This is Chapter 6 in a series and will make much more sense if you read them in order.
Friday continued (The Test)
Doc Smith walked down the hall. He thought about Sophie and wondered what he was going to do to make someone smile this afternoon. He had sort of taken her suggestion as an order. He had done it every night this week and he was not planning on stopping now. He got to the door and grabbed the handle. He looked back down the hall and saw a man walking towards him. The man was carrying a large box but he was still pretty far down the hall. Doc Smith let go of the handle and waited.
The man approached the door and Doc opened it for him.
"Thanks, man, appreciate it." The man said and smiled at him.
"You're welcome" he responded.
"Have a great weekend." The man said to him.
"Thanks, you too." Doc responded.
He found himself standing under the awning looking at an absolute cloudburst. The rain was so heavy now he could hardly see the parking lot.
"Dammit" He heard the man say as he started to open his umbrella.
Doc realized he didn't have his own umbrella with him but he also wasn't carrying a box so he could run if he had to. The man nodded to him and started out in the rain, balancing the box and umbrella and doing a pretty good job. Doc looked and saw his car, it was on the front row. That was good, he thought.
He lifted his briefcase over his head, took a deep breath and started to sprint towards his car. He loved to run, it brought back memories of school when he was much younger. He reached his car quickly and hit the button to unlock the doors. He jumped in and slammed the door quickly. He dropped his briefcase on the seat next to him and looked at his clothes. He hadn't gotten very wet at all. He shivered once from the chill of the rain on his arms.
He turned on the car and let it run, trying to get the heater to warm up. He grabbed his GPS and started looking for the closest grocery. He needed to pick up something to eat to begin his bachelor weekend. He found one relatively close and he placed the GPS back in the holder. He looked at the temperature gauge and noticed it had moved slightly. He turned on the heater to take the chill off the inside of the car.
He looked down to see where the GPS wanted him to go and he put the car in reverse. He pulled out of the parking lot and turned right on the street. His windshield wipers were working overtime, banging against the side of the windshield. He was moving rather slowly as he got accustomed to the limited visibility. The light in front of him turned yellow and he stopped. He looked to his right and saw someone standing on the side of the road. They were at the bus stop but he noticed the stop did not have a roof. The person was hunched over and leaning on the side of the enclosure.
He looked at the person through his window. They looked small, almost like a child but children would still be in school and not standing at a city bus stop. It was most likely a homeless lady stuck in the rain. He noticed they weren't making any attempt to cover themselves. The person was wearing a dark coat and holding a bag. He thought about maybe doing something to help but then thought of just driving on and forgetting about it. He wanted to get home and out of this weather as fast as he could. The light changed and he turned forward, away from the person.
He heard a car horn honk and he realized he was still sitting at the green light. He looked in the mirror and saw the person in the car behind him making wild hand gestures. He turned back to look at the person at the bus stop and they hadn't moved. He could see their head was down and the rain was running off the top of their head. He looked over at his front seat and saw his briefcase sitting on his suede leather seat. He looked back at the person and then forward again, slowly taking his foot off the brake.
The second blast of the horn behind him did it for him and he threw the car in park. He grabbed the briefcase and tossed it in the back seat. He saw the car behind him swerve around him, giving him the middle finger salute as he passed, leaning on his horn. He hit the button to lower the passenger window and yelled to the person at the stop. He saw them lift their head slightly but their wet hair was covering most of their face. He yelled again for them to get in the car and he saw the person reach for the handle of the door.
He grimaced as he watched the door open and the person slide into the front seat. The water poured off of them and started to soak his seat. He felt a tinge of regret as he wondered if the leather would be ruined but he pushed it back. The person closed the door with what looked like maximum effort and leaned back into the seat. He could not see their face as they had the hood of the coat over their head.
"Are you ok?" He asked softly and he saw the head turn slowly towards him.
"I am now Doc." He heard the small voice and saw a glimmer of green sparkle through the wet hair.
"Oh my God, Sophie." He felt his heartbeat speed up and he leaned over to push her hair out of her face.
Her face was now really pale and her lips looked almost blue. He pulled the heavy wet hood off her head. She was smiling at him with her head against the seat. He felt like a schmuck immediately. He knew she didn't have an umbrella and he knew she rode the bus. Why didn't he think of that when he saw the rain. He didn't know the bus stop was so useless but that didn't make him feel any better.
"Sophie, I'm so sorry." He said, running his fingers across her cold cheek.
"It's ok, Doc, I knew you would stop." She said and coughed a little.
He felt bad again as he realized how close he had come to just driving off and leaving her. What was he thinking? Why did he even hesitate?
"I am so proud of you Doc." She whispered.
He looked at her strangely. She must be delirious was the first thought that crossed his mind. She wasn't making sense.
"Sophie, what are you saying?" He asked.
"You offered your clean dry car to a perfect stranger. You didn't know it was me." She said in a soft scratchy voice.
Her words hit him hard for two reasons. First, she was right. He didn't know it was her and he did know his seat was going to be ruined by all the water. He felt a little proud for that. Secondly, here she was unable to hold her head up and she was proud of him? He felt so little sitting next to her. How could she be thinking of him at a time like this. He looked into her eyes and saw she was still smiling at him.
"Sophie, let me take you home." He said.
"Ok." She said.
"What is your address?" He asked and grabbed his GPS.
She whispered her address and he punched it in. He set the unit down and threw the car into drive.
"We'll be there in about ten minutes." He said and punched the accelerator.
"Thanks, Doc. You are so good to me." She said.
He felt a lump in his throat and looked over at her. Her eyes were drooping but she was still smiling.