Undeserved Kindness

A few minutes ago, in the parking lot of the convenience store…

“Alexa, do you want anything from the store?” Chloe asked, looking through the rearview mirror to see Alexa staring out of the window.

“Ooh, can I have some gummy candy?” Alexa answered excitedly, almost ripping her seatbelt off in the process.

“Can I get candy too?” Damian chirped as he looked at his girlfriend from the passenger seat, reciprocating the same childish energy that his little sister had.

Chloe looked over at Damian playfully with a disapproving look on her face and reached towards his face slowly. Unsure of what to expect, Damian braced himself for a slap across the face. To his surprise, Chloe gently caressed his face and planted a kiss on his lips, the first one they’ve ever shared.

As they had their kiss, the man wearing the black tattered coat had staggered his way into the store.

“So soft,” Damian thought as she pulled away. Despite the fact that he never had any issues talking or flirting with girls, this was the first time he ever shared a kiss with one.

“No,” Chloe answered seriously before breaking out into a small laugh.

Chloe then turned back towards Alexa who was in the middle of making playful faces of disgust.

“You don’t get any either,” Chloe joked as she watched Alexa’s playful behavior stop dead in its tracks.

“Well, can I at least go in and say hi?” Alexa asked, implying that she wanted to go see her brother and Mai.

“Of course you can,” Chloe said, returning to her usual kind and caring self.

“Yes, then Mark can get me some gummy worms,” Alexa thought as a smile crept onto her face. “I can’t wait to have money of my own. That way, I wouldn’t have to ask,” she continued thinking as she stepped out of the car slowly.

“Are you coming inside with us?” Chloe asked as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

Damian looked down at his legs with a harsh glare, wishing that he could leave the car without any form of aid or help. Then shifted his view to Chloe and shrugged his shoulders.

“Sure. Maybe I can see Mai again and invite her over for dinner tonight,” he teased as he went to remove his seatbelt, only to be stopped by Chloe’s deadly stare.

“Who said you wouldn’t be there?” Damian deflected playfully as placed a hand on her thigh to try and help her relax.

“You’re such a jerk!” Chloe claims as she playfully swats his hand away.

Damian and Chloe shared a quick and genuine laugh together while Alexa opened the trunk, revealing Damian’s wheelchair which was folded inside. After she opened it up and attached the wheels, she rolled it over to the passenger door where Damian was sitting.

Chloe got out of the car swiftly, then walked around to the other side and helped Damian scoot out of the car and into his constant reminder of powerlessness.

BAM!

Chloe quickly grabbed Alexa and pulled her close to her chest to potentially protect her. The three of them all quickly looked around to see where the sound came from. Their cheery and playful expressions had died down due to the sheer panic and dread the deafening sound created.

After turning up empty on where the sound could be, Chloe’s eyes locked onto the convenience store with a sense of haziness. Without thinking, she quickly left Damian and Alexa, and ran straight towards the doors of the store.

“Chloe! Wait!” Damian called out as he tried to wheel himself after her. His efforts were shot down immediately as his wheels got caught against the curb of the sidewalk. Damian continued struggling against the curb until Alexa stepped in and wheeled him around the car to use the smooth side of the sidewalk.

Meanwhile, back to Mark in the break room.

“With Care,

Mai Sasaki ~”

BAM!

“What the hell?!” Mark said out loud as he dropped the letter on the table and ran out of the break room.

Without any hesitation, Mark threw open the break room door, revealing the man in the distance. As Mark took a closer look, he noticed the gun laying near the man’s foot. What Mark couldn’t find, however, was a trace of his co-worker.

The man trembled in place for a moment, locking eyes with Mark. His eyes and mouth were riddled with horrifying guilt. He understood exactly what happened, and the ramifications for what he did. As if fully committing to this guilt, the man quickly tried to reach for the gun.

“No!” Mark yelled out as he ran towards the man like a freight train and tackled him to the ground, sending the gun only an arm’s length away from the man.

“Sit still!” Mark ordered as he pinned the man down by the shoulders aggressively. The man grunted harshly with every attempt to break away from Mark’s dominating presence. He couldn’t even free his arm to reach for the silver death cannon.

After a few more moments of struggling, the man finally gave up, and small tears started welling in his eyes.

“I didn’t mean to shoot,” the man quivered softly as the tears fell down his face, a true contrast to the way he was talking the night before. His breath still reeked of alcohol, though the man sounded more sober now than ever before. “It’s her fault. She wouldn’t let me do it,” he sobbed.

Mark stopped listening after he heard that word, “Her,”. His intense grip on the man instantly dropped as he jumped off of him and towards the counter. What awaited him there was something he never pictured he would see.

Mai was clutching harshly at her left shoulder, as if trying to use her polo shirt to stop her bleeding. The crimson red that bled through her white shirt only amplified Mark’s emotion and tension. She looked up at Mark weakly, only for her vision to blur and fade into unconsciousness.

“MAI!”

