Short Story Collection

Yellow Eyes

Yellow Eyes

This was the last straw for Arya. She was tired of getting hurt for Hudson with no end in sight. She has a gash on her cheek this time that earned her seven stitches. She'd fared better than Hudson, though. He has a broken leg and internal bleeding. He's a good guy, and very noble, but with his nobility comes excessive self-sacrifice, and that means Arya gets hurt a lot, too.

Hudson isn't the average superhero. He controlled rain and water, and if he concentrated, he could fly. He was thirty-five. Arya had been looking for work when she first moved to Central City. She's always had a gift for gardening, and one day she realized she could actually grow her garden just by willing it. When Hudson heard of her gift, he enlisted her help as his sidekick. She agreed. The job paid well, and she was a twenty-four-year-old college student with a lot of debt. But she never expected to earn so many frequent flier miles at Central Hospital.

Five minutes ago, Hudson had asked Arya to go get him a coffee. Naturally, his room was as far as could be from the cafeteria. Arya, lost in thought, doesn't notice when someone rounds a corner too quickly and she collides with him.

"Shoot!" The person exclaims, and then something scalding is drenching Arya. She winces and looks down. Her grey shirt and white jeans are covered in tea. "I'm so sorry," the person says. He's tall and handsome, with piercing green eyes and black hair.

"It's alright," Arya sighs. "I should've been more focused."

"Me too," he agrees. He hands Arya a napkin. "It's been a long, stressful day."

His words resonate with Arya. "I know what you mean," she says. "I've had quite a few stressful days in a row recently." She dries herself as best she can. She's going to have to go home and change.

"I'm Soren," the guy says, watching Arya curiously.

"I'm Arya," she replies.

"Well, I'll see you around, Arya. I hope your day gets better." Soren smiles and offers her a little wave.

"Thanks, you too," she sighs. The most she can do is return the smile.

Arya gets Hudson his coffee and then heads straight home.

*****

A few days later, Arya rushes back to the hospital. Hudson's nearly died, and is in surgery to try and save his life. Somehow, he suffered a wound while he was asleep and he woke up, coughing blood, just in time to call for a nurse. When Arya arrives, Hudson is still in surgery. She sits in the waiting room and reads the news. She had expected crome to be on the rise while Hudson was incapacitated, but surprisingly there isn't much.

"It's Arya, right?" Arya looks up from her phone in surprise. The tall raven-haired guy stands in front of her.

"Yes," she confirms. "Remind me of your name?"

"Soren," he says, and his dimples pop when he grins at her.

"Soren, I remember now. Do you want to sit down?" He accepts, and takes the chair beside Arya. His hands are wrapped around a travel mug of tea.

"Waiting for someone?" He asks conversationally.

"My boss is in surgery," she replies.

"Oh, I'm sorry. What happened?"

"He's bleeding a lot. It was under control for awhile, and then it got out of hand," Arya explains.

"Was it an occupational hazard? What do you guys do?" Soren asks, sweeping his hair out of his eyes and fixing Arya with his green gaze.