Page 10 of Storm Bound
In your face, Justin.
I grabbed the other cookie and broke it in two, more so I could eat the crunchy treat than to read my fortune.
Your happiness is in front of you!it read, and I looked up at Charlie.
He was looking at me, also.
“What does yours say?” he asked.
I shrugged, trying not to linger on the message too much. I didn’t need my hopes raised any more than they already were.
“Something about happiness,” I said.
Charlie slitted his eyes and looked at my hands.
“Wait, do we have the exact same message? Show me,” he asked.
“You show me first,” I said.
He laughed and gave me his piece of paper. And I read the same message as I’d read in mine.
That didn’t mean it didn’t knock the wind out of me.
I knew it was silly, and there was no such thing as fortune, but it still felt like beshert to me. Like destiny. And for once, I was happy to see where it took me.
When the waiter returned with Charlie’s card, we left the restaurant and headed back to the station.
As we passed the Wendy’s on our way to the gate, a woman shrieked, and we turned to look at her.
It was the same woman from the bus. The one that had blocked the line. The same woman Charlie had snapped at.
She was shrieking and crying while a boy next to her was coughing and hitting his chest.
He was choking.
Three
Charlie
My instincts took over, and I ran as fast as I could.
Okay, yeah, I was also a little bit self-conscious because me running with my limp was literally the sexiest thing on this planet.Not.And I knew he’d said he didn’t care about things like that, but that didn’t make me feel any less aware of it.
Courtesy of all the men that came before.Thank you so much, guys. I owe you one.
As I raced across the hall to get to the kid, I felt a presence beside me and turned to look at Adam running past me and reaching the kid first.
“It’s okay. It’s okay,” he said and knelt in front of him. Then he turned around to the mother. “I’m a doctor. I can help him.”
His words knocked the wind out of me, and I paused for a second as I came to stand next to him.
“You are?” I asked.
He smiled at me and looked back at the kid. “Are you choking?” he asked.
“Of course he is. Can’t you see him struggling,” the mother shrieked. The kid nodded, clutching at his throat.
“Can you speak?” The kid shook his head. “Okay, little bud, I’m going to put my hands around you to try to clear your airway. Is that okay?”
