"I can't breathe," Melinda whispered.

A deep voice hovered in the grey mist closing in around her.

"Everyone, back off. Get the idiot who left this cord improperly secured over here. It has to be fixed."

She didn't recognize the dark rumble and slumped all the way down onto the floor, ending up on her side with her legs curled close to her chest. Better there, than falling if she passed out. He sounded like one of the guards. Melinda put her hand on her chest, touching the spot that ached abominably.

"Yes, sir. I'll be right back. Should I call 911?"

That's Ralph. How bad am I hurt?

"Let's give that a minute. I don't think Melinda is badly hurt."

How does he know my name? Right, name tag. I'm not a number here.

"Sweetie, breathe slowly, and tell me what hurts, please."

She felt a hand brush her curls out of her eyes. They were longer now since she let her hair grow once she got out of juvie. Five minute showers weren't a thing anymore. Cozy Corner's newest barista drew in a deep, slow breath.

"Good now again. Slow and easy."

"Thank you," she whispered, and exhaled while counting to ten.

"That's better. Now, what about your knees? Can you straighten them out? You've torn your jeans."

Melinda winced, more from the idea she wrecked her clothing than pain. Skinned knees were nothing new to her. She rolled on her back and flattened her legs.

"Ouch!"

"I expect so. Do you have an office where I can take her?"

"We do, right back there."

That's Mandy. Someone should tell her to get Elena. Wait that would be me.

"Ummm, Mandy. Get Elena. She'll know what to do."

"I'll be right back."

"Mr. Ste. Claire ---sir?" The contractor sounded worried.

"Go ahead. Speak!" Melinda wondered if he was angry with her too.

"Yes, I'm the guy who left the cord improperly secured. At least it was my son who forgot to tape it down."

"Never mind who is to blame, get it fixed now and we'll put it down to shit happens."

Melinda got her first good look at Gregory Ste. Claire when he squatted down and slipped strong arms under her shoulders and knees. His hair was distinctive. At least he didn't look as old as his white buzz cut made her think at first glance. And he was strong. She knew she was heavier than she looked. Exercise was a priority in her life.

"Back here, sir." Ralph led them down the hall behind the coffee urns and pastry display cases. "That's the stairs up to the bakery. There's another set that goes up from the alley where we deliver all Elena's supplies."

A solid woman, almost six feet tall came down the stairs, followed by Mandy.

"Go take care of the bookstore counter, Mandy. Pitch in with the pastries if you aren't too busy. Ralph, I'm sorry you're going to have to take the brunt of it this morning," Melinda lifted her head away from Gregory's shoulder to speak. "I should be able to help you in a little while."

Elena shook her head. "No way. I'll call Peggy and see if she can get one of our other part-timers to cover for you. We need to take care of those knees. In here, sir. Put her on the desk."

"I'm so sorry, Elena. I'll just get my things together," Melinda said and slid off the edge of the desk. Her knee buckled and she almost went down again except Gregory caught her and lifted her back up onto the desk.

"I don't think anyone is going to blame you for tripping on an unsecured power cord, Melinda. It's an unfortunate, shit happens accident," Gregory caught her eyes with his. "Now, take another deep breath, and let's roll those jeans up and see how bad your knees are scraped up."

How does he know I'm panicking? My heart's racing like an over pressure steam engine. Why is he being so nice?

Melinda reached down and started rolling up the bottom of her right side pant leg. When she got to the bloody mess surrounding the tear, she swallowed hard and kept going.

"Yuck, oh my God! I really did it this time." Her kneecap was oozing and dripping red and was already swollen up to twice its normal size.

"You've done this before?" he asked. "Do you have a first aid kit?"

"I'll get it," Ralph said from the doorway.

"By the way, I'm not going to write about this little gem of a shop," he told Elena. "I want to be able to come in here and write, or read, and relax like I'm just another customer. Melinda here reminds me of my daughter's daughter."

"I can't believe you aren't trying to get me fired," she interjected.

"What kind of a nasty type do you think I am?" Gregory asked. He sounded offended.

"It's just my fault for not watching where I was going. I need to learn to keep my eyes on the floor. I'm such a klutz."

"Melinda, you're no more prone to tripping than any one of us," Elena said as she dialed her phone. "I'm just going to let Peggy know, and Mirabelle as well. I'll be back in a few minutes." Elena went out into the hall, and Melinda heard the back door open.

I hope she has her keys. My chest is starting hurt again. I know my job isn't safe yet. Wait till Peggy hears.

"Oh my God! Your sweater. It's going to be stained," Melinda's eyes grew wide when she saw the the coffee stain on Gregory's chest. "It's ruined."

"Not likely, sweetie. My wife knits everything with acrylic yarns. Into the washer and then the dryer and it will be good as new. And because I was wearing it, the hot coffee never got near my skin."

"What about your laptop? I'm in so much trouble." Melinda couldn't see any way her job was safe.

"It's almost fourteen-years-old. I've got a slightly newer one to replace it. I never take my newest one with me into a high risk environment."

Ralph came back in with the first aid kit and opened it.

"Now let's get you cleaned up. Do you have a bucket we can fill with warm water and rag you don't care about?" Gregory asked.

"No problem, I'll get it." Ralph said. "Be back in a couple of minutes."

"This is going to hurt, Melinda."

"I know. I've done it too many times. Usually I deal with it myself." She couldn't let him know it meant a trip to the infirmary, especially once one of the guards noticed her limping.

Gregory's hands were gentle, and he winced right along with her as he pulled frayed bits of thread out of her wound. Once it was clean, he squired a bit of antiseptic cream on it and covered it with a non-stick gauze pad and wound an elastic wrap around her knee.

Elena came back in and said, "You're off for a few days, Melinda. If you can make it to your classes, that's all you're allowed to do. Let your professors know you had an incident at work. They're a pretty good bunch at CSU. You can keep up with remote learning if you need to. It's still a thing now. They never dismantled the technology."

I wonder how she knows. No one is calling me names. Days off?

"What about my paycheck?"

"You'll get sick pay for those days. So, don't worry yourself," Elena reassured her.

"There, Melinda." Gregory finished wrapping her other knee. It wasn't nearly as bad. "Let's get some ibuprofen into her and get her home. I'll give her a ride."

"I live upstairs. I can get there myself," Melinda protested.

"Then I'll make sure you make it up there, and I'll be back with the pain reliever. If you're like Darlene, you don't have any."

Tears overwhelmed her, and Melinda sniffled. "Why isn't anyone mad at me? You should have fired me."

"Young lady quit taking the blame. It wasn't your fault."

He sounded like Dr. Elizabeth.

I wish he was my Grandfather. I can't quit crying. What's wrong with me?

"Does she have a friend we can call?" Gregory asked.

"I'll be up there. There's a door between her apartment and the bakery we can open. I'll keep and eye on her," Elena said.

"All right. I'll talk to your handyman and make sure that trip hazard is fixed like he promised. Then I'll be back with a bottle of Advil. Those knees are going to start throbbing pretty quick now."

Melinda nodded, tears dripping silently and eased herself onto her feet.

It's only thirteen steps. One step at a time.

Word Count 3860