It had been nearly a year since the two had seen each other. When Adam thought about it, it seemed like it had been so much longer than a mere year. Other times though, especially when he woke up in the middle of the night sobbing, it felt like it had only been yesterday.
True to his promise, Lawrence had gotten help and Adam had been saved from his hellish prison. During their hospital stays, Lawrence had been confined to his bed for the majority of his stay and by the time he was allowed to move about freely, Adam had been sent home. Adam had assumed he would be bedridden, but it still left an ache in his chest that he hadn't gotten to see the doctor. He considered going to see him, but quickly banished the thought. If Lawrence had wanted to see him, he would have done something about it. Besides that, Adam couldn't bring himself to go visit the oncologist of his own volition. He was convinced that he had only been rescued as an afterthought, simply because the doctor hadn't wanted to let him rot down there. Nothing more.
Adam had been trapped in the hospital for much longer than he would have liked - not that he wanted to be there at all to begin with - but part of that was his fault. After nearly a month in the hospital, Adam was finally released, his next doctor's appointment already scheduled.
And the two men still hadn't spoken since the bathroom.
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Stationed at the register, Adam began taking the order of the woman in line. Though he preferred to do something that involved as little social interaction as possible, he was usually stuck at the register. With his depth perception impaired and sight limited, most of his coworkers had agreed that the cashier position would be the easiest for him. Adam wasn't sure if he should be grateful or offended.
The bell above the door jingled as another person entered the building and Adam absentmindedly called out, "Welcome to Brewster's."
As the next person in line stepped up, he vaguely noticed the sound of a child crying. After punching in the customer's order, Adam finally noticed the little girl who had approached the counter alone, tears flowing down her cheeks. Her tears dripped onto her light pink dress, staining the fabric a darker shade of pink.
"Stephanie, can you cover the register?" Adam asked a coworker before approaching the little girl, crouching down in front of her in a non-threatening gesture. The last thing he needed was for her to start freaking out.
"What's your name?" he gently asked the brunette child.
"Diana," she tearfully replied, wiping her face with the palm of her hand. A spark of recognition hit him; something about her was familiar, but he couldn't quite make the connection.
"Where's your parents?" the dark haired male asked, scanning the coffee shop for any sign of her frantic parents and finding nothing but the few stray customers that had wandered in after lunch.
"I lost my daddy," she said, beginning to cry harder.
"Hey, don't cry," Adam said, softly wiping away her tears with his thumb. "How about this? You can sit in those chairs over there," Adam pointed to the overstuffed leather chairs near the back of the restaurant, "while you wait for your dad. And I'll let you pick any treat you want."
The young girl sniffled but began to calm down.
"Can I have the chocolate one?" Diana asked, pointing to one of the desserts in the glass display case. Adam chuckled but nodded.
"You go sit over there and I'll get it for you, alright?"
"Okay," the brunette girl nodded then glanced down to the name tag pinned to his blue apron. "Thank you, mister Adam."
