Run To Me

Marathon Day

Tom and Molly stood side by side in the throng of runners. Amongst the fancy dress, the athletes and the fun runners. The confident, the nervous and the downright terrified. The well trained, the not quite so well trained and the "oh my God why did I agree to this". In essence, a cross section of humanity. All with one thing in common, a wish to make it through the next 26miles in one piece.

"You ok?" he asked her as she jumped up and down beside him, trying to keep warm. It was a good day for running, not too hot, not too dry but definitely on the cool side of comfortable for standing around in running vest and shorts.

"No!" she shook her head "I'm not." her face was white and her stomach was churning. She'd been to the loo more times than it should have been humanly possible but now it was time. Tom smiled and kissed her on the cheek,

"You'll be fine love, you've done the training, you've followed the advice and now? Now you just have to enjoy. Remember - first bit with your head, next bit with your personality and last bit?" he paused and looked at her, his eyes shining with pride. She nodded.

"With my heart." she whispered in the mele of noise and activity around them. She looked at her wrist and smiled. A bracelet. A little braided leather band that had a couple of initials embossed into it in gold. ' M & J' It hadn't been the most expensive gift she'd ever received, but it meant the most. When they'd finally done their last prep run before race day, and there was nothing more they could do, Tom had handed her a small gift bag.

"For good luck." he said and kissed her "open it. I hope you like it." he smiled and watched as she tore open the paper and frowned as she came on the pouch containing the bracelet.

"What is it?" she asked, with a small smile.

"Open it and see!" he said softly "It's for you to remind you of how you got this far."

Even more confused she opened it and tipped out the leather thong. "Here, let me." Tom grasped it and her wrist and proceeded to wrap the leather around her delicate wrist, tying the leather strings off carefully. Molly saw the initials and instantly burst into tears.

"Oh Tom, thank you so much. Thank you so, so much. I just wish he could see it. Could see me." the tears sparkled on her lashes and despite the sorrow still in her heart, she smiled. Tom thought she had never looked more beautiful.

"My pleasure darling." he turned as the announcements started. "This is us love, ready?"

With that, they were off.

They aimed to finish in a very respectable 4hours 30 - 45minutes. Truthfully Tom would probably have finished faster, but he deliberately kept pace with Molly. She'd shown the grit and determination he'd come to know and love the whole way round. Even when he knew she was flagging around the 22mile mark, she dug deep and kept going. Now, as they turned into The Mall towards the finishing line, they knew they could do it. Finish together.

Until disaster struck.

Molly was running for the line, just a few feet behind Tom when her legs began to give way. She'd put her heart, soul and everything else into it. The charity she was running for would be almost £5000 better off. She felt... awful, suddenly the lactic acid in her system started to kick in. She felt sick, her legs were like jelly and she knew she was going to faint. As Tom pulled further and further ahead, she wobbled and fell onto her knees, everything starting to go black.

Tom was unaware, the cheers of the crowd drowning out any cry she might have made. Now, as he neared the line, he wanted to cross with her, hand in hand. He turned, expecting her to be only a little behind. She wasn't. She wasn't anywhere near him. Instantly he turned and ran back to find her. She was being helped to her feet by other runners, her knees grazed and bleeding, her face streaked with grime and tears. The other runners were supporting her as she tried to run again to the line. Everyone wanted everyone to finish. It really was that simple.

Tom got to her just as she wobbled again. He thanked the two men helping Molly profusely and insisted they should complete their run as planned. He would catch up with them later. They wished the two of them luck and ran on. Tom put his arm around her and half carried her with him.

"Come on love, only a few meters left. You can do this. You CAN do this. I promise love. James would have been so proud of his little sister. I am so proud of you. Come on, one last push." his talk seemed to work, together with the brief respite she'd managed to get. She seemed to mentally shake herself and stood more upright, more alert. This was her moment. This was her chance.

She smiled, weakly, but she smiled. "Come on then, let's show them how it should be done eh?" she started to jog, and before Tom knew what was happening, they were running over the finishing line hand in hand, arms raised in triumph. Instantly, he scooped her into his arms and carried her to a waiting medic who gave her a foil blanket, an energy gel and the ok to collect her medal.

Medals received, they filtered slowly through the crowds of finishers. Tom still carried her, making sure she was well covered with the blanket. He smiled at her as she hugged him tightly, crying with happiness. A broad smiled on her ecstatic face.

"We did it Tom!" she was like a little girl at Christmas "we did it. The London Marathon!" she reached up and kissed his cheek. "Thank you. Thank you for believing in me, even when I couldn't."

"Oh my little kitten, you did this all yourself. One foot in front of the other until you were done. I only gave you a little nudge now and again." ever humble, he refused to take more than a sliver of credit for her success.

Molly was, quite literally, exhausted. She didn't even have the energy to shower and change. Tom laid her in the bath, having removed her gear. He gently washed her and then her hair, Wrapping her in soft fluffy towels, he laid her on the bed while he went to shower.

Coming back only a matter of a few minutes later, she was sound asleep. He smiled and sat down on the bed beside her. Stroking a random lock of hair off her face, he paused as she stirred a little.

"Tom?" she held out a hand. "That you love?" he took hold of it and kissed it gently, laying back down with a soft pat.

"Yes darling. You sleep now. I have a little surprise planned for later, I want you to be able to enjoy it ok? There's no rush. We have all the time in the world." he leaned forward and kissed her softly. She murmured something he thought might have been 'thank you' or it could have been 'love you'. To him, at that moment, he didn't care. She loved him and he loved her, that was what was important. As she drifted off again, he waited till she settled.

Standing slowly, he left the room to make a hot drink, slipping on his robe. Feeling there was something in his pocket, he patted it down. As he felt the outline of a wooden box, a warm smiled spread over his face. He'd forgotten he'd left that there.

She was going to love it. A carved little box with many small, but essential uses.

Two of which he would put to the test tonight. Tonight he would, at last, right a very big wrong.