The Journal: Crimson Skies: (The Journal Book 3) (17 page)

“We did have the time to stop at the hospital
for the final touches on our project,” Jason grinned. “Want to see
what we’ve been up to?”

~~~

The first thing I noticed when we pulled up
to the old boutique building was the sign.

Mark was speechless, as he looked up at the
four by eight sheet of plywood mounted over the front door that
read “Moose Creek General Hospital”.

Jason beamed. “We put the second coat of
sealer over the paint yesterday, but it wasn’t dry enough to put up
until today.”

“That’s only the first part,” Eric said. He
opened the front doors for us. “Doctor, Mom, your wish has been our
command,” he joked as we entered.

The inside had been completely transformed by
the installation of rails and curtains separating the beds.

I looked up in amazement, realizing what they
had done.

“That looks like PVC pipe! And those are
shower hooks.” I then fingered the sturdy material that hung there,
several inches off the floor. “Is this….”

“Yep, shower curtains!” Jason blurted out.
“We were really surprised to find them, but I guess anyone buying
shower curtains now were getting the cheapest available, and these
cloth ones were expensive. We needed eight for each side of the
room, so we had to get three different colors. I hope that’s okay.
And we weren’t too sure about how high off the floor they should be
so we guessed.”

“What do you think, Doc?” Eric asked
pensively.

Mark had been silent since we walked into his
new hospital. He swallowed hard and his eyes glistened. He cleared
his throat. “I’m not sure what to say. This is… it’s wonderful. No,
not just wonderful, it’s fantastic!”

“There’s one more thing Jason insisted on
doing, and that’s what took us so long. Follow me.” Eric led us to
the back room we had decided on as the examination room and
surgery.

There, in the center of the room was my old
massage table that I hadn’t used in years. They must have found it
out in the barn. Against the inside wall was a new, deep, stainless
steel sink set into a cabinet with a white countertop and
glistening faucets.

“Eric reminded me how you scrubbed up right
in the exam room next door when you took care of Chivas. I thought
you would like a sink, with hot water, in here too,” Jason
said.

Eric eyed his brother. “Aren’t you forgetting
one more detail?”

Jason smiled and flipped a switch next to the
door. Three rows of bright lights illuminated the room. “They are
on a dimmer in the event you don’t need this much light,” he said,
turning the lighting down to a glow.

I left Mark’s side to hug my two sons, and
Mark was right behind me and hugged them too.

“I admire how much you can get done in such a
short time, Jason,” Mark complimented him. “It’s been only nine
days since we began this project. You work really fast. All the
plumbing, wiring, rails and the sign… the sign is remarkable and
not something I was expecting.”

“I must admit having Eric helping sure sped
things up. He must have learned a thing or two watching me,” he
chided his brother.

“Hey there, little brother, respect your
elders and remember who’s older,” Eric kidded back.

We decided to have an open house for the
hospital in a few days and invite our new friends from Marquette,
Jim and his merry band of soldiers, and to extend an invite to the
Mathers Lake crew as well.

“Do you think Collins will come?” I
asked.

“I don’t know, maybe out of curiosity,” Mark
answered, “but I think we should try. We won’t get anywhere if we
keep ignoring each other.”

“How much of an open house should we do?” I
kept thinking of additional food. It was getting more and more
scarce.

“I’ve got a batch of beer almost ready, Mom,”
Eric said. “I’m sure we can come up with a couple dozen juice
glasses to serve it in. I doubt we want to make it look like we
have a lot.”

“That’s a good idea, Eric. Joshua dropped off
a nice chunk of cheese this morning, and I can make some
saltine-like crackers,” I thought out loud. “I think that’s where
we stop though.”

“As much as I like the colonel and his crew,
why are you including them in this?” Amanda asked.

“That’s easy,” Jason said. “It’s a show of
force. The more people Collins thinks we have, the less likely he
will think about attacking us.”

October 2

“I was noticing how dark the sky was to the
west last night,” I commented to Mark as we had our morning tea.
“It looks like we might get some rain today.”

“Perhaps,” he replied. “Something looks
different with these clouds though.” Mark opened the door and
stepped outside into the cool morning air. He moved to the center
of the lawn and turned in a slow circle, like he was sniffing the
air, and then he came back in.

“Last night’s clouds were the Mammatus
clouds, heavy with impending rain, right?” Mark asked me and I
nodded, remembering the popcorn look with the dark underbellies.
“These are more of a shelf or wall cloud formation with stratus
fractus mixed in. A very odd combination,
and
I smell ozone,
lots and lots of ozone. We’re in for a really big storm.”

I almost laughed, but he was so serious. “You
sound like a weatherman.”

He looked up from his tea and smiled at me.
“One summer in college I signed on to a storm chaser crew out west.
It was an exciting vacation, and I learned a great deal about the
weather and storms, especially tornadoes. The thing I learned the
most that year was that I did
not
want to be a meteorologist
– too dangerous! That’s when I decided to become a doctor, and I’ve
kept in touch as a hobby.”

“You amaze me,” I said. “So you think this
will be a bad storm? We should let the kids know in case they had
made plans to do outdoor things.”

“That’s a good idea.”

