Grayson's Body

Impact

Chapter 5: Impact

Impact

im·​pact | \im-ˈpakt \

impacted; impacting; impacts

Definition of impact

1a: to fix firmly by or as if by packing or wedging

b: to press together

2a: to have a direct effect or impact on : impinge on

b: to strike forcefullyalso : to cause to strike forcefully

There was noise and cars everywhere I looked. There was the flashing of bright blue and startling red from the tops of the police vehicles. There was the shrill sound of people talking, survivors hugging their loved ones on the scene. I wondered then how many staff members they had to pull from the hospitals to get all of these people here. I imagined that there wasn't one officer in the whole of Kettle here on the gravel parking lot. Near me I saw a young woman embrace an older looking man, crying into his wide shoulder as he held onto her, rubbing her back lightly.

I looked over at what was left of the bar. It had burned completely to the foundation. The rubble, charred and blacked, made me physically nauseous. The smell was even worse. Sitting there in the back of the ambulance, my legs off the cold metal bed, I noticed vaguely that the man in front of me was talking. I couldn't care less because through the noise of the medics, the police officers, and the firefighters, all I could think about was one person.

A person who was supposed to be right next to me getting checked for injuries as well.

There was a light being shinned in my eyes as I looked away from the rubble, the firefighters in their thick tan uniforms, and the woman hugging her father.

"Does this hurt?"

That was what the medic was saying it to me as he shined the light into my eyes. I blinked, and I looked up at his taunt face.

No, having a flashlight pointed right in my eye ball was a joy.

But that wasn't what he was talking about. He was grabbing at my arm, the tear in my graying, once pure white button up. I looked down and saw that it was singed but I felt no pain. I think I caught it on the door, or something. Maybe it was on the window when I was climbing out of it.

"No," I said and moved to feel at the material, "I'm fine, I think."

He nodded to me and pulled away his arm, "I think so too. Do you feel dizzy?"

I didn't understand the concept of time anymore, it seemed. I thought it was going faster than it was, somehow. Than again, maybe slower.

"No," I repeated and swallowed, my throat dry.

"Are you positive?"

I just looked at him. I was pretty sure I wasn't pregnant.

"Are you positive?" He repeated. I realized then that I had been staring.

"Yes," I mumbled, and he nodded again, going to pull something out from the front of the ambulance's cab. My heart was still pounding in my chest, and it was still pounding when he came back.