Saved

It had been a long day for Connie, as business had been good, mostly due to the parade that had taken place for most of the day in the city nearby to where her cafe was situated. Many new, jovial faces had passed through her doors today, happy to spread their goodwill and cheer the festivities had given to them. She smiled at her reflection in the coffee machine as she removed the Group Handles and ran them under hot water, before dunking them in the chemical solution to soak. She looked tired, her hair, normaly tied back, was coming out in stray bunches. She ran her hand absently back, trying to smooth them down, with little success. She sighed, giving up, and returned to her duties. Her two helpers had left over an hour ago, leaving her with what remained of the tidy up. A lot of it could have waited until morning, but Connie's pride wouldnt let her rest till every milk jug had been washed and put back in the fridge, ever piece of cutlery back in their drawers, and every dish scrubbed clean.

The sun was well and truly down when Connie finally decided she had done enough. She switched her coffee machine off to let it rest for the night, ran a damp cloth one last time over the wooden bench top and checked to make sure the cash register's drawers were locked, before she headed to the front door. With an almost, sorrowful glance outside, she flicked the lights off, watching as the pavement outside went from being illuminated in the warm glow of the cafe's lights, to being barely distiguishable black blurs. The only street light on the corner was on the other side of the street and it had been broken for two weeks now. Connie made a mental note to call the power company again in the morning, and she turned the dead lock on the doors, and headed back into the cafe. Through the kitchens, out the back door, careful to make sure she left it properly locked, before turning to go up stairs.

Connie's apartment was directly above the cafe, accesable by a flight of heavy pine stairs behind the cafe. The apartment itself was cosy, with thick carpet in the lounge with comfortable, although aged sofa chairs, a small bathroom, a small kitchen, a main bedroom with a spare room, and a study. The part that Connie liked the most though, was her balcony that overlooked the entire street that ran into the heart of the city. When she looked straight out, she could see the river behind the apartments and office buildings opposite her cafe, a beautiful expanse of silvery water that calmed her at the mere sight of it.

Connie stripped down and slipped into a steaming shower, which helped ease her aching muscles. She was feeling thoroughly tired now, but instead of bed, she headed into her study, flicked her PC on and began to crunch that day's numbers into her computer. She hated to leave the invoicing and the staffs pays to accumulate, because she knew how scarily they could get out of hand and pile up.

Connie glanced at the clock. It was nearly midnight. Connie groaned to herself. She would have to get up in five and a half hours to begin the preparations for tommorrow's business. She sighed, shut her PC down and headed back into her bedroom. She threw her bathgown on over her singlet and boxers and stepped out into the freezing cold air that welcomed her on the balcony. She gave a small shiver, but smiled as she took a deep breath of the refreshing air. She hated the day time air, as it smelt dirty. But at night, when the cars were gone and the river was purifying the air, it smelt clean and refreshing. She stared up at the sky. The only downside to living in the city was the distinct lack of stars. Only a few of the brightest stars were visable. One in particular.

Connie's eyes were drawn to this one particular star that shimmered brightest of all. For a lax moment, her mind wondered, how she could have ever missed such a beautiful star. Then reason took over and she realized it wasn't a star at all. It was growing, larger and brighter. Before she could really panic though, whatever it was stopped heading towards her, and headed downwards in a sort of beautiful fiery arch, it smashed into the silvery smooth surface of the river, sending up a massive plume of water that cascaded as a fine mist around the city. Connie gasped, ran down stairs and around the cafe's drive way and across the street. She felt the mist settling around her exposed legs and she gave another involuntary shiver, and picked up her pace. She ran down an alley across the street from her cafe' that she knew from experience, would break out into a walkway that ran along the banks of the river.

Her view changed suddenly from the sides of apartment blocks to the river's expanse, the sound of the water lapping at the sides of the rocks, unusual to her. She stopped, trying to get her bearings. Where had the meteorite gone down? She wasn't sure. The river had swallowed all evidence it had ever been. Feeling slightly disapointed now, and rather chilled, Connie walked towards the river, watching as slowly, the river became smooth once more. She sighed, hugging her bath robe to her cold body, felt rather foolish, knowing how she must look, and turned to leave. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a sudden reflection of white. She whirled back around, took a moment to spot it again, a pale white blob bobbing in the black waters of the river.

With a sickening, stomach lurching feeling, she realized she was looking at a man, floating in the water. Connie, adrenalin suddenly pumping in her veins, searched frantically. There was no body else in sight. She barely gave it a second thought, knowing whole heartedly what she had to do, not particularily looking forward to it though, she tore her bath robe off, left it on the pavement next to the rocks where the river suddenly began. She stared once more at the body in the water, a good thirty feet out from shore, only visable in the star light, and then down at the freezing water below her. Knowing that staring at it wouldn't make it any warmer, she threw herself away from the rocks, into the water. The sudden shock of such icy cold water made her pores retract in sheer agony and protest. She felt her body shaking violently in the cold, but she forced it to move, to obey her commands, and to swim towards the body.

