Unforeseen Circumstances: Day 15

Word Total: 90,017

Year to Date: 810,384

Summary of Events:

Weston's father tried to call Andie's brother, but the operator informed him the phones were down owing to a tornado. Andie immediately became frantic and begged to be taken home to look for her brother, which Weston's father eventually agreed to do. They encountered heavy wind and so much rain it was like a whiteout blizzard as they drove, but no tornado. Reaching the trailer park, they weren't able to go far before tangled debris clogged their way, so Weston's father got out of the truck and asked a policeman at the scene about both Andie's brother and Shannon. A medic approached and revealed that Shannon was sitting relatively uninjured in an ambulance cab, so Weston, Andie, and his father went over to see her…

Excerpt of the Day:

“We were all home,” Shannon said, her jaw quivering. “I don’t remember seeing the tornado… or even really anything after the windows shattered. I heard a really loud roar, like we were right beside a train at top speed, and then I woke up on the ground in the rain and a medic found me.”

“Don’t try and remember anything now,” Dad said gently. “You’re alright, I’m here, and the tornado’s gone.”

“Will I be able to go home with you?” Shannon asked.

“Well, if you’re deemed medically fit you should be able to,” Dad replied. “I’ll go check with the cop to be sure.”

Shannon nodded and Dad strode off immediately, leaving Weston and Andie standing in the rain while Shannon was sheltered from the still-falling rain by the ambulance’s cab.

Weston looked at Shannon after a moment and saw that she looked like she still wanted to be hugged, and he had to admit that he wanted to hug someone too, so he wrapped Shannon in a tight, two-armed embrace. Shannon wrapped her arms around his neck and started to cry again, which caused tears to start flowing from Weston’s eyes and his body to quiver with shaky breaths.

“I was so scared for you,” Weston whispered. “You should’ve stayed with Gramp and Gram for the weekend. But… you’re alright… so… I guess…”

Shannon said nothing, continuing to cling to Weston, who detected after a moment that Andie was struggling not to cry.

Carefully he released one of his arms from around Shannon to beckon to Andie, who immediately joined in the embrace and started crying against Weston’s other shoulder. As he held her, Weston felt a sense of dread within himself at the thought that Andie might not be able to have the same kind of reunion with Tony. He hoped she’d be able to somehow, but he had no idea.

Hearing the sound of approaching feet, Weston looked up and saw Dad walking up to them. The tears still clouding his eyes made it hard for Weston to see what kind of expression was on Dad’s face, but he loosened his grip on both Andie and Shannon as Dad approached, prompting them both to raise their heads from Weston’s shoulders and turn.

“The officer says that if the medic clears you, you can come home with me,” Dad said to Shannon. “Come, let’s go have you looked over.”

Nodding, Shannon released Weston and walked over to Dad. Weston could tell Shannon was shivering, which was no surprise considering she was absolutely drenched and not wearing any rain gear in the least. She wasn’t even wearing shoes.

Weston closed the ambulance cab door so as to keep it from getting any wetter in there than Shannon’s soggy clothes had made it before gently wrapping Andie in a two-armed embrace.

He wanted to say something to Andie to encourage her, but he had no idea what to say, so he just held her close and hoped that Tony was alive and safe somewhere, just like Shannon had been found.

Next Post: 31 October