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Instead of going to my office, I headed down to the factory floor. Work seemed to have come to a stop, and I understood why. With Almi gone and Ibby at the hospital, people were thrown off their routine. But with us already behind on orders, we couldn’t afford any downtime. As I approached, I realized why everyone was standing around. There was blood everywhereon the floor. It was evident that this wasn’t a small cut. He was really injured.
My stomach did flips, and my knees felt weak. There was a reason why I never took a job at the hospital. Blood and I didn’t agree with each other. I fought back the nausea, and said, “Hello everyone. Almi has brought me up to date with what happened.” Not everything obviously, but the basics. “Ibby is in good hands. There is nothing we can do for him now. But we all have a job to do. So, if you can all please get back to your work area, I’ll come around and answer any questions you might have shortly.”
One by one, they all went back to work. That left me standing at Ibby’s station. Even though I didn’t want to, I needed to clean up the blood. I walked into the back room and grabbed a bucket of sudsy water and rags. Thankfully, I also located some rubber gloves, because I wasn’t cleaning this with my bare hands.
When I got back to Ibby’s station, I began cleaning everything.I wish you were here, Niko.It wasn’t about the cleaning, but I had no idea what the protocol was for such a work accident. During my time at New Hope, there was one accident. I hadn’t seen any of it but heard that there had been a surfboard accident with one of the guests. He needed to be rushed to the hospital. It was different though. I wasn’t required to clean up the blood.
I carried the bucket into the back room and disposed of everything. For some reason, before I took my gloves off, I wiped my hands on my dress. Instantly, I realized what I had done. Looking down I saw that I had dirt, and a little bit of blood on my dress.
This was not the way I anticipated my day going after yesterday. I figured Niko would be here, give me a few assignments, and maybe we could talk about last night. Not that anything happened, that shouldn’t, but when he had brought mehome and walked me to my door, I had thought he was going to kiss me.
I had to shake such thoughts out of my mind. Niko hadn’t been sending off that vibe. He had been a gentleman. In a weak moment, I had wished he’d forget everything I had said, and that I worked for him. I just wanted him to look at me as a...woman.
A heavy sigh rumbled through me. This was not the time or place for my mind to be wandering. It was work that I should be concentrating on and not on something that didn’t and shouldn’t even happen. It was bad enough that thoughts like these had kept me up last night. I didn’t need them.
But I did need Niko, and I had no idea where he was, or when he would arrive. Even if he had overslept a little, he should’ve arrived by now. I don’t recall him mentioning any off-site meetings today. Not that he needed to provide me with his itinerary. It was just that I hoped that our communication would have improved, but obviously it was still lacking.
Looking down at my dress again, I knew I couldn’t speak to the other employees like this. And it wasn’t as though I could skip out and get a change of clothes. I’d promised Almi that I would keep an eye on everything until he returned. I wasn’t breaking my word. If I did so, I’d disappoint Almi, my father, myself, and Niko.
Taking a clean rag, I tried to wash off the stains the best I could. They still showed, but not as before. Hopefully, everyone would be too busy to notice. After the frail attempt at cleaning, I headed back out to the factory.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. What happened to Ibby had rattled me. It was understandable if they felt the same. I was beyond impressed when I saw how everyone had pulled themselves together and was back at work. My first observation was that things seemed to be running smoothly. I’d like to say it was something I’d done, but it was their own doing. My fatherused to come home from work bragging about this crew. He said they were the hardest-working people he knew.
I hope you appreciate what they all do for your success, Niko.
Walking the floor as promised, I stopped and asked each person how they were doing and answered what questions I could. Most of them questioned the status of the project they were working on. A few questioned timelines. Both things I was very familiar with. That made the time fly by. Of course, my stomach was growling, and my feet were killing me. I always wore heels, but I never spent so much time standing in them.
I excused myself and went to the restroom. The first thing I did was take my shoes off. Instantly my toes felt so much better. I remembered that my father had a locker here and always kept a spare set of boots. They were steel toes to protect from injury. Not sure how they were going to feel on my blistering toes, but there was no way I was going to put those heels back on.
Leaving the restroom with my heels in my hand, I snuck to the locker room and found one labeled Mayas. No one locked their lockers as it wasn’t needed. I opened it and instantly my eyes homed in on a picture plastered on the inside door… of my mother. I dropped my shoes and gripped the door tightly. My legs felt weak, and I was emotionally drained. This was just what was tipping me over.
I wanted to be here and to do the best that I could.But I don’t feel as though that is enough. I’m not my father who can motivate people. I’m not my mother who had the heart of an angel either. I’m just...me.Too much had changed in my life, and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, or where I belonged anymore. I was grateful for the job, but the factory wasn’t the place for me. That much I knew.
It wasn’t easy, but I mustered up all my strength, pushed away the doubts, grabbed my father’s spare boots, and slippedthem on. They were too big, but at least they were roomy, as opposed to my heels.
With my heels in hand, I headed back out to the floor to check on how everyone was doing. When I turned the corner, I slammed into Niko with such force that I stumbled back. Niko reached out for me, but it was too late. I tumbled onto the floor, landing on my backside, my head making contact with the wooden floor. The thud seemed to echo in my ears.
Niko was by my side, touching my cheek gently. “Ovi, are you okay?” I was too dazed to answer right away. He instructed softly, “Don’t move. You’re bleeding.”
His tone was filled with such tenderness that I barely recognized the voice as his. That snapped me out of my daze. I thought I had washed all the blood off my dress, but apparently not well enough. “No. It’s not my blood. It’s...Ibby’s.”
He looked down into my eyes, and said, “No. It’s yours.”
Niko sounded so sure that I almost believed him. I tried to sit up, but my head hurt. I lifted my hand to the side of my temple. It was wet. Only then did I realize he was right. I was bleeding, but that wasn’t the part of my head that hit the floor. Then I remembered my heels were in my hand. I must have brought my hands up and hit the side of my head with them during the fall.
Damn. These heels are going to be the death of me.
I was sure it was just a scratch as I didn’t feel much blood. As I tried to sit up, the room spun. Reaching out to him, I said pleading, “Niko.”
He scooped me into his arms, and I heard him say, “It’s okay, Ovi. I got you.”
My eyes fluttered, then closed again. “Niko...”
I had no idea how long I passed out, but when I woke, I was lying on the couch in Niko’s office, and I could hear him shouting at someone on the phone.
“I need an ambulance immediately. She is unconscious and...”
Ambulance?
