Sitting here now, in the middle of the diner, I felt a connection… some sort of familiarity between us.
I reminded myself that this wasn’t the night of the accident. Dex was hurt and needed medical attention.
“Dex, how do you feel?”
“I’m fine. How’s the other guy?” he replied groggily.
“Burned and pissed off,” I said, watching his eyes, checking for any sign of a concussion.
He grunted in response and I wondered if that meant he didn’t feel well enough to speak or only that he didn’t really care about Emilio. Most likely the latter.
The chaos of the room was breaking into the bubble I imagined surrounding us, and I was grateful Mary was trying to calm everyone down.
“Come on, you need a doctor,” I told Dex, reaching down and grabbing his arm to help him up.
I shouldn’t have touched him.
Maybe it was the way I was feeling. Maybe it was the memories flooding back to me or what Dex said only moments before, but the vision came over me and it was exactly as it always was.
The man from the accident, the one with the serious eyes and knit hat, flooded my head. All I could see was him. He wasn’t wearing a hat and he had almost black hair. Hair that was either slightly curly or just really messy fell onto his forehead. He was smiling, a beautiful smile, and I imagined it was me he looked at.
And then it was gone as fast as it came.
For some reason I felt bereft. Robbed of a certain warmth.
Why? Why of all days did I have to have this vision today?
“Piper? Are you okay?” I heard Dex ask and then I felt his hand on my arm.
I pulled my arm away from his touch, not wanting a replay. “Yeah,” I replied. “Give me your car keys.”
He needed a doctor and suddenly this room seemed way, way too small.
“You want to drive my Roadster?” he asked me like I suggested he run down the street naked.
“Well, you aren’t driving it.” I retorted. I was still unsure if he had a concussion or not.
He fished the keys out of his pocket and handed them to me. I took them, hoping he didn’t notice how hard I tried not to touch him. I wanted to run from the place, but I couldn’t. I had responsibilities.
I turned toward Mary who was refilling the customers’ coffee and working to calm everyone down.
“He needs a doctor, stitches, I think,” I told her when she came close enough so I didn’t have to yell.
Behind us Emilio was still crying about his hand and how no one was even worried about him.
“Just go,” Mary said. “The EMTs are on their way to help him. I’ll call for another waitress and a cook in a sec. I can handle things. It’s still early, and the crowd is small. Better to get him outta here anyway.”
“I owe you one, Mary,” I replied.
“No. It was payment enough watching this guy get what was coming to him. I’ll do my best to cover for you, but I can’t promise anything.”
“Thank you,” I told her again and headed toward the door, hoping Dex would follow. He did and soon we were outside on the sidewalk in the wintry air. As we headed to the Roadster, I did my best not to look at the spot where the accident happened. Instead, I looked toward Dex.
Blood ran down the left side of his face. It caught in his eyebrow, the thick hair diverting it around his eye where it then continued its dark trail.
See?I told myself.He’s completely different from the guy in your vision.
I knew this was true. It was obvious they were two different people.
