“Tell her to stop,” I pleaded. “Please, I just need to go to the Student Health center. I don’t need an ambulance.” I turned my head up, finally meeting the dark eyes of my rescuer. “Please,” I repeated, my green eyes staring into the darkest set of blue irises I’d ever seen. They were the deepest shade of cobalt, barely distinguishable from his black pupils. Unusual eyes.
“I don’t do well with…hospitals,” I admitted, looking away from his penetrating stare.
“Fine. Whatever you say,” he agreed somewhat uncertainly, frowning as he cradled my shoulders with one arm. Shrugging out of his black leather jacket, he wadded it into a ball, gently shifted my head off his chest, and laid me down on the makeshift cushion.
I shifted my eyes to follow as he got up, walked over to Lexi, and took the phone from her hand. He spoke rapidly into it, glancing back in my direction several times before hanging up. In my semi-dazed state, I only registered his tall frame and dark hair before letting my eyes flutter closed once more.
“Hey, you still alive down there?” his deep voice chuckled.
I moaned noncommittally in response.
“I’m going to pick you up and carry you to Student Health. It’s only a few buildings down from here. Okay?” he asked, not waiting for an answer as he gently hooked his arms beneath my knees and scooped me up like a child. “At least you picked a convenient place to wipe out.” I felt his laughter rumble through his body as he carried me along, seemingly unaffected by my weight.
Cradled against his chest, I opened my eyes again to look for Lexi. She was walking directly beside us, her eyes trained on my face. As soon as she saw that my eyes were open the apologies began flowing from her in a torrent, causing my already-aching head to pound.
“Oh my god, Brooklyn, are you okay? I am so, so, so,sosorry. I owe you big time. Please don’t die. I’ll buy you endless Starbucks for a month, as many venti chai tea lattes as you can handle. I promise, I didn’t mean to! That hydrant came out of nowhere. And you just went flying! Oh my god, I’ve never been so scared in my whole life. And you have a cut on your head! Don’t worry, it’s by your hairline. You can totally cover it with your bangs…Are you sure you’re okay?”
I swear she never even took a breath. It might’ve been impressive if I wasn’t bleeding from the head and very possibly concussed.
“I’m sure she’ll be better once you stop yammering at her,” the guy’s voice scolded from above me.
“Oh…right,” Lexi whispered, looking suddenly chagrined. “I’m so sorry, Brookie. I’ll be quiet now I promise.”
“I’m fine, Lex,” I mumbled, turning my face away from the bright sunlight and into my savior’s shoulder. When I inhaled I got a whiff of his cologne or aftershave, a heady scent of autumn leaves and crisp apples. He smelled like fall, my favorite season. I giggledaloud at the thought, recognizing almost immediately that I was delirious and, in all likelihood, suffering from a concussion.
Suddenly, we were walking up steps and through a set of glass doors. The health desk receptionist took one look at us before calling for a nurse on the intercom, simultaneously directing us toward a curtained-off section of the room. Laying me down gently on a cot, the guy moved my hair away from my eyes and grinned down at me, a dimple appearing in one cheek.
“Well, this definitely fulfills my annual act-of-kindness quota,” he quipped. “At least, Ithinkhelping someone oblivious enough to trip over a fire hydrant will count.” His eyes crinkled up in laughter as he joked at my expense.
Rude.
“Careful,” I warned, wagging my finger back and forth at him. “Making fun of the injured is a definite deduction of karma points.”
“I’ll take my chances. You got blood on my favorite shirt, by the way,” he said, gesturing unhappily toward the bloodstain now marring the band insignia on his dark grey T-shirt. “I mean, I knew walking and talking simultaneously posed a challenge for you sorority girls, but at leasttryto remember to avoid the hydrants – you know, those red shiny things – in the future. Think you can manage that, sweetie?” he mocked.
In an instant, any gratitude I’d felt toward this stranger vanished, replaced by anger and more than a little embarrassment. Not only had he insulted my intelligence, he’d equated me to, as Lexi would say, a sorostitute!
“Oh, I’m justsosorry. Next time I’m bleeding from the head I’ll be sure to direct it at someone else!” I snapped, my voice trembling with indignation.
“I’d appreciate that,” he bantered back. “Now, as fun as this has been, I really need to go. Watch out for those hydrants, kiddo. Next time I might not be there to save you.”
Kiddo?! Who thehelldid this guy think he was?
“I don’t recall asking for yourhelp!” I glared up at him icily. “I’d typically say thank you, but at this point I think I’d have preferred to be left to bleed out in the street!”
“You’re welcome,” he grinned back at me,again showing off that infuriatingly cute dimple as he retreated backward toward the door. As he turned, he spotted Lexi making a beeline for my cot with a nurse in tow.
“Enjoy your time with the redhead. I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone talk thatfast in my life,” he noted, one eyebrow quirking up at the thought. “Oh, and before I forget – you owe me a dark greyApiphobic Treasont-shirt. Size large.”
With a final wink at me, he spun and walked to the glass entryway, disappearing out into the sunshine before I could even contemplate a comeback. I lay in stunned silence, slowly processing the fact that he’d just sauntered out, leaving nothing but his freaking t-shirt order behind.
What an asshole!
Shock from the accident had worn off several minutes ago; in my anger, I hadn’t even noticed that the aching in my head had mostly subsided. The nurse quickly determined that I did not, in fact, have a concussion– just a severely unattractive lump on my temple and a small cut by my hairline. With an efficiency that attested to years of patching up reckless college kids, the nurse cleaned the blood from my face, placed a small bandage over the cut, and sent me promptly on my way to class with an ice-filled compress to reduce the swelling.
My brush with death wouldn’t even make me late for Criminal Justice.
Damn.