4.
He heard crying from far away. It was his sister. She was always skinning her knees from falls on her skates. She would run to him, battered and bloody, crying into the middle of his stickball game. The other boys had teased him for giving in to her and called her a crybaby but he would hear none of it. He even blackened his best friend's eye for his taunting. It didn't matter at all. He loved the girl and being eight years older he felt like her uncle, rather than her brother. He would gently pick her up and cradle her as he walked her back to mom for comfort and clean up.
"It's okay" he would say, "You'll be alright. I've got you."
But wait, Candy was 18 and married. What was she doing on skates? That wasn't right. He didn't hear the cries of a six-year-old, they were older tears. Woman's tears. He tried to move but his head felt as if it would split open. A trickle of warmth ran into his eye. He could feel a gentle hand wiping it. He groaned.
"Oh God! I thought you were going to die." Amber threw her arms around him and he brought his hand up to caress her hair. "There's so much blood."
"I'm not dead yet." He mustered up a smile. "Are you okay?"
She nodded against his chest. He looked around. There was water everywhere. A florescent light was in pieces next to him and he could see blood on a few of them. Ouch. The roof on the far side of the dressing room reveled nothing but sky. A calm sky, which scared Corny more than the storm. Only the main beam over their heads had saved them from the crushing debris. But he knew they had to get to safety. They were in the eye and it wouldn't last long. If they didn't move and the walls gave way, it could be the end for both of them. He had to get up and get her to the basement storage room.
"Amber, we've gotta go." He said as he pushed himself up. Nauseating dizziness overtook him and he sat back hard. He swallowed the bile that came up in his throat. Her 'hero' was going to need some help himself. Concussions can be a strange thing. Sometimes one makes it through with a headache, sometimes the body went into shock. Shock was not what they needed at this point. He took a deep breath and sat up. The room swirled.
"Don't move" she commanded, "It's over now. We can stay here until they come to get us." She smiled.
"No, it's not over." He stated as he grimaced, "This is the eye of this storm. As soon as it passes the wind will be back again and the rest of this building may not make it. We have to get downstairs."
Her eyes grew wide. "But the wind has stopped. The rain. It's over."
"It's not, believe me and we have to get out of here." He said as he rested his chin in his hands for a moment, trying to get his equilibrium, "Get us some of those dresses and the cushions from that couch. We have at least another couple hours until this is over and we have to get going."
She placed his hand on top of the cotton covering his head. "Put pressure on this." She commanded. He heard material ripping and she came to him with a pile of make-up sponges cradled in her skirt. "I passed First-aid class!" she said proudly as she held the strip of material in her teeth. As she removed his hand and the old bloody dressing, she gently placed the sponges on the open wound above his forehead and tied the strip around his head. She giggled.
"You look like a bunny."
This was the girl he knew. The happy wondrous person who shined only when her mother was too busy to notice. Laughing hurt, but he couldn't help it. She beamed.
"Come on, bunny girl, help me up and we're heading downstairs. If there isn't too much water, we'll do better down there."
She stood, held both his hands and did her best to counterbalance his weight. He came up with much more ease than he expected. His eyes focused around the room. "Do you know if there is a first aid kit?" he asked.
"Yes, but it's pretty empty. Some alcohol that's I used to clean that out, some band-aids, some aspirin….."
"Oh grab that aspirin, my head is pounding" She scurried off, leaving him leaning against the wall for support. "My mother has brandy in her office, do you want that?"
He didn't want to panic her. Any kind of sedative could put him out. "No that's okay, the aspirin will do." He said as he crunched the bitter pills.
"Well I've tasted it and it is……" her hand flew to her mouth. She confessed an ultimate sin that didn't fit with her diva personality, "You won't tell, will you?"
"That you snitched your mother's brandy? I have too."
They laughed together and he grew serious. He could hear the wind beginning to pick up, "Come on, we've got to get down. Can you manage that stuff?"
She tied the couch cushions with a belt that she found in the closet. With the clothes stuffed in between, she had a nice carry handle. "Pretty resourceful there, Miss Von Tussle. Were you a Boy Scout?"
Her head flew back as she laughed. "Right! My mother wouldn't let me be an "anything" scout. That's not for future stars, well beneath us." She slipped under his arm to support him. "Corny, where is she?" she asked quietly.
"The National Guard took them to shelter just before I got to you." He stated as they moved toward the basement door.
"So why didn't you go too?"
"I promised." And he didn't have to say anything more.
