The Bravest Hero (A Curvy Girls Club Novel Book 2)

by Twyla Turner

  “Now, get up. And you better not cry. Back in Romania you’d get much worse. Athletes were beaten until they performed well. They demand perfection. I have been much too soft on you. America has made you soft.”

  McKennon stood up. He tongued at his split lip. He felt defiant words bubble up to his throat.

  “I don’t wanna play football.”

  This time the slap hit him so hard that McKennon was knocked almost unconscious.

  “You will do what I tell you to do.”

  “What else would he do?” Mariah asked in the middle of his flashback.

  “Ridicule me.”

  Mack walked Mariah to the door after they finished studying.

  “See ya tomorrow,” Mack said.

  “See ya,” Mariah waved before walking down the path to the sidewalk.

  Mack closed the door and turned to go up to his room. His father was standing there watching him as he ate a sandwich.

  “I see the way you look at her. She is not right for you. She is too fat,” he nearly spat. “You need a woman who fits you, who will make you better. Not make you fat like her.”

  Mack knew better than to talk back. Instead he stomped up to his room and slammed the door.

  He asked the captain of the cheerleading squad to prom the next week.

  Mack shook his head, bringing himself back to the present.

  “Then when your parents died in that fire, and you couldn’t save them. Instead of deciding to live the life you’ve always wanted, you chose to live the life they wanted you to have. Why?”

  “To honor them, I guess.”

  “That’s great and all, but it’s not healthy when the life you’re forcing yourself to have isn’t the life you want. And you’ve made things even worse for yourself by letting thousands of strangers on social media dictate your life. You’re denying yourself happiness in order to avoid guilt. Guilt of disappointing your father, social media followers, and a fiancée you don’t really love.”

  “But what about all the plans Ainsley has made? What about all the people expecting this amazing wedding? I’d feel like a world class asshole if I broke it off with her.”

  “Again, with the guilt. How is that any different than breaking it off with her not long after you’ve married because you’re unhappy?”

  Mack didn’t answer. It was a battle he fought daily.

  “Look, McKennon. You’ve astounded the staff here. You’ve exceeded everyone’s expectations in regards to your rehabilitation. You’ve worked your ass off to get here. And if all goes well, you’ll even be able to return to full-duty when you go back to the fire department. But your mind is still crippled with the doubts and insecurities you developed as a child. That is the damage that’s holding you back more than what happened on that road nearly six months ago.

  I truly believe that your accident is the best thing that ever happened to you. It has the potential to teach you valuable lessons about perfection. And it may have brought the person who was made for you into your life. But only if you allow it,” Mariah finished.

  Mack nodded his head. He knew Mariah was right, but he felt trapped in a prison of his own making.

  And how do you stop trying to make everyone happy when you’ve done it your whole life?

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The doors to the rehabilitation center slid opened as Royal stepped up to them. She took a deep breath and walked through. Her heart pumped as if she was running a marathon. She wiped her damp palms on her black jeans. As she approached the front desk, she fidgeted with the engineered holes of her gray oversized deconstructed sweater.

  “Hi,” Royal croaked.

  “Hello, dear. How can I help you?” The woman who sat behind the desk greeted Royal.

  “I’m here to see McKennon Carter.”

  “Ah, yes. Mack. You’re here to see him take his first steps with his new leg.” Her faded gray eyes lit up and the wrinkles around them crinkled as she smiled. “You must be Royal. The woman who saved him.”

  “Uh, yeah. I’m Royal.”

  “We’re all so excited to meet you. We’re one great big community here.” The woman came around the desk to guide Royal to where she needed to go. “I’m Gladys, by the way.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Gladys.”

  “It’s nice to meet you too, dear.”

  “Mack has been so great. He’s worked so hard. And he’s been so helpful to the other patients. So motivating and inspirational,” the little old woman chattered gleefully.

  They walked through another set of automatic doors. Royal noticed that all the doors were automatic. It made sense considering the patients might have difficulty opening them, and then holding them open as they walked on crutches, prosthetic legs or rolled through in wheelchairs.

  They walked into an enormous room that had equipment everywhere. Some patients were being stretched on padded tables. Others used weight machines to strengthen the muscles in their residual limbs.

  Doors on the other side of the room swung open. A man pushed a wheelchair, and in it sat a smiling McKennon Carter. A curvy, light-skinned woman with a cap of cute curls walked alongside the wheelchair. Behind them was a group of people all chatting and laughing happily. Some looked like staff. Some were obviously patients. Royal figured they were all coming to witness McKennon’s first steps too. A prime example of the community spirit Gladys had just mentioned to her.

  Her eyes had a chance to roam over McKennon before he realized she was there. He looked so good. The crinkle between his eyes that had been there almost permanently from the constant pain he’d been in was no longer there. His hair was still buzzed close, but he’d grown out a short and sexy golden beard. And even in a t-shirt and shorts, Royal could tell he’d gotten back to lifting weights. He looked bigger than he had in the hospital. Royal let out a slow breath of appreciation for all that God created when he made McKennon Carter.

