“At the very least, we should wait before tryin’. Listen, it’s still storming. We don’t wanna create an opening an’ have another one hit. That would be worse.” Chris was trying to reason with her. It made sense, even if she didn’t want to stay there in the dark basement. She hated the dark almost as much as she hated storms.
“Okay. How long should we wait?” She couldn’t help the annoyance and fear in her voice, but she tried.
“Momma, I need to potty,” Lily interrupted.
“Umm …” She scanned her flashlight around the dark basement. Great, I should have known this would happen. Now what?
“There’s a bathroom in the corner, but I doubt it will be working. She can still use it though.” Chris pointed the beam of his flashlight towards the far corner of the room, and Kathy laid her flashlight down before standing up to head in the direction he was shining his light.
They struggled around debris as Kathy carried Melanie with one arm and held Lily’s hand with the other. She wasn’t about to be separated from them, even down here. They made it there unharmed, thanks to Chris, though Kathy’s back was really starting to hurt pretty intensely. Lily finished and they headed back to where they had been sitting—the only clear spot in the whole basement. The pain seemed to double with every step she took.
“You ok?” She heard Chris ask.
“Yeah,” Kathy said as she worked to keep the pain from showing on her face. She didn’t want them to know how much it was hurting; it seemed trivial under the circumstances.
“You sure? You look like you’re in pain.” He sounded concerned.
Kathy hated lying to anyone. “It’s nothing. My back hurts and it stings, but it’s no big deal. I’ll manage," she conceded before wincing again.
“Did you get hit by anything on our way into the house, or maybe down here? There was a lot of crap flying around.” He looked even more concerned now.
“No. At least, I don’t think so.” She paused, trying to remember. “Maybe … I’m not sure. Everything was happening so fast. I guess it’s possible.”
“Here, let me take a look.” He moved around behind her and shined his flashlight beam at her back. “You’re bleeding.” She could feel his hand on her as he gently lifted up her shirt. “Be right back,” he said as he lowered the shirt down again. “Don’t move.”
“Brian, we have a first aid kit down here, right?” he asked as he stood up.
“Yeah. Somewhere, but I’m not sure where in all this mess. I think it was in the bathroom. Is everything okay?”
They got up and headed toward the bathroom to search.
She tried to track their movements in the beams of their flashlights, but it was difficult.
“Momma hurt?” Lily asked, looking up at Kathy with worried eyes visible in Kathy’s own light.
“It’s okay, honey. It’s not that bad, I promise,” Kathy said, trying to reassure them both and hoping she was right.
Chris found the first aid kit, and they stood there whispering intensely for a minute before they headed back to where she sat. As they got closer, Chris pointed his flashlight at Brian’s face, causing him to wince and throw up his arm to shield his eyes. “You hold the flashlight and I’ll clean her cut and apply the bandage,” Chris said, laughing, as they sat down behind Kathy.
“How bad is it?” She tried to turn so she could look at her back, but it was impossible. She wasn’t made to twist that way, and turning only made the pain worse.
“You’ll fix my momma?” Lily said while looking from Kathy to Chris.
“Sure will. Momma’s just got a cut on her back,” Chris said as he began lifting Kathy’s shirt back up and out of the way. “She’ll be okay after we fix her up.”
Kathy winced and jerked forward when her shirt snagged on the cut.
“Sorry,” Chris said as he gently pulled her shirt the rest of the way up.
“It’s okay,” she lied unconvincingly.
“This might sting. I need to clean it first.”
She could feel his breath on her back—he was so close. She took a shuddering breath before responding, “Define ‘sting.’ Do you mean ‘hurt like hell’ or just ‘a tiny discomfort’?”
He chuckled as he started cleaning the wound. “You’ll live.”
It hurt like hell.
“Sorry,” he said again.
Kathy held her breath, trying not to jump up and move away from his ministrations. She knew it was necessary to clean the cut.
“Almost done. We don’t want to risk infection; we don’t know what hit you, so we need to make sure it’s clean.”