It felt like for ever, but it was only a matter of minutes, before she reached the body, felt her heart lurch as she saw him for the first time up close. She shook it from her system, it couldn't be after all, and if it was, she would deal with it later. She hooked her hand through his and began the strenuous swim back to shore. The man was made of pure muscle and was taller than Connie, making it very hard for her to pull him back to shore. Her aching, protesting, freezing body didn't offer much help.

Finally, she pulled herself out of the water, giving herself a few scrapes on her knees as she climbed the rocks, before turning to pull the man out the water. Another violent jolt as he slid up the rocks, on what looked like two glossy black surfboards that were attatched to his back. She heaved him onto the pavement, where he lay sprawled. She grabbed her bath robe, threw it over his naked body, and she kneeled down next to him, pressed her ear to his chest, and was shocked to hear a steady slow heart beat. She checked his breathing, holding her hand to his mouth, he wasn't breathing. She frowned, forcing herself not to think about what this man was, but that he needed her help, and she moved his head back and leaned over, pinching his nose with one hand, forcing his chin down with the other, and blew hard into his mouth. She let him go, took another deep breath, and blew it back into his mouth. A reaction, his head lolled, he groaned. She let him go, as he sort of rolled to his side, water pouring from his mouth. She caught a glimpse of his brilliant pink eyes in the dim light, he coughed harshly, then fell back into unconsciousness.

Connie checked his breathing again. His breathing was shallow but consistent. She re-covered him back in her bath robe, tucked it tightly around him and then stared around. They were still alone. She stared down at the man who's life she had just saved, and she allowed herself to really see him. There was no doubt, she was sure it was him, but that was impossible. He had died over a centuary ago. But they had taught her about him in school, the evil he had caused, the hopelessness he had evoked in the entire planet, but how he had subsequently helped to bring about global unity at the same time. He was responsible for a massive stock market crash that had led to a depression, he was responsible directly for the deaths of thousands, and through the panic enduced riots, many several thousands more. He was the most feared and hated man to have ever walked the Earth,...

... and she had just saved his life.

'But it couldn't really be him.' Connie tried to reason with herself. 'It's impossible. This is just some sort of freakish coincidence.' She bit her bottom lip, gave another violent shiver as a wind blew across her wet icy body, and decided in that moment, that she would have to deal with it later. Her most important mission was to get him back to her apartment, to get them both warm. She thought quickly, ruling out the options as she went, knowing he was way to big for her to carry unaided, and decided to use the cafe's flat bed trolley they used for deliveries and carting heavier things around. She ran back across the street, feeling like her insides were made of lead.

Ten minutes later and she re-appeared with the flat bed trolley and some blankets. It took her some maneovering to get the man onto the trolley, rolling him on his side, so his wings stuck out the side. She threw all four blankets over him, and began to roll him back across the street. She saw someone walking down the street, but they had their back to her and paid her no attention as she rolled the man around the back of the cafe'. With a lot of patience, swearing and trial and error, she managed to get the man up the stairs. She was thoroughly exhausted now, and didn't feel like she could take much more. She dragged her matress off the bed, threw it on the floor and rolled the man off the trolley onto the matress. She covered him with the four blankets and her doona, and for good measure, set her little portable heater up next to him and turned it on to full power. Within minutes the room was toasty and warm, and Connie felt her tiredness sneaking up on her.

She was worried, truly worried. What if it really was him? What if that man in her bedroom, with the violet streaks down his face, those brilliant pink eyes, and those shelled black wings was really Cell, the Tyrant, the Destroyer, the Evil Wicked One returned to life, and she Conchobarra Jewel O'Neall had just saved his life, and helped him to return to torment the Earth once more? She shivered. No. She had just saved the life of an unfortunate soul who shared a similar appearance to the Tyrant. She had saved the life of a man, who would thank her for her help, and be on his way in the morning, and she, Connie, could get on with life.

She had a quick hot shower to warm up, dressed herself in her warmest Pj's, and made herself a bed on the sofa, using an old pillow and a moth eaten blanket from the spare bedroom. She regretted glancing at the clock hanging on the kitchen wall, that told her that foolishly enough, it was 2:43am and that she was going to have a bad day when she woke up in only a couple of hours. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out, exhaustion and stress over-riding her worry, her doubt and that leaden fear that had wound itself around her heart.

What if?...

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