Because He's Perfect

by Anna Edwards

  She’s nodding. “That’s all anyone can hope for.” She wraps her arms around me and pulls me into a tight hug.

  When I pull away from her, I ask her a question that’s been playing on my mind. “Lannie’s friend, Elizabeth… Who’s her mom?”

  Macy’s eyes narrow. “What about her?”

  I shrug. “I met her today and I never got her name. Was curious is all.”

  A smirk plays on her lips. “Got to you, did she?”

  I narrow my eyes. “What makes you think that?”

  Laughter bubbles out of her mouth. “Ty, you’ve never asked about any of Lannie’s friends before, nor have you asked about mine, and Elizabeth’s mom falls into both of those categories. So yeah, I think she got to you.”

  I clench my teeth. “Christ, Macy. Why are you giving me shit?”

  She smiles widely. “I’m not. I’m actually happy you’re finally interested in someone. You’ve been depressed. I was worried about you.”

  I raise my eyebrows. “And me asking a question about someone stops you worrying?”

  She stands. “Yes, Ty, it does. I’m working from home tomorrow so once you call the doctor, if you need a ride anywhere, let me know, okay?”

  I gingerly rise and kiss her cheek. “Thank you.”

  “Anytime, Ty. Whenever you need me, I’m here. Goodnight, I’ll see you in the morning.” She kisses my cheek and walks out of the sitting room.

  Reaching for the whiskey tumbler, I hobble into the kitchen. My stump is killing me. I’ve not taken my prosthetic off today and I really should have. Once Lannie and I returned from the park, I should have jumped into an ice bath to cool it down, but I didn’t. Lannie was having so much fun that she wanted to watch Madagascar. I couldn’t say no, but I did manage to keep my weight off it for an hour or two. I’ll end up paying for it tomorrow. Placing the tumbler in the sink, I go to the freezer and grab some ice. It takes me a few minutes to make my way into the bedroom.

  Undressing, I collapse on the bed. I can already see the redness surrounding the prosthetic. Once I take it off, I see there are a couple of blisters on my stump. Fuck, tomorrow is going to be a complete write off. I won’t be able to go anywhere. I need to wait for the blisters to drain. I was told this could still happen. I pushed myself further today than I ever had. But I’d do it again. Lannie had a great time, and that’s all that matters. Plus, it showed me that I can push myself further, that I’m not completely useless.

  Rubbing the ice along the blisters, the coolness of it eases the pain and will help reduce the swelling. I continue to use the ice until there’s nothing left to use.

  Chapter Four

  It’s been two weeks since I saw that woman at the park and I’ve yet to get her off my mind. I still don’t know what her name is; Lannie just calls her Elizabeth’s mom and now Macy’s started doing it too. She’s doing it to mess with me.

  Those blisters I got had me laid up for four fucking days. I couldn’t even get out of the bed. It brought back all the memories of how utterly useless I felt after the surgery. It’s something I don’t want to happen again. It puts me in a headspace I don’t ever want to be in. Macy was sympathetic and did everything she could to help. Lannie thought I was sick again, that bringing her to the park had made me worse, and she laid beside me and we watched movies. Of course, those movies had to be whatever she wanted to watch, including Frozen and Moana. Multiple times.

  Last week I went to physiotherapy. My physiotherapist told me the blisters were bound to happen as I hadn’t yet pushed myself hard enough. It made me realize that I need to push myself further each day that passes. If I do, I may be able to walk almost normally, or at least at a normal pace. That’s something I hadn’t envisaged before. I never thought I’d be able to live a relatively normal life, but I spoke to another amputee—well, he spoke, and I listened. It was something I hadn’t thought of before—speaking to someone who had lost a leg. It made me realize I’m not alone.

  My physiotherapist put me in contact with his friend, who is a psychiatrist. He managed to get me an appointment yesterday evening, which I attended. It was fucking hard talking about my feelings to a complete stranger, but after an hour-long session I felt a bit lighter. I’ve booked in my next appointment with him and I’ll be going once a week for the foreseeable future, something I’m okay with happening for now. As long as it helps, I’ll continue to go. I understand it’s going to take a while. I just hope the outcome will be worth it.

