Where was the nurse?
It was time for someone to wake Lauren, to check her pupils, to see if her speech was slurred, to ask what she remembered.
Someone was supposed to make sure the stillness of her sleep didn’t mean she had slipped away into a coma.
Sylvia stared at the clock on the hospital wall, as she had all through the night in dim light while the hours crawled. Outside the window now, the sky began to pink up and coax another day to life. In an hour, Sylvia’s mother would dial her home phone number, and Sylvia wouldn’t be there to answer. Instead, she would have to call Emma and calm anxiety before it stirred. They had spoken last night, when everything was over.
After the storm.
After the sirens.
After the oak tree shuddered and split.
After the ambulance.
Emma was fine. She went to her basement when the tornado warning siren sounded and stayed there until the wind subsided. Sammie Dunavant was already at the house checking on her when Sylvia phoned. Emma seemed to understand Sylvia’s explanation of what happened to Lauren, though whether she would remember this morning was uncertain. Emma might look out the window at the sunrise, predict a beautiful day, and not remember yesterday’s storm.
The funnel hadn’t actually touched down in Hidden Falls, but the wind had scattered aimless debris. Sylvia had seen enough television news at the hospital to know that the storm cut a swath across central Illinois that left every town in its path in cleanup mode. Downed power lines, tree limbs—like the one that nearly landed on Lauren—strewn trash bins, twisted street signs, dangling traffic lights, broken storefront windows.
At some point Mayor Sylvia Alexander would have to emerge from the hospital and get a full assessment of what the whirlwind storm had done to Hidden Falls. Right now she only wanted to be aunt to the young woman lying in the hospital bed.
Where was the nurse?
Sylvia had emerged from the basement of Our Savior Community Church to find Cooper Elliott shielding Lauren with his body and making sure she didn’t try to untangle herself from the web of small branches that camouflaged them. The tree limb itself had just missed them. A gash on the side of Lauren’s head marked her impact with the sidewalk. Though she regained consciousness after only a few minutes, Lauren was confused about what happened.
Ethan was there, and the ambulance responded in record time. The ER doctor quickly concurred with Ethan’s opinion that Lauren was severely concussed but otherwise unharmed. Lauren was well cared for. Still, she looked frail asleep in the bed. Sylvia had helped to keep her niece awake through the elongated afternoon and evening. Finally Lauren had been allowed to sleep for two hours at a time.
It was time for a nurse to come in and wake her.
Sylvia’s cell phone jangled, and the noise made her jump. As she reached to answer it, she glanced at Lauren, who gave no indication that she’d heard the sound. Sylvia decided to take the call in the hall where she could also track down the nurse.
“Hi, Larry,” she said to her brother-in-law, Lauren’s father.
“Janet just listened to your message,” Larry said. “There aren’t a lot of cell phone towers in this part of Alaska. Is Lauren all right?”
“They say she’s doing well.” Sylvia relayed as much medical information as she knew. “I know you’re in the middle of the vacation of a lifetime, but I thought you would want to know.”
“Of course we do. The fishing here is great, but there’s only one little plane out every two days, and then it’s another whole day to get home.”
“Stay. They’re only keeping her for observation. She’ll be home before you get here, anyway. I’ll look after her.” Sylvia took comfort in her own composed tone. Millions of people suffered concussions every year, she told herself. If she set aside the dramatic circumstances of Lauren’s injury and believed Ethan, Lauren could be released later that day. She would just need rest.
Sylvia finished the call and caught the eye of a nurse.
“Go ahead and wake her,” the nurse said. “I’ll be in soon. If her stomach has settled, we’ll see about breakfast.”
Sylvia returned to Lauren’s room and gently nudged her shoulder. When Lauren didn’t wake, Sylvia stroked her face and called her name. After Sylvia raised her voice a couple of notches, Lauren’s head turned and her eyes opened. Sylvia wished Ethan were there to determine whether Lauren’s eyes looked right. Ethan had left two hours ago, headed for Columbus to see if he could salvage his residency.
“Hi.” Lauren’s voice was breathy and soft, but she seemed to focus on Sylvia’s face.
“How do you feel?” Sylvia asked.
“My head hurts.” Lauren’s eyes moved from side to side. “I don’t remember. . . .”
“Would you like to sit up?” Sylvia found the remote control and pushed the appropriate button. The head of the bed rose slowly.
“Did someone find Christopher?” Lauren rubbed her eyes.
“You did,” Sylvia said. They’d had this conversation several times already.
“He was in the tree. I was running.”
“I know. You got there. Cooper got Christopher out of the tree.”
“Cooper did?” Lauren leaned forward a few inches.
“You both did.”
“So Christopher is safe?”
“Yes.”
“And Molly?”
“Also safe.”
“That’s a relief.” Lauren sank back against the bed. “Was that today?”
“Yesterday.”
“So today is Sunday?”
“That’s right.”
“I should go to church.”
Sylvia picked up Lauren’s hand and squeezed it. “I’m sure everyone understands that you can’t be there.”
She wasn’t sure what was happening at Our Savior or any of the other churches in Hidden Falls. What happened in this room is what mattered.
“I can’t see without my glasses,” Lauren said.
“They broke when you fell.” During the night, Sylvia had offered to fetch Lauren’s spare glasses from her apartment, but Lauren said they were broken as well.
“Did someone find Christopher? Is he all right?” Lauren’s face filled with anxiety.
“Yes, he’s fine.” Sylvia would reassure Lauren as many times as it took. Eventually Lauren would remember the answer to the question, even if she never remembered racing against a tornado to find a little boy who climbed a tree and couldn’t get down.
“I’m thirsty,” Lauren said.
Sylvia picked up the water pitcher and took it to the sink to freshen it before filling Lauren’s cup.
Lauren sipped through the straw and swallowed. “What time is it?”
Sylvia pointed to the clock. “The sun’s just up.”
“It’s Sunday morning, right?”
“Right.”
“You should go home,” Lauren said. “I bet you’ve been here all night.”
She had been.
“There’s a whole hospital to take care of me,” Lauren said. “Make sure Nana’s all right.”
“She is.” Sylvia kissed Lauren’s forehead. She wasn’t going anywhere.