Chapter 5: Rolf

“Are you sure you’re okay, Rain?” I asked, holding her in my arms.

Rain nodded, pressing the ice pack Theodore handed her against the egg-sized lump it was forming on her skull.

“Yes, I’m fine. My ego is a little bruised, though.”

“You fainted. We should call an ambulance, or go to see a doctor,” I suggested. “You could have a concussion.”

Rain paled at my suggestion. “No! I’ve likely got a mild concussion. I just got a little lightheaded because I didn’t eat a lot for lunch today, that’s all.”

“Why are you so determined not to go to the emergency room?” I asked, genuinely confused. “People don’t just faint, Rain.”

She looked at me, her lips pressed together.

“Listen,” Rain said finally. “I know what doctors are going to say. I have low iron levels,” she confessed, keeping her tone as reassuring as possible. “It’s nothing really.”

I hesitated and frowned, still not convinced. I could tell she was hiding something from me.

“Theodore shouldn’t have called you. You were busy.”

“I would have never forgiven him if he hadn’t called me.”

“I fainted for a few seconds. I hit my head, but I’m okay. You don’t have to make a big deal out of it, Rolf. I swear, I’m fine.”

Rain couldn’t hide the slightly annoyed tone in her voice.

I nodded, but I didn’t calm down. “Do you faint often?”

She rolled her eyes.

“It had happened to me before. As I said, I have low iron. Google it. It’s quite common, especially for girls.”

“I heard about that,” Theodore stated. “My sister, rest in peace, had anemia and was fainting all over the place. She had to eat copious amounts of red meat.”

“See?” Rain said, “No big deal.” Handing the ice pack back to Theodore, Rain climbed to her feet.

Theodore had already put her grocery items back in the bags, and they were neatly packed, waiting for me to collect them.

“Are you truly okay?” I asked, watching her carefully. Rain forced a smile to her face.

“I am fine, worrywart.”

Heading out to the street, I made a mental note to give her Tylenol as soon as we were back in the house. That would make her feel better.

“It’s just her iron levels,” I told myself as we walked back home. But I didn’t believe it.

She went home singing and prancing and telling me about the fabulous dinner she was going to cook for me.

“Are you always this happy?”

Tilting her head, Rain regarded me, choosing her words carefully before she replied. “I am happy. I’ve always tried to get the most out of life. We decide to be happy ... Or not.”

“You have given me a very simplistic answer to a very complex subject,” I objected.

“No, I didn’t. Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional,” she stated. “I didn’t say that, by the way, it was Buddha.”

“Let me guess, you’ve spent some time in a Tibetan monastery.”

She looked at me, and giggled, “Maybe.”

“You’ve obviously lived a charmed life.”

I glanced over at her in time to see a shadow pass across her face and her smile falter slightly.

“I never knew my biological parents. I grew up in foster care. It was traumatic, but not in an everyday-you’re-miserable kind of way. It’s like a thought in the back of your head where you know this isn’t your family. These people don’t love you, and one false move will have you packing in a minute. I was about thirteen years old when I decided not to get attached to anyone again. Imagine that. Most girls at that age are worrying about having a new phone or their math homework. I was mending my broken heart...”

I mentally slapped myself for my thoughtless words. “Rain ... I had no idea. I am sorry. Me and my big mouth! Please forgive me, I shouldn’t have said what I said...”

She waved her hands to stop me.

“Stop it! Apology accepted.” She smiled at me and placed her hand on my heart, “You didn’t mean to hurt me, Rolf. You’re a good man with a good heart. I know that.”

Rain plastered a smile back on her face, oblivious to the brief insight she’d just given me. “You know, in a way you’re so right. I’ve led a very charmed life. A life that’s led me to you and this awesome town! And I’ve made a new friend today. Theodore is a very interesting person.”

“You met Theodore just today,” I argued. “You hardly became friends with him.”

“A friend is just a stranger you haven’t met yet,” she quoted.

“Rain was completely and utterly crazy. And I was completely and utterly in love with her.”

When we got home, Rain went into the kitchen, and I finished some work on my computer.