“So what would you do if you didn’t live there?”
“I don’t know. I’d have to pay rent on an apartment, so it might be six of one and half a dozen of the other.”
“What about a better job?”
“I’d be willing to go somewhere else for more money, but with all the servicemen coming home and needing work, I doubt I’d find anything right now.” She looked up and smiled. “But things will work out. They always do.”
The wind had picked up as they emerged from the restaurant, and no stars were visible. “It’s going to storm,” Kent said. On cue, lightning split the darkened sky, closely followed by the rumble of thunder.
“The boys were going to sleep outside in a tent. They’ll be disappointed.”
Kent opened the door of the car. “Let’s get to the St. Angelus before it rains and we get soaked.”
They’d danced three times when the lights flickered and went out. When they hadn’t come back on in a few minutes, a voice from the back of the ballroom broke through the buzz of impatient conversation. “Folks, I’m the night manager. It’s getting ready to come a gully washer outside, and the wind’s whipping around pretty strong, so we’re going to close off the garden area and shut down this floor. We apologize for interrupting your evening, but you’re welcome to stay around the lobby until this thing blows over.”
Downstairs, as she watched from the windows facing Beauregard, the force of the storm stirred a growing unease in Celeste. The Harrises would take good care of Jonny, but he’d never been away from her at night.
She wasn’t sure what happened first, whether she heard the cracking sound or felt Kent grabbing her, but a sudden sheet of rain drenched them as two windows blew in, scattering glass across the floor.
Kent propelled her toward the back wall, shoving her against it, his body shielding hers. She listened to a cacophony of screams, loud voices, and undecipherable sounds that made her wonder if the building was about to come down around them. Then, suddenly, it was over, but the silence frightened her more than the storm.
“I have to get to Jonny,” she said, trying to squirm out from under Kent’s sheltering bulk.
“Take it easy, Velvet. Let’s see what’s going on first.”
“You don’t understand. This is the first time he’s been away at night, and…”
“We’ll get to him as soon as we can. I’m sure he’s just fine. You trust his friend’s parents, don’t you?”
In the light from two kerosene lanterns that appeared from nowhere, Celeste took in the battered lobby. Overturned pot plants spilled damp soil onto the soaked carpet, and water puddled on the leather furniture.
“Stay here,” Kent said, pushing her back against the wall. Celeste heard glass crunching under his feet as he strode away.
“Okay, people, listen up!” Kent’s voice rose above the others. “I need those lanterns over here so we can see the street.” She watched the lights move in the direction of the main door. In a few minutes, Kent’s voice, authoritative and definitely in charge, broke into the panicked conversation of those around her. “I said, listen up! Any other guys from Concho Field or Goodfellow Air Base in here?”
Glass crunched again as feet moved toward his voice.
“Anybody outrank me—I hope.”
Nervous laughter scattered through the crowd as voices called out, “Corporal, Private, Private…”
Kent chuckled. “Okay, looks like you’re stuck with a looie. Here’s what we’re going to do. Over there at the desk—any phone service?”
“Dial tone,” came the reply.
“Okay, then call both bases and see if they got hit, and tell them we did. They’ll send in crews to help out.”
Sirens, whether fire or police Celeste couldn’t tell, pierced the night. Kent continued, “Anybody hurt in here, or just wet and scared?”
Celeste heard the words
wet, scared,
and a few other rather risqué expressions. With the darkness obscuring her face, she let herself laugh and felt better.
“Okay, good, we’re all in one piece. If you came in a car, move up this way. Slow. Real slow.”
A handful of people moved forward. “It doesn’t look too bad out there,” Kent said. “Some power lines are down across Irving, so stay away from them. Beauregard’s clear, as far as I can tell. Nothing fell on the cars, the ones parked on this side, at least, so if that’s you, and you want to try to make it home, be my guest.”
“Wait a minute, before you go,” the night manager called out. “If any of you can’t get home or just don’t want to try, we’ve got a lot of empty rooms, and they’re on the house tonight. See me at the desk. And don’t think I won’t know the difference between Mr. and Mrs. and Mr. and Miss!”
Laughter and a few exaggerated groans followed his announcement. “Form a line, form a line. Don’t mob the hand that’s rocking your cradle tonight.”
