Just Another Job (9 page)

Chris smiled with relief at the scene above
and then guiltily realized he was still in the middle of the grass
with a cancer patient in his arms. Instead of moving to safety, the
two of them gawked at the Supers during the entirety of the
helicopter crash. When Chris looked down again at the girl he
expected a look of  relief and was ready to quip ‘that was
dumb of us.’ Instead her eyes bulged with alarm and she raised a
bone-thin arm back at the copter. Chris immediately saw what she
did and something Johnykin and Klaus did not, a damaged blade on
the main rotor. Each slow turn caused more separation from the
base.

“Johnykin, look!” said Chris, but too late.
The sudden mechanical stop of the main rotor sent the damaged blade
flying straight at Chris and the girl in his arms. Chris analyzed
the trajectory, pivoted slightly, and sprang into what he hoped
would be a safe patch of grass. Landing on his shoulder to protect
the girl he then rolled her underneath him for further protection
just in case.

The plan worked as the blade sliced into the
wall protecting those inside, the place Chris should have taken the
girl but was nowhere near even before his small leap. An explosion
of glass sent the crowd inside into a short lived panic, but the
blade was stuck and ended its rampage with no true harm. Klaus made
his way down to the patients, nurses, and parents. His presence and
soothing voice confirmed their stint with danger was over. Johnykin
jumped down to check on Chris. He was still wrapped over the girl
and didn’t feel Johnykin’s hand gently touch his shoulder.

Chris’s eyes were closed and his focus was
only on the girl cradled under his protection. Johnykin put her
lips next to his ear and whispered, “Open your eyes. You’re
amazing.”

Chris rolled back over and looked up at
Johnykin’s tears. She wiped them quickly and turned to the girl,
who raised her hands to be lifted up. Johnykin held the girl in her
arms now and walked her back to the hospital; leaving Chris seated
on the grass with a disheveled mess of thoughts and eyes that
couldn’t bring anything into focus just yet.

Cheers rang out from the hospital as Klaus
took in hugs and handshakes from the thankful group. Johnykin
grabbed her share of gratitude as well and then pointed back to
Chris. A woman led the way to him. Chris stood up and immediately
was wrapped in a severe hug. The mother of the girl Chris saved
sobbed into his shoulder and spewed out muffled words that Chris
assumed were ‘thank you.’

Johnykin was right behind the mother and so
was a small crowd now forming around Chris. Johnykin took pity on
Chris’s slight torment, after watching for several moments, and
pulled the sobbing mother off him to allow the rest of the crowd to
praise him.

Erik, who had been safe and sound inside the
hospital, finally took notice of the part of his team that did not
comprise of Klaus. Erik moved in to speak to Klaus and directed his
attention to their other half. The competition made Klaus scowl,
but then he quickly changed directions and put his hands together
to clap. Everyone followed his mark.

Johnykin stood next to Chris again and
yelled over the crowd's clapping. “You're one of us.” Chris
blushed.

Sirens announced a squadron of police and
firemen to the hospital with nothing to do but light cleanup.
Tagging along were a handful of reporters. Erik was the first to be
interviewed and covered the story with surprising accuracy. He then
brought Klaus and Johnykin to the front to get a more in depth
angle on the action. Lastly it was Chris's turn. He didn't know how
to answer the excited reporter's questions. This time Klaus saved
him from another bout of torment by answering in Chris's stead.

“What do we call you?” asked the
reporter.

“Our names are fine. We aren't standing
behind secret identities,” said Klaus.

“Well, what's your sidekick's name?”

“Ha! Sidekick? I guess that works. His name
is Chris. I want to say again we do appreciate the gratitude. All
three of us.” Klaus grabbed Chris's shoulder to bring him
uncomfortably close. “Myself, sidekick Chris, and Johnykin. But
we’re just fulfilling our God given duties. No more.”

Chapter Eight

“Oh my God, Dad,” said Louise. “You're all over the
internet. Why didn't you tell us you were a Super? I didn’t know
there were any girl ones. That Johnykin Super looks badass.”

