Chicago

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"We'll be closing in a few minutes,"

  Saint looked up at the Starbucks employee and nodded. It had started raining outside and he decided to take Chai to the nearby coffee shop to just sit and relax for awhile. They had been in the shop for about two hours.

As soon as Chai hit the chair, she huddled together for a quick nap. The girl was so tired and Saint felt bad that she was going through so much. He decided to let the young woman sleep while he sat back to oversee things.

"Is she okay?"

Saint nodded, "yeah she good. I'll wake her up."

The employee nodded and continued to put up the chairs and mop the floor. Saint lightly tapped Chai's arm. She didn't budge. He grabbed her arm and shook her softly, making her wriggle and shake her head.

"I know you tired, but they about to close."

Chai took a deep breath and lifted her head up a little, squinting her eyes at the sudden burst of light. She took a quick minute to stretch before asking Saint what time it was. He informed her that it was going on eleven o' clock, which prompted her to get up from the chair so the closer could clean in peace.

"I should head back to the hospital. Saint, thank you so much." She said, thinking this was about to be their goodbye for the night.

"You gon' stay there by yourself?"

Chai smiled politely, "I'm not a baby. I can handle myself...I just have to be there to make sure Brynn is okay. Plus, I have no where else to stay for the night. I don't want to be in my house alone, it's too depressing."

"Alright, well I'll walk you there."

Chai didn't argue with him as they headed back in silence. It was a five minute walk from the shop to the hospital. He took her to the emergency room that was a little less populated then when they first arrived. There were only five more people scattered throughout the waiting room, almost all of them asleep with the exception of one being on their phone. Chai found a seat closest to the desk and slowly sat her aching, exhausted body down on the chair.

"Thanks, Saint."

Saint decided to give her space an simply told her goodnight, "I know I have your number, but you're going through a lot so I don't want to call you at a bad time. Here's mine, just in case you need anything or you just simply want to talk."

Saint gave her a folded napkin that he took from Starbucks and wrote on while she was asleep. Chai took it and glanced at his nine digit number followed by his name and a cheesy smiley face. Chai giggled and told him goodnight as she watched him leave the emergency room.

She took a deep breath and rested her elbow on the arm rest, using her hand as a pillow. She closed her eyes and took a well needed rest.

Saint had to travel home on foot which took him about forty-five minutes. He had no money for an Uber or bus fare. Luckily, it had stopped raining and he was able to enjoy the nice post-rain weather. Once he got on his block, he noticed the police barricades were taken back, opening the street to commuters.

Saint traveled to his house and debated on whether or not he should go in. He knew there was about to be a lot of tension once he showed his face. I have to face them one way or another, he told himself before finding the courage to enter his home. 

There was no one in plain sight. There was light coming from the living room from the television, a bedroom light coming from upstairs and water running through the pipes from the bathroom which meant someone was in the shower.