It was nearly 9pm when Mo and Elliot reached their hotel room. Jonny was already stood outside with his arm around Jac's waist. They were waiting for Elliot who had the key.
As Mo and Elliot approached the two Mo asked, "Jac, are you alright?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She replied in her usual voice. Mo was thinking 'is she seriously going to pretend like that didn't just happen and that everything's alright?'
The four walked into the room. Immediately after dumping the shopping in the kitchen, Jonny turned the lights on as Mo closed the curtains in every room of their suite. Unfortunately for Jac, there were windows in every room; the main room, the kitchen, the bedroom, the ensuite bathroom and the other bathroom that was next to the kitchen.
"Oh, the receptionist said that if the rain keeps on falling like this, they're going to have to turn the gas, power and water off at 11pm." Mo explained. Elliot took his bag straight to the kitchen, Jac quickly took her things out of her bag and put them in the draw at the bottom of her wardrobe before taking her bag to the kitchen.
They all took their coats off and hung them on various door handles. Elliot went around the suite turning the radiators up high. Jac saw a flicker of lightening come through the flimsy curtains that didn't reach all the way to the bottom of the window; there were about an inch short. She walked out of the kitchen, leaving the others to unpack and walked into the bedroom. Jac sat on her bed facing away from the window. But she was anxious, because she knew that lightening always comes before thunder.
It was only a matter of seconds after she sat down that a particularly long rumble of thunder came. Jac shut her eyes and creased her forehead.
Jonny was in the kitchen placing the long life milk in the cupboard (which they had bought because it didnt need to be kept in a fridge.) when the thunder came. Mo and Jonny looked at each other before he ran into the bedroom she heard his footsteps coming so she stood up and hugged him tightly. He could feel her cold body shaking slightly, he wasn't sure if she was shaking because she was cold, or because she was scared, or a combination be he didn't like it. He held her tightly in his arms and the only two things that he liked about this was the fact that Jac needed him, and the fact that he could feel his baby, Jac's bump, being pushed against his own stomach. He felt stupid because he thought that this could be some sort of father and child bonding thing, but he wasn't going to let go, not until she wanted him to.
But of course she never wanted to let go, not until this storm was over. And that didn't look like it was coming in the near future.
"Jac?" He whispered.
"Yes." She murmured.
"Why don't you like storms?"
"I just don't."
"It's alright, you can tell me." He said softly, he was thinking that she must have a terrible experience when she was little but to Jac this wasn't the case.
"I just don't." She repeated, but knowing Jonny wouldn't be satisfied until he knew, Jac carried on, "I don't mind the rain, I just... I don't like thunder and lightening because it kills people and I know it's a ridiculously low chance of it happening to me, but it happens. And I just don't like it because I can't control it. I don't know when it's going to come next or where it's happening." She explained, her words were slightly muffled by Jonny's chest but her understood every word.
"Thank you for telling me." He whispered. Jac slowly slipped away from him. "Right, shall we go and help put the shopping away?" He asked softly. Jac nodded and followed Jonny into the kitchen. But Mo and Elliot had finished packing away, it was only a small kitchen so not everything could be put into cupboards; things were stacked neatly on the counters against the wall.
"Oh er, I should probably put my phone on charge." Mo remembered. The other three also agreed and all four were searching for plugs around the hotel room.
"Right, I think we should have a shower before the water's turned off, Jac do you wanna go first?"
"Um, yeah okay." She replied. Jac picked up a pair of pyjamas and her shower gel, shampoo and conditioner from her wardrobe took the provided towel that was rolled into a neat parcel on the end of her bed and shut herself in the bathroom, fortunately for Jonny, the hotel toilet doors didn't have locks on them so she couldn't lock herself away.
"Jonny, there's another shower in the other bathroom, do you want to go first in there?" Elliot asked.
"No, I should stay here incase something happens." He replied as he sat on the bed.
"Jonny, don't you think it's best that you go in the shower the same time as her, otherwise you'll have to go in the shower when she's out." Mo said softly as she realised that Jonny was stressed over this. Jonny didn't want to leave Jac and be in a completely different room to her, but he had to otherwise she could panic when he was in the shower.
"Right, yeah that makes more sense." He muttered as he grabbed his shower gel, shampoo, a pair of shorts, a T-shirt and towel and walked towards the other bathroom.
Mo and Elliot sat on their beds in the bathroom. "Do you think I should move to the single bed so that Jac can sleep with Jonny?" Mo asked Elliot.
"Well, I know a bit about astraphobia; my father had it. I know that he was less scared if he was with someone. It reminds me actually," Elliot began as he laughed a little, "when I was a boy, I loved storms because my father always used to make these little fort things out of duvets, cushions and chairs because he felt safer when he was under shelter."
"Some how I can't imagine Jac Naylor making a fort." Mo stated as she laughed. "Actually, thinking about it, I don't think I should move, if she threatens men with castration, she probably threatens women with a hysterectomy." Mo joked.
Several flashes of lightening came through the curtains Mo instantly thought of Jac. She wanted to shout out to her and ask if she was okay, but she didn't want to annoy her. Mo just listened incase Jac was crying again, but then maybe she hadn't seen it. But then came the thunder, Mo was hoping that it would stop soon, but it kept on coming. Mo looked up at Elliot. After about thirty seconds it stopped. Thirty seconds of constant thunder, Jac must have been in pieces.
