Page 84 of The Compass Series

CONNOR

I hated hospitals. Especially emergency rooms. They always reminded me of the time I’d spent in them as a youth, waiting for my mom to come out okay.

No matter what, she’d never allow me in the back room with her until the doctors made it clear she was okay.

Mom worried about scaring me too early on with her first go at cancer.

The second time around, I was a teenager and old enough to know what was going on—but Mom still didn’t allow me in the back.

Instead, she always made sure I had cash in my pocket for the hospital vending machines.

It was due to that time in my life that I vowed to always have cash handy.

That afternoon, I was thankful for that as I waited for Aaliyah to come out from behind those two automatic doors that led people to the back for examinations.

I’d hit up the vending machine and emptied it of all the bags of Cheetos. The items looked as if they hadn’t been changed out since the eighties, but lucky enough for me, the chips tasted fine as day.

When Aaliyah came out from the back, she thanked the nurse practitioner profusely, then thanked the receptionist repeatedly, and she thanked the other receptionist nonstop because that was who Aaliyah was as a person—she was thankful, even on the days when she had a million reasons not to be.

I stood from my chair the second she turned my way, and a small smile curved her lips as she nodded me over.

It was so good to see her doing okay. When she’d blacked out, I had been terrified that she wouldn’t be all right.

She’d managed to hit her head when she fell straight onto the corner of the nearby coffee table.

“Now, that medicine they gave you will make you a little loopy,” the nurse said to Aaliyah before glancing my way. “Are you the one in charge of getting her home safe tonight?”

“I am.”

“Good.” The nurse placed her hand on Aaliyah’s forearm and squeezed it lightly. “And thank you again, Aaliyah, for the prayer for my son. It means a lot to me that you took the time to do that.”

“Of course, Janet. I hope he aces his audition.” Aaliyah beamed. “Nice meeting you, too, Randy!” Aaliyah waved to the other nurse. “Cheetos?” she asked as I poured the remaining chips into my mouth from the third bag.

I crumpled up the bag then pulled out the fourth—and last—bag that was tucked under my arm. I held it out to her.

Her button nose crinkled up, and she shook her head. “No, thank you. I hate Cheetos.”

And just like that, the perfect woman revealed her first flaw.

“I think it’s very rude of you to make such a harsh comment,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief. “Cheetos are the chips of all chips.”

“That’s not true. They don’t even make the top three list of chips.”

“Okay, so what are the top three?”

Aaliyah’s brows lowered, and she bit her bottom lip as she thought. “Okay, first is Doritos, obviously, then Ruffles Sour Cream and Cheddar, followed closely by Fritos.”

“Are you kidding me? Those are such lame choices!”

She shrugged. “I’m not going to be judged by a man who orders boneless chicken wings.”

“They are delicious.”

“They are chicken nuggets. Besides, anyone who doesn’t think those are the best chips on the market, are wrong.”

“With each second that passes, you become much more terrifying.”

She laughed. “Okay, chip snob, what are your favorites?”

“That’s easy: Cheetos, Cheetos Puffs, and Cheetos Paws—though, I haven’t been able to find those gems in ages, unfortunately, and they were my favorite.”

“You can’t just name Cheetos for your top three favorites! Those are all the same.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Clearly, you’ve never tried the variety of Cheetos. They are far from the same. One day, I’ll teach you the ways of the most perfect chip brand in the world. For now, let’s just get you home.”

Just then, her cell phone dinged, and she pulled it out. The mirth in her stare slowly evaporated as her smile faded, too.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“No…it’s Jason. He said he’s stopping by my place tonight.

” She paused and shook her head. “His place, I mean.” Her eyes stayed glued to the cell phone, and I watched as her hand trembled with nerves.

“That’s the first message he’s sent me since he left me.

Do you know how many messages I’ve sent him since the wedding day? ”

She turned the phone screen toward me. She began scrolling up, through dozens and dozens of text messages she’d sent him, begging him to contact her, begging him to reach out.

His responses were nonexistent up until that evening, and all he said was, “Hey. Back in town. Stopping by my place.”

That was it.

What a piece of shit.

Her eyes glossed over when she looked up at me, and dammit, all I wanted to do was wrap my arms around her and tell her she was going to be okay.

“I’m not ready to see him. I can’t go back there. Oh my goodness, I can’t face him, not after what happened. I wasn’t mentally prepared for this, and now I have to?—”

“You’ll stay with me tonight.” I placed my hands on her shoulders, stilling her movements.

Her deep brown eyes looked at me with major concern. “What? No. I already took up enough of your day today, Connor. I cannot expect you to take me in as a stray for the night.”

“I’m not taking you in as a stray. I’m taking you in as a friend who’s had a bad day. Besides, you shouldn’t be alone with your injury.”

She laughed a little, though it wasn’t filled with amusement. More like disappointment. “Five stitches to the head.”

“You need someone to be there for you tonight if the pain gets too bad.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works. All I have to do is pop the prescription and call it a day.”

“Listen, Doritos lady, you’re going to let me take care of you tonight.”

“Is that an order?”

I laughed as I finished off the Cheetos and tossed the bag into a nearby trash can. “It’s an official order. Now, come on.” I held my arms out toward her. “Hop in.”

“Hop in?”

“Hop into my arms. I can’t walk you out when you’re injured.”

The spark in her eyes slowly came back. “Don’t be silly, Connor. I’m not getting into your arms for a head injury.”

“You are. I’m going to carry you out of this emergency room come hell or high water.”

“I promise you that you’re not.”

She shouldn’t have made promises she couldn’t keep because within a second, I scooped Aaliyah up into my arms, and I carried her away with me as she laughed nonstop and begged me to put her down.

The fact she was laughing made me feel like it was a job well done.

Plus, I liked how she felt pressed against my body. Almost as if she was meant to be there.

When we reached my apartment, I walked Aaliyah to the spare room. “You rest for a while, and I’ll go pick up your prescriptions.”

“You don’t have to do that, Connor, really. I can handle it.”

“I know you can, but you don’t have to. Don’t argue and let me do this.” She nodded in agreement and handed me the paperwork needed for the prescriptions.

I headed off to the drugstore, and as I stood in line waiting to pick up Aaliyah’s pain meds, my mind began to swirl back to memories I wanted to keep buried…

memories of standing in lines and waiting to pick up medicine for my mother.

Each step I took toward the pharmacist, my chest grew tighter.

My breaths were becoming labored as I tried to inhale and exhale in a normal pattern.

When I reached the front of the line, the woman behind the counter smiled and said, “Hi, there. Picking up a prescription?”

“Yes. For Aaliyah Winters.”

She walked over to the bins of pills and began thumbing through them.

My hands were sweaty, and I tried my best to ignore the thoughts that began flying through my mind.

The recollections I’d worked to keep locked away within me were trying to resurface.

I was fighting them. I was trying my best not to fall into the pain my mind was trying to unleash.

Yet when she walked back and asked me if I had insurance, the wave of memories came rushing back to me.