The Storm:
AN: Completely rewritten right now, only because I didn't like where I was going with this story. Bear with me now.
Chapter One:
The winter of 2009 would be considered one of the worst winters ever in North Carolina history. It was one of the coldest to date, bringing the frigid, cold, Arctic air from Canada more days than the residents would care to remember. People had been talking about global warming for some time, however global warming seemed to be the last thing on everyone's mind for the moment. The winter storm hit fast, and with seemingly no warning. That morning, the storm was still predicted to fizzle out over the Appalachian Mountains, an area that could deal with the massive snowfall; however, the forecasters were dead wrong. By late afternoon, the roads were icy death traps, causing mass chaos throughout the entire state. Roofs were in danger of collapsing because of the heavy snow, power lines were strewn across highways and secondary roadways. Young trees limbs were snapping underneath the weight of the ice and snow, creating an obstacle course for anyone daring to venture out in the weather.
News forecasters were begging for people to stay in door and to stay put. Unfortunately, there were some people who had already ventured out. They didn't hear the warnings, which cropped up quickly, or they just couldn't stop what they were doing because the sky was going to open up around them. One of those people was Bella Swan. She had to venture out to retrieve her child from daycare. She didn't have the luxury of calling in sick, like so many others had done. So, now in the midst of the heavy falling snow, she clutched her steering wheel tighter, praying that God would deliver them home safely.
It seemed that God heard her prayers. The snow had lightened up, so she pushed down a little harder on the gas pedal hoping to gain some headway in the traffic. She was able to go another twenty minutes when she heard the all too familiar beep of her fuel light coming on.
"Shit! Not now," Bella mumbled as she looked up into the sky. It was getting increasingly darker and she immediately knew what that meant - the worst wasn't over yet.
She glanced in the backseat, looking at her three-year old son. Ethan was soundly sleeping in his booster seat. Bella vividly remembered the day that she had transitioned him out of his car seat into the booster. Tears had formed in her eyes. Her best friend, Jake, had told her that she was being over-reacting, but her baby was growing up so fast.
Well for the most part. Bella thought angrily.
She stared over at the report that sat haphazardly in the front seat. Recalling what the doctor had written up for her.
The child is male, 3 years 4 months in age with no obvious deficits.
Mother reports a normal pregnancy and birth. Prenatal care was normal.
No issues with gross motor movement. Child is able to grasp writing utensils.
Child demonstrates an expressive language delay marked by decreased vocabulary.
Expressive language is judged at approximately 18 months.
Receptively the child seems to be normal.
It read like every other single report that Bella had ever received. Only this time, the doctor agreed with her that Ethan didn't have autism or Asperger's, which is what all the other doctors believed. At least, this time, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
Bella had seen a lot in her 25 years of living. Hell, she had been through a lot herself. Bella, by trade, was a physical therapist. Something that her father could brag about. She had done well for herself. She earned good grades in high school, enough to secure herself into the pre-therapy program with a scholarship at Appalachian State University.
Her grades at the university was more than stellar, and her scores for graduate school admission were enough to secure her a partial scholarship and a graduate assistantship to help pay for the rest of her expenses. Bella had been in her last year of graduate studies in Physical Therapy when she reconnected with Mike.
Michael Newton had gone to the same high school as Bella, though he was two years ahead of her. He was star of their football team and had gained a scholarship to Michigan State to play football for them. Bella didn't personally keep up with his life story, however most of the town chattered back and forth about how one of their own got drafted for the NFL. It was all her father could talk about for a month at the dinner table. All she remembered about him was that he was a spoiled bully who always had a different cheerleader on his arm. He never gave her a second look whenever she passed him in the hallways.
Years later, she crossed paths with him again. He was a patient of hers. Apparently he had hurt himself during spring training and was in need of some physical therapy to get back some motion in his knee. He didn't recognize her, but she immediately recognized him. He still had the same arrogant "I'm the shit," look on his face. He hit on her throughout the first session, and because of this, she pushed him harder than she normally would anyone else.
Mike was an unrelenting flirt and he kept asking her out on dates, which she always politely declined, telling him that it just wasn't proper for her to date any patients under her care.
"Hey Bella?"
Bella turned from Mike and looked at Jake. "Yeah."
"Leah, Angela, and I are going out tonight to Salem Brewery. Are you in?"
"I don't know Jake, I need to study for the boards."
"Bells, you got this, you know you do. You need to loosen up a bit and come with us."
She had known Jacob as long as she could remember. He was a couple years younger, completing his observation rotation whereas she was finishing her round of clinical. In two months, she had to sit for her board exams so she could earn her doctorate in physical therapy. She knew she needed to study, but Jake was right, she needed to loosen up a bit.