Jonny must have heard it because about a minute after the thunder, Jonny came out of the shower with dripping wet hair and his pyjamas loosely thrown on. He chucked the towel on the bed and ran up to the door.
"Jac? Are you okay?"
"No." She replied bluntly. The word sounded as though it had been forced out under her breath. Jonny heard her breathing heavily and panicked. He opened the door and quickly closed it behind him so Mo or Elliot wouldn't see anything. He found Jac sitting in the bottom of the shower with her knees hugging her naked chest. Jac had her hands pressing down on her stomach and the shower was still running down on her back.
Jac didn't hear him come in, "Jac? Jac what's wrong?" Jonny asked as he turned the shower off and kneeled next to her.
"Jonny get out!" She shouted as she took in another deep breath.
"What is it? Pain?" He asked. She nodded. "When did you take your pain killers last?"
"This morning." She whispered as the excess water was still pouring down her face and through her hair, gradually seeping down the drain. She wanted to hug him tightly, but she was naked and wet, and he would see her bare abdomen which wasn't something she wanted.
"You muppet!" He shouted, he was relieved that he knew what was wrong. Jonny got up and exited the room swiftly shutting the door. He got a bottle of water from the kitchen and rustled around Jac's draw until he found her painkillers.
Mo and Elliot sat awkwardly because they knew that Jac was naked and Jonny was just freely walking in and out of there.
Jonny closed the door behind him and knelt back down next to Jac. "Here." He handed her her tablets and water. After she'd swallowed them, Jonny placed the pack and the bottle on top of the counter and pulled her fluffy white towel off of the hot radiator. Jonny stood up and held the towel out lengthways so that she could stand up and wrap it around her without him seeing much. She did so and squeezed the excess water out of her hair.
Now that Jac was slightly more presentable and less wet, she hugged Jonny. Soon, Jonny released her and stepped out so that she could get dressed. He sat on the bed next to Mo. Elliot had already gone to the other bathroom for his shower.
"Is she alright?" She whispered.
"She is now. She was curled up in a ball in the bottom of the shower and she wasn't going to say anything." He remarked, she certainly was stubborn.
"Right, when she comes out, I'm going to go for a shower. Listen don't annoy her, but get her to sleep here, I'll sleep in the single bed."
"I'll try but you know what she's like." He whispered.
"Listen, if she's scared, it's best to keep her busy. If she doesn't want to sleep yet then get her to help you put batteries in the torches and set out the candles. The lights will be out in an hour."
"Okey dokey." He replied.
Jac walked out of the bathroom with her pyjamas on. Mo looked up when her phone started ringing.
"Hello Sacha."
"Mo, are you alright I've only just heard?"
"Yeah yeah we're fine, listen I'm just about to got for a shower so I'll pass you over to Jac." Mo launched her phone at Jac knowing that she would have no option after catching it but to speak to Sacha. Jac rolled her eyes as Mo ran into the shower.
"Hello." She replied quietly.
"Jac are you alright? How's the baby?"
"I'm fine and the baby's still in my womb." She answered sarcastically.
"Are you still in London?"
"Yes, the roads were too blocked to leave, looks like we're going to be stuck here for a few days." She explained.
"Have you got power?"
"Yeah, but the hotel's turning the power and water off at 11pm until the water goes because of health and safety."
"Right, is the conference off?"
"I'm assuming so yes."
"Oh, and you were so looking forward to it."
"Was I?" She asked confused.
"Well, you must have been excited for it, otherwise you would have preferred to work with me for a week!" He joked.
"Listen, ring me tomorrow, let me know how you're getting on."
Suddenly, several flashes of lightening came through the windows and almost immediately after, thunder rumbled on for ages.
"Jac? Jac?" Jac chucked the phone at Jonny and crawled under her bed cover, she tucked her head underneath the duvet.
"Sacha, hi it's Jonny."
"Jesus, that storm sounds a gooden!" He joked.
"is Jac okay?" He asked wondering why she was no longer on the phone.
"Yeah, she just has a minor fear of thunder and lightening."
"How can you not be scared? the closer the thunder and lightening are in seconds, the closer the lightening is in distance, they were almost on top of each other which means that there's lightening above this hotel and that's not a good thing considering this building's like twenty floors high and it's got metal in it and metal conducts electricity which means we're all going to die and I don't want to die." Jac explained all in one breath, Jonny could hear that she was crying and he saw that she curled up into a ball underneath the covers.
"Listen Sacha I've got to go speak to you tomorrow."
"Right bye."
"Jac? We're not going to die sweetheart. We're safe." Jonny said as he knelt next to Jac's bed. Elliot walked in in his pyjamas, though Jac wasn't aware of that because her head was still under the covers.
"We're not safe. I want to go home, I don't like this." She moaned. Her voice was muffled under the sheets.
"We will soon. I promise, you're going to be just fine. Come here... Please." He asked softly. Jac slid out from under the bed covers, onto the floor and hugged Jonny tightly. She closed her eyes as another couple of tears came out and tucked her head into his chest.
Mo came out of the shower finding Jonny on his knees next to Jac's bed and Jac kneeling next to him hugging him like she was never going to let go.
Thank you very much for reading! Please review and let me know your thoughts, I'm not sure if I should carry on with this or not because not a lot of people are reviewing (or reading for that matter.)