She quickly tipped the bottle again, retrieving two fresh pills. With extreme care, she placed them directly under his tongue, using her free hand to gently but firmly hold his trembling jaw steady. She glanced up at the street for a fraction of a second, her blood boiling. She simply couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that not a single person had stopped to help. A human being was literally fighting for his life on the sidewalk, and the rest of the world just kept mindlessly marching on.
“Should I call 911?” she asked, already gripping her phone, her thumb hovering over the emergency dial.
He weakly shook his head, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. Valerie’s stomach tied itself into a sickening knot. What if he actually died right here in her arms? But slowly, agonizingly, the terrifying shallowness of his breathing began to even out. A faint, lifelike color gradually seeped back into his ashen cheeks.
When he was finally stable enough to move, she hooked her arm under his shoulder and carefully guided him over to a shaded bus stop bench a few yards away. He heavily sank into the wooden seat, pulled a crisp cloth handkerchief from his slacks, and weakly wiped the cold sweat from his brow. After a moment, he methodically slipped one more pill under his tongue for good measure.
“Feeling better?” she asked, her voice soft and laced with lingering concern.
“Much,” he breathed out, managing a fragile, shaky smile. “I’m Stephen.”
He extended a slightly trembling hand toward her. When she took it, his grip was surprisingly firm and grounded for a man who had just collapsed in the middle of the street.
“Valerie,” she replied, returning the handshake warmly. “I’m just really glad I could help.”
Out of pure habit, she casually glanced down at her wristwatch. The second the hands registered in her brain, her heart sank straight to the bottom of her stomach. The time for her interview had come and gone. She had missed it completely.
“You missed something important because of me, didn’t you?” Stephen asked, his sharp eyes catching the subtle, disappointed frown pulling at the corners of her mouth.
“It’s fine,” she lied smoothly, forcing a reassuring smile to her lips. “Helping you was much more important than any appointment.”
“You saved my life,” he said, his tone heavy with absolute earnestness. “I owe you a great deal. Please, can I call my driver? He can take you absolutely wherever you need to go in the city.”
“No, thanks,” she said gently, shaking her head. “I’ll manage on my own. It’s really okay.”
She let out a long, shaky exhale, profoundly relieved that he was sitting up and talking. Another job opportunity would eventually come along. A human life was irreplaceable.
“What exactly happened out there?” she asked, taking a seat on the bench beside him. “Was that a heart attack?”
“Something very much like that,” Stephen murmured, his eyes suddenly turning incredibly distant and clouded with old sorrow. “It’s… today is the anniversary of my son’s passing. It hits me incredibly hard every single year, like clockwork.”
“I am so, so sorry,” Valerie whispered, her voice overflowing with genuine empathy. She always struggled to find the right, comforting words when faced with that kind of bottomless grief. “Do you have any grandkids to lean on today?”
“Not really,” he replied curtly, a brief flash of bitterness in his tone, before his expression softened again. “I’m seventy-four years old. I know full well that any day could easily be my last. I’ve made my peace with it.”
Valerie shivered despite the stifling summer heat, completely unsure of how to respond to such a heavy, fatalistic confession. They sat together in a quiet, contemplative silence until Stephen finally pulled out his phone and summoned his private driver. As his sleek black town car smoothly pulled away from the curb and disappeared into the Chicago traffic, Valerie pulled up her contacts and dialed the phone number of the distribution company she had completely ghosted.
“Look, I’m sorry, but we’re totally swamped right now,” a stressed woman’s voice barked through the receiver the second the line connected. “The boss is currently dealing with a massive crisis. Can we just reschedule your interview for the day after tomorrow?”
Valerie had to bite her lip to keep from laughing out loud with pure, unadulterated relief. A second chance! It turned out that even the big-shot corporate executives had their own chaotic drama to deal with.
Later that afternoon, back in the safety of her Logan Square apartment, she squeezed Tessa in a massive bear hug and enthusiastically suggested a playdate at the park over near Buckingham Fountain. Zoe was absolutely over the moon about the idea.
“Perfect!” Zoe literally clapped her hands together in delight. “I can finally sneak away and get my nails done. Parker’s been so sick lately, so I’ve been completely stuck inside the apartment going crazy. You’re the absolute best!”
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