Bonds Of The Heart (16 page)

              She showered and changed into jeans and an old sweatshirt of her dads with the letters
usmc
emblazoned across the chest. She packed her suitcase and left out her travel clothes for tomorrow. Scribbling a quick note for her mom, Erika left it on the kitchen counter where she knew her mother would see it. Grabbing her rain jacket, purse, and keys, she headed to her Jeep. She only hoped she’d make it back before the rain got too bad and scolded herself for not checking the weather before leaving the house.

***

              Blake got a few hours at the old abandoned field in before the rain hit. Once the field was too muddy and when the thunder rolled in the distance, he left and headed to the cemetery. He would still have these moments where he could take his brother’s truck out and remember the good times they had together. When Robbie was old enough, Blake would take him out to the field and let him drive his father’s truck around, like he did.

              Pulling up the cemetery, Blake parked across the street as he always had. To move on, move forward, this was something he knew he had to do. Putting the truck in park and glaring at the gates to the cemetery, he opened the door and got out. He stood for a moment, trying to gather his strength to enter through the old rusted gates. He tugged at his jacket when the wind threatened to take it from him. He took a deep breath, bit down, and trudged forward. Jared was probably mad at him for taking his sweet-ass time to come see him. Rain pelted Blake's face. Although, he supposed, the tornado warnings were right. They’d have one come through or nearby with the way the wind was blowing sideways.

              He forced open the gate and headed through the rows of headstones. He heard a car pass on the street behind him, and thought the driver stupid for going out in this weather. When he reached his brother’s grave, he picked up the turned-over flag and forced it deep into the ground.

              “Hey Jared,” he began. “I know it’s taken me some time to get here. I just couldn’t…No. No excuses. You never believed in them and would probably smack me upside the head right now for making all the excuses in the world to…” he paused remembering Erika and how he hurt her last night. He took another deep breath. “Robbie is doing good. You’d be proud of him. Well, you always were, so I guess you’d be prouder now. He’s having trouble with math, but with his accountant uncle around, you know he’s in good hands.”

              Gripping his jacket tighter when the force of the wind knocked him a step sideways, he knew he didn’t have too much longer.

              “I fell in love, Jared. You’d like her. She’s just like Lori. Hot-headed, stubborn, feisty, sexy. She gets on my nerves sometimes, always refusing help. Then she goes and makes me…makes me need her. She’s the first person I’ve wanted to talk to since…well you know, since everything happened. I’m gonna tell her how much I love her. I’m going to marry her, Jared, if I can get her to forgive me. I made excuses to myself. I pushed it off. I pushed her away. I should have told her as soon as I knew that your commander was her father, as soon as I recognized the photo you sent me. I should have told her all about you, why Robbie was with me, why I was back here and working at your shop. I couldn’t bring myself to do it, and now…Shit Jared, I can’t let her go back to California.”

              At the snap of a tree branch in the distance, Blake looked up. The sky had turned black and the wind wasn’t settling down. Trees bended in the hard wind. He said a quick goodbye to his brother, promising to come back. He would even bring a six pack of their favorite beer, Yuengling. He glanced at the headstones around him and saw Erika’s father’s grave. He paid his respects and wished he was there to ask for Erika’s hand in marriage before running back to his brother’s truck.

              He had made it safely to his house through the rough, worsening weather. The rain was picking up, pelting his windows. When he opened the door and found his mother and Mrs. Gibbons in the living room, his heart dropped through the floor.

              “Blake!” His mother jumped from her seat next to Erika’s mother, who was twisting a handkerchief in her hands, worry clear on her face.

              “What’s going on? Where’s Robbie?”

              “Robbie’s fine, he’s at his friend’s house. He’s safe. Blake, it’s Erika.”

              Blake watched Erika’s mother wipe a tear as his heart stopped at the mention of her name. He turned to his mother, his voice low and controlled. “Mom, what happened?”

              “When Mrs. Gibbons got home, she found Erika’s note on the counter. Erika said she had to run to Culpeper for something and that she’d be right back, that she wouldn’t be more than twenty minutes or so. That was three hours ago, before the tornado warnings, before the storm got worse. She hasn’t come home. We can’t reach her on her cell. We can’t find Erika.”

              “Please Blake.” Erika’s mother cried, tears spilling over. “Please find Erika!”

              Panic and fear cut through Blake’s heart. Erika’s Jeep was old, built like a tank, he reassured himself. She wouldn’t be stupid enough to travel during a tornado warning. As long as she stayed in Culpeper, she should be fine. But what if she hadn’t? What if she was on her way back and got stuck in the storm? What if she was in an accident? She was stubborn, she wouldn’t have stayed.
Damn it!

              “Stay here. I have my cell. I’ll call when I find her.” He said before rushing back out of the house. He heard his mother call out to him to be safe as he got into his brother’s truck. Blake saw the fear on her eyes as she stood by the door and watched him take off into the storm.

***

             
Turning off the highway was a mistake.

              She should have stayed in Culpeper when the clouds turned black, but she wanted to get back to her mother. Now she was on one of the back roads with horizontal rain, hail and tree branches falling around her. At least she had been able to change her flight back to L.A. She’d have to spend a few more days here than she really wanted to, but she could keep herself occupied at home and away from Blake for as long as she needed.

              “Damn it.” Erika pounded her fist on the steering wheel as the wind rattled her Jeep. Her wipers were at their highest setting and not doing any justice in clearing her vision of the road.

              Even if she let Blake explain, could she forgive him? He didn’t exactly try hard to stop her from leaving the night before. He didn’t try that hard to explain either. Then again, she didn’t give him the chance to. Well, he had hurt her. The pain had been too much for her to stand there and listen to him try to make excuses and talk his way out of his mistake.

