If you tripped over an unconscious man near a garbage dump at 6:30 a.m. in the morning, do you a) call the police; b) ignore him and walk away; c) call for help; or d) try to wake him up?
Rain put aside the illogic of the action as she exercised the last of her four options that came to her mind. He was lying face down on the ground, completely motionless. And for a moment Rain feared he was dead. The man wore an ugly grey jumpsuit that was torn in a few places. There was some blue stains on the fabric, but Rain didn't pay much attention to them. She was more concerned to the man's well being at the moment. She couldn't see his face, so Rain reached for the man's hand and felt for a pulse instead. To her great relief, there was one, and it seemed to be quite steady. The man was alive! And as a matter of fact, he was already stirring while Rain was still comtemplating her next move. He rolled over and opened his eyes.
"Are you alright?" Rain asked.
"Where am I?" He ignored Rain's question and fired back one of his own. He was young, and despite the weariness and confusion in his eyes, was quite good-looking.
"You're at a garbage dump." Rain replied. "Are you hurt? Do you need to go to a hospital?"
"Garbage dump?" He blinked at her. "Hospital?"
"Where do you live?" Rain frowned. She hoped she didn't run into some sort of mentally unsound person or amnesia patient. She still had a midterm to write later in the morning! "You want me to call someone to pick you up?"
"I don't live here." The man sat up slowly and looked around.
"Of course you don't live here." Rain wanted to laugh, but couldn't. Who in their right mind would live in a garbage dump? "What's your name?"
He met Rain's inquiring gaze. Then he opened his mouth and said something unintelligible to her.
"What?"
The man repeated his too-many-syllables word, or it could have been a sentence, but Rain couldn't quite figure out which. So she just stared.
"Just call me Grey."
"Okay. Grey, how did you end up here?"
Grey cocked his head and thought for a while, then looked back at Rain. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again before anything came out. He sighed, "Nevermind. You won't believe me. What is this place?"
"This is Downtown." Rain replied. "Where do you live?"
Grey stared, ignoring her question.
This wasn't going anywhere. Rain decided, and glanced at her watch. It read 6:40 a.m. She jumped to her feet, "Oh my God! I'm gonna miss my bus!" She pivoted and started towards the bus stop, then stopped and turned back at Grey. "Listen, I've got to go now. Why don't you head for a hospital and check yourself out? You look a little pale. But if you prefer a walk-in clinic instead, there's one around the corner. There's a police station right across the clinic, and you can ask for directions to get home after. Take care." And with that, she turned back towards the bus stop and broke into a run.
Rain didn't like leaving Grey all lost and helpless like that. But she had a very important midterm to write that morning, and she just couldn't afford to be late. Plus, she already directed him to the clinic and the police station. The professionals should be able to take care of him much better than her. Pushing her guilt and conscience to the backburner for the moment, she began mentally reviewing her notes for her midterm.
A few minutes later, the bus arrived. She got on and flashed her bus pass at the driver, who smiled and nodded at her in acknowledgement. She was proceeding towards the back of the bus where her favourite seat was when she heard the driver talking to someone behind her.
"Hey! Mister! You need to pay the fare for the ride!"
Curious, Rain turned to take a look at who the driver was talking to. She knew the bus driver well. His name was Jonas McGuile, a middle-aged man in his early forties. He lived only a couple blocks from Rain's building. He was a nice and sweet guy, who always smiled and nodded at his passengers. But, if you tried to cause any trouble on his ride, he would not hesitate to kick you off his bus. Then, her mouth hung open at the sight of Grey, staring blankly at McGuile, and obviously didn't have a single clue what he was talking about.
"What are you......" Rain began, then caught herself before she caused a scene in the public. She swallowed whatever she was about to say, and dug out some change from her coat pocket to pay Grey's bus fare.
"Sorry, he was with me." Rain apologized to McGuile, then dragged Grey towards the back of the bus with her, while pretending not to notice the suspicious glances from the bus driver and the passengers.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She half accused, half demanded.
"I was following you." Grey shrugged.
"Why were you following me then?" It was not a small challenge to keep her temper in check. She felt like ripping this guy's throat off at the moment.
"I don't know where to go." He gave her a puppy-dog look, and Rain couldn't decide if he was playing innocent or not.
"Didn't I tell you to go to the hospital? Or the police station for that matter?" Calm down. Calm down. But Rain was finding difficulty in following her own advice.
Grey scratched his head and shrugged in his annoying, devil-may-care manner again. "Where are we going?"
"There's no we in this, you hear me?" Rain was fuming now, and Grey swore he saw fire in those dark, misty eyes of hers. "I am going back to campus, attend my classes, write my midterm, then head to work. And you are NOT gonna follow me! I don't have time for you, okay?" And with that, she turned away from him, and started reviewing her notes for her midterm.
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