“Watch the language. I'm not a Super,” said
Chris. He flipped off his shoes into the entryway cubby and pushed
through his daughter's enthusiasm with a quick kiss on the
head.

“What happened!?” asked Gerry, with even
more energy than his sister.

“Don't hold back,” said Sadie, who reached
around her children to grab her husband for a hug and kiss that
expressed all the terror conjured in her heart from waiting for him
to walk through the front door.

Chris hurried through his story, being
self-aware not to embellish as he would normally. Guilt gnawed on
his conscience nonetheless. Louise had a volleyball tournament and
kissed her father proudly goodbye once he was done. Gerry was out
the door next to play with a neighbor and likely boast of his
father's new job without the restraint Chris had. This left Sadie
with him and the chance for more than just a flavorless story about
his day.

“You're upset about something. What really
happened?” asked Sadie.

“It was my fault the girl was in danger. I
had her in my arms and stopped to watch. I couldn't look away.”

“It's not your fault – ”

“What if it was Louise? This girl already
had a hard enough life fighting cancer and then she gets killed by
a would-be hero's stupid indecision. We could have easily made it
inside.” He cried and choked out the next words. “I stopped.”

“It is your fault. You're right.” Chris
looked up at Sadie. She was serious. He was stabbed in the heart
and his brain stumbled over her reasoning. “But you know what you
did was wrong and you can do something different next time. It
wasn't Louise and the girl was safe. You’re safe.” She cried, but
her words came out clear. “And you better remember. You need to
remember to be different next time. Cause it’s not fair to your
family, to me; to do something like that again.”

“You're mad at me?”

“Yes, and I should be. You've put your
family in jeopardy twice now. You lost your job to save – not even
save – to help a boy with a broken leg. And then almost lose your
life for a girl you tried to save. You can't keep doing this. It's
not your job.”

“What if it is now? Do I quit?”

“Maybe. You're supposed to be a secretary or
something. I don't what it's called, but it involves writing, not
this extra stuff. They’re the heroes. They don't get hurt or die.
Leave it to them.”

“Erik officially made me into their
sidekick. He said it's mostly symbolic. I'm to show up and not get
in the way when something happens, but I need to be there for the
reporters and image of it all. He said something about Frank
too.”

Sadie slammed her palm in his shoulder. “How
could you? That’s even worse. You’re just a sidekick charade.”

“How could I not? You just said I have to
make it different next time. I'm still writing and documenting what
happens.”

“I meant not make the same choice to risk
your life.” Chris pulled her into a hug but she pushed him back.
“No, this discussion’s not over.”

“How do you want to finish this? Do you want
me to quit? They're giving me a raise and more time off. I thought
that's what you wanted? Me here more.”

“I do. But if it means when you're not here
you might not come back, then no.”

“I promise I’ll be different. I can't stop
again like I did. You’re right. It's not fair to you or Louise or
Gerry. It's also not fair of you to stop me. I need you to push me
to go.”

“It is fair for me to ask you to stop. You
can't do this forever.”

“But I can do it now.”

“It's your decision.” She stopped talking
and looked away from him for the first time since they started
arguing.

“I think...” He didn't want to say it. He
wanted her to agree with him and it to be over. “I think I need to
do this. This might be what I am. Maybe I was meant to save and
protect people.”

Sadie looked back up at him, surprised that
he finished the decision on his own. She wanted to keep fighting
with him, wanted to stay mad, but instead she said, “You better not
fucking die on us.”

Chris made his way close to her again. Sadie
wrapped her arms high around his neck and sobbed into his chest. A
few more tears slipped out of Chris as well. He then made a stupid
joke. Sadie hit him, but softer than before. They stood there for a
while until Sadie wiped her eyes on Chris’s shirt and kissed him.
The kissing continued to their bedroom. Even though Sadie had
proclaimed repeatedly she hated the idea of make-up sex there was
no way that was going to get in the way of them right now. Besides,
when Chris would call her out on it after, she would deny it all.
But whatever circumstances pushed them into bed, it just seemed
right.

The tension wasn’t really from the argument
they had, but from the horrible possibilities that ran through
Sadie’s head of what could have happened to Chris. He imagined she
needed to forget them and not allow any new ones to rise up. Chris
was in a similar state of mind. He just wanted to forget everything
and enjoy being home.