“I know. Doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it. I don’t generally enjoy pain, you know,” she said through clenched teeth, causing both men to chuckle.
“It's kinda deep. I wish I had something to stitch it up with, but the bandage will have to work for now.”
He worked for a few more minutes before gently applying an antibacterial ointment, butterfly clips, and a bandage.
“Done. There are some general painkillers here if you want ’em.”
Kathy nodded her head, and he handed her the container.
“I don’t suppose there’s anything to drink down here, is there? I’ve never been good at taking pills without a drink,” she said, closing her fist around the bottle.
“I’m thirsty, Momma.”
“Me tirsty too, Momma.” Melanie licked her tiny baby lips.
“Hang on. I know we have some down here somewhere.” Chris stood up, shining his light around the room, to search for the water. “Brian, do you remember the general area of where we put the rest of the emergency supplies? I don’t.”
Brian stood. He looked like he was trying to remember. The wheels turning in his head were almost visible. It was amazing how calm they both seemed to be. How many tornadoes had they lived through? After a minute, he moved away, shining his flashlight back and forth in front of himself.
Chris moved in the opposite direction from his friend to also help find the needed supplies. “Why the hell didn’t we put everything together to begin with?” he grumbled to himself.
“Over here!” Brian called out triumphantly.
Chris walked over to his friend, and they gathered the supplies in their arms before bringing everything over to where Kathy and the girls were waiting.
“Who’s thirsty?” Brian grinned as he set his last load down on the floor in front of Kathy and her girls. “We’ve got a case of bottled water. That should last us a while. We have a box of cheese and peanut butter crackers, another box of toast and peanut butter crackers, a box of graham crackers, a pack of Vienna Sausages, and a small bag of dog food and bowls for the dogs. That should definitely get us through until help comes. Don’t you think?” he said the last part while looking over at Chris.
Their calm was really starting to annoy her. Why can’t I be that calm?
“Hang on a ’sec.” Chris walked over to a cabinet still somewhat standing among the rubble and pulled several blankets out. “Stand up, Kathy. We can sit on a blanket. It’ll be warmer than sitting on the bare concrete floor.”
Kathy stood and helped the girls up. They moved out of Chris’s way as he shook one of the blankets and spread it out on the floor. When they sat back down, Chris put his flashlight down to open the package of bottles and handed one to Kathy before opening a second bottle for her girls.
“Wait, they should share it and go easy.” Brian stopped him.
“Seriously? Why? There’s plenty.” Chris countered as he handed the bottle to Lily. “Be careful, sweetheart.”
“I’m just saying. We should ration. It’s better to be safe than sorry,” Brian said as he gently took the bottle back and poured a small amount into a bowl for the dogs.
Kathy looked between the two men in front of her, shining her light back and forth. “You don’t think we’re getting out anytime soon, do you?” She realized they never answered her question before Lily needed the bathroom.
“Help should come tonight or tomorrow. There’s nothing to worry about.” Chris looked at Brian pointedly.
“He’s right, it should come tonight or tomorrow, but there’s nothing wrong with planning for worst case scenarios,” Brian looked back at Chris with raised eyebrows.
“Fine. Whatever. I guess we’re rationing like we’re in the desert somewhere.”
“It’s not a big deal, we’re used to sharing bottles of water anyway. They drink after me all the time.” Kathy didn’t really see the point in arguing over it. She took the pain pills with the water and handed the bottle to Lily, “Don’t drink it all and give your sister some.” Her stomach growled as she took her drink.
Brian opened a pack of cheese crackers, handed one to each girl, and offered one to Kathy.
“No, thank you.” She shook her head.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I am, but thank you.” She looked down at the girls eating their crackers.
“It’s okay. You should eat. We’ll get out before we run out of food. We just have to be careful not to eat too much at once, but you need to eat something.” He held the cracker out again.
Kathy took the cracker and the group sat in relative silence eating.