Ninety Degrees Out

“Look, she’s opening her eyes,” Chay told Arimina. “Your mother is going to be okay.”

“Damn the rug in here. Throw rugs are aptly named,” Alicia said, “I think I’m all right.”

Chay looked at his watch and said, “You were out for less than five minutes, but it’s still a concussion. I’ll have to watch you carefully for a couple of days.”

“I’ve got a headache, but I’m not seeing doubles. Everything’s clear, so no blurry vision either. I just tripped on the rug when I went to grab Arimina when the aftershock started.”

Alicia batted Chay’s hands away as she pulled her legs under her to try and stand up.

“Let me help you. I’m sure you can do it yourself, but if you aren’t as steady on your feet as you think, I don’t want you falling again.”

Chay grabbed both her hands to help her up and held on as she tested herself to make sure she hadn’t sprained an ankle. Her hands felt like they belonged in his, and he let go reluctantly when she tugged them free.

“I’m good. Just a slight pounding on the back of my head.” She reached up to pat her head, checking for a bump and winced.

“How bad is it?”

“It’s going to be a good-sized goose egg. Not the first time. I used to get them rough housing with my brother all the time. I’ve got a tough skull.”

“Are you really okay Mommy? You wouldn’t wake up.” Arimina watched her mother with serious eyes.

“I am, baby.”

“She is, Arimina.”

Chay and Alicia answered at the same time, smiling at her little girl.

“Let’s get this stuff downstairs then,” Chay said as he lifted the suitcase off the twin bed.

“My teddy bears are in there, and so are all my clothes,” Arimina said.

“Then they will ride with you in your car. I’ll take most of the rest in the back of my truck. Now let’s go show Jazz you’re both okay.” Chay could hear his dog whining.

Arimina scrambled down the stairs and threw her arms around the dog’s neck, and Jazz licked her face as he sat exactly where Chay had left him. He walked up to them and ruffled his fingers through the thick ruff around Jazz’s neck and snapped his fingers releasing the dog from his stay command.

“I can’t believe how well you have him trained.” Alicia shook her head in appreciation. “Most of the dogs down south are treated like babies and run the show.”

“I need Jazz to understand I’m the leader of the pack. He’s got enough wolf in him to require a bit different training than a regular dog gets, but I trust him with my life. He’s saved my butt a couple of times now.”

Chay made several trips out to his truck as Alicia followed him, helping to load up the boxes of groceries and their suitcases. Arimina dashed back and forth as they worked.

“Ari, baby, we’re ready to go,” Alicia called.

“Down here, Mommy.”

Chay stood beside her at the bottom of the stairs.

“Mommy, what about my books?”

She pointed across the great room. More of the glass had come down with the aftershock and Chay recognized the problem immediately. The shelves beside the fireplace were blocked by piles of broken glass. Looking up he saw shifted beams, the tell-tale cracks in the ceiling lit by the chandelier swaying gently in the breeze.

“Sweetie, we’re going to have to leave them. Look up,” Chay said. “I know you are smart enough to know if the lights are swaying it isn’t safe, and there are cracks up there, so the roof might cave in.”

“But Uncle Jett gave them to me,” the child protested.

“He wouldn’t let you hurt yourself to get them baby,” her mother told her. “We’ll come back after it’s safe. The earthquake aftershocks are bad, and I won’t have you getting hurt.” Alicia said. Her tone let Arimina know arguing would be fruitless.

“Alicia, do you know where the fuse box is? I want to kill the power, before we go. We’ll turn the water off as well.”

“The main switch is on the garage wall; the main water valve is in there too.”

“I’ll get those, you get Arimina into the car, and I’ll be right out. We’ll let these guys deal with getting the tarps up, and you can call the Markham’s once we get to my place.”

Chay gestured toward the work truck trundling up the road as he spoke.

“I’ll give them my cell number, and we can go,” Alicia agreed.

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Chay knew he shouldn’t have let her drive, but it was only a couple of miles to his place, and he watched her carefully in the rear-view mirror. She seemed to be handling it okay except he could see her shaking her head like she was trying to stay awake. The concussion must be worse than he thought. He needed to make a call to the clinic. There was no way he was going to take her to the ER, this wasn’t bad enough.

At least Ursa wasn’t wandering across the road, he knew she’d be back to the den once the sun started down. He let out a low whistle when he noticed the outside temperature on his dash. 90 degrees. How were the polar bears going to survive, not to mention the Kodiak and grizzly bears? He knew the herbivores would do okay. And what about the penguins? Antarctica would melt in days in this heat. Sea levels were going to do all sorts of wild things. What about tides? The questions fluttered through his mind one after another, and he groaned when he realized the most populated parts of Europe were in much colder regions of the earth now. Enough of all the questions.

He knew he had to get back to the telescope and decipher a few radio signals before he’d get more answers. The magnetic field study was the first thing on the agenda. The question remained, was the road out to the observatory intact after the quake? He was going to drive himself crazy with the what ifs. Turning into his driveway, he saw Alicia was still right behind him. Stupid to let her drive, he should have brought them all in his truck.

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Alicia blinked several times, trying to clear her vision. What happened? Why was she seeing two sets of taillights in front of her? She shook her head once, and it wasn’t any better, twice more and things cleared up again as she let her breath out. Did she trust Chay with her little girl? There, he’s turning, and she slowed carefully turning the car like she was caring a load of eggs.

“Mommy, we’re here, I’m getting out.” Arimina’s voice came from somewhere in the fog that was taking over.

She dragged her foot over to hit the parking brake and turned the ignition off in the seconds before her vision went grey again. This bump on her head was worse than she thought.

“Take care of my baby,” she whispered before her head hit the steering wheel. She didn’t hear the horn blaring or Arimina’s terrified voice.