In a few minutes, Kent came back to where he’d left Celeste. “Two police officers are here. They’ll take over now. One of them said they thought it was a small tornado. A couple of the enlisted men are going to get their girls from out of town checked into rooms here. And some guy said then he’d try to get them back to the field. I have to get back, too, but I’ll take you to see about the boy first.”
“The Harrises live on Nineteenth. You’ll run into it down Main Street.”
“If I can get there,” he said, taking her arm. “You all right?”
“Just a little wet. I’ll dry out.”
“Come on then.”
It took almost an hour, crawling around scattered debris and dancing with other cars at intersections no longer controlled by lights, to reach their destination. Flashing red and blue lights made Kent slow down at the end of the block where the Harrises lived. Taking in the scene, Celeste knew she’d never really understood what terror was—until now.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Before Kent could turn off the engine, Celeste jumped out of the car and began to run. “Watch the power lines!” she heard him yell. Her high heels made speed difficult, but the flashing lights of the ambulance in front of the Harris house kept her from slowing down.
On the sidewalk, the Harrises huddled together, with Ricky and Rosemary in front of them. Part of the front porch was gone, victim of a pecan tree whose many branches now covered half the lawn. Spotting the family, Celeste realized the small blanket-wrapped body on the stretcher the attendants were carrying around the house must be Jonny.
She heard herself screaming his name before she skidded to a halt by the open doors of the ambulance. “Out of the way, lady. This one isn’t going to make it if we don’t get going.” She caught a glimpse of a small, pale face. His eyes were closed, and blood matted his wet hair.
“Jonny! Jonny!”
Ruby Harris’s arms pulled her away as the doors slammed. “We brought the boys in when the wind picked up, but Ricky said Jonny remembered he’d left his plane outside and slipped out to get it.”
Celeste stared at her.
“One of the trees in the back fell on the tent. Bill heard it and went outside and found him.”
The breath went out of her. She realized Kent had joined them. “They’ll take him to Shannon,” he said. “Come on.”
Ambulances and cars were lined up on Magdalen Street, waiting their turn to access the sloping drive to the emergency room. Celeste jumped out as soon as the car came to a forced stop and ran the rest of the way.
“My little boy,” she told the nurse who barred her way in the receiving area. “A tree fell on him!”
“I think he’s over there,” the nurse said, indicating a curtained area, “but you can’t go in.”
“He’ll be scared if…”
“Just sit down over there. I’ll check on him for you. What was the name?”
“Jonny. Jonny Goddard.”
“Just sit down, Mrs. Goddard. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“No, I’m not…” Celeste spoke to the departing nurse’s back.
A few minutes later, Kent squeezed in beside her on the crowded bench. “A nurse went to see about him, but she hasn’t come back.”
“They’re working alive in here,” Kent said, slipping his arm around her. “She’ll be back when she can.”
Celeste sat in the circle of Kent’s arm, her body frozen with fear but her mind racing.
I shouldn’t have let him go. Maybe if I hadn’t wanted to go out with Kent so much, I’d have said no. Jonny’s just a baby, not old enough to go off by himself for the night. No, that’s not right. He’s nine years old. I can’t hold onto Jonny the way Kent says his mother tried to hold on to him.
“He’ll be okay,” Kent said, squeezing her hand.
A young doctor, his whites spattered with blood and other things Celeste couldn’t and didn’t want to identify, came out from behind the curtain. “Goddard?” he called, looking around.
She wrenched free of Kent’s arm and crossed the floor.
“Jonny Goddard? You’re his mother?”
Celeste nodded.
“Father around?”
Without really meaning to, she glanced back at Kent. The doctor motioned him over. “His skull is fractured, and there’s some internal bleeding. I’m sending him upstairs to surgery.”
Celeste felt Kent’s arms go around her as her knees buckled. “He’ll be better tomorrow.” The words that even she knew were trite—and untrue—spilled out.
The doctor dropped his eyes, then seemed to force himself to look at her again. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Goddard, I don’t think…well, if he makes it through surgery…and then through the night…but I have to be honest with you. I don’t think he will.” He took a deep breath. “Fourth floor.”