  “Ty Ty?” Lannie calls out, rushing into the sitting room. She comes to a stop as she sees me sitting on the armchair.

  “Lannie, step into my office.” I smirk as she giggles. “What’s up, buttercup?”

  “Can we go to Bloomies?” she asks with a grin. She’s up to something. I can see it whirling behind those brown eyes of hers.

  Narrowing my eyes at her, I don’t trust her. “What is Bloomies exactly?”

  Macy walks into the sitting room with a bright smile on her face. Whatever Lannie’s up to, Macy’s in on it. “Bloomies is an indoor play area. With it raining outside, Lannie’s bored. I’ll drive you both to Bloomies and collect you an hour later?” She’s hopeful. Lannie’s running around the house while she’s trying to work, and no matter how many times we both tell Lannie to leave her alone, she doesn’t listen.

  “Please, Ty Ty,” she begs, jumping up and down on the spot.

  It doesn’t look like I have a choice. “Okay, let’s go,” I tell her with a smile, and I’m rewarded with an even bigger one. “Grab whatever it is you need, and we’ll go,” I say, and she rushes out of the room screaming with joy. “Macy, how much work do you have left?”

  She shrugs. “About two hours or so.”

  “Okay, I’ll take Lannie out for two hours. Hopefully you’ll be able to get your work done and then I’m taking us all out for dinner.” She’s been working hard the past few days. She’s taken care of us all while I was laid up. Not only that, Andrew will be coming home in a couple of weeks for a visit and she’s worrying as to where he’ll stay. She wants us all under one roof, and we live in a three-bedroom house. I’ve told her I’ll stay on the couch, but she won’t listen to me.

  “That would be good, thanks, Ty. Let me go grab my keys and see where Lannie’s got to.”

  A couple of minutes later, I hear movement, which is followed by Lannie’s screech. She’s excited to go to this play area. I’m just hoping it won’t be busy, that people will be stuck at home and not bringing their kids to this play area.

  “Ready?” I ask as I walk out into the hall. They’re both waiting for me by the front door.

  “Yes,” Lannie says, and it’s as though she’s saying, Duh! “Of course I’m ready. We’ve been waiting for you.”

  “Lane!” Macy yells, looking at me with a wary expression on her face.

  “Don’t worry about it. She’s excited,” I tell her, not wanting to dampen Lannie’s spirits.

  “Fancy seeing you here.” The familiar voice gets my attention.

  Turning, I see the redhead from the park standing beside me with a beautiful smile on her face. I give her a smile. “I didn’t realize a child’s play area could be so… busy.” Looking around at all the parents, I see I’m the only male in the room. The moms seem to be at ease, all talking to one another. They all seem to know each other. I feel bad for Macy whenever she has to come to these things. Macy hates small talk. No wonder she was so eager to get me to come here with Lannie.

  She comes and sits beside me, laughing as she does so. “It’s raining. This is a place where we can come and let our kids run wild. Kids are energetic and this is a safe environment to let them expel that energy.”

  “Yeah, Lannie was bored as hell at home. She was restless. By the way, I never did get your name.”

  She holds out her hand and I don’t hesitate to take it. Her hand is tiny, and delicate compared to mine. “I’m Heidi. How are you doing? You look good.” As soon as the words leave her lips, her cheeks fl
ame.

  I bite my lip, so I don’t laugh at her. “I’m doing better, and that’s thanks to you.”

  Her eyes widen. “Me?”

  I nod. “Yeah, you. You got through to me when no one else could. I don’t know if it was your bluntness or your beauty that blindsided me, but you made me think, and I’m trying to do better.”

  A genuine smile graces her face. “That’s amazing, Tyler. I’m glad what I said could help.” Her gaze wanders to my outstretched leg, and she bites her lip as she contemplates something. “Um, does it hurt?”

  “Hurt?” I ask, wondering what she means. She glances away, embarrassment written all over her. “Tell me,” I urge her, not wanting her to feel embarrassed.