Like a bull seeing red, Mark ran over to her side and dropped to his knees.

“Wake up, Mai! Wake up!” Mark yelled as he quickly tried shaking her shoulders, only to see her body involuntarily jolt into a conscious state from the pain.

As Mark was trying desperately to keep Mai awake, Chloe burst into the store. She quickly scanned around and saw the man on the floor, silently sobbing to himself. Looking past the man, she saw Mark on his knees. When she got closer, Chloe saw Mai fading away, and let out a saddened cry.

“Mai!” Chloe screamed as she looked around to see if there was something she could do to help.

Mark looked back at Chloe with shock and confusion. He didn’t understand why she was there, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to save Mai.

The man, who was still silently sobbing to himself, reached over to the gun and carefully stood up. Once on his own two feet, he tried to make a break for the exit.

Chloe noticed the man trying to leave, but before she could say anything, Alexa and Damian had entered the store, accidentally cutting the man off with the wheelchair.

The man and Damian made eye contact for a brief moment as he ran over Damian and his wheelchair. Damian, using his upper body strength, was able to latch onto the man and weigh him down enough for him to stumble and spill out onto the floor.

“Damian!” Alexa screamed as she watched Damian struggling with the man.

Damian had come out on top of the brief struggle, forcing the man on his back. Noticing the gun in the man’s hand, Damian quickly reached for it with both of his hands, and successfully disarmed the man by taking the gun and throwing it along the surface of the floor.

“Just let me leave!” the man pleaded as he stared up into the eyes of a raging Damian.

While Damian stared at the man with a threatening intent, Alexa ran over to where Mark and Chloe were. Her young eyes quickly shot open as she saw Mai and her seemingly lifeless body that was fading in and out of consciousness. After processing the situation with Mai and her bullet wound, she quickly placed both of her hands above Mai’s heart to apply pressure to the wound.

Damian had now realized who this man was. He had seen him before, only once. As the haunting memories of the accident started flooding back, he fixated on the image of the man who jumped in front of his family’s car. That man, and this one under him, were one in the same.

“It’s your fault,” Damian said quietly in realization.

Just as with Mark, the man tried to break away from his grasp. Despite Damian’s weak and useless legs, Damian had an even easier time in restraining the man than Mark did.

“You’re the reason I’m stuck in a stupid wheelchair!” Damian yelled as he placed his hands around the man’s neck tightly.

“W-W…What do you mean?” the man asked as he struggled desperately to pry Damian’s hands off of his neck.

*     *     *

Meanwhile, Chloe and Mark were trying to get Mai to stay awake. Chloe pulled out her phone and called an emergency number, hoping that they would be able to get to Mai in time.

“Mark, the ambulance will be here in a few minutes,” Chloe said in a slight panic as she looked down at Mai, trying to maintain her bedside manners as best as she could.

Mai started to panic when she heard Chloe talk about the ambulance. Her breathing started to hasten, and her heart started to beat faster.

“N-No, not a hospital,” Mai let out weakly as she frantically tried to resist Mark’s hold on her.

Mark quickly grabbed her face with his hands in an attempt to calm her down. Her breathing hiccupped slightly, but her eyes stayed locked onto his. They were friendly and caring, just like she had seen time and time again.

“M-Mark, people die in hospitals. I don’t want to die!” Mai cried softly as tears started to flow down her face from pain and sadness.

“Mai, you’re not going to die! I promise!” Mark proclaimed, staring into her light pink eyes to ensure she heard him.

Chloe quickly ran towards the store’s entrance to try and wave down the ambulance that would be arriving soon. As she got to the store’s entrance, she saw Damian pinning down the man on the floor.

“Damian! Let go!” she cried out as she pulled at Damian to get him off.

“You were the one who jumped in front of our car!” Damian yelled as he gripped the man’s neck even tighter.

The man was struggling for his life. As his vision faded slightly, he realized what Damian was saying. He now understood where Damian’s anger and frustration was coming from.

“Damian stop! You’re going to kill him!” Chloe yelled as she wrapped her arms around Damian’s neck to try and pry him off of the man.

“You killed my parents!” Damian started screaming.

“WHAT?” Mark thought, overhearing Damian’s accusation. He turned his head towards Damian quickly.

“No…don’t kill him,” Mai said softly as she could also hear Damian shouting.

“He won’t,” Mark said sternly as he cupped her ears to prevent her from hearing the shouts that continued on.

“Damian! I said stop!” Chloe screamed as she started applying pressure around Damian’s neck in a headlock. “Don’t make me force you to stop!”

“You hurt my sister!” Damian continued screaming as his grip started to weaken slightly due to Chloe’s pressure on Damian. The man was barely able to struggle back as his body started to go limp.

“Damian!” Alexa yelled as she turned her head away from Mai. She continued applying more pressure, hoping to buy Mai as much time as possible.

“Please! Stop! Damian!” Chloe pleaded as she applied more pressure to Damian.

