LINDSEY
“Thank you for giving me a ride home, Mark,” I said, then kissed him gently on the lips.
“No problem, kitten.”
It made me smile, the way he found different names to call me. Pumpkin, sugar plum, and now honey. Not the most creative, but fun nonetheless.
“He must drive like a maniac,” I felt the need to say.
“Who? Your step brother?”
“He’s not my step brother!”
“Yeah, technically. But, can we stop talking about him, babe? I mean, you’ve been doing it the entire drive here.”
“Oh, sorry about that. I just hate him so much.”
Mark shrugged, apparently not seeing it as such a big issue.
“It’s alright, babe. Just, let’s talk about something else for once.”
“We talk about plenty.”
“True,” he admitted, leaning against the door frame. “But, maybe tone it down at my family’s dinner next week?”
I giggled. “Sure. Wouldn’t want your mom to think I’m such a hateful person.”
“That’s right.”
“What? You think I’m a hateful person?”
“Jesus, you’re funny!” Indeed, I was, as he couldn’t stop laughing. As he laughed, he did his annoying thing when he slapped his knees. “God, it was just a joke. Of course I don’t think your hateful. I don’t hang around people with bad vibes.”
I forced a smile, trying to get the thing out of my head. He was perfectly suitable in every other way.
“Well, then, I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
“OK, babe. I gotta go; I need to be on campus in an hour. I’ll call you when I get there.”
“You make sure you do that, Mr.!”
He kissed me goodbye and left. I closed the front door and leaned against it, sighing.
Mark was so perfect. Straight A student, a senior, an athlete, already having a place reserved at his uncle’s law firm. Everything I wanted, and everything Dad would approve.
I was happy with Mark. “Very happy, indeed,” I told myself and went into the kitchen.
I was planning on having some tea, then work on an essay that had to be done by next week.
Halfway through my tea, I heard the doorbell.
“Dad? Can you get that?” I shouted, but no one answered. “Fine, I’ll do it.”
I reluctantly stood up from my comfy armchair and opened the door.
“Hey, Adam.”
“Oh, hey.”
“You... seem surprised to see me. You know I live here, right?”
“Yeah, no. I’m just dropping off some... fishing things for your Dad. He wanted me to...”
“He’s home, tell him yourself.”
I turned around, not bothering to invite Adam in. As soon as I had seen him, I had gotten angry. Why did he have this effect on me? Was it because he seemed like a smug bastard? Or, maybe because he had offended both me and my father?
“Dad? Adam’s here! Dad?”
Where was my father, anyway?
“Give me a minute, he might be in his room.”
“Sure,” Adam said, leaning awkwardly next to the hallway mirror.
“Actually, why don’t you go see him? I was in the middle of reading a paper.”
“Fine. Where do I go?”
“Upstairs, third door on your left.”
He gave me a nod and sprinted up the stairs, two at a time. I watched him do it without even breaking a sweat, like he was leisurely walking on the beach.
“Showoff,” I muttered, and went back into the living room.
I didn’t get to sit down. In less than a minute, I heard Adam yell something I didn’t understand.
I hurried to the foot of the stairs and looked up. What the Hell was he doing?
“Call 911,” he shouted again, running down. “Now!”
“What? What are you talking about?”
He didn’t stay to explain, just ran out the front door. “Weirdo,” I thought, and went upstairs to check if everything was alright.
My father’s bedroom door was open, but nobody was inside. I stepped in and looked around. The French doors to the balcony were open, the curtains moving with the wind. I frowned.
“What the Hell?”
My brain was telling me the answer was on the balcony, but no one was there either. Then, I looked down.
“Oh, my God. No, no, no, no...” I kept mumbling. This wasn’t possible.
My father was on the ground, directly underneath his balcony, and a pool of blood had formed around his head.
“Dad!” I shouted, my body starting to shake uncontrollably.
Adam had just gotten to him. He looked up and started to say something. I didn’t stay to listen; I was already running.
“Dad! Dad!” I kept shouting, even after I had gotten to his side.
Adam was kneeling next to him, doing something. His hands were covered in blood. I watched him mesmerized.
He took his gray t-shirt off and used it to stop the bleeding, then he moved onto other injuries.