****
Kent rocked her in his arms as they waited. In a few minutes, a nurse came in. “He’s holding on, but he needs blood, a pretty rare kind that we don’t have. Someone’s phoning around trying to find it.”
“What type?” Kent asked. His voice seemed to come from far away.
“B-negative.”
He stood up. “That’s me.”
****
When he came back, rolling down his shirt sleeve, he reached for his uniform jacket and sat down across from Celeste. “It’s going to be enough.”
She thought she heard herself say, “Thank you.”
“It doesn’t change things,” he said after a while.
She nodded that she understood.
“I can’t…” He rose and went to the window. “I can’t, Velvet. You’ve got to understand.”
“You’ve done enough, maybe saved his life.”
“I’ve got to get back to the field. Do you want me to go by your house and see if there was any damage?”
“I don’t care if the whole thing blew away, as long as Jonny’s all right.”
“I could call the ranch for you.”
“The number is…” She closed her eyes, trying to remember four digits as familiar to her as her own name. “It’s in the book by the telephone in the hall. There’s a spare key under the mat by the back door.”
“Okay.”
“What time is it?”
“Just after eleven.”
“They go to bed early, so don’t call and wake them up. It would scare them to death. Six o’clock. That’s when they get up.”
“I’ll take care of it, and I’ll try to get back in tomorrow. I’ll call the nurses’ station, if I can’t make it.”
“Thank you.”
He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “It’ll be okay, Velvet. “
****
A nurse woke her when Jonny was in a room. “You can’t stay with him, and you’re really not supposed to be in there at this hour, but go take a quick peek, anyway.”
“He’s going to be all right, isn’t he?”
The nurse didn’t meet her eyes. “We won’t know for a while. It’s that room over there, and he’s in the second bed.”
Behind the curtain, the dim light above the bed bathed Jonny’s face, which had no more color than the pillowcase. His head, swathed in bandages, seemed enormous. Celeste touched his hand, then gathered it up, kissing his limp fingers. “Jonny, it’s Mom. You’re going to be all right. You just had a bad bump on the head, but it’ll be better tomorrow, I promise.”
A different nurse poked her head around the curtain. “You need to leave now.”
“I can’t. He’ll be so scared when he wakes up.”
“Rules. You can sit in the waiting room.”
“Please, he’s only a little boy.”
“I’m sorry.”
Celeste kissed Jonny’s pale cheek. “See you in the morning, pal,” she whispered.
****
Celeste thought she dozed off and on, but when daylight pierced her consciousness, it took a moment to remember where she was—and why. Her body felt heavy when she rose from the sofa and started for Jonny’s room. A nurse, different from the night before, stopped her. “Visiting hours don’t start until nine.”
“But he’s my little boy.”
Another nurse passing them snapped, “Let her,” and then mumbled something Celeste didn’t understand.
The first nurse stepped aside. “Go on then.” As Celeste started for the door, she heard her mutter, “Dammit, why does it always have to be the kids?”
At the sink, Celeste wet a washcloth with warm water and bathed Jonny’s face. His eyelids didn’t even flutter. She could hear him breathing, like it was a huge effort to pull air into his lungs. She moved a chair close to the bed and stroked his hands and arms in silence.
Veda came just before noon. “Kent called me,” she said. “He can’t leave the base again until tonight. He said to tell you your house was all right. A few limbs in the yard, but nothing major. He went in and got your sister’s number and called her from the field. She’s on her way.”
Celeste nodded.
“What can I do, Cece? Stay here with you? Go home and get you some things?”
“Maybe later.”
Veda sat down on the floor by Celeste’s chair and reached for her hand. “I’m here, honey.”
****
Even Coralee couldn’t coax Celeste away from the hospital for longer than it took to bathe and change clothes. Kent showed up at five to take her back to the hospital. “I can stay until midnight,” he said. “Then I have to be back.”
“You don’t have to stay, but thank you.”
“I want to.”
“All right.”
The first bed in Jonny’s room was empty. The nurse said the other boy had gone home. Something told Celeste she was lying. Kent brought the extra chair and put it beside Celeste’s. A doctor they hadn’t seen before came by and read Jonny’s chart, then shone a light into his eyes and left without speaking to them. Kent charged after him. Celeste could hear him through the open door.