A Happy Ending (Shannon and Cammie)

Chapter 37

Shannon POV

"Shannon?" Cammie yelled through the phone. It crackled and I could hardly hear anything. I was rapidly losing reception. 

"Cam," I yelled back, desperately trying to get her to hear me. "I'm on my way home, just stay put." I tried but I feared it was too late. By the time I finished speaking the line was dead. I looked at my phone. Sure enough, no service. 

An awful storm had hit Southern California. There were high winds that knocked out power lines and it rained so hard that even the highest setting on my windshield wipers didn't keep my windshield clear. I wasn't even aware of how bad it had become until I stepped out of the building I was having a meeting in. It progressed rapidly. It was slightly windy and only spitting rain when I got in my car, and ten minutes later it was the worst storm I'd seen in years. I kept driving, regardless of the weather. I couldn't stop and wait it out. I knew Cammie would be too worried, and our apartment was only a few more miles away. 

I didn't even dare take the freeway on the way there. It was too risky. I just took backstreets the whole way, which added a few minutes to my trip. Driving down the desolate streets, it was easy to tell that power had been completely knocked out. Not a single light was on as far as I could see. There were trees leaning on roofs and cars with smashed windshields from various objects that had blown in the wind. I turned the corner, finally making it to our street. I could see Cam's car parked in the lot. I was so thankful she hadn't tried to drive in this to come looking for me. 

I was about 15 seconds from pulling into the complex when I heard an eery sound. I was only going about 5 miles an hour, trying to avoid the debris that the wind had spit into the road. I looked up to see a telephone pole split at the base, falling down just above my windshield. As quickly as I could, I threw the car in reverse. Thankfully, the wires hadn't detached from the pole which slowed it down a bit, at least momentarily. I backed up just in time to see the pole fall inches from my car, obliterating one that was parked near me. I was shaking, holding the steering wheel with both hands, amazed that I had just escaped near death by inches. 

I wasn't going to risk driving all the way around the block just to make it into our parking lot. I did my best to parallel park on the side of the road, crushing a trash can that blew under my wheel in the process. I grabbed everything valuable from my car, just incase there was another telephone pole incident. I counted to three, opened the door, and sprinted for our apartment, hopping over the downed pole that now blocked our street. 

I was dripping wet when I reached our door. "Baby," Cammie gasped when I walked through the door. 

Tears were streaming down her eyes and I felt so bad. I threw everything in my arms on a chair and pulled her into a hug. "I'm okay, Cam," I whispered to her. 

"I was so worried about you," she sobbed into my chest. 

I pulled away and cupped her face. "Hey, look at me," I told her and she opened her eyes, averting them from the floor to my face. "I'm okay, see?" I moved my arms to show her that nothing had been broken in my violent drive across town. 

She kissed me as if she thought she never would have the chance to again. I kissed her back passionately, and my whole body shivered. I suppose it was a mix between the feeling she gives me and how cold I was from being dripping wet. She pulled my soaked sweatshirt off and wrapped a blanket around me. I pulled my hair up in a messy bun to keep it from dripping on me. 

I was so frazzled when I got inside that I hadn't even noticed we still had power. Unfortunately, right when I noticed, there was a loud clap of thunder followed by a bright flash outside, and then our apartment went dark. Cammie was in the bedroom getting me clothes to change into, so I was left in the pitch black living room by myself.