CHAPTER SIX
1923 Words
My shift ended a little after seven, and I was already regretting not buying groceries yesterday.
My fridge had basically become something else: two eggs, half a bottle of water, and something green in a container that only God knows how it got there. Anyways, I didn't care less cause I'm gonna dispose of it; there's no way I'm eating them
I hadn't planned on stopping anywhere tonight. My legs hurt, my eyes felt sore from staring at a computer screen for four hours, and all I wanted was to get home, take off my shoes, and sleep
But I'd eaten cereal for dinner two nights in a row.
Aghhh I groaned
So I stopped at the grocery store near my apartment.
It was quieter than usual. A few people pushed carts around without much enthusiasm, and some soft song was playing over the speakers near the checkout. The kind of song nobody actually listened to.
I grabbed a basket.
Eggs. Anything green.
I stood in front of the vegetables longer than necessary before finally picking up a bag of spinach.
I was halfway down aisle four, comparing two brands of instant noodles as if my life depended on it, when something crashed at the other end of the aisle.
Then
I heard a thud
Then the unmistakable sound of glass shattering on the floor.
A small cry followed.
I put the noodles back.
“Hello?”
An older woman was lying on the tiles.
A broken glass jar had rolled a short distance from her, its contents spreading slowly across the floor.
I didn't move; I stood there, looking at the older woman and wondering whether I should help her or mind my business like the others, but before I could decide, my legs were already moving toward her.
I crouched down beside her
"Oh my God"
She had both hands around one leg, her face pinched with pain.
“Someone help!”
I looked toward the end of the aisle.
A stock boy had stopped what he was doing.
For one second, I thought he was coming over.
Then he looked at the woman, looked at me, and turned his attention back to the shelf.
An older man pushing a cart passed the aisle entrance without even slowing down.
Seriously?
I crouched beside her.
“Ma'am? Can you hear me?”
She nodded.
“My leg.”
Her voice wasn't audible; I could almost not hear it
“I think I broke it.”
“Okay. Don't try to move.”
“I was reaching for something.” She swallowed hard. “I just... lost my balance.”
“That's okay. Just stay where you are.”
I glanced around again.
Nobody was coming.
Of course.
“Can somebody call an ambulance?”
Still nothing.
Fine.
I pulled out my phone.
Before I could dial, the woman reached up and caught my wrist.
“Please.”
“I've got you.”
I wasn't sure why I said that, because I didn't even got myself
I didn't know her. I wasn't a doctor. I could barely keep a houseplant alive.
But she looked terrified, and apparently my leg had decided to volunteer me for the job.
I called emergency services and gave them the store's address. I stumbled over a few of the questions because, honestly, I had no idea what I was supposed to know.
Was she bleeding?
No.
Was she conscious?
Yes.
Could she move?
Probably not, unless screaming counted.
When I finally hung up, I crouched beside her again.
“They're coming.”
She nodded, but tears had gathered in the corners of her eyes.
“It hurts.”
“I know.”
That was all I had.
So I stayed.
After a few minutes, she looked at me.
“You're very kind.”
I shook my head.
“I'm literally just sitting here.”
“You stopped.”
I glanced toward the other shoppers.
Apparently, that was enough.
“You would've stopped too,” I said.
She gave me a tired little smile.
“I don't think so.”
I didn't know what to say to that.
So I started talking.
About the weather first. Then the noodles I'd been trying to choose between. Then I complained about how every brand seemed to have ten different versions of the same thing.
She even laughed once.
It was small, but it made me feel better.
The ambulance took longer than I expected.
Or maybe time just moved differently when you were sitting on a grocery store floor beside a stranger with a broken leg.
At some point, her hand went slack around mine.
I looked at her.
“Hey.”
Her eyes were closing.
“Stay awake for me, okay?”
“I'm tired.”
“I know. But they're almost here.”
I wasn't sure whether she heard me.
Then the sliding doors at the front of the store opened, and two paramedics came rushing in with a stretcher.
Everything after that happened so quickly that I barely had time to move.
One of them knelt beside her.
“Ma'am? Can you hear me?”
She didn't answer.
Her eyes opened for a second, then closed again.
My stomach tightened.
The paramedic checked her and spoke quietly to his partner.
I backed away.
“Is she okay?”
“We're taking her in.”
They lifted her onto the stretcher.
Then one of them looked at me.
“Are you family?”
“No.”
I glanced toward the woman.
“I found her.”
He nodded.
“You can leave your details with the hospital.”
I hesitated.
“Can I come with you?”
He looked at me like I had just asked to join their ambulance crew.
“I don't know her,” I explained. “But she doesn't seem to have anyone.”
He looked at his partner.
Then back at me.
“Fine, Get in.”
I looked over my shoulder at the grocery store.
My basket was still sitting somewhere in aisle four.
Eggs. Rice. Spinach.
So much for my responsible dinner.
---
The hospital was nothing like I expected.
It was loud for one thing.
People were everywhere. Nurses walking quickly from one desk to another, someone arguing with a receptionist, phones ringing every few seconds.
I stood there beside the entrance, wondering what exactly I was doing.
The paramedics had taken the woman through the double doors, and nobody had told me what happened after that.
A nurse eventually noticed me.
“Are you with the patient?”
I almost laughed.
“No. I mean… not really.”
She frowned.
“I found her at the grocery store.”
“Oh.”
She looked at me for a second, then at the doors.
“Family?”
“No.”
“Friend?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
Good question.
I looked down at my hands.
“I don't know.”
The nurse gave me a strange look, then walked away.
Fair enough.
I found a chair and sat down.
Five minutes later, I was still there.
Then ten.
My phone was at thirty-two percent. My feet hurt. I was hungry.
And somewhere across town, my abandoned groceries were probably still sitting in aisle four.
I should leave.
That thought had crossed my mind at least six times.
But every time I stood up, I remembered the woman's hand closing around my wrist.
Please.
So I sat back down.
A while later, a nurse came through the doors carrying a brown handbag.
“Excuse me?”
I looked up.
“Is this yours?”
“No.”
She nodded and placed it on the chair beside her.
“The woman's belongings. We're trying to find someone to contact.”
“Oh.”
I glanced at the bag, then quickly looked away.
I really should mind my business.
Then the nurse pulled out a phone.
“There is an emergency contact.”
She made the call.
I couldn't hear the person on the other end, but the nurse's voice softened.
“Yes. She's here.”
A pause.
“She had a fall. She lost consciousness on the way here, but she's stable.”
I stopped pretending not to listen.
The nurse nodded slowly.
“Okay. We'll wait for you.”
She ended the call.
“Her sister?” another nurse asked.
“Yes.”
“And her son?”
The first nurse sighed.
“She said her sister would contact him.”
Her son.
For some reason, that caught my attention.
I looked toward the double doors again.
I didn't know this woman.
Didn't know her name.
Didn't know where she lived.
I hadn't even planned on coming to this hospital tonight.
Yet here I was, sitting under horrible fluorescent lights because I'd stopped to buy eggs and spinach.
I rubbed my face.
“This is ridiculous,” I muttered.
I should go home.
But then I remembered her smile.
You stopped.
Maybe that was the problem.
I'd stopped.
And now, somehow, I didn't think I could leave until I knew she was okay.
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