  The man in question must have felt her eyes on him. His green eyes rose up and locked on hers. She felt his eyes everywhere they touched her, as if he caressed her with his hands. Royal shivered.

  “Royal,” McKennon breathed.

  Everyone with him stopped at one of the sets of parallel bars in the room. At the sound of her name, they all stopped talking and looked at her with barely concealed interest.

  “Hey, McKennon.” Royal said softly. “You look good.”

  “Thanks,” he flushed.

  The man who had wheeled him in walked forward and extended his hand to Royal. She took it and shook politely.

  “It’s so nice to finally meet you, Royal. I’m Brad. Mack’s physical trainer.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Brad.”

  The woman who’d been next to McKennon came forward next.

  “Royal, this is Dr. Mariah Franklin. My psychiatrist. Brad helps my body adjust to the loss of my leg and Mariah helps my mind adjust.”

  “Hi, Royal. It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.” The doctor shook her hand.

  “Nice to meet you, Doctor.”

  “Call me, Mariah.”

  “Actually, Mariah and I go way back. We used to go to high school together. She tutored me.”

  “Oh wow! I’m sure that was a nice surprise for you both.”

  “I knew he was coming. But he didn’t know. The look on his face was priceless.”

  “I’m sure it was,” Royal said as she tried not to squirm. The doctor looked at her as if she knew a secret about her. She could only imagine what McKennon had told Mariah.

  The sound of several voices came from behind Royal. She turned while everyone else looked past her. It was a group of rather handsome men that strode up happily.

  “Hahaaa!” McKennon laughed. “What’s up boys?”

  The group of guys walked up to him and gave him high-fives, fist bumps, and a few manly hugs. The kind with all the hard back slaps that men like to do.

  “Everyone, these are the guys of Station 22.”

  Hel
los went around the room.

  “Guys, this is Royal. The woman who saved my life.”

  They walked up to her and gave her handshakes, hugs, and rough pats on the back. Not quite the smacks they gave each other, but close enough. Just one of the guys.

  Luckily, before she could become too embarrassed, a man and a woman walked in with a box, drawing everyone’s attention away from her.

  “They’re here, Mack.” Brad said.

  “Ashley, could you record this for me? I want to post the video of me getting the leg for everyone who donated to my crowdfunding for it.”

  “Of course.” A pretty brunette twenty-something with a below the knee amputation took McKennon’s phone.

  “Hey, guys! You got my leg?” McKennon said to the man and woman.

  “We do.” The woman smiled at Mack.

  “Well, I’m ready. Everyone this is Jim and Pat, my prosthetists, who have been working on building me the perfect leg for the last couple of weeks.” McKennon introduced them.

  Royal stood back and observed the fitting of McKennon’s new leg.

  “And here it is.” Pat said while pulling out a very futuristic looking mechanical leg.

  “It looks like a robot leg,” An older man with a missing arm stated.

  “Technically, it is. This leg has a microprocessor knee and hydraulic system. You’ll see.” Pat smiled at him.

  “We used to use gel liners to cover the legs with a sock over that, but the suction and ability to control the prosthesis wasn’t the best for above the knee amputees,” Jim explained to the room.

  McKennon pulled back the leg of his basketball shorts to expose his residual limb. To Royal, it looked like it had healed nicely.

  “This is your pull sock.”

  Pat held up blue fabric that looked like a pant leg closed off at the bottom. The material was like that of a windbreaker jacket. A thick black string was attached to the bottom. They slid the sock over his limb and bunched it up on his thigh until the end and string reached where his limb ended.

  “Now you feed the strap through the socket of the prosthesis and out through the valve housing,” the man said as he demonstrated.

  The valve housing was a hole at the bottom of the socket that went over his thigh.

  “Once the strap is through, position the prosthesis the way you want it to fit to the residual limb. Then you just start pulling the sock through the hole. You can flex your muscles to help it mold around your leg just right. Once you get a few inches of the sock out, go ahead and stand up.”

  McKennon held onto the prosthesis with one hand and Pat steadied him with his other arm as he stood and found his balance.

  “Now, apply some pressure into the socket and just keep pulling. What the pull sock does is pull your muscles and skin down into the socket while creating suction.”

  McKennon pulled the rest of the blue sock from the socket.

  “Now, screw the valve into the housing. And when you’re ready to take the leg off, press that little black button on top of the value and it’ll release the suction, so you can remove the leg. And that’s it.” The man finished.

  After he followed each of the instructions, McKennon let his basketball shorts fall back and straightened his back. Royal looked at him with wide eyes.

  It was the first time she’d seen him stand. From the moment she’d met him, he was either lying down or sitting. At his full height of six-foot-three, he was an impressive sight and would easily tower over her five-foot-even height. That is, if she came closer to him. At the moment, she felt she should keep her distance. As it was, she already wanted to jump into his arms and kiss him senseless.

  “How does it feel?” Jim asked.

  “It feels really good. No discomfort at all. Not like the temporary one.” McKennon stepped from side to side.

  “Take it for a spin,” Brad said to McKennon. “Make sure nothing digs or pinches when you’re walking.”

