Chapter 67 - The Accidental Meeting

Chapter - 67

Buying the snacks for himself and Amber, Alex was waiting for the traffic to come to a halt when he saw a little girl chasing a cat. As his gaze followed the girl, a smile crept on his face. Alex was quite fond of small kids. He would occasionally spend hours looking at the kids playing in the park with their parents. While he was busy watching the girl, his smile soon turned to fright. Although the girl caught the cat, she was now standing in the middle of the road with cars rushing past her at full speed.

Alex yelled his lungs out as he asked the girl to run back, but the girl stood rooted at the very same spot with fear. Alex wanted to run in her aid, but he hesitated looking at the fast-moving cars.

** honk! honk! beep! beeeep....

Amid the traffic, Alex saw a car coming in the direction of the girl at full speed. Finally, not hesitating anymore, he dashed towards the girl as fast as he could. He grabbed the girl in his arms and jumped, trying to avoid the car.

** Bam! Boom! Crash...

Hearing the crash, people began to gather around the site of the accident. The car that was moving towards the girl changed its direction right before the impact and crashed into the pole by the road. Smoke was coming out of the car while the onlookers hurriedly pulled the driver out of it. Holding his head, the man driving the car looked around anxiously, afraid of getting a beating from all these people.

People also gathered around Alex, who just laid there, not moving at all. They stood there whispering among themselves while some started to make videos of the car and Alex but no one even bothered to call for an ambulance.

Amber pushed her way through the crowd and reached Alex. She watched how Alex ran towards the little girl to save her. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the car run into the pole and people gather around. She ran as fast she could to reach them. When she saw Alex lying there motionless, she knelt down, and with trembling hands, she tried to wake up Alex.

"Get up, Alex, get up. Don't scare me like this," Amber tried to wake Alex up, "Say something, dammit, say something. Somebody call the ambulance," Amber looked around and asked the people.

"Will you stop shaking me? I am fine, Uhh... now I am feeling dizzy," Alex said weakly. Because of all the shaking he got from Amber, Alex was feeling giddy all over.

"Then why are you lying there like a log without saying a word?" Amber said as she smacked his shoulder.

"Ahh... why are you hitting me? I am already hurt," Alex said, rubbing his shoulder.

Alex tried to get up, but as he tried, he winched in pain. Seeing him struggling, Amber let go of her anger, grabbed his arm and helped him stand up. All this while Alex was holding the girl in his arms.

After Alex was up on his feet, he pushed the girl out of his embrace. The girl had her eyes closed all this time while she was tightly holding the cat close to her chest, almost choking the cat to death.

"It's alright. Everything's fine now. You can open your eyes," Alex said to the girl softly.

Hearing a stranger's gentle voice, the girl slowly opened her eyes only to find an unknown uncle looking at her with a smile. The girl looked around, and countless strangers surrounded her. She was starting to get scared under the countless gazes, but before that, Alex held on to her and pulled her into his embrace.

The girl stayed in his embrace for some time as Alex gently stroked her hair. Her anxiety was gradually beginning to vanish under the warmth of Alex. After she had calmed down, the girl pushed herself out of Alex's embrace. She looked at Alex with her innocent eyes for some time and then put the cat down. The cat, as if someone had instilled her with a new life, ran away from there as fast as it could. The girl was sad to watch the cat run away, but she soon turned her attention towards Alex. After that, the girl extended her arm as she gently wiped off the dirt from Alex's cheeks and then gave him the sweetest smile he had ever seen.

This small gesture from the girl struck a chord in Alex's heart and unknowingly built a bond between the both of them.

Alex wanted to ask the girl about her, but before that, a lady came running towards them, pushing the crowd. She pushed aside Alex and hugged the girl tightly in her arms as she broke into tears.

"Annie... Oh, Annie, where did you run off to? Did you know how scared I was?" The lady asked the girl between her sobs.

The girl, whose name turned out to be Annie, got out of her mother's bosom, and with her tiny hands, wiped her tears. She then did some signs with her hands, trying to make the woman understand something.

"You went after a cat?" the lady asked.

Annie nodded.

"Ohh... Annie, you could have told me. Do you know how scared I was? Did you hurt yourself anywhere?" The lady asked as she probed all over Annie, inspecting every nook and cranny.

Annie shook her head in denial but went towards Alex and grabbed his arm. She pointed towards Alex's arm, which was soaked red in blood. Now only did the lady notice, Alex. His shirt was torn at his arm and was dyed red with blood. Amber too, just saw this.

The lady looked towards Annie for an explanation. Annie again used her hands to gesture something to her in sign language.

After the girl was done, the lady looked towards Alex with admiration and gratefulness, "Thank you for saving my daughter. I can't even think of a way to repay the favour you have done to me. If something were to happen to her, I can't even think of what I would." The lady said as she grabbed Alex's palms and thanked him.

"It's nothing. Anyone would have done the same thing," Alex tried to play modest.

"No, not everyone," the lady said, shaking her head. Then she looked at the blood-soaked arm of Alex, "Please wait here. I will be back in a minute," the lady said and walked away in a direction.

Alex wanted to say something, but the lady had already gone quite far. Annie, on the other hand, grabbed Alex's hand and tugged him with her to the nearby bench.

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