Living the Storm

"Cloudy again," Callie thought to herself. The gloom of the cloudy morning made her heart feel so heavy today.

Samuel, the love of Callie's life, lay in the bed across the room from her. As she turned from the window he groaned and rolled over, blinking the sleep from his eyes as he focused on her. Then he winked.

“Good morning, Cal,” he said in his booming voice. Though he was weak most days, his voice never sounded any different than it had been from the first day she met him.

The pair were married almost fifty years ago and had shared a wonderful life together until Samuel's diagnosis. The last few years had been a whirlwind of doctor appointments, hospitalizations, and new medications to combat the cancer Samuel was determined to beat.

"Good morning," Callie said, trying to sound cheerful. "Can I get you something to eat?"

"Let me wash up and get dressed first," Samuel replied, as he started to rise from the bed and took a few hesitant steps forward.

Callie walked downstairs to pour coffee for the two of them and wait for Samuel to decide what he might like to try eating.

"Please let Sam have a good day, God. This week has been so hard, and we need something to keep going. Thank you for giving us another day together," she prayed quietly.

Samuel walked into the kitchen and sat down. He didn't feel like eating but he wanted to make Callie happy, so he asked for a slice of toast.

Callie nodded at his request and placed bread in the toaster. Looking out the window, she could see storm clouds building in the west, the once gray shapes becoming thicker and dark.

"We're in for some rain," she said. 

Her own face grew dark as she thought about the possible issues this could create for Sam. Another doctor appointment today, for which she would probably have to take him out in the rain. If he gets wet and cold, it could cause him to come down with a cold he will have difficulty fighting off which could mean another stay in the hospital.

The couple finished their breakfast, glancing occasionally at the weatherman on TV in the next room.

A shrill ring of the wall phone punctuated the quiet noise of the news in the background. Callie jumped up to answer and after a few “oh’s” and “ok’s,” she hung up and sat down again.

“The doctor was delayed from getting to the office so your appointment will be pushed back an hour,” she reported to Samuel.

“Not a total loss of time,” she thought. “I should move the patio furniture into the porch in case the wind comes up.”

Samuel settled into his favorite chair with a book and promptly ignored the weatherman who was still droning on and on about the clouds moving in.

Little pitter-pats of rain started falling just as Callie opened the back door. She tried to hurry. Folding up the chairs and carrying them inside the porch was quick and easy, but the umbrella was fluttering and tried to whip her in the face as she turned the crank to lowered it.

“Crap,” she said, as she tried to wipe off the water that she flung on herself trying to pull the pole up from the base under the table.

She finally wrestled the umbrella into compliance and deposited it into a corner of the porch before heading back outside to tip the table and roll it inside. Officially drenched now, Callie’s eyes were raining as hard as the clouds were.

Anger began to fill her soul, as she looked around at their rain-sodden flowers, the trees with their branches flinging back and forth, dancing with the wind and birds squawking and flying crazily in the wind as though they were drunk.

“I’m so tired, God,” she whimpered. “I just want Sam to be ok and our life to be happy. Everything is so hard, and I feel like there’s no one here for me. I need help!”

Just as she uttered those last words, the thunder cracked loudly and shook the earth as though its mood matched her own.

“This is NOT FAIR!” she yelled into the wind. “Why SAM?! Why OUR family?! Why are You putting us through all of this and making me take it all on alone?!” she screamed.

Her only answer appeared to be the howling of the wind as it crept around the shed and nearly knocked her over.

A feeling of total defeat hit Callie, and her chin dropped as she walked slowly to the house.

“You ok?” asked Samuel, noticing that her head was down. The rain had washed away all evidence that she’d been crying, and the wind was loud enough that he didn’t hear her cries outside, but her body language told the story.

“I’m ok,” she replied, and mustered up a smile for him. He shouldn’t see her upset; after all, he was the one who was battling an illness, not her.

Then why did it feel to Callie like she was also very ill?

“I need to change into dry clothes so we can get to your appointment,” she told Sam.

Once upstairs, Callie washed her face and recombed her hair. Then she pulled on a T-shirt and dry jeans, convincing herself that she no longer looked like the wild woman screaming at God in the rain a few minutes earlier.