~~~

We have our drill for preparing for storms;
it just changes somewhat depending on whether it’s rain or snow.
Anything loose in the yard was pulled into the barn or put into the
fenced garden. The chickens were confined to their interior yard
and we gave them extra feed and fresh water and then collected the
few eggs they had left us.

“Will the greenhouse be okay?” Mark asked
while we circled the house, looking for anything that could be
destructive if caught by a strong wind and turned into a
projectile.

“I don’t know. The glass panes are triple
thick door panels and are really strong, though nothing will stand
up to a tree falling on it,” I said. “I think I should take down
the solar panel, just to be safe. I sure don’t want to lose it in a
high wind. It’s one of those totally irreplaceable items.”

“Can I do that for you?” Mark asked.
“Sometimes I don’t feel very useful.”

I stopped and looked at him. “You’re kidding,
right? Not useful? Besides being the only doctor within thirty
miles, and the only veterinarian, you are also now our weatherman.
We wouldn’t know how severe this storm might be without you. Sure,
I knew rain was on the way, but you have spurred us on to prepare
for something worse.” I kissed his cheek. “Jason showed me how to
do this already. I need a ladder, a wrench, and a screwdriver.”

I slid open the window adjacent to the solar
panel. Jason had purposely put in an access for this reason. I
reached up and loosened a few bolts, bringing the delicate panel
inside, handing it to Mark. Using the screwdriver, I undid the
wires so the panel didn’t dangle. Mark set the panel safely on the
floor and out of the way.

“I remember my first visit to this
greenhouse,” Mark said, smiling.

“So do I,” I blushed, “and that first kiss
shook me to my core, Mark. Everything I felt in that moment made me
doubt… everything. And that’s not a bad thing, look where we are
now.”

~~~

It was early afternoon and we were walking
across the road. The wind picked up to a stiff breeze, sending more
of the tangy ozone smell our way. I always loved that scent when I
was a young girl in the city. I think the years of smog dimmed that
greatly, except for here, where we have very little pollution.

Amanda opened the door for us. “Come on in!
It’s sure getting chilly out there.”

“We’ve already battened down the hatches, and
thought you should be aware of the storm that might be coming this
way,” I said after giving her a hug. “Where is everyone?”

“Jason and Eric took the kids and Chivas into
Moose Creek to play on the playground equipment at Diggers Park.
What storm?” Just then a loud rumble of thunder shook the house.
“Oh!” she said.

“I’m sure that will send them back in a
hurry,” Mark commented. “Let’s check around outside and put things
away, okay? We’ll help you.”

When we were tucking the last of the lawn
chairs under the porch, Jason pulled into the driveway. Chivas was
the first one out and she scrambled up the porch steps whining to
get inside, Jacob and Emilee right behind her.

“Wow that thunder made my hair stick out!”
Emi said, wide eyed once inside.

“Static electricity,” Mark mumbled.

“Why don’t you two see if Joshua needs any
help with the animals, and then make sure Ken and Karen know about
the storm, although I think there’s little doubt now,” I told my
sons, after another rumble of thunder was heard.

“Keep the kids and Chivas inside, though I
doubt you could get that dog to go out right now,” I laughed.
“Amanda, do you need any help with the lamps in case we lose
power?” She shook her head. “We’re going back home to wait this
out. I’m sure Jason and Eric will be back before the rain
starts.”

