Everett
I had about forty-five minutes left on my shift when the guy got on.
He caught my eye the second he stepped up, which wasn't something that happened often. My regulars were kids or elderly. Hardly anyone between twenty and forty rode this particular route, and if he had, I would have remembered him. His light brown hair was neatly combed back on top, and he had a trim build. If I had to guess, he didn’t spend much time outdoors.
He tapped his card on the sensor and didn't even look at me before he moved toward the back.
The bus was packed, and there was standing room only for the next two stops.
After that, most people got off near the hospital and surrounding apartment buildings, and there were plenty of empty seats.
Driving a crowded bus meant I didn’t have much time to chat anyway.
I had to keep my eyes on the road and closely monitor the mirrors to make sure no situations erupted behind me.
That only happened a few times each year, but when one or more people became agitated and violent, things escalated quickly, so my head was always on a swivel.
That was the most surprising thing about this job.
I spent my whole day surrounded by people and somehow felt like I was the only one paying attention to any of them.
Maybe that was another thing I liked most. I'd gotten used to cataloguing faces and making notes, especially for newbies.
But then they got off and went about their lives, and I tried to erase those notes and move on.
Nine times out of ten, I never saw them again.
As I got to the stretch past the pharmacy, the crowd had cleared out the way, and my regulars were peeling off one by one. The rest were likely just a few stragglers heading out to the mall. I caught myself checking the mirror out of habit and realized I hadn't seen the guy get off. Bummer.
Not that it mattered, but I always imagined there would be people who made an effort to seek me out. They’d move to the front of the bus when it cleared out so they could talk to me. Get to know me. Of course, that never happened, but daydreaming helped me pass the time.
Valley Mall was close to my last stop before I flipped off the service sign and headed to the depot. Most people got off there, except for one lady who always rode with me to the end and went straight into the coffee shop. The same coffee shop I always went to when I got there.
We’d only shared a few pleasantries over the years because she wasn’t much of a talker, but it was nice to have someone that I had at least one routine with. We weren’t getting coffee together, but even getting coffee near her every day felt almost like a friendship.
As soon as my coffee buddy got off, I did my usual walk down the aisle to check for anything left behind and was shocked to find the cute guy curled up in a ball on a seat in the back.
His mouth was open and one hand was curled loosely in his lap, dead asleep.
I stood over him for a second, hating that I had to disturb his sleep when he obviously needed it. Then again, he probably meant to get off earlier than the coffee shop and memorial park. "Hey there." I cleared my throat when that didn't do anything. "Last stop, buddy. Time to get off."
He didn’t even flinch.
I nudged his shoulder and spoke louder this time. "Last stop, kid. Wake up."
That did it, and his whole body jolted at the touch. His head snapped up and a string of drool dropped off his chin before he wiped it away with the back of his hand.
"Shit." He shook his head as he looked out the window like none of it was computing yet. "Where are we?"
"Walter River Road. By the park. This is the end of the line."
His face fell as the words sank in and reality hit him. He was instantly digging his phone out of his pocket. "Shit, I missed my stop. I’m trying to get to Valley Mall."
"That was a few stops ago." I stood back to give him room to get up, and he nearly tripped on the seat in front of him. "You good?"
"I'm fine." He didn't look up from his phone as he stumbled down the aisle to the door. "I just need to figure out how to get to Valley Mall without this turning into a whole thing."
"There isn’t another bus going in that direction, but if you cut through the park, you’ll end up at the mall. It’s basically a giant U-turn from here."
His eyes snapped to mine, and he seemed relieved. “So I can just walk there?”
I nodded. “Yeah, it’s just over a mile on the green belt, but it opens you up right by Macy’s.”
“Thank fuck.” His shoulders dropped, and he put his phone away. “That works. Thank you.” He finally looked at me for real and seemed to see something surprising. For a second, it looked like he was considering what to say next, but then he shook it off and turned away. “Have a nice day.”
“You too, kid.” I cringed as I said that. He was maybe ten or fifteen years younger than me, but he wasn’t a kid. He was a full-grown man, and he was gorgeous. “Be careful out there.”
He glanced at me over his shoulder and smiled. “I’ll try to stay conscious, if that’s what you mean.”
Uh, it wasn’t. Not at all. But I wasn’t hip to all the terminology the kids were using, so maybe that meant something I just wasn’t aware of.
I watched him clear the doors, and then I put him out of my head. That was the job. I saw hundreds of people a day and didn’t get to take any of them home with me. Though, to be fair, this was one of the first times I’d ever wanted to.
I logged the bus off-duty and headed toward the coffee shop.
A cold brew and a croissant if they still had one was the perfect way to end the day as I stretched my legs on a short walk down the same path I sent the boy down.
Sitting in a comfy seat for eight hours a day meant I had to get my steps in wherever I could.
The cute guy was walking out of the coffee shop with a pink drink of some kind as I was walking in. I held the door open and kept my eyes glued to him.
"Thanks." He glanced my way and did a double take when he realized it was me. “Oh, hi. Um, thank you.”
I resisted the urge to offer to walk with him and went to the counter for my order.
As soon as I had my drink and croissant, I started walking toward the green belt that ran through the park.
