Two plus Two
By CF422
CHAPTER 1
It was raining - which I guess is not an unusual event in the middle of winter! But I was getting wet because of two factors - one, I was pretty useless at handling an umbrella, which did not really matter because - two - I did not have an umbrella with me. Fortunately, the distance from the parking to the door of the shop was short and partially under cover, and so I was able to get there in a few minutes, and hence just got a little damp.
There, the automatic door opened and I nearly barged straight into a lovely vision who was about to exit the same building. I have no idea what it was that triggered the concept that she was "lovely", in fact, by some standards, she was merely a pretty, mature woman whose voice was laced with subtle tones of sexuality which I immediately resonated to. I apologized for barging in, she said that it was her fault for being so clumsy exiting. It was only then that I noticed her crutches.
I mumbled some asinine comment about hoping she was not going far as it was raining, and she used one crutch to point to a car right outside and assured me that she would hardly get damp. I was so flustered that I did not even introduce myself. Although that would have introduced another dimension to this meeting, which I was probably subconsciously avoiding anyway. Inevitably we would then need to shake hands - something I was a bit short on and which she probably had not noticed as the long sleeves hid my hooks.
Anyway she was probably happily married with 2.5 kids, 2.1 cars, a hubby and a house in the burbs and no inclination to dally with any one of the same sex, so I made some neutral parting statement, and headed inside, pretty sure that I was blushing, and hot as hell from some internal flame that she had ignited. I did however look back to see her swinging very firmly and competently straight for the car. She seemed particularly stiff, and there did not seem to be too much movement in her hips or knees, leaving me with the assumption that she must be pretty heavily braced in some way.
I was early for my appointment, so sat down in the waiting room and collected myself. At that moment in my life, I did not have a SO, having parted some 3 weeks previously from the last fling. Contemplating the partner status, or lack thereof, I realized that for the past 4 years, I really never had any serious relationships at all. Being only interested in other women, tended to massively reduce the available market, as it would take someone willing to accept and work with a person, who in some eyes, was pretty seriously disabled, to step up to the role of partner. Males who fitted this profile were probably a dime a dozen, but females not so much.
My mind kept going back to the vision I had encountered, and I wondered if maybe I actually didn't dream the whole thing! I had never been rattled by a fleeting meeting like that ever before, and this now tormented me. How the hell could I not have made a move to at least get a name, or maybe even more like some opening gambit to at least enable a further contact! Geez I was a real klutz in some ways.
Having lost my arms many years ago, and wearing prosthetic hooks in their place, made me somewhat undesirable in the conventional sense, and I had been rebuffed several times during the past 20 odd years. However, I was always strong enough to bounce back, and not allow the too frequent rejection slips to dampen my determination too much, and I had found many women who were prepared to look past the hooks, and get to know me, and several had then become my partner for varying lengths of time.
CHAPTER 2
Anyway Dudley came out to let me know it was time for my appointment with him. We had set up this appointment for him to fit the latest in lightweight cabling to my arms. Very few people, if any at all, understand what a massive difference even reducing the weight of an artificial arm by just 100gms can make to the effort required to operate the arm. In my case as both are above elbow, and the stumps are pretty short, the pressure on my stumps when lifting either arm, with even the lightest of loads is non-trivial, and as there is substantial scarring, pressure and effort leads too often to skin breakdown.
The arms themselves have become lighter and lighter as material and technology advanced. From the first pair which were near 2kg each including their harnesses to my current pair which tipped the scales at well under 2kg for both, this made the difference of actually being able to wear and use them at all! As for the myo-electric bionic stuff - they simply weigh too much for my situation. Where the amputee has a longer more robust stump, this is a different scenario. I do not have either attribute.
Anyway, Dudley showed me the new cables and sheaths and made some careful measurements as he needed to order the exact correct length, given the rather hefty price tag associated with this new cable which looked more like a piece of cotton thread to me! I expressed my doubt as to the strength, and he simply told me to watch something. He got a 20 kg weight from the rehab room, and then lifted it up using the new cable, with the comment that he doubted I could exert that force!
At this point, having dealt with Dudley for over 5 years, I decided to take a bit of a chance, "You know I was nearly run over by your previous appointee on crutches, who I don't think I have ever seen here before? She seemed quite a nice person - who was she?" Dudley gave me one of his calculating looks.
"Now you know Dee, there is such a thing as client confidentiality! But just as a hypothetical exercise, I need you to come back here on Tuesday next week at 2pm sharp, for me to fit the new cables. Possibly you may want to spend a little time before and after the appointment here though."
I got the hint and planned to spend some time at the place on Tuesday!
On Tuesday I arrived early, as Dudley had hinted, and decided to wait outside on a nice sunny day, where I could easily see all who came to the offices. The offices were actually quite secluded, being on a cul-de-sac with a nice garden in front and some benches outside for folk to relax and have a smoke - which I proceeded to do.
It was not really that hard to hold a cigarette in the hooks, but the best way was like making the hammer of the hammer and sickle sign, and that tended to burn the rubber tubing on the hooks, so I had got a way of using a medium length cigarette holder instead, which eliminated that issue, and more importantly brought the cigarette closer to my face, as the holder extended some 2 inches from the hook. Not many know that an above elbow prosthesis does not bend all the way to a "closed" position easily, and it usually requires a push against something to obtain the maximum closure, and even then this is a lot less than a natural arm. Thus reaching a cigarette held in a hook conventionally, involves significant craning of the neck, which really looks like crap.
Of course it was then that the apparition decided to arrive, just when I was at my least attractive, smoking and with the one hook totally exposed. She had come around a corner, on the other side of the shop to where she had parked the first time we met, and I having positioned myself, assuming she would repeat her previous process, was caught unawares and could not disguise anything. My thoughts ran along the line of, "Fuck this is not going to go well!"
But to my amazement, nothing could have been further from the truth! "Oh goodie! A fellow smoker! I am early for my appointment - do you mind if I join you?" she asked in dulcet tones.