That night Bella met them at the brewery, but much to her surprise Mike was there with some of his football buddies. She was seething, knowing that he had overheard their conversation and still decided to encroach himself in.
She confronted him, and Mike apologized, stating that him and his friends had already made the plans before Bella and her friends. It seemed plausible, so Bella apologized to him before heading back to her friends.
True to his word, Mike had stayed away, but toward the end of the night brought her a beer as a peace offering. She accepted it, and even thanked him for it. She soon called it a night and allowed Mike to escort her out to the curb for a cab.
The next morning, she found herself awake, alone, and naked in Michael Newton's apartment. Her head was spinning, and all she could think was to get out of there. She quickly threw on her clothes and called for a cab.
She had been relieved when he had been discharged from her care and was no longer in need of physical therapy.
A month later, she found out she was pregnant.
The sound of the gas light broke her out of her reverie, causing her to curse silently, as Ethan had woken up. He stared up at her with bright blue eyes, causing Bella to smile a bit.
She looked at the rearview mirror, watching him play with his toy truck. She slowed with the rest of the traffic, having enough time to turn around and look at him. She made a funny face at him, causing him to giggle. He looked back at her with his messy mahogany, spiked hair and smiled. His blue eyes connected with her eyes, almost as if he was trying to tell her something without using his words. Ethan was an insightful child like that.
He was nothing at all like his father. Bella shuddered a bit, pulling her scarf around her neck more. Mike, Ethan's father, no sperm donor was more like it, was not a topic that Bella liked to think about. She hadn't thought about him in ages, not since she told her father about Mike. And apparently Mike had been running around that North Carolina town spreading rumors and lies about her. So she stayed for the summer and then left with nothing but her credit card and old beat up Chevy Nova. Bella had left out of survival instincts, leaving everything she knew and loved behind.
She talked to her father, Charlie, every chance she had. She had to watch the minutes on her prepaid cell phone though. She didn't want to run out to early, otherwise she would have no way of receiving calls from Ethan's doctors and what not.
"Ethan, are you hungry?"
Ethan nodded silently, reaching over into his bag to play with a toy that Bella had packed for him. She was the mother that was always prepared. If she had been born a boy, she probably would have been a boy scout.
Bella felt her own stomach screaming out in silent protest, so she scanned the highway looking for an exit that had both a gas station and a McDonalds. Ethan was a good eater for the most part, but lately all he seemed to want was McDonalds and since she wasn't in the mood for one of his fits, that is what they were going to have.
Spying the golden arches ahead and the neon lights for a BP, she quickly put on her blinkers and merged over to the exit ramp. She quickly went through the drive through ordering Ethan his chicken nuggets that he loved so much, Bella ordered herself a meal as well since it had been ages since she had eaten.
"Eat slow Ethan. Mommy doesn't want you to choke," she told him as she handed him his kid's meal. She threw her meal on the seat, opting to get her gas first.
Bella pumped her gas quickly, watching the numbers on the dials turn. She calculated the days until her next payday, hoping that there was enough money in the bank to cover her for the next couple of days. She considered herself the queen of stretching a dollar. This had been the first time in a long time that she even had treated herself to something as simple as a double cheeseburger and a diet Coke from McDonalds.
She stared back up at the sky, wondering idly if she should go home. Charlie had wanted her to return ages ago, and maybe having a male figure in Ethan's life would help him out. But, then again, she didn't know if she could return. Small town talk could be lethal to her.
Bella quickly topped off her tank setting off for home again. She picked up her Saint Christopher's medal and quickly made her way back on to the interstate. She turned on the radio, hoping to find some music that Ethan would listen too, however most of the stations were inundated with news of the weather. Bella mused that it must be a good sign when the only thing to worry about was the weather, at least it wasn't about murders or anything of that sort.
She turned off the radio, staring straight ahead at the falling snow. She saw the medical report sitting on the front seat, remembering what the doctor had told her. Remember to make each moment a communication moment. The doctor had been kind, and told her that Ethan would eventually catch up to his peers, but that because it was considered developmental, that Ethan would not qualify for state funded services.
That was a crock of shit in Bella's mind.
She had spent countless hours on the phone with different agencies trying to get Ethan the help that he deserved. She paid into the Medicaid system, he deserved something out of it!
Each phone call yielded with the same answer, "I wish we could help, but . . ."
Bella grabbed a sip of her drink and sat it back down in her cup holder quickly. "Ethan, baby, do you see the snow?"