A quick shower and Chris was ready for a
nap, but as he passed by his phone and automatically pressed the
home button he realized before reading the text message what it
would say.

“Where the hell are you?” from Frank. A
couple more flattering remarks were left by the friend Chris
ditched in all the excitement of the day. The driver of the SUV
took Chris home after orders from Erik. Chris didn't think to text
Frank. Chris’s mind was stuck on a loop, playing back the
helicopter crash over and over the whole way home. But here and
now, all his thoughts were on his family.

Chris typed into his phone a vague excuse.
He felt better, but knew Frank would push for more information. It
would wait till tomorrow. Frank dealt better with a face to face
and it would give Chris time to think about how to break the
news.

Chapter Nine

Frank pulled up to Chris's house honking before he
even stopped the truck. Chris bustled for his things nervously and
ran outside.

“What the hell?” said Frank.

“Morning,” said Chris.

“Don't morning me you little shit. I heard
what happened. It's not fucking fair. I’m the one who took you out
there and got the job. I was made to do this. I can punch harder
than you, run faster; I’m in better shape. God!”

“You can’t run faster than me. Besides, it’s
just a title. I'm not going to really do anything different. I
still have my notepad.” Chris dangled an imaginary set of paper in
front of Frank to try to end the conversation. “Erik did mention
you – “

“I'm going up to Erik. I need to be out in
the field too. I can kick ass and be tech support. Fuck!”

“This isn't the army. Relax. There’s no
field or super villains’ asses to kick.”

“Shut up.”

“Uh-huh.”

“God, I wish I was there. Carmen took
fucking forever to get the program. It was like working with a
baby. Holding her hand the whole time.”

“Hey, are we still on for barbecue this
weekend? What do you want us to bring?”

“We should get Super suits just like Klaus
and Johnykin, but not so lame.”

“You too busy saving the world in your head
to have a B-B-Q?” asked Chris

“Yes the barbecue’s still happening. Did I
say it wasn't? Bring the dessert like you normally do. Stop asking
stupid questions.”

Complaints burst out of Frank through the
rest of the ride and up until the front door of the labs. As soon
as Frank pushed through the entrance, as he promised, he ditched
Chris to look for Erik.

Chris plodded his way to the A1 lab, trying
to keep his head down in case someone might stop him to talk about
yesterday. He smiled slightly and imagined what he would say, but
no one noticed him.

At his desk, Chris pulled out his notepad.
The hospital scene hadn't been documented into the computer and he
knew Erik would reprimand him if it wasn't finished first thing
today. Chris looked up and tried to take in the entire giant lab
while the computer booted. No one was around to distract him. He
began typing.

Two hours passed and Chris was still typing
the details of Klaus and Johnykin's heroics in as great of detail
as possible when Frank showed up. Frank was smiling, overly happy.
Chris still labored with his writing. He wanted it to be as
memorable as yesterday was.

“Hey,” said Chris.

“‘Hey?’ Hey yourself.”

“What?”

Frank glared across the desk then pulled the
cord out of Chris's monitor.

“What the hell?” said Chris. “I was working.
I hadn't saved it in a while.”

“It's just the monitor. You never pay
attention.”

Chris plugged the cord back in and looked
around Frank's desk for something to upset.

“Bring it,” said Frank.

Chris still couldn't find anything good to
do to get back at Frank, so Chris copied Frank and pulled the
monitor plug out of his computer.

“My computer's not even on,” said Frank and
laughed. Chris tried to put his eyes on the keyboard to begin
working again. Frank got up from his chair, stepped around to
Chris's side of the desk, knocked the keyboard onto the ground, and
sat on his desk.

“Come on!” said Chris.

“Erik upgraded me. He mentioned it was
already a plan to bring me in. But I still went in there and told
his little pansy ass that I’m the best choice he’s got. We’re going
to get uniforms. They better look awesome. Oh yeah. You’re
officially Johnykin's sidekick. I thought you'd like that. I'm
working with Klaus.”