In My Desperate Time

Nicole Snow is my direct supervisor.
I could buy these materials for her another day.
I know she means to make it hard for me. It isn’t anything very important, so I don’t want to go against her. It's also helpful for me
to know more about materials.
But I wish the wind could be gentle outside.
I walk out of the door with the lists.
As soon as I reach the door, I am stopped by the strong wind.
My 100-pound body can’t stand the gale like this.
It isn’t a long distance but I couldn't walk there, so I take a taxi.
Three minutes later, the car stops in front of a shop selling accessories.
I go in and get everything Nicole Snow needs.
When I come out, I see Noah Jefferson walking toward me.
We haven't been in touch for days. In Santos, he called me once, but I misses it, then I forgot to call him back.
“Jane Noyes, I recognize you from a distance. Why you come out in such a strong wind?” He smiles at me, his warm smile
melting me.
To me, Noah Jefferson is like the sun on a winter day. No matter how cold the weather is, as long as he is here, the world is
warm.
Unfortunately, he is not my sunshine.
“I come out to buy something, what are you doing here?”
“Me too. I need some medicine for the experiment. There is a temporary shortage of supply. I come out to see if I can find some.”
He smiles at me.

I remember he said earlier that the class he was teaching had to do with chemistry. It's normal to do experiments.
“We didn’t watch a movie last time, so let's go this time.” He says to me.
“But I have to buy materials.”
Every time he asks me out, I would try my best to duck out. If we two go on like this, it won't have a good result for him or me.
“There's no rule about when you have to buy it back. The movie would only take two hours, and there is plenty of time left.”
Then he takes out his phone.
“All right. I have bought the tickets.”
Before I could say no, he has everything planned out.
I have already been embarrassed to stand him up last time, and now I couldn’t refuse him again. So, I can only go to the cinema
with him.
Because of the strong wind, the cinema doesn’t have many people. We are the only two guests in the hall.
It's a romantic movie. I like the actors and actresses in it. We are absorbed in the movie.
“Jane Noyes.”
Suddenly, Noah Jefferson calls my name.
He suddenly calls me by name, which makes me feel a strange panic. I have a vague idea of what he is going to say next, and I
make a gesture of silence toward him, pointing to the screen.
Finally, he doesn’t say it out.
After watching the movie uneasily, I walk out, wondering when Noah Jefferson would raise that subject to me again.
We are about to walk out of the cinema when I suddenly sense that something is wrong.
Something seems to be shaking above my head.
Looking up, I see a billboard hanging in the air and it falls down unexpectedly.

“Ahhhh!”
I scream out, so frightened that I stand here without moving, forgetting to dodge.
Suddenly, someone thrusts my shoulders. Noah Jefferson shoves me out before the board falls down.
But he could not get out of the way, and the board comes down and hits him hard on the shoulder and head.
I hear Noah Jefferson shout with pain. His body falls down on the floor.
I am scared and finally come to my sense, then I run to him.
“Are you okay?”
“I am okay.” He gives me a forced smile, looking at me tenderly, “As long as you are not hurt.”
His face is pale and he is clearly in great pain. Afterwards, he is so weak that he almost closes his eyes several times, but he
holds on all the time.
Theater officials rush over. They make emergency calls, and remove the board from his body.
An ambulance come quickly and take him to the hospital.
I followed him in the ambulance, watching Noah Jefferson anxiously.
He keeps smiling at me, the smile that makes my heart ache. He is still trying to reassure me at this time.
The result is comminuted fracture with blood clots in the brain, requiring immediate surgery.
I look at him with horror as Noah Jefferson is pushed into the operating room. If Noah Jefferson hadn't pushed me away, I can't
imagine what that board would have done to me. It would have blown my head off.
The phone vibrates in my bag. I take it out. It is Frances Louis.
My whole heart is worrying about Noah Jefferson, I don’t want to answer any calls. But I can't miss the call of Frances Louis.
“I will get home half an hour later.”
“I'm not at home.” I say honestly.

This is the first time Frances Louis has contacted me since the conflict that day. I should have abandoned my dignity to please
him. After all, Frank Noyes's life and my fate depends on him.
But now, I couldn’t leave.
Frances Louis pauses and commands me in a deep voice, “I don't care where you are now. Go home now.”