A Christmas Journey

Chapter 10

 All too soon it seemed, Sherri's alarm went off, waking her up rather suddenly. Despite being a little drowsy, the girl rose out of bed, dressed, and packed quickly, so that the luggage could be loaded into the car easily. By the time she arrived at the breakfast area, Amy was already eating.

"Good morning, Amy." Sherri said calmly.

Expecting her to still be sad, Amy was surprised by the new peace about Sherri. "Morning. You seem to be feeling better. What happened?"

"I'll explain later." came the reply.

"Let's eat breakfast and go get Michael."

After a light continental breakfast at the hotel, it was time to pack and drive to the hospital. They arrived and walked to room 103, bringing a small bag with a change of clothes for Michael, who they found awake and seated at a chair.

"I was wondering when you two would get here." he grinned. "It took a lot of talking, but the doctor said that I can leave at any time, as long as I get some more rest."

Amy and Sherri left the room while he changed into the extra clothes they brought, and he soon joined them.

"Have y'all had breakfast?" he asked.

"Yeah." Amy replied. "What about you?"

"Yep." Changing to a more serious demeanor, he added "Let's go."

They walked to the nursing station, where Michael asked one of the nurses, "Am I ready to leave?"

"Should be. You signed all the paperwork earlier and we've charged your insurance provider. Just try and get some rest."

"Thanks. I'll try my best." Michael smiled on the way out.

"You'd better drive, Amy." Michael said as they approached the car. "I need to rest a little more."

"Good idea." came the reply as the pair locked eyes. A silent message passed between them as each confirmed the other knew who was behind the attacks and was prepared for more trouble at the end of the trip.

Michael tilted the front, passenger-side seat forward so that Sherri could climb in the back. Then, he and Amy got in and the trio drove off toward Minot. Since Sherri had climbed behind Amy's seat, Michael reclined his and was soon sleeping soundly.

After about 10 minutes, Amy noticed that Sherri was quiet. She glanced in the rearview mirror and saw that everything from the past few days had fully sunk in, from her mother's death, the stress from her second wreck in about a week, and the imminent meeting with her cousins. Tears trailed down her cheeks as she sat silently and cried. Amy said a silent prayer for the girl and glanced back to make sure she had tissues available.

Meanwhile, Rodney, Richard, and William were waiting outside. Looking at his watch, Richard commented "There's no way they made it through the blizzard. C'mon, let's go back in."

Just as they turned toward the door, an unfamiliar car pulled into the parking lot. "Richard, Rodney, do we know anyone that drives one of those?" William asked the others.

Rodney replied, "I can't think of anyone. Everybody should be here already."

Then, the doors opened and Michael and Amy climbed out of the car, followed closely by Sherri.

All three of her cousins bore shocked facial expressions.

"What?! How?!" Richard exclaimed.

"Hey Richard, Will, Rodney." Sherri greeted them nonchalantly, as Michael and Amy instructed. If there was to be a confrontation, it would be preferable to at least delay it till after the service.