Hearts Crossing [A Remile Story]

Train Car [2]

It had been a pretty good day for Emile Picani. He was able to deal with the day's patients fairly easily. He liked being able to leave the office knowing that he succeeded in helping people any way he could. Emile slung his Cookie-Cat backpack over his shoulder and looked up at the Wall-E clock that hung on the wall. He grinned to see that it was 4:00. Walking out to the empty lobby of the building, Emile waved to the people behind the desk. He did his best to imitate Porky Pig's 'That's All Folks!' which made his co-workers smile. They always found his positive energy a bit uplifting.

After walking out of the building, Emile started heading to the train station. He could afford a car, but he liked riding trains. It was calming. Once he got to the station, Emile put his bedazzled pastel pink earbuds in and shuffled his cartoon playlist.

He smiled happily as the Steven Universe theme song started playing. He bounced on his heels a little and hummed along with the song quietly while he waited for the train to show up.

"We.. are the Crystal Gems.."

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A few minutes after 4:15, the train pulled into the station. Emile stepped on and took a seat by the door. The car was empty, but that was to be expected at four in the afternoon. His music was still playing, but one of his earbuds dangled from his shoulder. He was watching the world through the window. Emile looked at the tall buildings he'd soon be far away from. Sometimes the towering structures got to be pretty overwhelming.

Looking back down to the station, Emile spotted a tall man running at full speed. He was clearly in a big rush. Emile felt bad for the poor guy and silently wished that he'd make it to wherever he was going. To Emile's surprise the man turned and hurried into the train station, desperately swiping his metrocard to get past the entry gates. The train doors started to close, so Emile hesitantly stuck his foot in the doorway to try to keep it open as long as possible. As the door tried to close, Emile fought it while he watched the man running towards the train. It was then that Emile noticed the little kid resting on the man's hip. Just when Emile thought his foot might break from the pressure the door was putting on it, the man slipped onto the train car panting heavily.

"Thank... thank you." He said taking a seat across from Emile. Emile nodded and smiled. The man didn't say much else, evidently occupied by the small heap of tears and sniffles on his lap. Emile tried not to stare, knowing how that made some of his patients feel, but he couldn't help himself from overhearing the man's attempts to soothe his sobbing kid.

"I'm sorry. Does it hurt more now? I tried to be as gentle as possible. But we just had to catch the train to get home. I thought the car would be empty. We... we can't put it on right now. I'm so sorry. We'll get your vest on as soon as we get home. I promise the second we get home..." He was whispering and petting the child's head.

Emile's heart ached for this total stranger. He had no idea what was going on, but he felt really bad that he was just watching this happen. The man was wearing a brown apron; he probably worked in a coffee shop of some sort. Upon looking a little closer, Emile spotted a nametag with 'Remy Sanders' imprinted on it.

As the train rolled out of the giant city, the little kid's cries didn't subside. A steady stream of tears kept flowing for what felt like forever. Remy was growing desperate to do something to quiet them, trying all sorts of things to soothe them. The frail kid shifted on their father's lap, their head facing Emile's direction now. They made eye contact, and Emile smiled kindly at them.

"Ma..?" They squeaked. Remy looked up and turned to look at Emile. He looked horrified for a second, but quickly relaxed once he saw that it was Emile his child was looking at.

"Hi." Emile waved shyly. Something about Remy was... intimidating. He was much more easy to look at when he wasn't looking back.

"Sorry about that. They're a little out of it right now. We didn't mean to bother you." Remy started to adjust his three-year-old to face away from the stranger.

"You didn't bother me." Emile smiled, his friendly energy returning. "Is there anything I can do? To help, I mean."

Remy stared at Emile for a second. He looked surprised and a little bit suspicious.

"I can handle it on my own. I know I don't look like it, but I'm very capable of taking care of them."

"I'm sure you are. I'm just wondering if I can do anything extra to help, even if you don't need it." Emile explained. Remy still looked resistant to make any requests, but after a few awkward moments, he did.

"Would you mind facing the window for a minute?" Remy asked. Emile nodded and looked out the window. He watched trees zipping past him at lightning speed until Remy cleared his throat to indicate that it was okay to turn back. When Emile looked back, nothing seemed to have changed. That is until Emile noticed that the kid's shirt had a small bulge, probably from something being worn underneath their shirt. "Thanks."

"No prob, Bob." Emile said in his usual cheery voice.

"My name is Remy, actually."

"I'm Emile. Emile Picani. It's a pleasure to meet you." Emile looked from Remy to the kid in his lap, who was seemingly calming down a bit. "What's your name?"

"K..Kai." They managed to stutter between silent cries. Emile nodded, smiled, and held out his hand to shake Kai's.

"Do you how do, Kai?" He asked. Kai raised their arm shakily and shook Emile's hand. The moment Emile released their hand, it flopped back to their side. Emile lifted his head to meet Remy's eyes. "Do you mind me asking how old they are?"

"They're three."

"Oh wow! I thought they were at least five."

"Yeah... they get that a lot." Remy nodded. An awkward silence hung in the air for a while.

"Do you work at a restaurant? You look like a waiter or something." Emile inquired.

"I'm a barista. What about you? Are you some kind of teacher?"

"I'm a therapist."

"Oh, wow. That's much better than wiping down counters and making frappuccinos." Remy laughed.

Emile struck up a conversation with Remy, who seemed to be warming up to him. For some reason conversation flowed pretty naturally between them. Even though they'd never met it was surprisingly easy for them to talk.

The train eventually pulled into Emile's stop and he had to get off.

"Well, it was lovely to meet you, Remy."

"Nice to meet you too."

"Buh-bye..." Kai mumbled.

"See ya, Kai!" Emile waved and hopped off the train. He started his walk home, feeling like he was walking on the clouds.