La Vida Loca

Chapter One: Carlo Fortalejo, A Good Samaritan

Carlo smiled at the customer after giving him the change for his purchased item.

"Thank you for coming by at All Day Convenience Store, please come back again!" he said goodbye to the customer, with a smile on his face.

When the male customer finally left the store, Clara went to one of the shelves which is full of packed pastries. He checked the expiration date one by one and he started to put some bread on his plastic bag when he sees that it will expire three days from now. Carlo suddenly stood up when he heard the door opens, which means that another customer walked in at their convenience store. He stood up, walk towards the cashier counter, and greeted the customer with a big smile.

"Welcome to All Day Convenience St----!" Carlo wasn't able to finish what he was about to say when the man suddenly collapsed in front of him.

He was too shocked to move at first, but he was able to recover from his shock after a few seconds.

He quickly went towards the man who was half-conscious.

"Sir, are you alright?" he asks the man.

The man just groaned in return, while his eyes are tightly closed.

Carlo stared at the stranger. His face was white as a sheet. He is also sweating a lot, and he is shaking uncontrollably. His eyes roamed around his body, as he tries her best to search for any clues about this man. He then saw a gold colored ID bracelet. He softly gasped when he found out that it was a medical ID bracelet, which has some important information, such as his medical condition. He found out that the man has a condition called hypoglycemia. He also read certain names of medicine, his allergies, and his emergency contact as well. As he is a fan of medical television dramas, he somehow knew about the first aid for hypoglycemia. He quickly went to the nearest candy shelf, got one big piece of candy, unwraps it, and places it inside the stranger's mouth. Afterwards, he started calling the ambulance.

"Hello, I would like to request for an ambulance. There is a customer at our convenience store who suddenly collapsed, and based on his bracelet, he is suffering from hypoglycemia. Let me tell you our address..."

After Carlo finished talking with the emergency operator, he quickly called the emergency contact that was engraved on the man's bracelet. He was able to talk to a man with a deep and scary voice, and he gave him the address of the convenience store. After making all the necessary calls, he puts back his attention again to the stranger. He heaved a sigh of relief when the he noticed that there's color on his face again, he's not that sweating as before, and his shaking movements finally stopped. It means that the candy somehow helped the man. The only thing that they need to do is to wait for the ambulance to come and to wait for his emergency contact to arrive as well.

Carlo saw the stranger open his eyes, and he was saying something that he wasn't able to understand. He moved closer to the man as he tries to understand what he was saying.

"T-Thank you..." the man said in a whisper.

"You don't need to worry, Sir. The ambulance is coming soon. I've already called your emergency contact as well." Carlo tries to reassure the stranger.

The man was about to say something more, but he wasn't able to do so because the paramedics already arrived, and everything just went so fast. The man was put in a stretcher, and at the same time, another man, who's about the same age just the the patient, suddenly followed behind the stretcher. Carlo heaved a sigh of relief as he watches the ambulance car drive away. He is pretty sure that the stranger is going to be alright. He then decided to go back to work and assist the customers who are now entering the convenience store...

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Few days have passed since the incident. Carlo is doing his job at the convenience store without encountering any problems. And just like what she usually do, he is now busy collecting all the food that are going to be expired three days from now. He plans to collect them all, as he is planning to bring it to Rainbow Homes. It's an orphanage where he grew up. He's going to give all the food to the children there... He suddenly stops moving when he hears a serious, baritone voice behind him.

"Excuse me, Sir. Are you Carlo Fortalejo?"

Carlo wheeled around to see who was talking to him. He saw a certain man who's wearing sunglasses, and he is frowning at him. He can also see a medium-sized dragon tattoo on his neck, and he is wearing a dark suit at the middle of summer. He thought that this man looks weird, but he is still a customer.

"Yes, sir. How can I help you?" Carlo politely asks the man.

"My Boss is inviting you to have dinner with him this evening. He'll be extremely pleased if you say "yes."

Carlo's brows met in a frown after he heard this stranger who's standing in front of him. He doesn't have any idea what he's talking about. Who is this man's Boss? And why does he want to meet up with him?

"I'm sorry, there must be a misunderstanding here. I don't know who you are, and I don't know who's your Boss is." Carlo stated.

"I'm sorry for the late introductions. I'm Jaime Navarro, and my Boss' name is Antonio Romano. You saved my Boss' life few days ago when he was suffering from a severe hypoglycemia." the man gallantly introduces himself.

Carlo finally remembers the man that he helped few days ago. He can still clearly remember how bad his condition was, but good thing the ambulance just came on time. He can also remember the man standing before him, because he was the emergency person of the patient.

"Oh, right! I can still remember him! How is he now? Is he alright?" he finally remembers.