Chapter Text
Aaron was assembling a refrigerator door when he heard a scream behind him.
“Christ! Fuuck..”
He turned and saw Adam doubled over; immediately, he dropped the tools on the counter and ran to see what had happened to his friend.
The young man gritted his teeth and with the curls glued to his forehead he said: "Shit, I cut myself ..." and Aaron gently took his injured hand and checked the wound. Meanwhile, almost all the teammates had left their workstation, and surrounding the two boys, were giving advices, asking questions, snooping around; luckily one of them had brought the first aid kit and Aaron took care of the bandage.
“What the heck is going on? We can't really have a normal day, can we?”
The supervisor went down the ladder, wiping his hands on the trousers. Aaron thought the old man was having a snack, and he knew he had guessed right when Mr. Pollard was near; his horrific striped sweater was full of crumbs. Sure he was eating cheese crackers; there was always a family pack on his walnut desk.
“So? Back to work! Come on Barton, let me see..”
Aaron had done his best. Everyone had attended the first aid course; everyone knew how to behave in those situations, yet if it was a matter of health, Aaron was always the first to be called. All the blokes at the factory knew Aaron's dad was a doctor and for them it seemed pretty logical thinking even Aaron had some sort of "medical knowledge"; it never really helped him tell them Paddy was graduated yes, but in veterinary medicine. “ Aaron, do you think this lump is normal? Or is it a tumor?” asked a tall dude one day. Or another, the fattest guy who ever set a foot in the city: “Aaron, how much carbs do you suggest I can take a day?” literally every lunch break there was some weirdo approaching to him, carrying his plate, with an unresolved doubt on mind.
“I disinfected with chloroform .. It doesn't seem serious to me ..” the last words were uttered weakly because Mr. Pollard's face was becoming more and more strange.
The gauze was already stained with blood, and yes, maybe Adam had stopped complaining but was in a pool of sweat.
“No, Livesy.. He needs stitches.. Sharpish!”
So Aaron and Adam took their stuff and as they were putting on their warm hoodies - Adam just put it down on his shoulders, he just couldn't do more - they were walking toward the Opel Astra parked near the exit gate.
“I would have preferred a different way to skip my shift..” said Aaron, trying to be playfull.
After unlocking the car, Adam looks at his friend.
“Yeah, funny! Be quick, ehi?” and Aaron smiled as he took the keys.
The factory was about 2 miles from the hospital, and on the way Adam turned on the radio. A female nasal voice began to sing:
I can see the way.. I see the way you look at me.. And even when you look away..
“What's this?”
I know you think of me .. I know you talk about me all the time .... Again and again
“Yeah, It's one of Victoria's cds.”
So come over here and tell me what I wanna hear
As soon as the car stopped at the first traffic light, Aaron took the compact disc from the dashboard. The girl on the cover was wearing a polka dot shirt, staring at anyone who looked at her with a sulky expression.
“Avril Lavigne? Really?”
“It's not that bad, is it?”
“Do you wanna get drop here? Seriously?”
Adam snorted with amusement.
“Give it back!” and Aaron threw the disc on Adam's legs in disgust.
“Actually I think she took it from her brother's collection..”
“Even more embarassing then..” muttered Aaron as he hitted the gas.
You could do so much better .. I think we should get together nooowww
“Please Adam.. i don't want people to think I listen this shit..”
“Okay, Okay! I'll turn down the volume if you promised me one thing..”
“Do I have to worry? You're not my type mate, I've already told you..”
“A great loss, I know..” said Adam laughing. “No, I'm serious..”
Aaron shifted uncomfortably on his seat.
“Listen, I want you to meet her this Saturday”
“You mean Avril?”
“No! You know who i'm talking about..”
Aaron didn't know much about the girl. Adam told him she was working at "The Little Jumbo" a new place downtown. Apparently Vic was pretty good at her job; one day Adam knocked at Aaron's house with a piece of chicken pie wrapped in foil: “Taste it, she made it” he said, and when Aaron swallowed the first bite there was really nothing else to say, than just: “Mmh...mmh” - both the filling and the dough were sensational.
“Alright, I'm in”
“Yeah?” Adam was already bursting with happiness.
“Yeah yeah.. but now, turn this off!” and soon Avril and her guitars were a hiss and nothing more.
Once they arrived at the hospital, Aaron and Adam followed a nurse down the corridor. She opened the door of a windowless room and after letting them in, she disappeared.
Adam sat down the examination table and Aaron came near him, next to the medicine cabinet.
“Does it hurt?”
“Not like before..but I can hardly move my fingers ... shit.. It's my fault, I was just trying to be faster, then it slipped..”
Aaron patted Adam's shoulder.
“Come on, they know how to deal with this.. It'll be nothing.”
“Hope so.. Anyway, do you mind if you get me a brew? I'm thirsty”
“A coffee?”
“No, I'm already nervous. Better a tea, maybe.”
“Okay, I'll be right back” and even Aaron left the room.
The vending machines were located near the elevators, exactly on the other side of the building. It took a while to find them, clutching a crumpled 5 note in his left hand during the whole time. He choose a black coffee for him and a plain lemon tea for Adam and when he was going to press with the index finger on the number 2, Aaron saw above the numeric keypad, a yellow Post-it with the following sentence handwritten: "Notes are not accepted. Sorry" with an idiotic smiley face sketched after the word "Sorry".
“Fucking hell..” whispered Aaron while he starts searching for coins again in the pockets.
He heard footsteps getting closer and closer - maybe there was someone else who needed something to drink - but Aaron had no intention of moving, and kept pulling dirty handkerchiefs, old receipts and candy wrappers off from his jeans.
“Not even a penny, mate? Ah.. the Brexit was really a bad choice, then..”
The unpleasant joke came out of the lips of a guy. A blonde one. A gorgeous one. He had some scratches on his face and a plastered arm, and Aaron pointed to that arm to reply with annoyance:
“Do you want me to break the other one, too?”
And then it all started.