tough day.’
‘So what happened? How badly injured was your cyclist?’
‘Multi-trauma. She’s up in Intensive Care now but I wanted to see what had been found. The head injury made her combative so it was hard to assess her.’
Sophia nodded. She had plenty of questions and was genuinely interested in the responses as Aiden told her more about the case, but there was an undercurrent that made it all so much more enjoyable.
She was going to see him again tomorrow night.
They were going to a thing …
Parking outside a suburban gymnasium was a surprise. So the ‘thing’ was a sporting event of some kind? This was weird but Sophia was prepared to keep an open mind, especially when Aiden took her hand to lead her inside.
And there was another surprise. The seats were crowded and the atmosphere loud and vibrant but the last thing she’d expected to see were the teams on the basketball-style court. They were all young men and they were all in wheelchairs.
‘What is this?’
‘Murderball.’ Aiden waved to a girl with spiky black hair and facial piercings who was in the first row of seats. ‘Wheelchair rugby.’ He led her towards some empty seats in the third row. ‘It’s my brother’s first game.’
Wow. No wonder she’d got the impression that this was a private part of Aiden’s life.
‘Your brother is paraplegic?’
‘Tetraplegic. You have to have disability in all four limbs to qualify to play.’
‘But …’ Sophia stared at the activity below as she took her seat. The team members were rolling across the floor with some doing fast spins, looking like they were warming up. They were definitely using their hands and arms.
‘There’s a scale,’ Aiden told her. ‘The level of disability is graded from zero point five, which is the greatest restriction, to three point five. If you were able-bodied you’d score five and if you were totally paralysed you’d be a zero. There are four on the court at any one time and they have to have a total score between them of no more than eight points.’
The teams were lining up, face to face in the centre of the court, and then they peeled off, high-fiving each other.
‘Which one is your brother?’
‘Number three for the Melbourne Mobsters. The red and black team. He’s not going to be on in the first quarter. He may not get on at all but I hope he does. This is his first game.’
‘Oh …’ That made it even more of a big deal to be here. No wonder Aiden was looking tense, with his jaw knotted and his focus intently on the court. Sophia slipped her hand over his to give it a squeeze and found it caught and gripped hard.
‘What’s his name?’ Sophia grinned. ‘Just so I can yell when he scores a goal.’
‘Nathan. Nate.’
A whistle blew and the referee threw a ball high in the air and then it was all on. A player for the Canberra Cowboys put the ball on his lap and sped away from the others to cross the goal line between cones. A cheer erupted from the crowd but it was nothing on the noise level when one of the local boys scored less than a minute later.
The game was fast and furious and Sophia was hooked well before the first quarter ended. She gasped at the first collision she saw between three players going for the ball that made the chairs tip and her jaw dropped when one player fell backwards with a crash, but the game carried on with a supporter rushing onto the court to right the upturned chair, and within seconds the fall was forgotten.
A hooter sounded to signal the rolling rotation of the players but Nathan wasn’t one of the new team members. Sophia tried to figure out the rules but the game was so fast, she was having trouble. This was like a mix of basketball, rugby and bumper cars.
‘Why do they bounce the ball sometimes?’
‘You have to either bounce it or pass it to someone else within ten seconds.’
‘What happened there?’
‘Penalty awarded for a foul. That cowboy hit a mobster’s chair behind the main axle, which makes it spin out of control.’
Scores jumped quickly but stayed close. The noise level steadily increased until Sophia had to shout to be heard as the final quarter began.
‘That’s Nathan. He’s on.’
She’d barely known this game existed before coming here tonight, but suddenly it felt personal. Nathan looked a lot younger than Aiden and he looked a bit nervous. Sophia felt nervous herself. The chairs were clearly designed to cope with the impacts with their metal bumpers and spoke guards. And the players wore gloves and elbow protection but surely there was a huge potential for injury down there?
Aiden obviously thought so too, given the way he winced visibly the first time Nathan’s chair got hit. But, moments later, a wide overhead pass from the other side of the court saw Nathan catch the ball and dump it on his lap. He spun his chair on the spot and took off, his arms almost a blur as he powered towards the goal line. Three other chairs converged on his path but he saw them as he looked up to bounce the ball off to one side. With another lightning-fast spin, he changed direction and had a clear line to speed towards the cones.
The cheer was the loudest yet. Maybe because she and Aiden were both on their feet, yelling at the tops of their voices. She saw the girl in the front row, who’d waved at Aiden when they arrived, leaping about and waving two huge pompoms in the red and black team colours.
The Melbourne Mobsters lost by two points but it didn’t seem to matter. The crowd was happy to cheer any of the players who came close enough to the spectators to receive a high five or a kiss from a girlfriend. Still holding Sophia’s hand, Aiden pulled her towards the front row as a chair rolled directly towards them. Nathan got a kiss from the girl with the spiky black hair and then a fist bump and a one-armed hug from his brother.
‘You made it. Didn’t see you up there, bro.’
‘Wouldn’t have missed it for the world. You rocked it, man.’
Sophia nodded her agreement, unable to wipe the grin off her face. ‘Most exciting game I’ve ever watched,’ she said. ‘Of anything.’
Nathan Harrison’s eyes were the same unusual shade of brown as Aiden’s and they had the same ability to focus with instant intensity. The slow grin was eerily familiar as well.
‘You have to be Sophia,’ he said.
She nodded again but didn’t miss the glance that flicked between the brothers. Or the disconcerting way Nathan was shaking his head as he looked back, still grinning.
He must have seen her confusion. ‘Sorry. It’s just that it’s the first time I’ve met one of Aiden’s girlfriends. He doesn’t usually give me the honour.’
Because a three-dates rule didn’t allow for inclusion in a private part of his life? She hadn’t imagined that hesitation in inviting her, had she? Or underplayed the significance? But she had no idea whether it meant anything. Or whether she even wanted it to mean anything.
The moment could have been incredibly awkward but it was the girl beside Nathan who saved it.
‘There’s a first time for everything,’ she declared. ‘Otherwise nothing would ever change.’ She grinned at Sophia. ‘I’m Sam,’ she said. ‘And I’m delighted to meet you—which is what Nate’s really trying to say.’
‘I knew that.’ It was impossible to miss the significance in the glance Sam shared with Nathan. Their love for each other was blindingly obvious.
So was the bond between the brothers. Aiden declined the invitation to join the team and supporters at a local bar, saying he had a horribly early start the next day, but she could hear the fierce pride in