I honestly don't know what to do. I just want people to enjoy the story. So, I guess, I'm sticking to my original plan. Sorry for the confusion...
"Daddy! Daddy, wake up!" Paige was shaking Brian with all of her might trying to get him to wake up. The room was still dark but luckily, with the help of her sister, she was able to find the flashlight and turn it on.
Slowly, Brian drifted back into the conscious world. His head was spinning and he reached his hand to his forehead where he felt something sticky. He was sure he was bleeding. When he heard his girls yelling for him to wake up he opened his eyes.
"Daddy!" Allison was too happy to see that he was awake so she rushed to his side and wrapped her tiny arms around him.
"Are you girls okay?" he asked as he managed to sit up. He could see from the beam of the light that several things had fallen off shelves.
"Uh huh," Allison answered, "Nick went to get help."
Brian nodded. He had forgotten that Nick and Zara had been down there with him. He wondered how long he had been out. He was just about to ask Olivia if she was okay when he remembered that she had been upstairs when the worst of the storm hit. "Let's go find Mommy," he said to the girls. He got the flashlight from Paige and lead the way up the dark steps. Finally they were surrounded by light and the skies outside had seemed to be cleared up. They weren't a deep gray anymore but a light blue instead.
"Be careful," Brian instructed the girls. The house had been damaged and most if not all of the windows seemed to be busted out. There were tree limbs lying in the middle of the living room and broken glass was everywhere.
Before entering the girls' room Brian took a deep breath and swallowed heavily. He was preparing himself for the worst. "Wait here," he said to Allison and Paige. He walked into the room and found Olivia lying unconscious on the floor. Her skin was pale and that's when Brian saw the blood. "Olivia!" He rushed to her side and bent down next to her. "Liv," he whispered checking her body for any other injuries. He saw the small scrape on her forehead that was bleeding some but that couldn't have caused all of the blood on the floor. That's when he saw the shard of glass stuck in her arm. He felt like he was going to be sick. With the amount of blood she lost there was no telling how long she had to get to a hospital.
"Girls!" Brian hollered, "I need you to do me a really big favor, okay?"
"Okay!" they answered in unison.
He looked back to Olivia and the tears now flooded his vision. He couldn't let the girls see her like this... but he had no choice. He was just about to speak up and tell them to come into the room when Nick came rushing into the house with paramedics following him. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"She needs help!" Brian said to them. Soon he found himself backing out of the way and letting the EMT's do their job. They were able to get the piece of glass out of Olivia's arm and stop the bleeding but they needed to get her to the hospital to assess other injuries. They said something about a blood transfusion but somewhere Brian had stopped listening. He had been lost. All he could think about was what would happen if Olivia didn't make it. She didn't look too good... They had two children who were asking repeatedly if their mother was okay.
"Daddy," Paige said tugging on Brian's pant leg, "what's wrong with Mommy? Why is she sleeping?"
Brian looked down to his youngest daughter as the paramedics loaded Olivia onto a stretcher. "Mommy was hurt during the storm," he simply explained, "the doctors are going to make sure that she gets all better."
"Is she scared?"
Brian almost smiled at his daughter's innocence. "She's not scared," he assured her, "she's pretty brave."
That answer seemed to satisfy both Paige and Allison because they stopped asking question and just watched as the EMT's carried their mother away on a stretcher and load her into the ambulance that was parked just outside.
The roads were mostly destroyed thanks to the storm. There were damaged cars in the middle of lanes and debris from nearby homes blocking major intersections. It was a wonder how the ambulance managed to get to their house.
"I'll bring the girls to the hospital," Nick offered, "you ride with Liv."
Brian nodded, thankful for Nick's help. He hoped in the back of the ambulance and then shut the doors as the lights were turned on and the siren began to blare.
Nick reached into his pocket and pulled his car keys out. He was lucky that his car had no damage done to it. "Okay everyone pile in," he instructed. The girls did as they were told and they all three climbed into the backseat.
"My tummy hurts," Allison complained as Nick pulled out onto the road. Nick did a quick glance at her and noticed that she seemed a little clammy.
"Just hang in there," he said, "the doctors will take a look when we get there." He hoped that nothing was wrong with Allison and that it was just her nerves getting the best of her. With Olivia in the unknown condition she was in, he didn't want to have to deliver more bad news to Brian.
In the back of the ambulance, Brian was holding onto Olivia's hand for dear life. He didn't want to let go for fear that if he did, Olivia would too. There wasn't much the paramedics could do until she was at the hospital so the ride was mainly making sure her vitals remained stable.
"Bri...an."
Brian looked down to see Olivia with her eyes trying to open. She seemed out of it but she was talking and that was a good sign. "I'm right here," he said swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat. He squeezed her hand a bit harder as a tear slipped down his check, "I'm right here. You're going to be okay."
"The girls?"
Brian could barely hear her as she spoke but he managed to make out what she had said. "They're okay. Nick is bringing them to the hospital. We're all okay. Just rest, Liv." Olivia's eyes closed again and Brian wasn't sure if she had heard anything he said. She didn't seem to realize where she was or what was going on. Brian began silently praying that everything would be okay.
At the hospital they were already booming with victims from the storm. The non emergent were piled in the waiting room while the emergent were being taken care of and tended to first. Doctors and nurses rushed to Olivia's side when the ambulance pulled up and they quickly began assessing her for injuries. Brian tried to listen as the EMT told the doctors her condition but he was too occupied with the busyness of the hospital. He didn't realize that storm had been so bad.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to wait out here," an younger woman said to him, bringing him out of his thoughts.
"I need to be with her," he argued.
"Right now the doctor is taking her for a CT to see if she has any internal injuries. You can't be with her for that. She's in good hands and I promise to let you know something as soon I do, okay?"
Brian nodded when he saw Nick enter the hospital with his kids. "Okay."
"Daddy, my tummy really hurts!" Allison cried when she saw her dad.
"She's been saying that the whole way here," Nick informed him.
Brian sighed. "Let's have the doctor take a look, okay?"
Allison nodded and Brian explained to a nurse the situation. They were taken to an exam room and Allison was told to put a gown on and lay on the bed. Brian was worrying for both his wife and his child. He had no idea what was wrong with Olivia and hopefully it was nothing more than a few scrapes and blood loss. That problem could be easily fixed. If something was wrong with Allison he didn't think he would forgive himself. He was suppose to protect them and he had failed. Olivia was hurt and no so was Allison? Why didn't he stay awake in that basement? Why didn't he go after Olivia? There were several questions running through his mind but now wasn't the time to dwell on them.
"Is my sister going to be okay?" Paige asked Nick as they sat down in the waiting room.
"I'm sure she will be," Nick said, "it's probably just a tummy ache."
Paige nodded and then thankfully Zara provided her a distraction by playing a game of I Spy with her. It was Paige's favorite game to play on road trips and she had taught it to Zara one day. Nick knew the game was childish but right now he was very grateful for it.