotel and the boathouse was completely different from the water.
As Dotty swam nearby, Alex even had time to turn onto his back and float, staring up at the cobalt sky for a while.
In the end, he could feel the cold beginning to seep into his bones and managed to persuade Dotty to begin their return towards the beach.
On their way, they passed a pair of coots, trailed by their babies bobbing around in the water. It was quite magical, he thought, and decided to make the lake swim a permanent addition to his many days of recovery.
As they began to slowly walk out of the water, Alex was surprised to find Ben waiting for them both.
‘Thought I was dreaming when I first saw you both heading into the water,’ he said, holding out his grandmother’s towel for her.
‘Thank you,’ she said, taking it and wrapping herself up. ‘That was wonderful.’
She looked across at Alex, who was trying to dry himself off whilst not putting too much weight on his broken foot.
‘Thanks. It was,’ he said. ‘A real tonic.’
‘Told you so,’ said Dotty, with a wink.
Ben was frowning as he looked at Alex, struggling to pick up his crutches. ‘If this is going to be a more permanent fixture, I think we’d better add a couple of seats though.’
‘Agreed,’ she said, also looking with concern at Alex.
‘Don’t worry on my account,’ said Alex. ‘I’m hoping to get better day by day, not worse, I hope.’
‘I was thinking more of Grandma, to be honest,’ said Ben with a grin. ‘She might want a gin and tonic in a deck chair afterwards.’
‘Sounds marvellous,’ Dotty told her grandson, her eyes gleaming.
As Alex joined in with their laughter, he looked back across the water once more. It really would be the perfect therapy whilst his foot healed, he thought, and decided there and then to make it a daily routine.