#reyna wade 001

[nazimxgul]

CLOSED STARTER

LOCATION: The café TIME: Friday afternoon FOR: @reyna-jdw

Nazim stepped out of the café, his mind humming with ideas for his latest project. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw an elderly gent took a tumble right in front of him. Quick as a flash, he dashed over to help. "Sir, are you alright?" he asked, offering a steady arm. The old fellow nodded, looking a bit out of it. He glanced around, spotting someone nearby. "Excuse me," he called out, "Could you lend a hand?" He gestured to the bag with its contents scattered on the floor. The situation seemed a bit dicey. But that’s not the priority. Right now, he wanted to make sure this older chap was okay.

[nazimxgul]

Nazim read her body language - she looked like she wanted to bolt but staying anyway. The way she hung back made him think of those times in college when he'd rather be anywhere else but had to stick around. "Thanks for the compliment," he said to Reyna, keeping a smile on his face. "Honestly, you did great back there. Most people would've walked right past." The words came out before he thought them through - maybe he hit a nerve? But whatever, it was true.

Her casual wave made him grin. She seemed like someone who'd rather eat glass than deal with mushy thank-yous. He got that. Growing up in his big family, everyone was always so extra with the emotions. "Well Reyna, looks like we nailed the whole emergency thing," he said, laughing. "Even if it messed up our morning plans." He hoped the joke landed okay - sometimes his attempts at being chill came off weird.

Reyna told herself she could be like this old man one day, alone in a crisis, so she tried to bolster her concern for him and extinguish her selfishness. However, part of her wanted to admit how inconvenient this ordeal was. Truthfully, she rarely went out of her way to help others unless her work required it or she could benefit from the exchange. She held in her sigh. “Yes, of course.” Today, she’d play along with the anxious hero. 

The urgency in Nazim’s voice marked his worry for the elderly gentleman and gave Reyna the impression that he could be the Superman type. She would have thought more about it had emergency services arrived later, but she dismissed the idea and made room for the first responders. She lingered awkwardly at the sidelines, caught between her half-investment in the outcome and deciding whether or not to buy another tea. Before her waffling could continue, Nazim’s voice broke through the jumble of thoughts. “No problem, Nazim. I’m Reyna.” She waved her hand at him.  “I felt like you did most of the work. You seemed like a natural at this.” 

[nazimxgul]

“Good thinking,” He said to the female, passing along the dispatcher’s questions to the older gent. The old guy seemed to perk up a bit, giving his name and age without much trouble. “Water’s a solid plan,” he told her. “I’ll pop into the café and grab some.” He dashed inside and came back in a flash with a bottle. He handed it over to the woman, saying, “Here, mind helping him take a sip?”

While she got the old man sorted with the water, Nazim kept the dispatcher in the loop about how the guy was doing. He was itching for the ambulance to show up already. At last, he caught the sound of sirens. “They’re almost here,” he said to the woman and the elderly man. As the ambulance rolled up, Nazim breathed easier. The paramedics jumped into action, and he took a step back to give them space. Turning to the woman, he stuck out his hand. “Thanks for jumping in. I’m Nazim. You really knew what to do back there.”

Her tea was going to go cold; she hated lukewarm tea. Reyna swallowed her sigh and finished collecting the fallen items. She placed the filled bag right next to the man on the bench. A look at the older gentleman told her that she would need to reorder her tea. “Confusion and potential dizziness.” She muttered to herself, making a mental note. She didn’t need to be a doctor to understand that this wasn’t normal.  “Just stay here and he’ll handle the rest with the dispatcher.” 

While Nazim played the hero, Reyna sat by the old man, hoping she could catch him if he fell again. “The dispatcher will likely need your name and age, sir. We’ve got your location.” She looked away. “Uhm… should we get him water or something?”  Though she was trained in disaster response, dealing with something like this felt uncomfortable. She wasn’t used to waiting for answers from dispatch.

[nazimxgul]

It was such a relief when that stranger helped pick up all the stuff. "Thanks for your assistance," he said, shooting her a grateful look. Nazim turned back to the older man, noticing he looked a bit pale and out of it. "Sir, how are you feeling? Any dizziness or pain?" 

The old guy's eyes fluttered, like he was trying to gather his thoughts. "I'm not sure what happened. Just lost my balance for a moment," he mumbled.

"Let's get you sitting down properly," he said, helping the man to a nearby bench. "Do you have any medical conditions we should know about?"

The old man shook his head. "Just the usual aches and pains of getting old," he chuckled, but it sounded weak.

He glanced at the woman who'd been helping. "I think we should call for medical assistance, just to be safe. Would you mind staying with him while I make the call?" Not waiting for her to answer, he whipped out his phone and dialed emergency services. While he talked to the dispatcher, he kept an eye on the elderly man, hoping it wasn't anything too serious.

That man is definitely going to eat shit, she thought while taking a sip of her tea and sitting down. 

People-watching wasn’t something that Reyna ever really did. Accustomed to rarely empty schedules, she normally had something to do or places to be. She was familiar with urgency pulling her in several directions but trying out reasons to stay still was a foreign concept that so far, was boring! How people managed to do this for hours was beyond her. No longer interested or nosey enough to care, she decided to focus on finishing her tea, but before she could take another sip, she heard a crash just to her side. 

Aww man, I was right. 

She placed her tea aside and squatted near the mess to collect the items. “Yeah, I got it.” Reyna looked over at the men. “Is he going to be ok? He doesn’t look too good.”