Contentment wrapped itself around Edel as she watched her friends laugh and joke with one another. It had been a pleasant evening, and it made Edel happy to see Mack becoming more comfortable around Danny now. She supposed no man liked to think of his girlfriend having such a close friendship with another man, but when their emotions were enmeshed the way hers and Danny’s were, there was no wonder Mack had some insecurities about their close connection.
As Edel stood in her kitchen, watching her friends, Jay sidled up beside her. “Hey, you okay?” he asked, cocking his head to the side and studying her face.
She nodded, though Jay knew her well enough to know how she really felt. Having friends was wonderful, but saying goodbye to them at the end of the night was a pleasure in itself.
Jay returned to the table, leaving Edel to take a moment alone. Solitude was a necessity, one that she was in no rush to give up.
When she returned to the group, she found Jay and Mack in a debate over who was the strongest. She had no idea how they got onto such a weird subject, but before she could question them, Jay jimmied his chair up so it was directly across from Mack’s, and he slammed his elbow onto the table. “Only one way to settle this,” he said. A smile erupted on his face, and his eyes twinkled with mischief.
Edel watched Mack mirror Jay, his elbow also landing on the table with a dull thud. The two men gripped arms, and quiet fell in the room. Danny and Gemma stopped their conversation with Collette, and they all turned to stare in amusement.
This was new, and the unexpected turn left Edel feeling unsure. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Arm wrestling,” Jay said through gritted teeth. Mack grinned as he slammed the back of Jay’s hand onto the tabletop, and cheers erupted from both Danny and Gemma. Edel looked on, totally baffled.
“Pure luck,” Jay said, massaging his wrist.
Collette shook her head with a bemused expression. “What did you expect? He’s twenty years younger than you. Why do you think you can keep up with the kids, Jay?”
Danny caught Edel’s eye, sensing the shift in her mood. She was ready to reclaim her space, but she understood that demanding her friends leave was rude. “I think it’s time to call it a night,” Danny said, reaching for Gemma and pulling her close.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Jay said, pointing a finger in Danny’s face. “It’s your turn next.”
Danny couldn’t hide his amusement. “You want to arm wrestle with me?” he asked, trying to keep his face straight.
Jay shook his head. “ I want you to arm wrestle with her!” He jabbed a finger in Edel’s direction.
The two XJ5s looked at each other but their expressions did not match. Danny wore an expression of giddy excitement at the prospect, while Edel stared back at him warily.
“Why?” Edel asked, her tone guarded.
“I just want to see who will win,” Jay said. He got to his feet, childlike excitement taking over his features. He bounced on his toes. “Come on, Edel. It’s just an arm wrestle.” He grinned in Danny’s direction, egging him on.
“But why?” she asked again.
“Don’t you want to know who is the strongest?” he asked.
Her face remained impassive as she answered, “Danny is stronger.”
“What? So you won’t try because you know you will lose?”
Edel flicked her eyes to Danny, and back to Jay. “I don’t think I would lose. I think I would win, but Danny is still stronger than I am.”
Danny erupted in laughter. “How would you win? It’s a test of strength, and you’ve just admitted that I am stronger than you.”
Jay drummed his hands on the table, making a deep, low, beating sound. “Now you have to wrestle. You can’t claim that you will win without putting that claim to the test.”
Edel suppressed a smile. She knew without a doubt that she would not be beaten. This was not a test of strength, but a test of will. But her word wasn’t good enough. They needed proof. She stepped closer, and Jay explained the rules to her. “If the back of your hand touches the table or if you let go, you lose.”
Edel readied herself. Physical contact with anyone other than Mack was not something she relished, but holding Danny’s hand would be something new. Uncomfortable.
She met his grip and held firm. A firm resolve formed in her gut as her pale, slender fingers curled around his large, dark hand. The same feelings she’d had a thousand times over: She must not fail this task.
Danny went all in. The weight of his strength forced her hand towards the table. Cheers and jeers erupted around them. Edel’s hand rested two inches from the table, and she held fast. Danny pushed harder, grunting with the effort, but Edel would not budge.
“Give it up!” Danny taunted her. “You can’t come back from this. I will win.”
His words washed off her like spring rain. Her position remained, and Danny’s face contorted with effort.
“You can’t win,” he said again.
Edel could not force his hand back the other way. It was a fact that Danny outranked her in strength, but that wasn’t the only way to win. She held firm and waited for Danny to change his tactics.
Danny grimaced as he tightened his grip on her hand. His hand was so much larger than Edel’s, and the firm fingers gripped her hand like a vise, squeezing tighter, crushing her bones together.
Edel did not flinch. She did not budge. The pain she should have felt was locked away, removed from her conscious thought. The endless endurance tests she suffered at Poly-Gen had modelled her into someone who would not quit. She must not fail.
Her hand remained two inches from the tabletop, and she could sense Danny’s frustration. He squeezed harder, desperate to make her submit. Edel ignored the pressure in her hand. Concentrating only on her objective, which was not to allow her hand touch the table.
Cheers and whoops surrounded them, but Edel blocked out the noise as she concentrated on ignoring the pain and the pressure in her hand, arm, and wrist. A snap reverberated and Danny felt the bone in her hand shift and something dislodge. He dropped her hand in alarm, jolting away from her in shock. His own hands came to his mouth, and he stared at her in horror.
“Your hand,” he said in alarm. Guilt and a wave of shameful feelings slammed into her, as Danny cast his panicked, pleading eyes first to Mack then to Jay. “I didn’t mean to. I swear.” He turned back to Edel. “Edel, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
There was a flurry of activity around her as Edel remained seated, staring calmly at Danny. Collette gasped and rushed forward, kneeling beside Edel and gently asking to see her hand.
“What happened?” Mack asked coming to her side and trying to push his way in front of Collette. He reached for her swollen hand. “Is it broken?” he asked.
Edel leaned away, trying to reclaim her personal space. In truth, the discomfort of having people swarming her was far worse than the pain in her broken hand.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t meant to break your hand! Edel, why didn’t you let go? Or lower your hand to the table? Why did you let me break your hand?” Danny wailed.
She cast her eyes around the worried faces in the room. Why were they so upset about this? She swallowed and turned her attention back to Danny. “To win.”
Collette fussed around her, bringing ice and a towel, but she continued to stare at Danny, ignoring the fuss.
Danny frowned. “You didn’t win. I broke your damn hand!”
“And you let go. That means I won. Those are the rules.”
“I let go because I broke a bone in your hand,” he said slowly, like he was talking to an imbecile.
“But you still let go. So I won.”
Jay stared at her in utter disbelief.
“What?” she asked.
“You allowed your hand to get broken because you didn’t want to lose?” He shook his head. “It’s just a dumb competition, Edel. If I’d have known you would take it so seriously I would never have suggested it!”
She turned to Danny, sensing his anger, his frustration, and his guilt at her damaged hand. She cast her eyes around the room, and her insides twisted with unease when she saw her friends all wore similar faces of disappointment and concern.
“Why would you hurt yourself for this?” Mack asked, more gently than Jay had spoken to her. She looked around again, unsure. Didn’t they understand? She had been given an objective. She could not allow her hand to touch the table. Failure was not an option. If she was still at Poly-Gen, a broken hand would be nothing compared to what other horrors would await her.
What was meant to be nothing more than a bit of fun had turned into a disaster. She had ruined their evening.
“I’m sorry,” she said, though she still wasn’t clear what she was apologising for. Without a healthy sense of competition, she would have died a long time ago.
For more information about the characters in this story, take a look at the Almost Human series.