After grabbing keys and a jacket, Callie accompanied Sam to the car, and they started out for town.

“Maybe we could stop for lunch at the diner afterwards?” she suggested to Sam.

“Sounds good. I will be hungry by then,” he replied.

As Callie turned onto the highway, she noticed the dark clouds were spread across the horizon. The wind had picked up also and holding the car between the correct lines was a little more work.

The admin seated at the reception desk of Dr. Hudson’s office welcomed them in and exclaimed, “I see we’re in for a storm today! Come in and have a seat. I will let Dr. know you are here.”

Old magazines were better than nothing at all, so while they waited Callie picked up an old People magazine and learned what the celebrities were up to a few months ago. Sam sat next to her, watching the silent TV screen on the wall as the weatherman pointed out blobs of color on his map.

“Good to see you, Sam,” Dr. Hudson said. “You are looking well. Have you noticed any side effects from this latest medication?” he asked.

The two men discussed how things had been going for Samuel the past couple of weeks since he started the latest round. The side effects were about the same as the past meds he had tried; he was weak, nauseated and tired. Sam relayed this information to the doctor, smiling the entire time.

“You are a wonder,” Callie thought as she looked at her husband proudly. “As sick as you have been you can still put a smile on your face and get up to face each day.”

After Dr. Hudson suggested different ways to alleviate at least some of the side effects to make life a little easier, the couple left his office and returned to the car, driving the short distance to the diner.

It didn’t seem to be very busy today even though it was lunchtime. A few of the “regulars” occupied their usual spaces for coffee before going back to work, so there were plenty of places to sit where they could be distanced from other people and try to avoid illnesses that others may have.

The wind appeared to calm down and was growing still. 

Callie was feeling much less stressed than she had before and enjoyed this time out with Sam. Seeing a look of tiredness start to spread across her husband’s face, Callie decided it was time to go home so he could rest. Sam paid the bill, and they walked outside. 

“It’s humid,” he remarked. “So humid it may curl my hair-!” They both laughed at this, considering Sam had very little hair remaining on his head. When he did have hair, it was straight as a board, which he always wore short except for that period of rebellion in the 70’s.

Driving down the highway, Callie started to feel tension again. She couldn’t put a finger on it but wondered if it had anything to do with the weather today.

Ping! Ping! Thud! Then a sound that resembled a very loud drumline out of control began. 

It was hailing.

When the hail started falling, Sam glanced to his left out Callie’s window and was shocked at what he saw. The top of a grain bin was rolling right at them, and he broke into a sweat when he saw the ugly black funnel in the distance.

“Callie, watch out!” he shouted.

“What?!” Callie gasped, and she swerved to try to avoid the rolling hunk of steel that was trying to overtake the front of their car.

The impact jarred the car and both of its occupants and the screech of metal on metal was horrifying, almost as if the car was crying out in pain. Within seconds, Callie lost control as the car began fishtailing on the highway. 

“Sam!” she cried out.

“Callie, just steer into the swerve – let off the gas. You’ve got this!” Sam began but braced himself just in case she didn’t.

Callie popped her foot up from the accelerator and turned the steering wheel to attempt to get the car under control. They slowed down and eventually came to a stop.

“Whew!” Callie exhaled. “That was scary!”

“So is that –!“ shouted Sam and pointed to the left.

Moving quickly in their direction was the funnel cloud, swirling with dirt, broken tree limbs and other unrecognizable debris. It roared like a wild animal and rushed to overtake them, making their ears pop with the pressure it caused by its very existence.

“Sam!” screamed Callie, though nothing could be heard except the screaming wind.

The car began to rock, then to move on its own from the force of the wind. Callie grabbed at the steering wheel, helplessly trying to aim the car in another direction but she made no progress. Sam also reached over with the same impulse but the strength in their arms was no match for the whirling wind they were caught in.

Suddenly, the car became airborne, tilting the driver’s side down, then dashing it onto the highway before lifting it into the air once again. The car spun, then fell downward into the ditch next to the highway.