~~~

“The static electricity Emi felt has me
concerned,” Mark said while I lined the kerosene lamps up on the
table, along with matches and a flashlight. I try not to use the
flashlights since the batteries are limited and there’s no
replacing them.

“Why?”

“An electrical discharge doesn’t happen
alone, it’s usually associated with lightning, which we didn’t
have. It’s probably nothing, but something to watch,” he paced over
to look out the door again. This time there was a huge jagged
streak of brilliant white light across the sky, followed a few
seconds later by a loud crack of thunder. “That was really close,
maybe five miles. This storm has developed fast.” He continued to
watch out the door.

I sighed with relief when I saw the silver
SUV return and the boys make a dash into their house.

The thunder and lightning continued.
Sometimes the flashes were wide, jagged streaks; sometimes they
filled the sky like page-lightning does. The rumbling was almost
constant now and started getting on my nerves.

“Why doesn’t the thunder let up when the
lightning stops? It’s been over two hours of non-stop noise!”

“I’m not sure, Allex. Remember, this is only
a hobby of mine.” Mark put his arms around me for a comforting hug,
as a bolt struck across the next rise over and the simultaneous
thunder sent two hanging wine glasses shattering to the floor.

“Where is the rain?” I asked no one in
particular as I got the broom and dustpan to clean up the glass.
When I was dumping the shards in the trash, the first pellets hit
the sliding glass door.

“Well, there’s your rain, except its frozen.
Hail. That comes from the upper atmosphere. If the wind currents
are moving so fast that they’re picking up moisture from Lake
Superior and thrusting it high enough to freeze, and we’re still
not getting any rain, that could mean the lower cloud bands are too
dry, yet the winds are really strong – tornado strong. I never saw
anything like this when I was storm chasing.”

The hail pounded the ground in a sheet of
white ice. Quarter sized balls of ice bounced on the steps and
pinged off the glass. Another bolt of lightning streaked across the
sky, then another and another. I had never seen so many hits of
lightning all at once and the thunder was deafening. I
shivered.

“Here, I think this is a good occasion,” Mark
said, as he put a glass in my hand. He clinked his glass against
mine and I sipped the dark liquid. Private Stock rum slid down my
throat and heated my chest, easing my breathing.

“I don’t know what’s going on, Allex, though
I will admit to being scared. My guess would be there is some kind
of very high disturbance happening that is causing this extreme
weather.”

I laughed nervously. “Some kind of very high
disturbance? You mean like an ash cloud from a super volcano
circling the Earth? An ash cloud that’s already killed possibly
millions of people? Is that all?” I downed the drink and held the
glass out for more. A tear slid down my cheek. “I’m sorry, Mark,
I’m not scared; I’m terrified!”

JOURNAL ENTRY: October 3

With all the thunder pounding my ears and the
brilliant flashes of lightning illuminating the house, I hardly
slept last night. Even with little to no rain, this storm has been
brutal and relentless.

*

“How do you feel this morning?” Mark asked
me. He was sitting at the table, cradling his shaggy head in his
large hands.

“Exhausted!” I poured us each a cup of coffee
instead of tea. “I figured we could use the caffeine,” I responded
to his questioning look.

“I’m not complaining,” he said, inhaling the
scent of the dark brew. “I know we’re rationing ourselves to make
it last longer, but I still miss it.”

“So do I, but it isn’t just us, there are six
other adults leaning on our storage, and we all have to make
certain sacrifices.”

“Allex,” Mark said, looking serious, “do you
think we will ever get back to a normal life? I mean a life like
two years ago, where we had jobs and paychecks and could go to the
store for whatever we wanted, like coffee.”