Damian’s eyes started to clear up from the intense rage and anger he had. All that was left was the sadness and loss that served as the fuel for his actions. The angry tears left his eyes in streams as his hands slowly let go of the man’s neck. Trembling, Damian reached up to Chloe’s arms and tapped on them softly, signaling for Chloe to release her tight hold on him.

As the man regained his consciousness, Damian regained his breath. Once he wiped his tears from his face, Damian stared down at the man underneath him.

“Why am I still alive? Why couldn’t you just kill me?” the man asked in a shaky tone. “Why did she stop me? Why couldn’t she just let me end it?” he proceeded as he looked around frantically for Mai, unable to find her. “Why couldn’t the car just run me over?”

Damian’s face seemed to grow more and more frustrated with every question the man asked. His eyes were filled with disappointment, and it took every ounce of strength in Damian to not choke the man again.

“You’re pathetic,” Damian declared with a sharp tongue. “How dare you waste the chances these people gave you?!”

As Damian was shouting at the man, sirens from two different types of vehicles were blaring from outside the convenience store.

“Damian, the police and paramedics are here!” Chloe said quickly as she got off the ground and ran outside to try and quickly grab their attention.

Damian craned his head towards the door for a moment, ensuring that Chloe got out. Then, he returned his attention to the man, making sure he couldn’t get away. The man was trembling and muttering to himself quietly.

Within a matter of moments, the police and paramedics followed Chloe back into the store. Chloe had already informed them outside of the situation that transpired, and the two units proceeded to their respective areas. As Chloe helped Damian back into his wheelchair, the police began their arrest on the man, and the paramedics had started their work on Mai.

When the paramedics took over for Alexa and Mark, Mark removed his hands from Mai’s ears, returning her hearing to her. The sirens blaring in the background sent chills up Mai’s spine. She frantically looked around until she felt something grab her hand.

It was Mark’s hands. His rough, yet gentle hands pulled Mai into the eye of the storm. For that small moment, as the paramedics loaded her onto the stretcher, she felt at peace.

“I swear, it was an accident,” the man muttered quietly as the police walked him out of the store. He took a look at the paramedics who placed Mai on the stretcher. He was surprised that her small and fragile body hadn’t given up on her.

“Don’t die…Please,” the man thought as he was escorted out of the store and into the back of the police car.

Swiftly, the paramedics loaded Mai into the back of the ambulance. Mark joined her in the back, holding onto her hand as tightly as possible while the paramedics did what they could to keep her stable enough to make it to the Emergency Room.

“Alexa, come on! We’ll follow them!” Chloe ordered as she wheeled Damian towards her car.

Alexa quickly followed behind them to Chloe’s car and helped get Damian into the car quickly. As soon as the three of them were in the car, Chloe gunned it behind the ambulance.

In the ambulance, Mark continued to hold onto Mai’s hand. Mark tried to keep a strong front for Mai, but every grunt and moan she gave while the paramedics worked on her shoulder, began to chip away at that front.

After a few minutes of speeding, the ambulance arrived at the hospital. The paramedics quickly took Mai out of the ambulance and ordered Mark to wait in a waiting area.

“No, not here,” Mai thought worriedly as they entered the building.

Within the next couple of minutes, Chloe, Damian, and Alexa found Mark alone in the waiting room. Alexa was the first one to rush over to Mark. She embraced him with every bit of feeling she could muster.

“This is my fault. If I didn’t hire her…If I didn’t take that nap in the break room,” Mark thought, blaming himself for not being able to prevent this situation. The feeling of helplessness grew even greater inside of him.

“She’ll be fine, Mark,” Damian said calmly as he placed a hand on Mark’s shoulder. Damian’s attempt at trying to calm Mark down was met with a cold stare that intimated Damian. His brother was gone.

“You don’t know that…” Mark muttered sadly as he buried his head into Alexa’s shoulder.

Hearing this, Chloe took a seat next to Mark and pulled him into her for a caring hug. As they shared in this hug, Chloe passed her fingers through his hair, sedating the beast that was trying to escape from Mark’s heart and mind.

Feeling her fingers pass through his hair, Mark thought back to the way Mai passed her hands through his hair with the same care. All of his emotions and adrenaline finally crashed, leaving Mark even more exhausted than he was earlier.

“Please don’t give up on me, Mai,” Mark thought, envisioning when Mai flashed him a bright smile earlier in the store.

“It wasn’t mischance when we first met,” Mark thought silently, picturing the quiet and stoic girl in the performer’s area.

“You took everything I threw onto you,” he continued mentally, thinking about when the two of them were standing by the lake.

“We shared the misery of losing those close to us,” he added, remembering when Mai told him about her father.

“Why do I bring misfortune to those around me?” Mark asked himself sadly, seeing the images of his parents’ funeral along with the image of Mai on the convenience store floor.

“Please, come back to us Mai…Come back so that I can thank you for everything you’ve done for me,” Mark pleaded to himself.

“I need to thank you. You, and your undeserved kindness.”