Slippery Scalding Soup Save

 

“Hey, Mari, will you pass me the soup?” Stephen asked, his hand stretched towards his best friend. He and Mari were out at a restaurant, talking over plans before they went on a long vacation.  Since they couldn’t decide on a certain type of food, they’d gone to a buffet and were getting their meals.

His mute friend nodded; ladling a large helping of potato soup into the bowl Stephen had waiting. The hot broth sent tiny tendrils of steam spiraling into the air. Mari got some macaroni and cheese, and a slice of ham, and they went back to their seats. They had almost made it to their booths, when a toddler came out of nowhere, running directly into Stephen and upsetting the bowl in his hands.

“AHHHH!!!!” The toddler screamed.

The little boy’s parents came running over, flustered and angry.  They tore their child from the safety of Mari’s arms, and marched on, muttering about kidnappings and shooting glares at the manager.

Mari stood frozen, bent low to the ground with tears in her eyes; her hands were shaking and still held out as if she was still protecting the child. Stephen was staring in horror at the girl’s back, covered in the burning hot soup. A waitress ran over, several towels in hand. Stephen snapped out of his daze and took them from her.

“Mari? Are you alright?” He asked, gently patting her back with the cloth. The girl shook her head no. “Alright. Let’s go home and clean up, okay?” the girl shook her head again and made an eating motion, pointing at her companion. “That’s okay, we can order a pizza. Don’t worry about that; let’s just get you cleaned up.”

Stephen helped his friend up, and reached for his wallet to pay for their untouched food, but the waitress said that she’d take care of it.  Stephen thanked her profusely, and hurried out the door.

A few minutes later, (you do not want to know how fast Stephen drove home) they arrived at the house where they were staying, Mari hurrying into the shower. Stephen paced as he waited for his friend, nearly forgetting about calling the pizza delivery service that they usually used. By the time he’d finished making the call, the water in the bathroom had turned off, and it wasn’t long before the bathroom door opened. Mari, wearing a tank top instead of her normal sweater, walked over to the table and grabbed her notebook and pencil.

Do you have any Aloe? She wrote, pointing to her back. Stephen yelped out a ‘yes’ and ran to a nearby junk drawer, pulling out a small bottle of the green gel. He took it over to his friend, who gave him a questioning look.

“Do you want me to put it on?” He asked. The girl nodded, bangs falling over her eyes. Slightly pink in the face, Stephen moved Mari’s hair away from her back, gasping audibly when he saw it. She had minor burns on her upper back and shoulders, stopping just before the back of her top. Stephen sighed, shaking his head. He squeezed some of the aloe into his hand, and rubbed it gently on the burn.

Mari flinched when the hand touched her red skin, but relaxed as the aloe cooled down the burning pain. Mari smiled softly at Stephen when he finished, but found herself unable to tear her gaze away.

The two stared at each other, blue eyes to brown, for what felt like an eternity. Finally, Stephen opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when the doorbell rang.

“Ack! Uh, the pizza’s here!” he laughed, face red again.  He started walking to the door, but turned around and walked back over to Mari. He placed a hand lightly on her head.

“You did well today Mari, that was really brave of you.” With that, Stephen went to get the pizza, leaving Mari smiling after him.