Darien jogged toward his apartment, as the storm was raging around him. Wet and dripping he shut the door and hung up his coat. The phone rang urgently and he picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Darien! Serena out there somewhere in the storm! I think she's lost!"
Darien frowned.
"She'll be fine. She's a big girl who can look after herself."
"You don't understand! She's been frightened of storms every since she was little! I think she might be lost out there!"
Darien felt the fear drip at first, and then drown his heart. He dropped the phone ignoring Andrew's puzzled voice and ran out.
Serena screamed as a lightning bolt streaked the sky. She hugged herself and cried. Then she heard her name.
Darien ran through the park and called her name.
"Serena!"
There was a faint reply.
"I'm here!"
Darien found her at the base of a tree hugging herself and crying. Her tear and water streaked face met his.
"It's all right."
He took off his coat and wrapped her in it. Then he picked her up and brought her to her house. She clung to him all the way.
The sight of their daughter made Serena's parents relieved. They thanked Darien and he numbly walked back to his apartment in the storm despite their protests. Serena's crying image, Andrew's phone call, haunted his head. He didn't realize he was soaking and he had left his coat on Serena.
"What if I had lost her…?"
Thoughts of pneumonia, getting struck by lightning, and other accidents flashed through his head. He shook his head haggardly. Somehow he managed to peel his wet clothes off and dry himself. Then he fell asleep, exhausted mentally and physically.
When Serena woke the next morning she was back to normal.
"Mom? Is that dad's new coat?"
"No honey. It's that young man's who brought you home yesterday."
Serena remembered in a flash and took it down.
"I better return it then."
She took the coat along with her bag and skipped to the arcade.
"Serena! We were worried about you last night! Did you make it home safely?"
The girls crowded around her and Andrew watched over them.
"I'm fine. Darien brought me home last night, but I need to return his coat. Does anyone know where he lives?"
Andrew got a paper and pencil.
Serena stood before the door and nervously knocked on the door twice. She was shocked to see an elderly woman answer the door?
"Yes?"
"I-I was w-wondering if Darien is h-here?"
The woman shook her head slowly.
"No one named Darien lives here. I think you have the wrong number honey."
She shut the door and Serena all but ran to the right door. She knocked. No one answered. It was unlocked so she opened it slightly.
"Darien?"
She came in and closed the door behind her quietly.
"Darien? Are you th- …!"