  “After we spoke, I read about amputees.” She shrugs. “I don’t know why. I just found myself googling it. I came across something called phantom pains and I was wondering if you got them.” She’s whispering, not wanting anyone to overhear her.

  “A couple of times,” I confess quietly, although it’s happened more times than I can count. “The first time I had it, God… It was white hot, blinding pain, just as I felt when I had the accident. I was alone in the house, lying in bed, when the pain came out of nowhere and took my breath away.” I shake my head, thinking back. “Thankfully, my surgeon had forewarned me about this happening. If he hadn’t, I’d have thought I was going crazy.”

  She reaches over and places her hand on my leg. “I can’t imagine what you must go through. How do you manage the pain?”

  “I take beta-blockers.” I fucking hate that I have to take medication. “I also massage my thigh, along with placing a pillow underneath it. I’ve been told it will fade with time.”

  She nods, her eyes on Elizabeth, her hand gently caressing my leg. My dick starts to stir, and I suck in a breath as I turn my attention elsewhere, not wanting a hard-on while I’m at a kids’ play area.

  She pulls her hand away and blushes. “Sorry, I didn’t realize.”

  “It’s fine,” I tell her. Hell, it’s the most intimate I’ve been with anyone in over a year.

  We’re quiet as the girls continue to play. I glance at my watch and see we’ve been here for an hour already. Damn, that went a hell of a lot quicker than I thought it would.

  “Heidi?” I ask, and she instantly turns to face me. “Why are you so interested in my recovery?”

  Since I’ve met her, all she’s spoken about is me getting better, how I treat Macy, and my phantom limb. No one else besides my family have even cared to ask about my recovery. Instead, my friends have all but disappeared and I’ve been an asshole to everyone who loves me.

  “Honestly?” she asks, and I nod. I want nothing but honesty. “Before you had your accident, Macy used to talk about you constantly. She’d tell me stories of you, and I was intrigued. I wanted to meet you. Macy made you sound like one of a kind. Then you had your accident and Macy was so worried about you. Her love for you and the love Lannie has for you is something I hadn’t witnessed before. Macy is my friend, Tyler, and seeing her suffer because she couldn’t heal you, hurt. I guess I wanted to find out what you were going through.”

  I’m speechless right now. That’s about as frank as I could have asked for. Damn, she catches me off guard and she doesn’t even realize it.

  I find my voice, my tone deep and gravelly. “What about now? Are you still intrigued?” I have no idea what I’m doing, but this woman is unlike any I’ve known before.

  “Yes, I’m still intrigued.” Her reply is a breathy whisper. “Ty?” she questions, her eyes full of lust. This isn’t the place to be doing this.

  I turn and look out at Lannie when I hear her squeal. She’s having fun in the ball pit. She sees me looking over at her and a wide smile appears on her face as she waves at me.

  “Ty Ty, watch this!” she yells as she makes her way out of the ball pit and onto the adjoining slide. She stands on the slide and dives back into the ball pit.

  “Way to go, Lannie!” I yell when she resurfaces, and she fist pumps the air before running after Elizabeth

  Turning back to face Heidi, I take a deep breath and ask her the question that’s been on my mind since she stood beside me. “Would you be able to get a sitter for Elizabeth?”

  Her mouth opens, forming an ‘O’. It’s nice to know I can catch her off guard too. “Yes, my mom can watch her.”

  Relief washes through me. I’m not being rejected just yet. “Dinner tomorrow?”

  A shy smile appears but she nods. “Dinner sounds nice.”

  I pull out my cell and hand it to her. “Put your number in there for me and I’ll text you the details,” I tell her, thinking about finding a nice restaurant, along with a driver for the night.

  She does as I ask and then calls herself from my phone, shrugging as she does so. “Just in case I fancy calling you sometime.”

  God, this woman… she’s something else. She’s one of a kind.

  Chapter Five

  “You’re nervous,” Macy states with a smirk, coming to sit beside me on the bed. She’s loving this, and I want to tell her to get lost, but I’m trying to do better. I’ve been working on not biting her head off for no reason. It’s what I do when I feel useless, or, hell, when I’m angry. Macy has been the one on the receiving end of my wrath for no reason whatsoever, and I’m working hard to stop it.

