“Take it easy for the next few days,” my doctor, Dr. Lyons, suggested, glancing down at the clipboard in his hand. “The stitches in your back shouldn’t cause too much discomfort, but if they do come back and have it checked out. Also, as of now there are no signs that the wound is infected, but if you feel anything weird, let me know.”
I nodded, trying to keep my back as straight as possible. It was my first time getting stitches. For some reason I imagined them not hurting at all, but I was completely wrong about that. As soon as the good-for-nothing pain reliever went away, the pain hit full throttle. “Do you know if my parents are here yet?”
Dr. Lyons shook his head. “No, not yet. They might not be able to make it though.”
“What? Why?”
“The marsh flooded over. Apparently the whole road lining it is underwater. Isn’t that one you have to take to get to your house?”
My jaw nearly dropped at this news. First I had to be questioned for hours by the police about why I was in Walmart. Second I had to deal with the 24 News station that had came out of nowhere to try to talk to Anthony and myself about our whole Walmart ordeal like Anthony had predicted. And now there was a chance I wouldn’t even be able to get home? Was the world against me today? I didn’t want to be stuck in a hospital after being stuck in Walmart!
“If you’d like, you could call your family back to see if they’re trapped or not,” Dr. Lyons offered, gesturing toward the side table where the landline was. “I think they called on your brother’s phone.”
“That would be great!” I responded eagerly, sliding off of the examination table I was on.
“I’ll give you some privacy this time, just in case it’s a repeat of the first time…”
A sheepish expression crossed my face and I grimaced, feeling a blush threaten my cheeks. He had been in the room during that call. Long story short, it was emotional and I burst out crying in front of him. Not to mention he could probably hear my mother wailing on the other side as well. I wanted to put that behind us and never bring it up again.
As soon as Dr. Lyons left my hospital room, I dialed my brother’s number and on the second ring he picked up. “Ellie?”
“Hey Mason,” I greeted, a smile slipping onto my face. “Where are you? Are you coming?”
“The marshes are flooded,” he responded and I could almost hear the frown in his voice. “Mom says it’s impossible to cross and there’s police there preventing people from doing so anyway, so I can’t come get you.”
My heart sunk a little in my chest. “Oh, okay… Make sure Mom doesn’t do anything crazy.”
Mason chuckled. “I’ll do my best.”
“So, um, I didn’t get to ask earlier because… well, you know, but how’s the house?” I asked the question hesitantly, not sure whether or not I wanted to know the answer.
“Surprisingly, it’s fine. The roof is a little damaged, but Mom thinks it’ll be easy to fix. Oh, and the window in your room broke and it’s pretty wet in there.”
I pursed my lips. Figures. “Any word from Julius yet?”
“No,” my brother responded, lowering his voice. “I went next door too. His parents were there, but they said he was at a friend’s when the hurricane was starting so they told him to stay there.”
YOU ARE READING
Waist-Deep In Walmart
Humor"As I sat on the toilet, I realized how badass I was being. First of all, I (kind of) broke into Walmart; Second, I was (kind of) plotting to steal toilet paper; and third, I was doing all this while a hurricane was brewing outside." Ellie wanted a...
