A Coincidence

"Are the police here?" Madison was approaching the room where Nick was.

"They're asking him some questions," said the doctor who had checked on Nick.

"They should've started there."

"Nick arrived delirious, Mr. Clark. Witnesses said he darted into traffic," the doctor said, pointing, "intentionally!"

"He was drugged."

"He was ranting. We had to restrain him, given the concerning situation he was in. For his safety, I've requested a psychiatric consultation."

The doctor watched as Madison walked away and, looking at Travis, said, "She's not listening."

"She heard you," said Travis, who had quickly walked over to where Madison was heading.

Alicia followed them with an annoyed expression.

In the stretcher room, Dominic watched as the police questioned a now-sane Nick about his situation.

"Nick, are you with me?"

"I just went out for a walk," Nick said with a stimulated smile.

"You were running, Nick."

"Barefoot?" asked the police officer, not being fooled and knowing the type of person lying in front of him.

"Kenyan runners go barefoot."

The police officer nodded and asked, "You said someone got hurt; remember that? You were rambling about meat, blood, and guts."

"I don't know what guts are."

"Just tell us where you bought it. Many kids are getting that stuff in the neighborhood."

Dominic looked at this idiot, who might improve in the future, but he was certainly a problem he didn't want to deal with. But he needed strong people, and that was an even bigger problem.

Digging through the trash for treasure or letting everyone die?

What Dominic decided would change many things in the future.

"Is my son being arrested?" Madison then entered with Travis as she headed to Nick's stretcher.

"No, ma'am."

"Then leave. Thank you for everything, but you can go now."

"We could press charges against him," the police officer said, a little annoyed by Madison's behavior.

"Then press charges when he's healed. For now, go away," said Madison, knowing perfectly well how to protect her son.

The police officer looked at Travis and asked, "Is she the only one?"

"Just go."

Travis smiled a little at his boyfriend's character and, taking the paper the police officer was giving him, said, "I'm not as eloquent."

Dominic watched this silently, wanting to analyze this family and see if there were any differences he was familiar with, but he noticed no changes.

He wasn't very technical when it came to apocalyptic stories, but he did enjoy watching the world fall apart, seeing all the decisions people made in those situations, and laughing at how inept some of them were.

Knowing he had heard enough, Dominic wanted to leave here quietly and unnoticed by anyone. He could be aggressive at times, but when he didn't want to be seen, no one could see him.

"And what are you doing here?" Alicia looked at Dominic, who was in the corner of the room, sitting in a wheelchair, while checking his cell phone.

Travis turned around and was surprised to see the problematic student he had fought with some time ago. Madison was the most surprised; she had covered many missed classes for Dominic, and when she thought he was in trouble, it turned out he was sick.

Dominic looked at Alicia and said, "I was with Nick; we got hit by a car together."

"Is that true?" Alicia looked at her brother, very surprised to hear this.

Nick looked at his sister with a confused smile and said, "I don't know him."

When Alicia turned to look at Dominic, he was leaving through the door because he had to prepare for other things. "Just a coincidence, nothing more; I was just kidding."

"You could save those stupid jokes for another time."

"Alicia!"

"It's true, Mom."

Just hearing how this broken family talked about itself, Dominic didn't want to get involved, but at that moment, Travis pushed his wheelchair and placed it next to the exit, asking, "Are you in trouble?"

"Well, I couldn't do anything even if I were; it seems like your family has many more problems than a poor guy like me in a wheelchair," Dominic said, looking at Travis, who seemed concerned.

"Yeah, it seems like you're right..." Travis smiled a little, embarrassed that one of his students had found out about his family situation. But at that moment, a call from his ex-wife came in, and he had to say goodbye quickly to answer the call.

In the room, only Alicia and Dominic were left, who didn't know each other, but that didn't stop them from talking.

"Are you sick?" Alicia was the first to start the conversation.

Dominic shook his head and stood up, since he needed to hurry. "I wouldn't put it that strongly; I'm okay, but not that okay."

Alicia looked confusedly at Dominic as he walked to a vending machine, but after realizing he didn't have cash, he turned around and asked, "Don't you want to grab something to eat?"

"No, I need to go to classes."

Dominic then remembered that he hadn't been to school for a long time, so he said, "Well, I hope your brother recovers."

"Yeah..."