Chapter 9: Some Birthday

Days after the massive tornado ripped through Horace, leaving over half the town destroyed, residents are ready to roll up their sleeves and start picking up the pieces. The EF5 tornado tore a path of destruction through most of the town injuring countless residents and killing three. Names of the storm's victims have not been released.

"Why do I feel like a bag of ass?" Dani groaned as she tried to sit up in her hospital bed.

"Because a house literally fell down around you?" Austin supplied as an answer.

"Was it that bitch from Kansas? Tell me she didn't get my good shoes."

Austin barked out a laugh. "I see your sense of humor is still intact."

Looking around the room, Dani finally saw him. "Austin? Is that you?"

"Nope, you're floating between this life and the next, and I'm here to tell you that you need to get your ass back, so I don't have to take Reece with me on the road. Think of the shit she'd see. What kind of mom would that make you?"

"Asshole."

"And she's back."

"Where's Reece? Is she okay?"

"She's fine. She's got a few bumps and bruises, but she's running around like a crazy person, so I'd say she's going to recover."

"But where is she?"

"She and Reagan are with Mom. We've been switching between rooms and since Mom woke up, we've been keeping Reece in there."

Dani tried to sit up but groaned and plopped back down. "Fucking arm. Please tell me this part's a dream. I can't have a broken arm Austin."

"Afraid not," he said as he went over to her bed, "but I'll make sure everything's taken care of, okay? Just get better."

Dani reached out and grabbed his hand. "I can't believe you're here. Thank you for taking care of her for me."

"Of course I'd take care of her. You know I love her as much as you do."

"I was so scared, Austin."

Blowing out a breath, he finally admitted, "So was I."

"Some birthday, huh?" she said with a big grin. "I guess I'll never forget this one. Who needs a crazy L.A. party when you have a house falling on you?"

Chuckling he shook his head. "Maybe next year there'll be less excitement."

"I'll be fine with sitting in front of the TV in my PJ's."

Austin went over to the backpack he'd brought and pulled out the blue box. He was hoping this would cheer her up a little. "I got this for you. I was going to mail it, but since I'm here..."

"Austin, this is Tiffany!"

Smiling he passed over the box. "Yeah. It's just I know you never do anything nice for yourself, and I really wanted to do something special for you. You deserve it."

He saw the tears pooling in her eyes, and he hoped they were happy tears. He passed over the box of tissues, and then set the box down on her lap. After she wiped the tears away, she reached for the box and fumbled it open with her one good hand.

"You shouldn't have, but I'm glad you did."

"That smile is worth all the money I have."

"It's so pretty," she said as she held the box up examining the necklace inside.

"I bought the matching necklace for Reecie. It's a mother-daughter set."

As the tears fell, Dani looked over at him and said, "I take back calling you an asshole."

"I knew you didn't mean it," Austin said with a nudge to her good arm.

Austin and Dani talked, and he filled her in on everyone. Dani took it hard when she found out that their mom had broken her pelvis and leg, and she was relieved when she found out they didn't find anything wrong with Reece. Austin told her that the doctor had said that minus the broken arm and the bumps and bruises, she was on the mend. Now that she was awake, they'd be running a few tests, but most of her injuries were from the falling debris.

"What about Reagan?" she asked.

Austin shrugged. "He's beating himself up pretty bad because he didn't do anything to protect you or Mom. He's got a few bruised ribs and a nasty bruise on his leg but nothing like you and Mom."

Dani blew out a breath. "He can't blame himself for that. It was chaos down there, and it only lasted for a few minutes. No one had any time to think, only react. I know if he had time to think about it, he'd have helped out. No one can blame him for trying to take cover. Hell, that's what all of us did."

Austin knew that, but he wasn't sure Reagan did. Maybe if they all could remind him of that, they'd get through to him. "He's just gonna need some time."

Dani patted Austin on the knee. "Look at me over here rambling on and on only about myself. How are you? You've had a rough go at it recently."

Running a hand through his hair, Austin looked at his sister. "I'm just glad all of you are okay."

"That's not what I meant," she told him giving him a look.

With a small smile, he said, "I know."

"Then tell me what I want to know. Come on, tell your big sis all about it. You haven't said crap about the whole baby scandal, and I know that's gotta be eating you up."

"I'm not the dad," he told her matter-of-factly.

"Okay?"

"I... I guess it just was hard for me because I wasn't even sure if I could have been because the night in question I was so drunk I couldn't remember shit. I could have slept with her, and I wouldn't have even known. I've been trying to cut back since then." Saying that out loud made it sound even worse. He still couldn't believe he'd been that bad off, and how many times had he been like that before?

"But you're still trying to piss Dad off."

It was a statement, not a question. Dani knew him too well. He was still trying to piss the man off. He'd been trying to step back from the booze, but he was rubbing his relationship with Bren in the old man's face. He was purposely being a dick to the man just because. It was crazy how well his sister could read his actions even when he was over fourteen hundred miles away. Still, he couldn't let her know she'd nailed it.

"Why do you say that?" he asked hoping he'd done enough for her to buy it.

"Oh come on. Do you really think I don't know you at all? That Bren chick isn't your type at all, and yet you're with her all the time. She's the type of girl that makes Dad cringe. If I were a betting man, I'd say it's all for show, and you're doing it to get the old man's knickers in a wad."

Austin smiled, "Knickers in a wad? What are you, British?"

