Chapter Twelve
Ally
If I said it once, I had said it a hundred times. I needed to fucking start going to a gym. Having only walked about halfway to the diner, I had to stop and take a break. By that point, I was out on the highway with nothing and no one around. Peering around, I searched for somewhere to sit for a while. Seeing no real options, I decided to head for the next overpass. If I made it there, it would give me a break from the straight-line winds that were becoming a bitch to walk in.
Being born and bred in the Mid-West, I knew when a bad storm was coming. It was cold last night, then it got too warm too fast for early afternoon. A bad combination if things were just right. I was sure things were just right, but oh-so wrong for me. I was walking on a highway without any homes or buildings between me and my destination. I was screwed. Finding shelter out here was an impossible challenge. The best I could hope for was a deep ditch where I would have to cover my head or get to an overpass and climb all the way up the slant on the concrete, where the top and side meet and then pray.
I could see the overpass in the distance, I never made it. Things took a turn for the worse right before my eyes. The skies opened and poured a hail storm on me. Another one of those fucking signs. Eye to the sky was the saying, I thought. Great, I would fucking take a look at the sky, if there wasn’t a chance I would lose an eye to the vengeful ice. It pelted every inch of my body. When it first started, they were pea sized pieces that stung a bit when they hit my bare skin. It wasn’t too bad. But then they started coming faster and growing bigger.
I was in trouble. Running for all I was worth, I tried to shield my face yet still see where the hell I was going. I finally had to let my purse go so I pulled the strap in two and tied it round a mile marker sign with the strength that I had left. Maybe it would be a breadcrumb for later. I hoped so anyway. The bigger hail hurt, dammit. Not just a little bit either. Trying to run on top of the large ice crystals while battling with the winds, was damn near impossible.
I should have known I wouldn’t make it. As I tried to run again, I stepped down on a large piece of hail and that was it. Landing face first, I rolled down the steep embankment. I hit something on the way down, to this day I couldn’t say what it was. The skin on my palm ripped open the instant it happened and then my face felt like it was being torn off. Was it just the wind picking up again? But when I hit that last anonymous item, it was lights out.
I woke sometime later, with no idea of how much time had passed. The storm was still going but rain fell from the sky instead of hail. I lay still and tried to listen. All I heard was the storm. Rain ran down the embankment in streams like a river. The clashes of lightning sounded as if the gods of Olympus themselves were at war. And there was something else I couldn’t quite place. I tried to get up, but when I rolled over the pain hit me everywhere. My head throbbed on one side and my cheek stung for some reason. But when I put my hand down to try and get up again, that made me scream. Pulling my hand closer to my face, I saw blood running from a large cut straight across my palm. Shit. That was not good. Pressing my cut hand to my side to try and stanch the blood flowing, I tried to get up again using only my uninjured hand. Making it to my knees, I realized the rain has slowed just a bit. That was a good sign. Thank God.
The embankment was steep. With the throbbing in my head, I didn’t know if I would be able to walk up it on my own. But I had to try. No one would ever find me down here. Using my good hand, I tried to stand and screamed so loudly it made my lungs hurt. I looked down at the foot that had caused me such grief and realized it had swollen to double its normal size. Shocked, I just lay back down on the gravel and dirt and tried to breathe. I needed to calm down and think. Panic tried to free itself from my chest as I contemplated my predicament. No. No. You will not have a panic attack Ally. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breath out.
Trying to calm myself so I could think rationally again, I rolled over onto my side and lifted my cut hand to check on the bleeding. The blood was still flowing and I had to stop it. Yanking my shirttail from my pants, I tried to rip a piece off to tie around my hand. It didn’t work. They made it look so easy in the damn movies. All I accomplished was pulling up the front of my shirt so my boobs would get a good soaking. Rolling back over and sitting up, I decided to use both hands to rip it, no matter how much it would hurt. It still didn’t fucking work. Fucking lame ass movies.
I decided to take off my heavy button up sweater that was so soaked it swished at my movements. Pulling both sides at the same time to pop the buttons off, worked just like in the movies. I peeled the wet shirt from my body and set it on my lap while I tried to put the wet sweater back on. The rain was now steady and almost peaceful, but the temperature had dropped quite a bit. I was starting to shake. Not good. Finally, I got the sweater back on but I couldn’t button it. Exhaustion overwhelmed me and I started to cry as I wrapped my shirt around my bleeding hand. Why was I crying? I was alive. Hurt yes, but I would be ok. I had to be. But still, I cried. I just let it out. Everything that was pent up just came rolling out of me right along with the rain.
I tried to crawl up the embankment several times managing to move a few feet each time. It was better than nothing I thought at the time. Progress was progress. No giving up. This was life. When I fell down, I had to get back up. When someone knocked me down, I had to get back up. Keep fighting for what I wanted. Keep fighting for what was right. I crawled up another foot or so and collapsed. I was so tired. Why was I tired? There was that sound again. It was a little clearer than earlier. That first time, I could have sworn it was the ominous sound of a tornado. Thankfully, I was wrong. But this time was different. Maybe it was a car horn? Or maybe I was losing my mind. I laughed to myself for no reason whatsoever. I was sleepy and I knew that was bad, but for the life of me I couldn’t recall why it was. But I just needed to close my eyes for a minute. Just one minute.