I wasn’t shouting anymore. In fact, I must’ve been incapable of even comprehending speech, as Adam kept telling me something I didn’t understand. Finally, he pulled me down, forced my hands onto the bloody t-shirt and made me put pressure on Dad’s wound. Then, he disappeared for a second and came back with a phone.
He was speaking into it, but I felt deaf. All I could see was the pool of blood getting bigger and bigger, the life leaving my dad’s eyes slowly.
I must’ve not been applying enough pressure, as Adam grabbed my shoulders and gently moved me aside, taking over my task and talking at the phone at the same time. Soon, the ambulance arrived and Dad was in capable hands.
He was still alive, otherwise the paramedics wouldn’t have fussed around him like that.
Someone tried to talk to me but Adam pulled me into him, protectively, and told them I wasn’t to be questioned.
I looked up at him, unsure about everything that was happening. He seemed the only thing safe and stable. He seemed like a rock.
“Do you want to be seen by a doctor, Miss?” the paramedic asked me.
“I’ll take her. Just tell me where you’re taking Mike.”
Adam went on to argue with the paramedics about things I couldn’t care less about, and, before I knew it, he was putting me in the passenger’s seat of my car.
“OK. You need to have the safety belt on,” he said, buckling me in.
He drove fast, never losing sight of the ambulance. It seemed like a movie scene to me.
When we finally got to the hospital, I watched them take my dad and rush him into an OR, before some nurses turned to me. They poked me, stuck a light in my eyes, checked everything and finally gave me a plastic cup filled with water.
“She’s in shock. She’ll come to, eventually, she just needs someone with her,” one of the nurses concluded.
“I’ll be here,” I heard Adam say. He seemed certain of that, like it was a promise.
I looked at him for the second time since the incident. He looked calm and confident, if not genuinely worried about me.
I found the strength to drink all my water, before trying to speak.
“You saved my dad,” was the first thing I said.
“I don’t think that’s...”
“You saved him.”
“I...”
“Thank you.” I looked into his eyes again, to show him I meant my words.
“What can I say? I know how to take care of a wounded soldier,” he joked awkwardly.
I didn’t mean to, but I burst into tears. It seemed like I needed it.
To my surprise, Adam wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly against his chest.
“It’s alright. I’m here, no matter what,” he said quietly. It made me cry even more, but it also made me feel safe. I trusted he would be there, no matter what. I believed him, of all people.
ADAM
I didn’t know why I stayed. I had held Lindsey the entire time she was awake, and only let her go after Mike had gotten out of surgery, so she can be at his side.
I had wasted an entire night, and had missed an important interview for the best apartment I could’ve wished for. Why?
Something compelled me to look at Lindsey for an answer.
She was curled up on a chair, close to Mike’s bed. Her sleep has been agitated since I left her out of my arms.
I needed to hold her again, it looked like she wasn’t sleeping well, so I sat up and walked across Mike’s hospital room.
Midway, I heard him shift. He was waking up, Lindsey needed to be there.
“Hey, your father’s awake,” I whispered, patting her shoulder. She almost jumped off her chair. “Shhh, it’s alright. Mike’s waking up,” I told her. She looked into my eyes; I could see her calming down.
“Thank you,” she mouthed, then turned to her father.
I nodded and left them alone. I had to see the landlord, maybe he’d reconsider me, given the circumstances that had forced me to bail on the interview.
A long phone call and three coffees later, I managed to obtain a meeting with the owner of the flat.
A taxi took me home, where I showered and changed into a more appropriate outfit, then I headed downtown.
“Mr. Adam, I am extending you this courtesy because I respect every man that serves this country, but the facts haven’t changed. This property is very sought after and you have missed your chance,” the man started without preamble.
“I understand that, Sir. My reasons are personal, but still pertinent. I couldn’t come because I had to assist a friend of mine that was injured and be there for his daughter while he was in surgery. I realize this is no excuse, but it might not be as simple as you think.”
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that, Mr. Adam. I... How’s your friend?”
“He’s fine. Out of the woods.”
He pursed his lips, looking like he was doing some serious reconsidering.
Since he had started talking as soon as I had walked through the door, I was still standing, now shifting my weight awkwardly.
“Please, sit down, young man. I might be able to give you another opportunity.”