  “Yeah, Macy, I’m nervous. What if she changes her mind? What’s going to happen when she realizes I’m not a full man?” It’s been on my mind since I asked her out on a date yesterday.

  “Ty.” Macy’s voice is soft, as it is whenever she’s upset. “Why do you feel as though you’re not a man? Because you’ve lost part of your leg?”

  I don’t answer her because she’s hit the nail on the head.

  “Ty, you’re amazing. Just because you’ve lost your leg it doesn’t mean you’re not a man.” Tears form in her eyes. “It hurts me that you think that.”

  “I can’t stop the way I feel, and, Macy, I’m trying my hardest to get back to normal. I just can’t see what that normal can be.” It’s what my therapist has told me to do—to be honest with those I love, those that are helping. Macy has been here every step of the way, so me being totally honest is the right thing to do.

  “We’ll make a new normal. There’s nothing wrong with change,” she tells me with a smile. This isn’t fazing her. She just immediately offers to change things up without even thinking about what could happen.

  “It’s been strenuous—trying to find the new me. Readjusting to life without my leg is hard. I never thought it would be so exhausting.”

  She shakes her head, those tears falling softly now. “Ty, no one ever thinks about losing their leg. Hell, no one would even think about what would happen if it did occur. So of course you never thought it would be hard. But you’ve got me, Lannie and Andrew. We’re going to be here every step of the way; whatever you need, whenever you need it. You need a new normal, and we’re going to find you one. That starts tonight. You’ve got twenty minutes until the car’s here to take you to Heidi.”

  She sounds so hopeful, and I don’t want to be the one to cause that hope to fade, but I don’t see how one night can be the start of a new normal.

  She must sense my hesitation. “Just go on the date. What’s the worst that could happen? It could go awfully, but you know what, if it does, at least you tried. You’re getting yourself out there and trying.” She kisses my cheek before standing. “Just go and have fun.”

  She’s right, I should have fun. So far, whenever I’m around Heidi, I have fun and she catches me off guard. I’m hoping tonight, that won’t change. “Love you, Macy.”

  She smiles. “And I love you. You’re my brother, Ty. I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”

  “Yeah, but I’ve been an ass to you. I’ve taken my anger out on you and it’s not fair. You’ve been amazing. I’m sorry for being a jackass.” It feels good to apologize to her. I should have done it sooner.

  “Ty,
you don’t need to apologize. You’ve been through hell the past year, and I understand that you’re hurting. I never took it personally.” She wrings her hands together. She’s lying. She’s never been good at telling lies. I’ve always been able to see through them.

  I feel like shit for making her life hell while I’ve been recovering. “It wasn’t personal. You were here and my anger and frustration got the better of me. I really am sorry.”

  “I know. I really do. It’s why I’ve not said anything. Enjoy tonight, have fun and relax.” I watch as she leaves my room, no doubt going to check in on Lannie, who’s already in bed.

  Thirty minutes later, I’m sitting in a black sedan waiting outside Heidi’s house, dread setting in the longer we wait. The driver hasn’t said anything since I got in and it’s only adding to my anxiety. There’s been no movement from inside the house. I fire off a text to let her know I’m outside.

  The outside light shines, a signal she’s received my message. The front door opens and out walks Heidi. My mouth dries as I watch her walk toward the car. Her red hair in curls that fall around her face, dressed in a tight black dress, she looks absolutely stunning. The driver gets out of the car and walks around to the passenger’s side to open the door and let her in. I stay inside. It’ll take me ages to get out and get back inside again.

  “Hi,” she whispers as she slides into the car beside me.

  “Hey,” I say back, my mouth still dry. “You look beautiful.”

  Her cheeks flush. “Thank you. You look good. You scrub up well. Where are we going?” The driver starts the car and pulls into traffic, driving us toward the restaurant.

  I reach over, taking hold of her hand. It’s soft and warm. “Dinner,” I tell her cryptically.

  “I’ve been looking forward to this all day,” she confesses with a smile.

  “You’re not the only one.”

  Her eyes narrow. “You thought I’d bail?” she accuses me.