              Looking at the swaying trees and trying hard to see where she was driving, Erika cursed herself. She should have checked the weather instead of listening to sappy, heartbreak music. She switched the radio to one of the news stations and heard the emergency warning tone and turned up the volume. The disembodied voice rang through her Jeep and her head.

“This is not a test. An F1 tornado was spotted just minutes ago outside the town of Culpeper, Virginia
,
traveling east by northeast toward Quantico at the rate of thirty miles per hour with wind speeds gusting over eighty-five miles per hour. Everyone is advised to seek shelter and get off the roads as soon as possible. If you are on the road, get to safety now
,
or to a low
-
lying ditch and cover your head. There are reports of downed trees and power lines. Rivers are surging with rising waters and all bridges should be avoided.”

              Erika's knuckles turned white on the steering wheel. She was driving through back roads with a tornado on the move. She took a soothing breath and tried to talk herself calm.

              All she had to do was get home to her mother.

              Trees surrounded her on all sides. The bridge up ahead told her she wasn’t far from home. She would just have to get across the bridge, where the waters were rising and rushing below her, without any problems. She knew she was supposed to avoid the bridge, but it was the only way home to her mother.

              She sloshed through rainwater that swallowed her headlights. The tires cut angled grooves through the water. "I'm going to make it. Just a few more feet…Just a…" A blast of wind sucker-punched her from the left and threw the jeep against the barrier like a linebacker, smashing the passenger window to pieces.
Was that scream mine?
She saw the rage of the muddy, brown water below the bridge and gripped her father’s dog tags around her neck.

              “Please help me, Daddy.”

              If she couldn’t straighten out her Jeep, she’d be in that water soon enough. She turned the wheel trying to turn the tires in the direction she wanted to face. She pressed the gas slowly, moving the Jeep only inches forward, just shy of the other side of the bridge, before another gust of wind toyed with the Jeep like a kid playing with his Matchbox cars. Her head bounced from side to side as the Jeep was swept in the other direction then back against the railing once more. This time her head hit her window and everything went black.

Eighteen

***

Blake checked the cemetery first. Then he drove to the freeway, got on then off after one exit. No sign of Erika or her Jeep. She must have taken the back roads, he thought. His stomach churned from fear and panic, a feeling he’d never experienced before. He didn’t like it one bit.

              He fought the gusts of wind as his truck swayed on the side roads. His truck crawled through the massive puddles and skulked along the roads navigating around fallen trees and branches. The rain pelted sideways on his windows and small balls of hail tolled against the truck.

              As quickly as the storm had come in, it was gone. Blake could see the sun trying to pierce through the clouds as he reached for his cell phone. He forced his foot onto the brake as the picture before him unfolded.

              Erika’s Jeep was off the bridge on the other side of the river bank. The front end of the Jeep was half in the water and the back half was sticking up and out. The truck skidded to a halt at the end of the bridge. The riverbank was too muddy and riddled with downed tree branches he was too afraid he’d get his truck stuck. Instead, Blake jumped out and rushed to the bank of the river to get a better handle on the situation. From what he could see, Erika’s limp body was slumped over in the driver’s seat.

              “Erika!” he yelled, but she didn’t move.

              He waded into the water carefully so he didn’t get swept into the rushing current or risk moving the Jeep. Greedy mud water pulled at his legs. All of the windows were smashed and Blake saw blood trickling from Erika’s head when he approached. He tried to the door handle first but it was jammed shut.

              “Erika? Can you hear me?”
Wake up! Open your eyes!

              She didn’t move or make a noise. Blake fought the urge to shake her awake for fear she may have other injuries. He paddled back to the bank, the raging water nearly to his chest, and ran to his truck. He pulled out his cell phone to dial 9-1-1. No reception.
Damn it!
He headed back to Erika’s side, he couldn’t leave her. He didn’t have much time before the Jeep would be tossed into the river and swept downstream.

              Blake held Erika’s head with both of his hands as he sat her back in the seat. The wilted airbag fell into her lap and he noticed her father’s dog tags were gripped in her hand. He stretched an arm inside and fumbled with her seatbelt. Stuck.
Dammit!
He grabbed his pocket knife from his back pocket and cut through the straps, then turned her back to him and she flopped, unconscious, like a marionette.

              His foot slipped on a rock and the Jeep jerked.
Shit!
The back end of the Jeep fell into the water with a splash. Blake cursed the air as he fell into the water with it, the Jeep just barely missing him. Choking on water and regaining his footing, he approached the Jeep and re-positioned Erika’s slumped body. He coaxed her body out of the window as slowly and as quickly as he could. She moaned only once in his arms by hooking his arms under hers.

              “Erika? Erika, stay with me, baby. I’ve got you. Stay with me.”

              Her body was limp in his arms and fear escalated his need to pull her from the Jeep. Once her body was free, he carried her to the bank of the river away from the rising waters. The approaching sirens wailed in the distance. He checked her for any other bruises or broken bones. She was motionless and cold. But she was breathing. He couldn’t see anything except the blood on her face.

              He brought his hand to her face and felt it was cool to the touch. “Erika? Erika, please open your eyes, baby. Please stay with me. I love you.”

              He paused for just a second, then raced to his truck to try to call for help one more time. He managed to reach 9-1-1.
Finally!
He told the operator on the phone where he was and what happened. He didn’t bother to stay on the phone like the operator wanted him to; instead he snapped his phone shut and went back to Erika. He stayed with her for what felt like centuries until the ambulance and police showed up.