What Am I Even Doing?

"What am I even doing?" she asked herself as she took her twelfth sip of water, "This is unbelievable."
The waiter made eye contact with her again, but she shook her head, and simply stared at the empty chair in front of her.
"Great." she mumbled. It was then she wished she had something stronger than water in her glass.
"Hey, I'm sorry" he had called her a few minutes back, "I'm sorry. I'll be there in some time. I'll explain once I get there"
"Why can't he just stick to his OWN plans?" she wondered, looking at the tables around her, all occupied with couples, "Talk about a good first impression."
Her best friend had introduced him to her. "He's a really nice guy." she had said, "Genuine. You guys will do great."
Not only had he not shown up at her apartment to pick her up (as planned), she also had to come alone to the restaurant and sit there by herself. He had called her and asked her to do so accordingly.
She made a personal note to never speak to her best friend again.
The waiter approached her.
"May I take your order ma'am?"
"Hmm... Not yet" she said, "I need some more time."
The waiter smiled and walked away. He would have probably seen a lot of people being stood up for their dates. He seemed to understand what was going on.
"Can't believe I dressed up for this" she sighed, "I'm never going on a date again."

She didn't want to call him. She already had called him a couple of times... And there was no response.
"God, this is embarrassing" she thought, as she genuinely started to feel hungry, "Where on earth is he?"
She was starting to lose her patience. Something which she believed she had in abundance.
"Why would he do this to me?" she wondered, "Why is he not picking my calls? How can he be so mean?"
People around her had slowly started to notice her nervousness.
She dialed him once again, but the result was the same. She could feel herself turning red. No one has ever behaved to her like this.

Just as she was thinking about leaving, the door of the restaurant burst open.
It was him.
He quickly spotted her and sat on the empty chair.
"Sorry about that." he said, trying to put up his best smile, "Let me explai-"

"I've been waiting here for over an hour." she interrupted him, feeling her own voice raise after every sentence, "You didn't pick me up. You made me come here alone. You didn't answer my calls. You didn't even bring apology flowers! You made me look like an idiot in front of all these people!"
He smiled nervously and looked around, as if he never expected to hear any such thing. His attitude made her blood boil even more.
"I'm sorry," he said simply, "I messed up our first date."
"That's fine." she said, standing up, "You won't get to mess up another one."
Saying this, she stormed out. Away from him. Away from trouble.
She could feel the dampness in her eyes and the heaviness in her head.
"There goes my make-up." she thought as she walked out of the restaurant, "Not that I'll be needing it anymore."

He sighed. He knew he messed it up. But he wasn't sad. He wasn't disappointed. In fact, he smiled.
The waiter approached him. He took one look at the newly arrived customer and gasped.
"Are you alright? Is that...blood?? "
He looked down at where the waiter was pointing. There was indeed a blood stain on his shirt. He hadn't noticed it earlier.
"Didn't have much time to clean up." he replied, "Had a date."
"Had." the waiter smiled, "Missus didn't seem pleased at all."
"That's okay" he said, "You noticed that I was bleeding and shaken. But she didn't."

He explained to the waiter how he had left early to pick her up at her apartment with flowers. And on the way how a drunk driver collided with his car. How he felt the searing pain spread across his body. How he somehow managed to dial her number, despite the pain and sudden shock, and asked her to come to the restaurant on her own. How he slowly lost consciousness. How he was taken to the hospital by a kind pedestrian. How his phone and the bouquet were left in his car. How he immediately left the hospital after his wounds were cleaned. How the pedestrian dropped him to the restaurant.
"I did all that for someone who wasn't even patient enough to listen to it" he said standing up, "Sorry for wasting your time. I did too."
"That's okay sir." the waiter replied, "Take care."
"Oh, and one more thing"
"Yes sir?"
"Could you call me a cab? I don't have my phone"