Rick sits in Central Park and watches as the children play. He's not being creepy, but just making sure that no one else has those kinds of ideas. He can see that the mothers and fathers don't really pay attention to what their children are doing. This in itself upsets him in a way. Children should always have supervision no matter what they're doing. He watches a young girl trying to climb across a set of monkey bars. He can tell from what he sees in his vision that she won't be able to hold on to the middle bar and she falls breaking her leg.
Before it gets to that point she looks at him and smiles. Then she jumps from the top step of the ladder to the higher vertical bar and hangs trying to go to the next rung. She miscalculates the distance between where she can get to and where she ends up. Her hand slips and then she falls.
Xx
Knowing what's going to happen three minutes and twenty-two seconds into the future, Rick decides to walk over to who he thinks are the parents of this child. He introduced himself and he told them that there could be a slippery substance on the monkey bars. He points to the girl who is currently on the equipment and tells her mother that she could fall if she grabs onto that third rung.
The mother was skeptical at first but decided to walk over to where her child was. By the time she had walked over to her daughter, she had already jumped to try to reach the third rung on the monkey bars. The mother saw her trying to grasp the bar and she ended up slipping. She made a dash to get to her daughter before she hit the rubber mat. She was just in time as she broke her fall by cradling her daughter in her arms before she hit the ground.
Rick turned to leave not wanting any part of the accolades that he knows that come with doing a good deed. He should have known that he wouldn't get very far before he was stopped by the father of the little girl.
"From the bottom of my heart, I'd like to express how thankful I am for doing what you did."
"I'm sorry sir but I really didn't do anything. I just informed you that she might fall. The city doesn't really maintain the equipment that well in the park. But I'm glad that she is okay."
Rick turned and walked away. He knew that if he stayed to talk, there would be more questions about what had happened and how he knew that the girl would fall. The quicker he left the less he would have to speak to anybody.
Xx
Rick exited the park at West 79th Street and hailed a cab. From where he was to the loft was a short ride fifteen minutes at the most traffic permitting.
He sits back in the rear passenger seat of the cab and observes everything that's going on around him. Five minutes into the ride as they went South on the Henry Hudson Parkway, through the plexiglass partition, he can see the driver is distracted by his phone. Modern technology and everything associated with it are at times a godsend. But right now the cabbie is texting while he's driving and it's an accident waiting to happen.
It's then when Rick sees what happens next. Down in the area of the passenger ship terminal, the median disappears and it's just a painted solid double line. There are no concrete dividers stopping traffic from careening into the other direction of travel.
It happens quickly. The cabbie who is preoccupied with whoever he was texting and answering had his eyes off the road for far too long.
Xx
The family who had lived in Chelsea was comprised of Mom, Dad, little Petey, and Betty Anne. It was the first time in three years that Dad had gotten time to take off from his very hectic job. Mom who runs her own business was able to take the entire week off and altogether they were going to Disney World. They started their journey less than ten minutes ago. By the time they came to the intersection of 20th and the West Side Highway they could tell that this would be the trip to remember.
They made the right turn onto the Henry Hudson Parkway and accelerated to normal speeds. On the way up towards the George Washington Bridge, dad points out landmarks along the route. He tells his children about the passenger ship terminal, the Intrepid Air, Sea, and Space Museum, and the Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises. They happily move along without a care in the world.
The cabbie Rick notices has been getting more and more frustrated by the incoming and outgoing texts. He knows something bad is going to happen and he needs to do something about it before many lives are lost.
He watches as the incident unfolds in front of his eyes. The cabbie who now had thrown all caution to the wind had his eyes off the road for longer than thirty seconds. The father who is driving the minivan coming the opposite direction had told his son a fact about the U.S.S. Intrepid as he was driving. In that split second, he took his eyes off the road to turn back and tell his son something informative about the aircraft carrier. The cabbie has been drifting to the left side of the northbound lanes. With no concrete divider stopping the cab from moving into the northbound lane both cars hit head-on at a higher than normal speed. The end result was the mother had been thrown through the front windshield because her seatbelt malfunctioned. The father had died from injuries sustained to his sternum after his heart was punctured by a rib. Little Petey and Betty Anne were trapped in their seats after a car that rear-ended their car at a high rate of speed. The family that was going to have a wonderful time at Disney World never got off the island of Manhattan. And now all four are sitting in the morgue.
The cab driver and Rick both end up with critical injuries and the cab driver dies en route to the hospital. Rick lingers a full two days before he dies due to his injuries.
Xx
Rick gives the cabbie one more chance before he steps in. He knows he has the time and as he sees the cabbie reach for his cell phone that will no undoubtedly kill all of them he slaps his hand against the plexiglass partition startling the cabbie and he drops his cell phone. Knowing that he can't retrieve it from the passenger side of the car while he is driving the driver pulls over to the shoulder reaches for the phone after the car is in park. The minivan driving in the opposite direction passes them with no issue.
Once the cabby retrieves his phone the look on his face is one of pure hatred. He turns to face Rick and tells him to get out of his cab. Rick who does not want to start anything throws a twenty-dollar bill on the front seat through the window in the partition. He opens the door gets out and the taxi pulls away. Rick looks up to see where he is and knows that he's only twelve blocks from the loft. It's a nice afternoon so he decides to walk the remaining distance back home. He's happy about this because he knows he's cheated death once again. He just wonders how long his luck will last.
Xx
There's no way that he can stay alive forever, no one can. But after the near miss with the little girl and his own life changing moment he'd like to pass away from old age but with the way, his luck has been in the recent months that might not be a possibility.
Xx
Kate needs information. She needs to know more about the man she saw watching her in the cemetery the other day. Maybe if she can find out about him it will ease her thoughts about why he was staring at her for so long. Maybe he is a lost soul like herself...