  “Hey, Royal,” Mariah called to her. “Why don’t you stand at the other end of the parallel bars. Give McKennon something to walk towards.”

  “Uh, okay,” she said as she moved to the opposite end of the bars from him.

  Royal felt like his fiancée should be the one he took his first steps towards. But as always, Ainsley was conspicuously absent from this huge moment in her future husband’s life.

  Is the wedding still on? Have they broken up?

  Royal’s questions faded away as McKennon positioned himself at the other end of the parallel bars and then looked up at her. Once their eyes locked, everything else fell away. It was only them and the twelve feet in between.

  McKennon clutched the bars, uncertain at first. He gingerly took a step forward and the special knee automatically bent, carried his good leg over, and straightened. Royal felt the sting at the back of her eyes. He took another step. This time with a little more confidence. By the third step, his hands only hovered over the bars. And by the fourth step, he let his hands drop to his sides.

  By then, Royal could barely see him. Her eyes had reached maximum capacity. She blinked and her tears spilled down her cheeks hot and wet. Before they filled again, she could see the damp tracks down McKennon’s face as well.

  In only a few more steps, he finally reached her. Royal craned her head back to look up at him. McKennon’s smile spread from ear to ear.

  “Hi.”

  ~~~

  “Hi,” she said shyly, looking up at him.

  With zero hesitation Mack wrapped Royal up in his arms. Everyone around them exploded with cheers.

  It felt like he’d waited for this moment his whole life, even though it had only been six months since the accident and meeting Royal. To stand before her. A healthy and nearly whole man. Made his chest swell with pride for making it this far.

  Royal’s arms faltered for only a second before they wrapped around his waist. Her cheek nestled against him, her head reaching just below his chest. She pulled back a little and looked up at him. Her eyes radiated joy for his achievement.

  “You did it.”

  “I did. It took a while but I made it.”

  “Alright, Mack. Come back to us. We want to see your gait from the front. We still need to make a few adjustments to make your stride more natural and fluid.”

  “Sure, Jim.”

  Mack turned with relative ease and he stopped in shock and looked up at Brad.

  “Did you see how naturally and easily I just turned?! I could never do that with the other leg!” Mack exclaimed.

  They high-fived each other as he walked forward.

  The prosthetists continued to make the necessary adjustments to his leg. They’d tweak it a bit, have him walk, and then adjust some more. Finally, they got it right and Mack tried walking the ramp and the set of stairs set up for practicing.

  Instead of taking each step one at a time, he could walk down the stairs step over step, like he once could. The intuitive technology made his artificial knee bend just at the right moment. Stairs had been so daunting before. Mack felt like he could run a mile he was so hyped up. And with the new leg, he actually could.

  “Make sure you charge your leg each night because it takes at least three hours to charge. The battery will last sixteen hours, so you shouldn’t have any problems making it through the day.”

  “Got it.”

  “Now, lets show you how to put it in driving mode.” Jim waggled his eyebrows at Mack.

  Mack damn near giggled like a schoolboy. After six months of being dependent on others to take care of him, the freedom and independence his new leg would provide was immeasurable. Especially when he had to depend on Ainsley. Her dependability had been touch and go the last several months.

  “And last but not least, this leg was made specifically for you. We worked on the weight capacity because we knew you want to get back to firefighting. The usual above the knee prosthetic leg can only carry 275 pounds. With your weight, combined with the weight of your gear and anyone you may have t
o carry, that would have been impossible. But we created your leg to withstand about a hundred more.”

  “Thank you so much,” Mack said to Jim and Pat.

  “You still have to train and practice. But with this leg, you’ll be walking almost like you were before the accident once you get the hang of it.” Pat assured him.

  “Thank you.”

  After all instructions were given on care and cleaning, and all tests had been done, Mack freely walked over to Royal and gave her another warm hug.

  “I’m not too late, am I?” A loud but familiar voice came from behind them.

  They all turned to see Ainsley strutting in a day late and a dollar short. Mack and Royal pulled away from each other quickly. Mack still caught the daggers Ainsley shot at Royal.

  Mack tried not to be frustrated with his fiancée. It wasn’t easy.

  “Yes, you missed it,” Mack said.

  He leaned down to kiss Ainsley’s cheek. She turned her head at the last second and gave him a deep kiss on the lips. He pulled away quickly and chanced a look at Royal. She was turned away. But the set of her shoulders let Mack know that she’d seen the kiss and she was trying to collect herself.

  Mack hadn’t wanted to hurt Royal in any way. But he’d wanted her there. Even knowing that Ainsley was supposed to be there too.

  His eyes found Mariah and she cocked her head to the side. He knew she’d have plenty to say about this clusterfuck.

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to run so late. I had my last fitting for my wedding dress.” Ainsley said to the room, but mostly directed her words at Royal.

  The look on Royal’s face easily said that she’d gladly take Mack’s leg off and beat Ainsley with it.

  “Alright, I’mma head out,” Royal said.

  “It was nice to meet you.” Several people said to her as she started to make her way past Mack and Ainsley.