Places we won't walk

Chapter 3

The pharmacy doors opened in front of me and warm air hit my face. I didn't notice how cold it was outside. I stepped into the building and walked straight for the aisle with the band-aids. We'd been here many times before, Sky is clumsy. She always gets the Hello Kitty ones. I walk past the familiar pink box and look for the cloth bandages, the long ones you can wrap. I grab the first one my eyes landed on. My desperate fingers barely clung onto the packaging as I made my way to the line. I looked down at my hands and the creases between my fingers were dark red. I flipped my free hand over so I could see my palm. The paper towel is completely soaked and stained. I sighed and closed my eyes. The box slipped out of my hand along with both paper towels and suddenly there were hundreds of needles poking my hands. My breath caught in my throat and my chest ached. My eyes filled with water.

"Kid are you alright?" The voice sounded muffled like there was cotton in my ears. "Kid," something grabbed my shoulder and I opened my eyes, letting the water pour out of them. I blinked once to try to focus on the man in front of me. He wore a white lab coat and had shoulder-length unruly hair. His eyes shot down to my dripping hands and the box on the floor. He grabbed the box and led me to a back room. The white light ricochets off the sickly white walls and burned my eyes. "What happened?" He asked, sitting me down in a chair and pulling one to sit in front of me. On the floor between us, he placed a clean white box with a red cross on it. He clicked it open and pulled out a pair of sterile white gloves from a tiny box in one of the compartments and slipped them over his frail hands. He grabbed a packet and opened it revealing an alcohol cleansing wipe. I stared at it blankly. He grabbed my right hand and swiftly cleaned up my palms and fingers. My eyes shut and I grimaced. My hands weren't numb enough. He finished quickly and I felt a rough cloth rest on my hand. I opened my eyes and focused on the gauze. I watched him open my bandage and wrap my hand. "Kid, I can't keep asking you, what happened?" He asked quietly.

"Cut my hand," I said, my voice only willing a whisper. 

He grabbed my left hand and began cleaning it with a new wipe. "I see that kid, but how?" He was done quick and then he bandaged it up like the other.

My throat strained. "Glass."

The doctor guy pocketed the trash and cleaned the box up. It clicked shut and he picked it up from the handle. "One sec kid, I'll be right back. I'm gonna put this away and I'll be back with some Ibuprofen." He looked at me for a moment too long before turning on his heel and quickly walking away. I focused on the floor under his feet. Grey carpet. Just like the rest of the pharmacy. I heard him come back but I didn't lift my eyes. His hand slid into my vision and in his palm were two blue gel pills. I grabbed them with my fingertips and a glass of water replaced his other hand. I put the pills on the tip of my tongue and held the glass with both hands. The bandages limited my movement but my hands were too tired to hold anything anyway. I took a few sips and swallowed the gels. 

"I don't have my wallet," I said, handing back the glass. He took it from me but didn't say anything. He stood staring down at me. 

He inhaled deeply before he said his next words. "There is another way you can repay me." 

A shiver ran up my spine and I chuckled weakly. "I'm not a whore. I have a girlfriend." I spat with the only energy I could muster.

"Whore? What- I don't mean sex kid, I have a wife." I kept my eyes trained on the floor, too exhausted to even feel humiliated. "I was working on a project and I need someone to test it. My eyes found his shoe and followed his leg all the way up to his face. I just stared. My throat too tight to speak anymore. "Can I take you out to lunch to talk about the details?" 

"Not hungry." I mumbled. 

He nodded and handed me a card out of his pocket. "If you change your mind feel free to call. And don't worry about the cost, just stay safe." With that he turned and walked back down the hall and disappeared behind a door. 

I let my eyes close and I leaned backward. My legs were too weak to move and my hands had started to tingle. My body was too tired to keep going.