This was my favorite time of year because the ducklings were so adorable as they followed their mothers around the pond.
I walked slowly, letting my mind go quiet for a few minutes before I picked up my pace. I was technically off the clock, so I wasn’t in any hurry, but if I meandered too slowly, passersby started looking at me funny.
I was about to turn back at the half-mile marker when I saw him.
The guy from the bus was lying in the grass just off the walking path. His backpack was clutched in his arms, and he was leaning to one side with a knee pulled up as if he’d been put into the rescue position.
Fuck. My stomach dropped as I crouched next to him in two strides. His chest was moving at a steady pace, and that kept me from going into full-blown panic mode. Was he narcoleptic?
People walked by on the path maybe fifteen feet away but none of them so much as glanced over. Maybe they assumed he was just enjoying an afternoon nap in the park. Maybe I would have assumed that too if I didn’t know he was trying to get to the mall.
"Hey, there." I put my hand on his shoulder and gave him a gentle shake. Since I didn't know what I was dealing with yet, I was prepared to pull back if he started swinging. "Can you hear me?"
There was no response at all, and my heart started racing. After quickly checking him up and down for injuries, I saw that he was wearing a medical bracelet.
The front just had an asterisk-looking medical symbol, so I flipped it to the back.
DON'T CALL 911. I’m fine.
Trace Morton-Seizure Disorder
Daily Lamotrigine
ICE 555-354-1215
What the fuck? Don’t call 911? That didn’t make any sense. It wasn’t like I could just leave him here. I pulled out my phone and was about to call the in-case-of-emergency number when Trace’s eyes popped open, and his arms flailed. “Don’t call 911. I’m okay.”
If I didn’t know he was being serious, I might have smiled at how ridiculous this whole thing was. But the way he flipped onto his back and took heavy breaths wiped any hint of humor away. “Hey there, Trace. It’s me. Everett Cane from the bus…and the coffee shop. How are you feeling?”
He looked up at me and blinked a few more times like he was still trying to focus. At some point, his hand landed on my knee, and I didn’t make a move to push it away.
"The bus?" He looked down at his hand, and after a beat, he pulled it away and sighed. "What are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be here."
"Be where?" I sat back so my ass was planted on the soft grass and he had a bit more space. “In the middle of the park I told you about?”
"No, I mean…when I wake up on the ground." He tried to sit up too fast and swayed, so I got a hand behind his shoulder and braced him until he was steady. "Usually it's just me and whatever concrete corner I happen to be close to when they happen."
This story was not getting better with his broken explanation. "You wanna slow down a little and start at the beginning? Like, why you were unconscious in the park." As I said the words, his remark when he was getting off the bus made a lot more sense.
"I'm fine. I just need a second." He rubbed both palms over his face and seemed to be hiding from me. "This is embarrassing."
"There’s absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about."
He spread two fingers and peeked out behind them. "You found me passed out in the grass. It's a little embarrassing."
"I've seen worse things happen to people in parks." I placed my hand on his lower back to reassure him that I was okay with what I’d witnessed…and to reassure myself that he was okay. "I was just about to call the number on your bracelet."
He blinked at me, almost startled by that. “Thank god you didn’t. This isn’t an emergency. This is just a Friday afternoon for me.” He checked his phone and frowned. “Dammit.”
“Everything okay?”
He nodded as he started texting. “My friends are tracking my location, and when I stopped in the park, they panicked.” He smiled and sent off his response. “I told them I stopped to feed the ducks. That should save Priya and Connor a few white hairs.”
Not that it was any of my business, but I was relieved to know Trace had a support system looking out for him. “Who are Priya and Connor?”
“My boss and my best friend.” He put his phone in his pocket and adjusted his backpack on his lap. “Well, thank you for stopping. The seizures don’t hurt and they really aren’t a big deal, but it’s always nice to have a kind face to wake up to. When I wake up alone, it’s a little disorienting.”
That was heartbreaking. A boy this sweet should never wake up alone. “I’m glad I was here.”
He pulled the inside of his cheek between his teeth, and his eyes dropped down to my mouth. Either he was studying my teeth or he was thinking about kissing me. At least, that’s what I was thinking about when I looked at him. “Well, I better get going. I need to get to the mall before it closes.”
What? He was going to continue on by himself after what had just happened? “Is that a good idea?”
He sighed, and it looked like he was trying to remain patient. “It’s my life, Everett. I’ve been having these seizures since the day I was born…and I’ll have them until the day I die. If I didn’t go on with my life in spite of them, I’d be housebound and might as well be dead.”
Well, shit. I didn’t really have a good response for that. “Do you want some company?”
His mask of indignance dropped, and he cocked his head. “You want to go to the mall with me?”
“Sure.” I’d go to the ends of the earth with him if he let me. “My shift is over, and I’m not in any hurry to get the bus back. I wouldn’t mind a walk through the mall.”
It took him a second to finally nod in agreement. “Yeah, okay.” He opened his backpack and searched through a sea of wrappers before groaning. "I just need a minute, and then I’ll need to stop somewhere to get some candy or something. A little sugar always helps me wake up."
I patted my breast pocket to see if I had any lollipops in it and grinned. "I might be able to help you there."