Joel was strangely happy with his star swimmer’s injury. He knew that whenever James was coming into a major competition he tended to push himself too hard, but now, with James bedridden, he could use the time to prepare himself mentally for the upcoming battles. A week before most major competitions Joel would try and wrap James in cotton wool. He would do anything in his power to protect him from anything and everything that threatened. He had never successfully achieved this but now, with James stuck in a bed on doctor’s orders, he hoped maybe this time he would be able to accomplish it, especially with Anna on his side. Even if James refused to see it, or admit it, Anna controlled his every move.

***

Anna

The next morning they packed up the car and bid farewell to Anna’s family. James apologised almost non-stop for ruining the dinner and making Kate feel so guilty for his injury. After assuring and reassuring her that it was an accident they headed home.

James was the world’s worst patient. After attempting to look after him for less than twenty-four hours, Anna was ready to strangle him. He flat out refused to do anything he was supposed to. Anna told him he was to stay in bed and watch television and she would wait on him hand and foot, but that was too much to ask. James was the most stubborn person Anna had ever met, and now he was acting like a child. The moment he was told not to do something he would go out of his way to do it.

“Would you please at least try to be good and behave yourself or else I’ll have to—” Anna negotiated.

“Or else you’ll what?” James baited her.

“Or else I’ll have to—damn it. I hate you! You know that I can’t do anything to you. You’re such a pain in the ass.” Anna laughed as she clambered up on the bed next to him.

“No, you don’t. You love me, admit it,” James taunted, pulling Anna over so that she was now lying with her head resting on his chest.

The next few days were uneventful. Anna and James spent most of their time together, cocooned in their own little bubble. James knew Anna wasn’t coming to Manchester to see him compete. She had commitments she needed to keep. She had to go back to school and finish her studies. She had missed so much already, and as much as Anna wanted to go, now was just not the time for her to start tripping around the world. Despite his disappointment, James understood and accepted it.

The day he was due to fly out, Anna was up before dawn and at James’s house. He was already awake, it was almost as if he knew the exact moment that Anna would breeze through his front door. Dawn hadn’t broken yet and the grass was covered in a light blanket of dew. The day was innocent, the air was clean and crisp, and Anna took a deep breath before knocking on James’s front door.

As soon as she knocked the door sprung open and James yanked her inside enthusiastically. Diana and Michael sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast, while they laughed at James’s erratic behaviour. They had never seen him so anxious to see somebody in his life. He was acting like a caged lion. It was in those moments, that it was obvious to anyone watching just how big of a part Anna played in James’s life. He was well and truly gone.

***

Anna

“Morning, Anna,” Diana said pleasantly, pouring her a cup of coffee. Anna sat down beside Michael silently and sipped it slowly. She was too scared to speak. It was like no matter which words Anna chose, they could never convey what she really wanted to say. James would be gone for just over four and a half weeks. It’s only thirty-two days, Anna kept reminding herself. It was her coping mechanism, especially at the airport. The conversation was lively between the four, yet Anna seemed distant and not her normal chirpy self.

“James, have you finished packing?” Diana asked. Glances were exchanged knowingly. James never packed until the absolute last moment. But now with only six hours left before he boarded the plane, time was running out.

“Fine. I’ll do it now, okay?” James whined. “Come and help me?” he asked, pulling Anna from her chair.

“Be there in a second.” She smiled, looking up into his dazzling eyes. After James left the room the fake happiness faded from Anna’s face and misery consumed her. She glanced at Michael and Diana, who were both watching her intently, waiting for her to speak or waiting for her to cry, they weren’t really sure what would come first. “Look after him for me, please,” she pleaded. Her eyes were so filled with pain that Diana couldn’t understand.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Michael pledged her, wrapping his arms around her. “He’ll be back in your arms, safe and sound, in thirty-two short days. Promise.” Anna could tell by the genuine expression on his face that Michael meant every word.

“Thank you.” Anna exhaled as a tear ran down her cheek. “I’d better go and help him. Otherwise he’ll be in England before he realises that he didn’t pack any socks.” Anna smiled tightly and disappeared out the door.

Diana and Michael just watched her disappear. “She really does make him happy, doesn’t she? Thank god someone is going to be able to look after him. He’s my son, and I love him. I really do. But you and I both know that he’d never manage it on his own,” Diana confessed.

***

James

In James’s bedroom, Anna perched herself on the bed and picked at her fingernails, watching him fill his suitcase. James haphazardly tossed jeans, shirts, underwear, and towels in the direction of his suitcase. Most ended up piled up on the floor beside his suitcase rather than in it. Ten minutes later it was bulging so much that it wouldn’t shut. He glanced over at Anna, who was by now in a trance. He saw in her face how much she would miss him and it dawned on him just how much he would miss her too.

“It’s not for that long, Princess.” James forced himself to sound upbeat and positive, even if he was faking it. He needed Anna to believe that everything was okay. “The way I figure it, if we have somehow managed to survive everything that has happened in the past few months, another couple of weeks will be a piece of cake. And when I get home, Princess, you and I are going to get married and get our happily ever after.”

“You sound very sure of yourself.”

“I am. Four weeks and then we will be together. Forever.”

“Forever. Four weeks just seems like such a long time. But I don’t want you to worry about me. I’m fine. I’m just being a baby. Let’s just get you packed so you can make your plane,” Anna admitted, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Come here.” James pulled her into his arms. “I can’t wait to marry you,” he confessed as he buried his face in her hair.

“You better believe it!” Anna giggled, tipping his suitcase upside down. “You’re worse than a damn woman when you pack.” Anna took charge of the packing and twenty minutes later his suitcase was neatly zipped.

Wandering downstairs, Anna grabbed another cup of coffee while James quickly demolished a banana. Caffeine seemed to be the only thing keeping Anna going. Despite the fact that they were both so used to getting up in the early hours of the morning, for some reason they both appeared as though they were moving at the speed of a snail. Or, if at all possible, backwards. The only thing they wanted to do was fall asleep and pretend the world outside didn’t exist. Hand in hand, enveloped by a thick melancholy silence, they walked outside and sat by the pool, dangling their feet in the water.

The sun was beginning to rise as the sky was painted fiery oranges and the first rays of warmth touched their cheeks. Both James and Anna were too scared to speak. They both knew that it was only four weeks and with how crazy the past couple of weeks had been a break was something they should be looking forward to, time to regroup, time to breathe, but for some reason it seemed to be hanging over them like a death sentence. There was so much doom and gloom that James began to think the tension would suffocate him.