4:00 am

"I want to go fast." I challenged Max a few hours ago.

"There’s something I’ve been wanting to do with you ever since we met, and I think you might be up to it." Max responded with that dangerous glint in her eyes that put a smile of anticipation on my face.

"We’re going for a ride." A slight smile played on her lips, but she still didn’t offer anything specific. I didn’t take my eyes off her as her military mask came up in full force. Then I had a horrific thought. Max has a love for high places.

"Look, Max. If you think I’m going to scale any tall…" I started to protest.

"Uh, Uh." Her tone indicated that I was on the wrong track.

"What?" I stopped to question her and she nodded in the direction of the living room. And there it stood in all its sleek, powerful, splendor, Max’s Ninja.

"I told you we were going for a ride." She couldn’t hide her grin any longer as she pushed the bike out of the apartment. I quickly followed behind her, looking forward to this ‘ride’ that she had planned. When we arrived at the street, I propped myself up against the bike while Max stashed my chair in the car. I even attempted to climb on, but I wasn’t able to swing my leg over the seat. There is a huge difference between standing on two legs with something there to support you and standing on one leg while attempting to raise the other three feet off the ground.

"How are you doing over there?" Max commented on my lack of progress while she closed the hatch.

"I feel like I’m balancing on the head of a needle with a ton of bricks tied to my legs. Otherwise, I’m doing great." I grinned at her, completely thrilled that I was even in a position to have this problem.

"Slinging Bricks 101. Took that at Manticore." Max joked as she provided the extra boost that I needed to climb on. For once, I didn’t have the slightest desire to protest her help. Nothing would have stopped me from getting on that bike. A moment later, Max was sliding on in front of me and pulling my arms around her waist. I certainly had no reason to protest that either.

Then we were moving fast! At first, I just held on as the wind blasted into my face, bringing tears to my eyes even with my glasses on. After a few minutes, my body adapted to the rhythm of the bike and to Max’s responses. I found myself mimicking Max’s every move as she leaned into a turn or anticipated a gear shift. We were completely united with each other and with the bike, and the sole purpose of our existence was going fast.

About an hour later, we had worked our way to the waterfront. Max slowed down and pulled over at an empty pier. There was a quietness in the air that belied the port’s daytime activity. Under the cover of darkness with only the lights from the boats anchored in the harbor and a few buildings downtown, the city seemed calmer, quieter, more at peace. The stillness of the place was in direct contrast to the speed and roar of the engine a few minutes before. Max silently slipped off the bike and I easily followed her. I slid partially off and then let gravity do the rest of the work. I leaned against the bike and Max joined me, standing barely an inch away.

Only an hour earlier, I had stood up for Max. We were so incredibly close at that moment, not quite touching, but connecting in a miraculous way. With Max so close to me again, I felt like I was reliving the intensity of that moment. "You’re the miracle. You gave me back my life." I remembered feeling that we needed to have our arms around each other. I remembered that, a moment later when my legs protested the long forgotten thing called work, we did. I remembered Max helping me back into the chair and stepping back a bit. We weren’t touching anymore, but the connection was still there, stronger than ever. It endured all our bantering and our motorcycle ride and brought us to that pier. Then it was telling us that we needed to get closer again. Almost simultaneously, we placed our arms around each other’s waists. We stood there for a long time, leaning into each other and watching the lights in the harbor. Our bodies were touching again and I could feel every contact point, our arms, our shoulders, ours hips and thighs and knees. It felt completely comfortable to be that close.

"We shouldn’t miss curfew." Max murmured, but she didn’t make a move to pull away.

"Yeah." I whispered, not making a move either.

Eventually, Max stood up and walked to the edge of the pier. I could tell that she had keenly felt the change between us. It was something much more than just the fact that I was regaining the use of my legs. Then in a split second, Max’s posture changed, as if she had just made a decision. She turned around and, before I knew it, I was plucking her bike keys out of the air.

"Your turn." Max grinned at me with that wicked smile that I love. We repeated the balancing act to get me back on the bike. Then she climbed on behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. After a short but very intense lesson on acceleration, braking and shifting, she let me put the keys in the ignition. I gunned the engine and we surged forward. Racing through the dark city streets gave me an incredible feeling of power and freedom. Now I know why Max doesn’t sleep at night. We spent another hour winding our way back to sector five. Then just as we neared the sector checkpoint, I turned the bike around and headed back the way we had come.

"Uh, Logan? I know men are born with a road map of the country imprinted in their brains, but my place is in the other direction." Max’s voice was amused but cautious.

"No problem. I know where I’m going." I reassured her. Then I tried my best to get us completely lost. The night was far from over.

Several hours later, I managed to find my way back to Max’s. When she slipped off the bike, I made no move to follow her.

"Logan, are you going to climb down sometime before sunrise or do I have to peel you off that bike?" Max seemed extremely amused and maybe just a little nervous at my reluctance to get off. But the longer I sat there, the more nervous that look became. I think she was having waking nightmares of me taking off with her baby. I confess that, for a moment, I wondered if she would mind if I went for another short spin. But thoughts of being hunted down by an irate X5 allowed my better judgement to prevail. Surprisingly, even getting back into the wheelchair was not the letdown I thought it might be. I still haven’t come down from the adrenaline high. When I told Max that I wanted to go fast all those hours ago, I hadn’t realized just how fast we would go. But what thrills me more than anything is the anticipation of what tomorrow will bring. Because there is one thing that I am certain of. Tonight is only the beginning.