2. Wherever You Will Go
He hailed them both a cab, more easily than he was expecting. He ushered her in before himself.
'Mount Sinai please. Step on, it's kinda an emergency.'
'It's not really an emergency…' She said bashfully.
'You're bleeding…it's kinda important!' He looked down and the trail blood showed no signs of stopping. 'Not queasy are you?' He asked taking off his Royal Blue tie.
She shook her head. 'Thankfully, no.' She replied with a smile.
He looked down holding his tie between his fists. 'May I…?'
'Don't ruin your tie!' She squealed.
He shook his head before applying his tie to her wound. 'I'm no paramedic,' He replied wrapping the ends around the top of her calf. 'But I know when it comes to wounds, pressure needs to be applied.' He tied a bow back around the front, over the wrapped wound. 'There.' He smiled, admiring his handiwork. 'A little present to the docs in the emergency room.' She smiled at him and his eyes shifted to her hands rested in her lap. He noticed the large red mark on her left wrist. 'Oh god, I'm sorry I think you're gonna have a bruise…'
She smiled down at it and to him. 'You just saved my life. I think we're even.'
He chuckled. 'D'you still think I'm one of those homeless prophet guys from the streets?'
She laughed at herself and shook her head, looking down in embarrassment. 'No, not quite. Sorry about that…'
He held up his hands smiling. 'Hey nothin' to be sorry about. I realise it would be a little strange for a stranger to grab you and want to take you away.'
She laughed, a little tinkling laugh. 'Now you just make it sound creepy.'
The cab screeched to a halt. 'Mount Sinai.' The cab driver mumbled.
The girl moved to reach into her satchel but Sam shook his hand at her. He reached forward and dropped some dollar bills through the gap in the Perspex window and helped her hobble out of the cab. As she stepped forward away from the cab he noticed she was limping badly. He dipped his shoulders towards her. 'Put your arm around me.'
'No, honestly it's fine…' She declined shuffling forwards, barely being able to stand on her right leg.
'Come here, you can hardly walk.' He dipped his shoulders towards her again. Still she refused his help, and limped like a little injured deer, into the entrance of the Mount Sinai Emergency Room.
When they stepped in the Emergency Room it was bustling with the injured and doctors rushing around in the background with victims laid out on gurneys. Cries of victims and their family members echoed around the room while they were harmonised with the sound of the phones continually ringing behind the large front desk. The line for admitting was growing longer by the second, the seating area filling even faster.
'I can check myself in. You can go now.' She said a little more bluntly than she intended.
'It's okay, I can stay.'
'No really, you must have a job you need to get to…?'
'Honestly,' He smiled softly. 'It's fine. I wanna make sure you're okay. I'd feel guilty leaving you now.'
'You've already helped me enough as it is. I'd feel guilty making you stay.'
'Well,' He smiled again. 'You're not making me stay; I'm staying because I want to. So you don't have to feel guilty.' He gave the boyish grin that he'd always been able to charm his way with. 'Come on, let's check you in.'
She gave in reluctantly. 'You're good with the persuasion thing.' She laughed. 'You go get us some seats; I think I can handle checking myself in.'
When she returned a few minutes later, he had a few chairs around them, and he'd pulled an extra one over in front of her chair.
'I heard if you have a leg or foot injury you're sposed to keep it higher than hip height to help circulation or something.' He told her gesturing to the extra chair.
She sat down stretching her right leg over the chair. 'Are you sure you're not a doctor…?'
He shook his head with a smile. 'Just a geeky kid. I watch too many medical shows.'
'That's obvious.' She chuckled.
Their attention was pulled away from each other when one of the nurses behind the main desk switched on the television set descended from the ceiling. It flashed red at first, and then the words Breaking News illuminated in white ran along the bottom of the screen. The news anchor flashed up on screen looking grave in his official suit.
'A deadly sequence of events has been unfolding in Grand Central Station Subway Station this morning. Reports say a suspicious package was placed within one of the subway trains as it left Grand Central Station Subway Station, authorities currently believe it was heading towards the Lexington Avenue Subway Station, on Line 4. During the transition between stations, the package exploded in the interconnecting tunnel on board the train. Casualties have been admitted to various hospitals in the area. The current death toll stands at 60, and the number of injured currently stands at 110, although these numbers are expected to rise. The Emergency Services and Rescue Workers are currently working to find survivors and more casualties. There was also a second explosion at the street exit to the Grand Central Station Subway Station but victims of the second explosion are yet unconfirmed. The perpetrators of these attacks are currently unknown.'
Sam leaned into her ear. 'Well we have one casualty right here thanks to that.' He said pointing down at her leg. He winced slightly looking at his tie soaked in her blood. 'Does it hurt…?' When she didn't reply he looked up at her face and tears had already begun to fall, but her eyes were fixed on the crushing images printed on the screen in front of them. He reached out and brushed his fingers over her left forearm and she flinched at the contact, forgetting where she was.
'Hey…' He soothed. 'You okay…?' She sniffed trying to wipe her nose with the back of her hand. She nodded slightly. 'I'd give you my tie to wipe your face…' He smiled looking down. 'But you kinda got blood on it.'
She tried to smile, sniffing. 'Sorry.'
He nudged her with his elbow. 'It's okay.'
They both looked down at her leg. 'Does it hurt…?' He asked.
'Kinda. Now the adrenaline is wearing off.'
'Hopefully they'll get to you quick, we don't want you losing any more blood – you'll hardly have any left in you!'
She looked back up to the screen full of destruction. 'I can't believe that coulda been us…'
He brushed her arm again, trying to prevent her becoming any more upset. 'But you gotta remember its not. We're both still here. You're alive.' He shrugged slightly. 'A little worse for wear, but alive.'
'I'm sorry I was rude to you before. You were just trying to help me.'
He smiled. 'Don't mention it.' He cocked his head looking at her. 'You look tired, why don't you get some rest? It'll probably be a while before we get seen with all these people here.' She looked at him wearily and he chuckled. 'Don't worry I'll wake you when someone calls us.' He took his suit jacket out from underneath her right palm and rested it on his right shoulder. 'Here, just rest…' He smiled warmly at her and she felt her head falling to his oddly comfortable shoulder.
He watched her round hazel eyes close, and it wasn't long before she was softly snoring, taking deep breaths in and out. He watched as she curled slightly into him and he lightly slipped his right arm around her shoulder, he almost felt protective over this relative stranger. He didn't even know her name. He didn't know anything about her, and yet he still felt…drawn, to her. Maybe that's why he felt drawn to her, because he didn't know anything about her. He looked down into her lap and she still had that ratty lime green book with her. He could see the book was so old the front cover was nearly falling off and the illustration was all cracked. The pages inside were brown with age and some were torn or curled at weird angles. This time he could read that the book in question was Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. He smiled to himself, as he figured out a little more about her.
He watched people come and go while they sat there in silence. Some people hugging each other tightly, relief clear on their faces. Some holding each other, looking stricken with grief and in need of consoling. He looked down at her again, her mouth curled slightly at one side, almost as if she were smiling at him watching people as they milled about in front of them. Smiling at their front row seats to a brand new episode of their very own medical show. His thumb unconsciously traced little circles over the skin on her right bicep as she stirred in her slumber. A tall man with short white hair and a short white beard dressed in light blue scrubs approached them together.
Noticing that the girl was still asleep he spoke softly. 'We can look at her now…'
Sam nodded and smiled warmly. 'Thank you.' He replied quietly, careful not to wake her. He scooped her up, his right arm still wrapped around her shoulders and his left supporting underneath her knees. Her head lulled to the side and rested against his chest.