Me-Before-You-by-Jojo-Moyes

Having strangers wipe your arse –’
A man with a shaved head thrust his head between us. ‘Pat,’ he said, ‘have you
tried that new gel drink? Had one explode in my backpack last week. Never seen
anything like it.’
‘Can’t say I have, Trig. Give me a banana and a Lucozade any day.’
‘Dazzer had a Diet Coke when he was doing Norseman. Sicked it all up at
three thousand feet. God, we laughed.’
I raised a weak smile.
Shaven-headed man disappeared and Patrick turned back to me, apparently
still pondering Will’s fate. ‘Jesus. Think of all the things you couldn’t do … ’ He
shook his head. ‘No more running, no more cycling.’ He looked at me as if it had
just occurred to him. ‘No more sex.’
‘Of course you could have sex. It’s just that the woman would have to get on
top.’
‘We’d be stuffed, then.’
‘Funny.’
‘Besides, if you’re paralysed from the neck down I’m guessing
the … um … equipment doesn’t work as it should.’
I thought of Alicia. I did try, she said.I really tried. For months.
‘I’m sure it does with some people. Anyway, there must be a way around
these things if you … think imaginatively.’
‘Hah.’ Patrick took a sip of his water. ‘You’ll have to ask him tomorrow.
Look, you said he’s horrible. Perhaps he was horrible before his accident.
Perhaps that’s the real reason she dumped him. Have you thought of that?’
‘I don’t know … ’ I thought of the photograph. ‘They looked like they were
really happy together.’ Then again, what did a photograph prove? I had a framed
photograph at home where I was beaming at Patrick like he had just pulled me
from a burning building, yet in reality I had just called him an ‘utter dick’ and he
had responded with a hearty, ‘Oh, piss off!’
Patrick had lost interest. ‘Hey, Jim … Jim, did you take a look at that new
lightweight bike? Any good?’
I let him change the subject, thinking about what Alicia had said. I could well
imagine Will pushing her away. But surely if you loved someone it was your job