Greed | Norton Campell

Remorse

Tick, Tick, Tick!

The grandfather clock in the main office was the only sound you heard. That, and your fork hitting a plate occasionally was heard. Toast topped with powdered sugar and cinnamon, a side of pudding, and a glass of hot chocolate was your lunch. More like dessert if anything. You got up from the table and left. Dominic was in his office probably reading what your father had sent to him.

Campbell... What a....bitch., you thought, walking out back to soak in the smell of dirt, minerals, wet rocks etc. hearing the machines seeing the smoke it all looked so... Depressing. The workspace was like no other. You were desperate to explore and did just that. Your Mary Janes made a satisfying noise through the paths, taking a right you saw the restrooms provided. You didn't go in but they seemed to be the nicest part of the area from the outside. Men pushing carts full of coal were seen from the caves coming out from all entrances.

If this is the worst mine, how are the other mines operated? Countless questions raced through your mind. That wasn't the only thing racing. A stampede of miners suddenly rushed into the mines. Then shouting was heard echoing from the cave. "Bring it, Campbell! If you want it come and get it!" Campbell? Hearing that last name made you rush over to the mine. You shoved and pushed your way to the front of the crowd.

What the... On the ground was.. Norton. He was coughing, but it wasn't normal coughing. They were getting more severe with each cough. His face was flushed, not from the miner whose foot was on his head, pinning him to the ground, no. He couldn't breathe. He was reaching for a gold coin on the ground.

Crack!

Another miner had just stomped on Norton's hand. He couldn't even scream in agony. He was breathless, wheezing and his face was just red. Hold on.. he has asthma. They're going to kill him! Norton looked up at you from the ground. You were the easiest to spot. No one has time to react when you suddenly yanked the hair of the miner who had stepped on Norton's hand, bashing his face into the dirt. Your hand slid for the gold coin on the ground, meanwhile all had fallen silent again. The miner on the ground was unconscious.. in just a couple of seconds.

"All of you get back to work. NONE of you mention this to Dominic." Everyone hustled back to their jobs. Some described it as the scariest shit they had ever seen. The miner whose foot was on Norton had ran off in fear. Norton was just left there.. a coughing, wheezing mess. Why's she helping me? Didn't I make it clear that...-He thought, the paused.

His coughing continued and you quickly helped him up to his feet. He couldn't walk on his own. His body mass, not to mention his height made it extremely hard for you to help him. You wrapped his arm around your shoulder and walked him to the infirmary. His coworkers would sneak glances here and there. She was scary... In a sense. It was undescribable. Where the hell did her strength to do that come from?

At the infirmary you swung open the door, rushing to the closest bed. "Campbell... Wait here." You sat him on the bed,m, the nearby doctor asked you the matter. Looking around there were at least 5 other people in need of help. I ought to take care of him myself. "What happe-"

"Inhaler! Do you have one prepared?! Bring it to me right now!" The doctor had never seen you in his entire life and was too scared to deny your request.  He soon came out quickly with an inhaler. "I don't know if you've been treated before Campbell for this, but just breathe in the vapor." You sat next to him, holding it close to his face. You put your hand on his cheek, holding him close to the inhaler. You could tell his breathing was slowly regulating. And soon enough, he was breathing normally.

You then turned your attention to his wrist. You grabbed his arm, noticing the bruised, swollen part of his wrist. It was a grade 1 sprain. It should be healed in 2 weeks. You raised your arm, calling the doctor who was tending to someone else a couple beds down. " Excuse me, doctor! Bring me some compression wraps, alcohol pads and a couple of bandages please." He nodded without a question.

Norton watched you the whole time as you treated him. He pursed his lips, wanting to say something. "Why are you.. doing this?" You turned your attention to him. "Hm? What do you mean?" He couldn't quite get what you were doing. If someone told him that they hated him he wouldn't even be helping them. But that's what you were doing. It made him cautious, and also extremely suspicious of you. No way a wealthy person was this.. kind.

"You don't have to treat me yourself or anything. You could've just left me in the cave. Why go through all this trouble?" You pondered for a moment. "What they were doing wasn't acceptable. I don't know what you did or what started everything.. but the way everything is handled here is just.. bullshit. I wanted to help you. Whatever you said to me before doesn't matter to me honestly. You were seriously in trouble.. I couldn't help but get worried."

He stared at you intently, reading you almost like an open book. It was... Scary to say the least. He could tell you were being genuine. Not only was he cautious, he was good at noticing things. "Listen.. I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything of what I said. I just.." You stopped him from talking as the doctor soon came in with what you needed to help him. "I'm sorry if I seem out of it! I'm Y/N L/N, I didn't have time to explain why I came in here."

The doctor recognized your last name and don't bother to ask anything. "No worries! I see you handled the situation perfectly.. are you in the medical field perhaps?" You shooked your head as a laugh escaped your lips. "Oh, no I just read a lot of books on medicine. I like to help out around the town I'm from!" You got some coins from your purse again. 3 to be exact. "Here, I know getting me all this stuff must've been too much since you have patients." He smiled, but rejected the money you gave him. "You're too kind, but it wasn't much. You don't have to repay me. If you'll excuse me.." He went back to tend to the others.

Norton looked at you once again. How can someone hand out money for a simple favor..? Everything about you made no sense to him. You're kind even to the people who could hate you the most. He snapped out of his thoughts, watching how you carefully wrapped his sprained wrist. "Does that feel alright?" He nodded without saying a word. You began to do the alcohol pad on his cheek. "Sorry.. there's this really nasty scar that's bleeding" You were quick with the cleaning process soon enough, slapping a bandage on the scar. "You okay, Campbell?"

"Norton.." He murmured. You paused, confused. "What?" He finally made eye contact with you after a moment of pondering. "My name is Norton. Norton Campbell." She smiled at him happily. "I'm sorry for calling you Campbell... I thought it was your name. But.. everything feels fine right, Norton?" Hearing his name leave her lips made his heart skip a beat. He swallowed, blinking several times before responding. "Yeah. Everything is fine. Thanks, Y/N." She smiled even more.

"I'll leave you here to rest then. I'm going to take care of something really quickly. Bye!" She waved, leaving Norton drowning in his own thoughts. He bit his lip. No way she would make him rethink all he's ever thought. Especially about the wealthy. He was experiencing something for the first time....

Remorse.