"Are you sure you don't want me to call an uber?" Loreen glanced out the window. The afternoon sun had long set behind the horizon. Like paint, stars flickered across the sky. "You never know what's lurking out there."
"And that's why I have my taser and pepper spray." Eileen's arms slipped through her backpack. "Plus I have my emergency kit."
She turned to her mentor. Her smile earned an eye roll from the older woman. "You and your emergency kit." Her voice softened. "When are you actually going to use that thing?"
Eileen shrugged her shoulders. To Loreen, one of the senior nurses, Eileen had arrived at the hospital 'bright eyes and bushy tail". Just like the other interns, she was a mess of excitement and fears. Now, two months in, being in an actual clinic was nothing the books and tests could prepare you for.
Still, it doesn't hurt to have a backup plan.
"And I'm going to take the park path." She started toward the door. "It's always lit up, remember?"
"Still-"
"Call you when I get home!" Eileen called over her shoulders. The doors slid shut. The wind rustled, brushing against her ebony skin. Shivering, she rubbed the goosebumps on her arms. I better hurry home, before I freeze outside. The January winter wasn't nice to anyone that dared to linger outside too long. Already, she had to reattach a few frostbitten fingers.
Silver stars glowed down at her. Her steps, and the occasional passing car, were the only sounds in the small town silence. Releasing a warm breath, she watched the cloud float up into the air. As she reached the park's metal arch, the night's light cast the name Birchville Park in shadows under her feet.
Despite Loreen's worries, this path remained the quickest and safest way for her to cut through the city and reach her apartment in record time. Still, as she stepped through the metal gates, her frown deepened. Something feels....off. There seemed to be a shift, a kind of electricity in the air.
It was the same feeling when the patient's symptoms didn't match the doctor's diagnosis. She hesitated.
A good nurse always goes with her gut. That was the first thing Loreen told her. Your job is to speak up for patients who can't speak for themselves. Winds rustled through the park's trees. Alright, Eileen, you're just going through the park. Her hands rubbed her arms. You've done this plenty of times. Her eyes flickered around. Shadows shifted and grew.
Snap. "Hello?" She paused. "Is someone there?" Snap. Her heart leapt into her throat. "I have pepper spray, and I'm not afraid to use it!" Her hands scrambled for her backpack. A stillness settled around her.
Snap. A figure staggered onto the path. Their body collided with a streetlight, barely standing. As if sensing her present, his head turned. A dark streak of blood dripped down the man's face. Two eyes, one deep gray and the other a deep emerald, glowed with such intensity she couldn't look away.
Heterochromia. She took a step closer. A rare condition where a person has two different colored eyes.
"Stay back!" The panic voice snapped through her daze. The stranger's eyes flickered around their surroundings. His legs buckled, ready to run.
"Wait." She held up her hands. "I'm not going to hurt you."
Narrow eyes snapped back to her. She stepped forward, only for him to step back. His jaw clenched. Think Eileen, think. You need to get him to trust you. Her gaze took in the stranger's thin frame.
"Are you hungry?" She threw her backpack off her shoulders. All that remained of her lunch was a single mango fruit cup filled with slices, which the stranger regarded as if it was a hoard of precious treasure. "You can have it if you want."
YOU ARE READING
To The Ends of The Universe (ONC 2024 ✔)
Science Fiction"When just being alive makes you a target, you learn to keep your head low." Being a nurse in an ER clinic, Eileen never had much time for romance. Especially, when job and education often came before everything else she's ever known. That is until...