Almost as quickly as it attacked, the funnel retreated into the clouds. The rain continued to fall steadily and became the only sound. Smoke and dirt rose into the air from the car and as the tornado released its “prey,” debris started to rain down.

A cough, then another cough came from inside the car. It lay on the driver’s side, its occupants held and hanging from their seatbelts. Callie shook her head and tried to force herself to move so she could release the seatbelt. Suddenly she remembered Sam in the seat next to her.

“Sam! Sam! Wake up – please!” she called out, shaking his arm.

Sam moved and groaned but did not wake up.

“Dear God, please save Sam! I cannot make it without him – I don’t want to make it without him!” she cried.  ‘I thank you for our life together, but I want more! Please, God!”

There was no audible answer, just the rain falling a little more gently outside the car. Callie knew better than to expect or demand, but she hoped and believed that God would answer her prayer. Moments later she blacked out.

Callie didn’t know how long she had been out, but in the distance, she heard an engine running.

“There’s one – no, two!” shouted the voice of a man. The car moved slightly as someone tried to open the passenger door which was now facing the sky. Callie opened her eyes and saw the face of a man wearing a backwards baseball cap peering down at them.

“Ma’am – we’re here to help. We saw your car get picked up and slammed down, but we were trying to get to the ditch to lie down. How badly are you hurt?”

Callie had no idea. Most of her parts were hurting, but at their age that wasn’t so unusual. Her legs were stuck but she could move them slightly, so probably not broken. Her left arm would not move and though it was not bleeding, she noticed there was blood dripping onto it. The steady drip was coming from her face where the glass from her shattered window had embedded itself.

“Sam!” she called out again. The man helping them was using a knife to cut through Sam’s seatbelt so he could be removed from the car. This time Sam did move slightly and opened his eyes.

“Can you grab around my neck?” their rescuer asked. “We need to get you out and onto a back board.”

Sam reached up with his right arm and weakly hung on to the man’s neck. 

“What happened…? Callie – are you ok?” asked Sam.

“I’m ok, Sam,” Callie responded. “Are you in any pain?”

“A little,” he answered, “but it isn’t too bad,” Sam said, and he winked.

Callie noticed then that there was a cervical collar already around Sam’s neck.

“Who are you?” she asked the man.

“Name’s Jim,” the man in the baseball cap replied. “My partner and I were going in to work when we saw the funnel cloud start to drop and then saw your car getting picked up.”

“You had that collar and a back board with you?” she asked, confused.

“We’re fire fighters, Ma’am,” Jim replied. “Normally we don’t take this road, but we were supposed to pick up another guy for work – his car wouldn’t start. Brand new car and it wouldn’t start. What are the odds?” Jim continued.

“So we were on this road, saw what happened and here we are. Ambulance is coming up the road right now and they’ll get you all fixed up. Vitals are good, Seems to be somewhat minor injuries. You were both very lucky!” Jim informed them.

After they cut her seatbelt, Callie was able to assist Jim and his partner to get out of the driver’s seat and out of the car. When her head poked up into the air from the passenger door, she realized that several men were there now, some in fire fighter uniforms. Some of them were attending Sam, who was answering their questions. He seemed ok, and hearing his big voice was comforting to her.

As she stepped into the ambulance to sit alongside Sam, an EMT handed her a blanket to wrap around her shoulders.

“We’re taking you both to Pine Hills Hospital to be checked over, but you are both looking pretty good for what you went through,” said the EMT. “Your car – not so much,” and he chuckled at himself.

One of the fire fighters slammed shut the back doors of the ambulance and they started the bumpy ride down the road littered with tree branches and other objects the tornado had collected and tossed aside. The rain had stopped, the humidity lifted and the sun came out.

Callie looked out at the sunshine and felt her heart lift. They had gone through something scary but not alone. Someone was there with them and was listening. Someone knew a car wouldn’t start (or maybe He made sure it didn’t!), Someone sent fire fighters down the same road she and Sam would be on, and Someone listened to her prayers.

She and Sam were safe, and even if they had other scary things to go through, she knew they were not alone – He would be there then too.