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Faith
I’m not sure how Dom got us back to town in one piece.
In fact, I kept my eyes closed most of the ride after that bolt of lightning struck the ground not a second before we crossed over it.
The windshield fogged up underneath the cold water and hail bashing against it outside, making seeing a foot ahead of us impossible.
Overriding everything my daily anxiety medication was supposed to do for me, the sheer horror of what I knew was happening outside the truck cab had my heart beating so fast it made me dizzy.
The thing about Dom, though, was that when he was focused on something, it was as if he could do anything. It’s like the bigger the challenge was before him, the quicker and happier he was to rise and overcome it.
Somewhere after the turn off of River Road, the storm let up enough for us to survey the destruction it caused through the tiny space I made in the glass with the edge of my hand.
I leaned forward, putting my hands on the dashboard to see the downed trees and debris. “Oh, my God.”
He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back as he ducked around a trampoline flipped over in the road. “Baby, sit back in case I have to stop quick. I’m not trying to bust up that pretty face of yours.”
I caught glimpses of the boy I remembered who was always sure of himself, no matter what he was walking into. Dom bobbed his head and patted his fingers against the steering wheel in tune with the music as he dodged downed trees and power lines like we were only on some leisurely Sunday drive.
His nerves were of steel. Or maybe, however his brain was wired together made him experience what was happening around him differently than I did, so fear wasn’t possible. But since I’m always afraid of something every second of the day, he seemed so much braver to me in comparison.
Noticing me rubbing my hands together nervously in the corner of his eye, he grabbed one and squeezed it to keep me from coming apart like he knew I would. “Do me a favor, will you?” When I nodded at him, he glanced at me for a split second to make sure I was really listening. “As soon as we check in, give Jason and Carolyn a call and make sure they’re okay.” He whipped the truck right at the abandoned house across from the school, sending my shoulder into him. “I’m going to circle the block and make sure your dad’s house made it alright.”
Dad was dragging a broken tree limb off the bottom of the driveway that he had no business lifting, and when we crept up beside him, he left it on the sidewalk. Rolling down the window, Dom hunched over to yell over the heavy metal music he couldn’t bother to turn down. “Hey, Dad. We got called in to work, but do you need anything before we go?”
Waving us off, he turned back for the house. “I’m fine. Get the hell out of here.”
I finally caught my breath, my senses coming back to me a little at a time when Dom pulled around the next corner. “Do you think the house is okay?”
He took the phone out of the bin he kept it in and dropped it in his pocket, his entire body vibrating with energy as he prepared himself to get to work. “Don’t worry. That’s what insurance is for, and Jason can fix anything.”
I took off my seat belt when he pulled into the parking lot and slid toward the edge of the seat as the truck slowed. “I think you’re going to be busy, babe.”
Three ambulances were sitting in front of the emergency room doors that had been blown off their hinges. Dom yelled at his pocket as he drifted into the closest spot to the building he could find. “Call the nurses’ station.”
Mark answered in his usual slightly overly dramatic tone a few beats later, “I hope you’re on your way. This place is about to be a nuthouse.”
Dom put the truck in park and reached into the console for his wallet. “Yeah, I’m in the lot. What’s the situation upstairs?”
Speaking a little louder to make it over the bells and whistles going off behind him, Mark faded in and out. “We need you now and any extra hands you can bring with you.”
Right before he pulled the keys from the ignition, Dom shoved the door open. “Be there in a minute.” He released his seat belt and pulled on my arm. “I’m calling dibs on you. Come on.”
Sliding onto the ground, he held out his hand for me, and I hopped down. “Are you sure that’s okay? They look like they could use a lot of help over there right now.”
He motioned to the ambulances with his chin as he dragged me with him. “No offense meant or anything, but you’ll just be in the way in the Emergency Room. You don’t know how to do anything they need help with.” Pushing the employee entrance door open, he waited for me to go under his arm. “You’re already acclimated to the unit and how we do things, though. Besides,” — he opened the door for the staircase right inside and winked as he backed in — “I need you to keep me in line.”
It wasn’t being a doctor so much that lit him up inside. It was chasing that superhero feeling that had him running up the stairs so fast I could barely keep up with him. He was the most alive I’d ever seen him. As soon as we came through the door, he yelled at the nurse in the hallway and flipped his finger between us. “We’re going to go put something dry on. Be right with you all.”
Tossing his locker open, he pointed behind him at another one. “In that end locker is a bunch of spare scrubs. Do you mind getting me a set of large?”
He pulled his shirt off as I dug through the hangers. “What do you want me to do while I’m up here?”
Another pair of sneakers came from the bottom of the locker, and he ripped at the laces of his boots as he worked them off. “Just hang out at the desk, and Kim will put you to work. Trust me, she’s not near as nice as she pretends to be.”
I held the scrubs out for him, and he smiled at me as he pulled the top down over his head. “Given the circumstances, I’m glad you came and found me tonight.” He laid his hand on the wall beside his locker to take his wet jeans off. “I’d be a fucking mess right now if I didn’t know what was going on with you after what we just saw.”
I pulled out another set of scrubs, but the air shifted behind me, making me turn around to tell him I loved him before he slipped away. But the door was already shutting again as the squeaks of his sneakers disappeared down the hall, and the code blue alarm popping on overhead about made my heart stop, too.
