Read Online From The Wreckage - Complete by Michele G Miller - Free Book Online

from the basement?"
    "I don't, not really. That just came back to me all of a sudden." He straightens and removes his arms from her as she continues. "Why? What happened tonight? I don't know how long we were trapped down there."
    He shakes his head with a small smile. "It doesn't matter. We made it out, and that's all that counts, right?" 
    He lifts his hand and starts to push the hair back from her face, when the curtain slides open slowly and her father walks back in with a nurse in tow. Popping up from the bed, West throws one last look at Jules and excuses himself.
    "Hey, Spike?" West's eyes light up at the nickname and he waits for her to speak. "Don't wait four years to get the nerve again." She adds a small 'please' in her head as he cocks his head sideways and stares at her before nodding once and walking out of view.
    "The nurse is here to check you out one last time, and then we can head home."

    "As you can probably guess, I was so ready to get home to Mom and Jason. I wanted to wrap my arms around them and never let go." 
    "The ride home was slow and difficult, to say the least. A lot of the roads were blocked off, and people had left their cars lined all the way up and down the streets. We ran into Katie and her parents on our way out of the hospital, and since they came to the hospital with Dad, we brought them home." 
    "Katie sat in the middle, between me and her mom. At this point, I think we were all in shock. Our arms were wrapped together and we clutched our hands tightly. She told me who all had been found so far, and who she saw at the hospital."
    Jules swallows. "She also made me aware that there were still kids missing, and how you were one of them."
    She stares at the camera and thinks about the names they listed off that night, but she doesn’t say them out loud…Tanya, Candy and Stuart, among others. 
    She makes herself continue. "Being in the car, we were finally getting more information on what happened. According to the radio, most of the storm damage was confined to the business district and two neighborhoods. I recall sitting there numbly as they reported updated stats."
    Jules mimics the businesslike voice of the radio reporters. "Remington's restaurant roof was pulled off, EMS is reporting three casualties and an unknown number of missing. Hillsdale High School has been leveled, according to Fire and Rescue. No reports of casualties there."
    "We all gasped. Seriously — you could hear five people pull their breath in, all at the same time. Katie and I exchanged these mirrored, bug-eyed looks of shock. Of course she looked at me and immediately brought up Stuart, and Dad reminded us how the reporter had said there were no casualties. He told us to stay positive.”
    “We dropped the Luther’s at home and pulled into our driveway fifteen minutes later. I could still hear the sounds of emergency vehicle sirens in the distance as Dad held my elbow and walked me to the door. The minute it opened, Mom and Jason came running for me. We all fell to the floor, hugging and crying."
    Taking a moment, Jules looks off camera. From where she sits, a large family picture taken two years ago is visible, hanging over the formal living area couch. A wistful smile creeps up her lips as she looks at Jason with his white-blond hair and a big gap where his last tooth had fallen out.
    "You know, as happy as I was to be home and alive at that moment, I couldn't help but think of all the people who weren't so lucky. I think about it constantly. When I went to bed that night, I lay awake and thought about all of you; all of the other cheerleaders, football players, friends from school, parents or lovers who might be laying injured — or worse — somewhere amidst the wreckage."
    Jules admits something, as if telling a secret. "I couldn't help but think of West and how he called me Buffy. How he held my hand and saved my life.” She nods almost dreamily. "Yeah, West Rutledge was definitely on my mind that