“I’m all ears,” I said, feeling the aching in my bones go away as I sat in the plush chair. I hadn’t had the chance to relax since I discovered Mike the day before, so this pause in my day was most welcome.
“Look, I understand your circumstances, Adam. May I call you that? OK, so what I am about to say to you has never happened before. I’m telling you that the apartment is already taken by someone else, but I have an identical place on the seventh floor, same building. Now, that’s more expensive, it has been recently refurbished and has more modern appliances, but, — and this is where the favor becomes clear, — it costs a lot more than the one you wanted.”
“OK. What’s the favor?”
“I’m willing to match the price, provided you sign the papers immediately. We can go see the place right now, if you want.”
Before I could answer, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Lindsey.
“Dad is fine, he sent me home, but I can’t sleep. Mark is busy for the next hour and I feel lonely. Care for a coffee?”
My brain stood on edge for a second, but no longer. I chose without even thinking.
“Could you excuse me? I need to be somewhere.”
“This offer will be off the table if you walk out that door, Mr. Adam.”
I nodded. “I understand. I still need to do this. Thank you for your generosity.”
“Suit yourself, young man.”
I walked out of his office with no regrets, my main concern being Lindsey’s well-being. And the fact that Mark wasn’t there for her; I could’ve sworn I wanted to be better than him, but I didn’t understand why, so I rejected the thought as ludicrous.
As I walked out of the building, I texted Lindsey back.
“I’ll be at your place in ten minutes.”
“I’m at the Starbucks down the street,” was her reply, so I went there instead.
I found her sitting next to the window, looking terrible. Dark circles under her eyes, pale skin, tired eyes; she needed rest.
“Hey, there. You look awful,” I said, sitting down.
“Thanks. You don’t look any better yourself.”
“I know. I haven’t slept all night. Speaking of which, you need to rest.”
She exhaled loudly, incessantly picking at a scratch on the table.
“I’m fine, not that big of a deal. I had plenty of white nights studying or partying, I’ll be alright. Dad, on the other hand...” her voice broke before she could voice her concerns.
“He’ll be fine. The doctors said he will have no permanent damage from the fall, unless you count a broken rib.”
“All that blood...”
“It’s a good thing. It means he wasn’t bleeding in his brain. Lindsey.”
She raised her eyes to mine. I reached across the table and touched her hand.
“Everything will be alright. He’s awake, the prognosis is excellent. Relax.”
She finally forced a smile.
“What was he doing working on that railing?” she asked after a while.
“What do you mean?”
“The house is old; it has been in the family for generations. We usually hired people to maintain it, so why did he need to try and repair the railing himself?”
“On the balcony?”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe it was a strange DIY project.”
“Maybe. But he can barely change a lightbulb, what was he thinking?”
“Midlife crisis?”
She shot me a look.
“Jesus, you don’t hold back, do you?”
I smiled. “I’m sorry. I was a dick.”
“It’s alright, I wasn’t any better.”
“No, I meant even before. We started on the wrong foot because of me and...”
“I know, I meant the same thing.”
We looked at each other in silence, the ambient noise of the shop covering up the awkwardness I felt when I realized I was still holding her hand. She didn’t seem to have a problem with that, which both delighted and confused me.
“I can help with the repairs,” I said, if only to break the silence.
“That’s so generous of you, but I’m not letting anyone I love near that railing again. Only professionals from now on.”
Her choice of words gave me pause. I must’ve raised my eyebrows instinctively, seeing that she started blushing right away.
Then her phone rang and she pulled her hand away.
“Oh, Mark got off early!” she exclaimed and I frowned. There was a strange knot in my stomach that I hadn’t felt before and it seemed to be the source of my anger.
“OK, then. I will leave you guys alone.”
“But, he hasn’t arrived yet.” She genuinely looked sad with my sudden decision.
“Is he far?”
“He’d be here in ten minutes.”
“Then you’d be fine. I need to catch some sleep anyway. I’m sorry.”
“Oh, sure. I’m being selfish. Of course, go. Sleep well, Adam.”
My answer was a nod. Once outside, I chose to go straight to a military shooting range.
I had to do something, and sleep didn’t seem like a possibility. Shooting always helped relieve inexplicable anger.