Bittersweet Tragedy

Chapter 4

After breaking yourself free from the spiderweb, you wandered the quiet night streets of Queens before stopping at a 7-Eleven.

The gash on your forehead had finally stopped bleeding, but you could feel the sticky dry blood plastered to the side of your face and mattered in your hair. It needed to be cleaned, the cut probably needed stitches too, but cheap medical tape was going to have to do.

"That'll be $24.50, ma'am." The cashier said as she placed your items in a plastic bag.

You nodded, reaching into your back pocket for your phone out of habit, but it wasn't there.

Shit.

No phone. No phone meant no credit card... you had no way to pay for these supplies. You really should have thought this through.

"Is there a problem, ma'am?"

"No, uh, well, yes. Sorry, I seemed to have left my purse at home by mistake." You lied, looking up at the cashier who sighed, no doubt getting that excuse daily from customers.

"If you can't pay for the items. You can't have them." She explained and you nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, of course. Sorry."

With a sigh, you turned around and bumped into the man standing behind you in the line. If it wasn't for his quick reflexes, you would've landed face first on the floor, but he quickly grabbed your shoulders, steading you.

"Sorry." You apologised, lifting your head, your eyes locking with his blue ones. "Thanks for the save."

"No problem." He replied, a gentle smile on his lips before his eyes shifted up to the gash on your forehead. "Are you okay?"

No, not really.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

It was clear the man knew you were lying, but you didn't give him a chance to question it before you turned and walked out the store. Your head was really starting to hurt and you contemplated walking back into the 7-Eleven and stealing a packet of ibuprofen from the shelf, but decided against it. The last thing you wanted was to get on the cops radar again.

Instead, you sat down on the curb outside the store, resting your elbows on your knees while you tried to figure out what to do. You were in a different universe with no phone, no money, no family, no friends... you literally had nothing and you had no idea what to do.

"Hey, uh, sorry, I don't mean to disturb you, but I thought you'd might want these." A familiar voice suddenly called out.

You glanced over your shoulder to find the blue-eyed man from earlier walking out the store towards you with your plastic bag of supplies in his hand.

He bought the stuff for you... why would he do that? He didn't even know you.

"Here." He said, pulling out a bag of frozen peas that you definitely didn't put in there. "It'll help with the pain and swelling."

"I'm fine. You didn't have to do this." You said, shaking your head as he handed you the bag of peas.

"It's no trouble. Plus you need to get ahead of the swelling, trust me."

You nodded, resting the bag against your forehead with a wince. "You a doctor or something?"

"No, no. Just know a thing or two about patching up cuts. Is it okay if I sit?" He asked, motioning to the curb beside you.

"Free country."

The man hesitated for a moment before he sat down beside you, but made a point of leaving a decent gap between the two of you which you were silently grateful for.