Eva was exhausted, not just physically but mentally as well. Of course working eight hour shifts will do that to a person. Today had somehow been worse, she had a patient whose arm had been almost ripped completely off. He did not have marks on his lower arms suggesting some sort of industrial accident, nor did it look like the arm had been cut off by something, no something had pulled the arm hard enough to rip the shoulder out of its socket and begin tearing the flesh as well. He had other injuries of course but nothing that lay a clear path. This was hardly the first strange case she had gotten, yet all the same they bothered her. So far her best guess was that there was a very strong strain of PCP floating around town. Fortunately it wasn’t her job to solve mysteries, she just had to clean up the mess.
It always took Eva an hour or two of winding down after work to get her brain to relax. Normally her routine involved reading a good book, watching a little tv, and making herself a late dinner. But, tonight she wanted to go up to the next level of laziness and go to a restaurant by herself just so that she wouldn’t have to be bothered with cooking or cleaning.
Chan’s had a reputation for being a bit … well shady. Eva didn’t really care it was clean which was a lot better then she could say for the more popular restaurant across the street. Eva wasn’t a germaphobe, but the cleanliness of a kitchen means a lot more to a person once they have seen what ecoli can do. Eva was also in the mood for a little moo goo gai pan, but really that was besides the point. Right now she just wanted to plop down in a seat and turn her brain off for a while as she slurped down some food.
She swung open the door to Chan’s causing her light purple ankle length skirt to flutter in the breeze. It felt good to be in normal clothing once again. With the white lace trimmed top, flowing skirt, and sandals Eva looked like someone who had spent the day relaxing in a park as opposed to someone who spent the day saving lives. Or should we say trying to save lives.
She took a seat at a table by the window, giving her the ability to people watch both indoors and outdoors. There was no need to look at a menu, she already knew what she wanted. Eva loved that about Chinese restaurants, you could always rely on them to have a few classic items available on hand.
“Could I please have the Moo goo gai pan, some fried dumplings, and a coke.” She said to the waiter giving him a small smile “Thanks” The waiter nodded and left, leaving behind the unopened menu.
“Oh, you forgot the menu.” She called after him, holding up the menu the man did not seem to hear her. “Sir” she called. A menu on the table really wasn’t a big deal, but all the same Eva wanted to return it. She got up from her chair and as she took her first step it suddenly became obvious that her skirt had somehow gotten stuck underneath the chair leg. Eva almost fell over when she received the sudden tug on the back of her dress, she barely managed to keep from falling on her face. However the chair fell backwards making a loud crash on the ground.
“Sorry, sorry” she explained handing the menu to the waiter and rushing back to pick the chair up off the floor. Her cheeks were beet red with embarrassment as she picked up the chair and did her best to sit back down without looking at any of the other customers.
Eva couldn’t help but giggle at herself. She could sew up a person with so much skill and finesse, however the girl had always been a disaster when it came to staying on her feet. She covered her mouth in an attempt to hide the few small laughs that escaped her. Maybe this little mishap was what she needed to remind herself not to take things too seriously, however she wished that no one had been there to witness her mishap.