Ethan stared out the window silently and nodded, indicating that he had at least heard her. Bella groaned in frustration, wishing that he would just say something.
"Montee?"
"Mommy," Bella corrected automatically. Montee was what Ethan would call her. It had taken her three months to get him to even address her as anything. There was a lot of kicking and crying on Ethan's part, but Bella knew that he could do it. Three months of her sitting on her hands and repeating "Mommy" over and over again, finally gave way to Ethan's first word at 18 months old, "Montee." It wasn't much, but to Bella, it was the world.
"Montee - no!"
"That's right, snow!" Bella was delighted, it seemed like something had clicked with Ethan for a moment, so she grabbed on to it. "That's right it's snowing."
"Noing," Ethan repeated while continuing to stare out the window.
"Did you eat all your food?" Bella encouraged him to continue talking. It was rare that Ethan ever initiated a conversation, so Bella just wanted him to keep talking.
Bella waited, staring at him through the rearview mirror. Ethan nodded, turning his head to stare out the window again. Bella sighed. It wasn't much, but at least it was something.
She praised him before turning back on the radio listening to the forecast. She looked down at the clock, she only had twenty more minutes until she was out of the thick of it and back into the safety of her home.
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Bella cursed silently, praying that they would make it the last ten-mile stretch to their home. She glanced in her rearview, seeing that Ethan had dozed off, and she was envious of him. All she wanted was some sleep herself - but that would have to wait. The storm had gotten worse, as Bella predicted. The snow was now coming down in buckets, making the roads nearly impassable.
Bella clutched her steering wheel tighter, to the point where she was cutting of the circulation to her muscles. She should have cancelled her patients and not gone into work. The old saying was true: hindsight was twenty-twenty. She took another sip of her diet Coke, hoping that the caffeine would help.
Then her worst fear occurred. She felt the tires start slipping, and reacting on gut, she did the worst possible thing: she slammed on her brakes. The small Toyota Corolla groaned in protest, refusing to react to Bella trying to turn the wheel. She went into a dead spin. Bella closed her eyes, letting go of the wheel. Her life flashed before her eyes. She thought her father, her best friend Angela, dancing with Jake in her too small living room, and, of course, she thought of Ethan. Oh God, Ethan!
That was her last thought before the sound of screeching tires and metal crunching came to an abrupt end and she welcomed the blackness.
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The sound of the weather forecast, combined with the sound of something popping brought Isabella Swan to her senses. She could tell that she was upside down; all the blood had rushed to her head. She brought her hand up to her head. Blood coated her hand, causing her to become nauseated. The sight and smell of blood always bothered her. Not now, please God, not now!
What happened? Bella closed her eyes for a brief second, remembering the battle with the black ice. Of course, she lost.
"Ethan?"
Bella waited, hoping that he would respond.
"Ethan, answer Mommy, please. Now is not the time to be quiet!"
Bella panicked. What if this time it was because he couldn't answer? Oh God!
Bella tried to turn, but she couldn't. Her body was twisted at a weird angle, making it almost impossible for her to see Ethan in the backseat. She heard the pop of the electrical wire again and knew that they were in deep trouble.
Bella cringed. They were on one of the back roads of North Carolina. Not many people travelled on this old route, only hunters and people that lived in the old farmhouses. It was actually a very beautiful area, even though it was worn down. The area had a stream that kept the area nice and fertile. There were many summer days were she and Ethan would dip their toes in the stream in an effort to keep cool in the sweltering heat. Their old farmhouse didn't have central heating or air.
What she wouldn't give right now to be holding Ethan next to the fireplace, and reading him a book. Ethan loved reading books. She should have called in.
All the coulda, shoulda, wouldas, couldn't change the predicament that they were in.
"Ethan, answer Mommy!" Bella pleaded again. Just say something, make some noise. Anything Ethan, please!
And she was met with silence.
This couldn't be happening. Bella struggled, trying to turn to the backseat again, but a horrible pain ripped through her body causing her to cry out. She knew that she was hurt, and bad.
What if Ethan was hurt?
Bella was getting light headed again and knew that she had to do something. She tried to push herself up, against her seat to release the seatbelt, but that didn't work. All that happened was that she gained a couple of cuts from the broken glass on the palm of her hand.
The smell of blood assaulted her senses before she blacked out again.
AN: I hope you guys are still with me on this one. Shame on me - bad writer - waiting a year to update this story - and when I updated I totally rewritten. Anyway, truth be told, I bought a house, got married, and just got caught up with reading rather than writing. So just stay with me now on it, I promise to do better.