"Fine, you're doing it to piss him right the fuck off. Better?" Dani asked with a glare.

"Yes, and only marginally."

"Does Ms. I'm-Young-And-Innocent know you're just using her to piss off the wanker?"

Austin looked at his hands in his lap. He hoped she did. "Yeah, she does. It's just a mutual thing between two adults."

"Adults? Austin, she looks like she should be staring in a Disney flick. She's hardly an adult."

"She's an adult, and very mature for her age."

"But not the one for you," Dani supplied.

"There's no one for me." And that was the truth.

"Don't say that. I'm sure there's a girl out there that's perfect for you. You just haven't met her yet."

Or he had and let her get away.

*

"I'm sorry, Ms. Peterson, I can't answer that."

Shelby blew out a frustrated breath, "Of course not."

"We've done everything we can, and while her brain swelling hasn't gone down, it hasn't gotten worse. We just have to wait and see. She'll wake up when she's ready."

"But that's what I don't get. They told me she was awake when she arrived here. If she was awake before you took her to surgery, why can't she wake up?"

"We don't know if she would have slipped into unconsciousness on her own or not, it's anyone's guess. We've been monitoring her very closely, and there's nothing that we can do for her. Her body has been through a lot, and it just needs time to heal."

Shelby sat back down beside her sister and listened as the doctor told her what the plan was, which didn't really sound like much of a plan. She hated that she felt so helpless, and it brought back old feelings of when they had found out their parents had died. She was young then, only six, but that day had been burned into her memory.

"Hey Shelb," Colby called as he walked into the room.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she turned and smiled at him. "Hey."

"Ah, shit, please don't cry. You know I can't do the tears."

Turning away from him, she wiped her face with her palms. "Sorry, hard day."

Pulling her into a hug, she sobbed into his chest. "I know," he said soothing her. "Just let it out."

After several long minutes of crying, she pulled back and chuckled, "Sorry about your shirt."

Looking down he smiled, "Seeing how someone gave this to me from the shelter, feel free to snot on it all you want. Yellow isn't really my color anyway."

This was the Colby she loved. This guy was the sweet, caring man who came around from time to time. People didn't always see him, and that made it hard for them to understand their relationship. This man was the one who'd put most of her heart back together. There were pieces that would never be fixed, but the pieces that could be, he'd glued them back for her.

Pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, he looked her in the eye and said, "Good news. They said they're going to start letting people back into town in a couple days. We can go and check out what's still standing and what didn't make it."

"I don't really want to leave."

"Babe, I know you don't want to, but we need to go take a look. Mainly we need to deal with everything for the insurance. I don't want that to get away from us."

"You have a point."

"Don't I always," he said with a smirk. "How is she?"

Looking over at Anna, Shelby wished she had better news. "The same."

"Isn't that good? I mean at least things aren't getting worse."

"Yeah, I guess. I just want it all to be over so we can pick up the pieces and move on. I feel like I'm stuck."

"How about we go grab some dinner? I know you haven't had anything but what they've served here, and I know you probably want something else."

"I'm fine... really."

"Suit yourself."

For the first time since the tornado, Shelby felt like Colby was himself again. He spent the day with her and didn't leave until evening. The time he did spend was done without complaining, he sat with Anna while she showered, and he'd even brought her a change of clothes. Later that evening she sent him on his way, and he promised to return the next day. He told her after getting away for a night he would stay with her, but she knew he didn't really want to. He hated the place, so she told him to leave and come back. She needed him to stay in the good mood he was in. If he stayed like this, she knew she'd be okay.

An hour later she was reading a book one of the nurses had brought her when her stomach growled. Of course, it'd be after Colby left, but she'd be fine. Finding her shoes in the corner, she slipped them on and headed down toward the cafeteria. It wasn't until she got there that she read the sign with the hours on it.

"Really?!" she said under her breath. "What kind of place closes at two when the rest of us still need to eat?"

"I was wondering that myself."

Shelby turned to find Reagan King standing behind her. She smiled at him and said, "It's so inconvenient."

"I agree," he said with a smile of his own. "Good news is I have keys. Care to join me?"

Biting her lip, she shook her head. "I really shouldn't leave. I was just going to grab a quick bite and then head back to my sister's room. Thanks, though."

Shelby saw the look on his face change. "Is Mrs. Morris okay?"

Shaking her head, she told him, "She's in ICU."

"That's too bad. She did a great job getting me back in shape after my football injury a couple years ago. She was always really nice to me. I hope she gets better soon."

"Thanks," Shelby said as her traitor stomach growled.

"Sure you don't want to go get something?"

"No, it's fine."

"Okay. Well, I'll talk to you later then. Tell your sister I hope she gets back on her feet soon."

Shelby nodded and watched the young man walk away. Reagan King had grown up to be such a great young man. She'd seen him off and on at the library she worked at, but they'd never really talked much. Shelby distanced herself from the King family once she and Austin broke up. It was too painful to keep hanging around even though they would have let her stay a part of the family. That was one of the things that she loved about being with him, his family. They loved her almost as much as she and Austin loved each other. The King's always made sure to include both Shelby and Anna in anything they did so they had a family to share things with. It had been everything she was missing from her own life, and she'd treasured it until the day that she and Austin went their separate ways. She gave it all up when they broke up, and now here they all were in her face again. She really needed to guard herself or she'd start to long for that again, and that would be a big mistake. One she couldn't afford to make.