Secrets 2: Looking Through Different Eyes - 39. Chapter 39 S2

Chapter 39 – A Heavy Snowfall and an Accident

The next morning, I was awakened when my phone rang. I was tempted to ignore it, but I answered it anyway. “Hello.”

“Mickey, it’s time for you and Devin to get up.” I recognized my mom’s voice.

“What time is it? It feels like I just went to sleep.”

“It’s 8:30, so you should have had nearly five hours sleep, just like the rest of us. The thing is, the Hotel stops serving their complimentary breakfast at 10:00, so you’ll have to get up, freshen up, and get dressed if you want to eat. We also have to check out by 11:00.”

“We didn’t leave the New Year’s Eve celebration until 3:00, so you’d think they’d give us a little extra time with serving breakfast.”

“They don’t, so if you want to eat before we check out and head home, then you’ll have to get up and get ready now.”

“Is everyone else getting ready to go down for breakfast?”

“The others are waiting to go down there now, but we’ve waited to give you boys as much time as possible to sleep.”

“OK, I’ll wake Devin and we’ll shower and get dressed.”

“Ok, just knock on our doors when you’re ready.”

“We will.”

I woke Devin, and he wasn’t any happier about getting up than I was, but he finally rolled out of bed and we hit the shower. After that, we quickly put on the clothes we’d brought for today, and then we went out in the hallway and we each knocked on our parents’ doors. As soon as they responded, we knocked on Gramps and Pops doors as well. Once we were all out in the hallway, we headed for the elevator to go down to the lobby for our complimentary breakfast.

The buffet was pretty much what we expected. There were four serving pans with scrambled eggs, sausages links, bacon, and hash browns. There were also two waffle irons and batter so we could make our own waffle, and there was also a collection of baked goods, individual cereal boxes, fruit, and yogurt, as well as juice, milk, and coffee to drink. It was sufficient to ease the hunger pangs, and then we returned to our rooms to pack up our belongings and get ready to leave.

When we met up in the hallway with the others again, Mom had to go into our room to make sure we didn’t leave anything behind. When she was satisfied, we all went down to the front desk to check out and turn in our key cards. Once that had been taken care of, Gramps, Pops, Faith, and Hope thanked us for telling them about the New Year’s Eve celebration. They also let us know they’d had a good time, and then they said goodbye and headed to their car, while we headed in a different direction to get to our SUV.

Devin and I fell asleep on the way home, logging in a couple more hours of valuable sleep, but we were still tired when we reached the house, so we headed upstairs to grab a little more shuteye. When we finally woke up and went downstairs, our dads were watching the football bowl games in the living room and our moms were sitting at the dining room table chatting.

“Would you two like some lunch,” my mom asked when she saw us. “The rest of us have already eaten.”

”Coffee first and then the food,” I replied, and then we sat down at the table.

Ma brought each of us out a cup of coffee while Mom was preparing a plate with our lunch, and then she brought it out and set it in from of us.

“Thank you and I’m sorry I was a little grumpy this morning.”

”I was basically prepared for it, because your father was the same way when he was younger.”

After we finished chowing down, we went into the living room to see what football bowl game they were watching. “Who’s playing?”

“Wisconsin and LSU,” Dad replied.

“Is the game any good?” Devin followed.

“Yes,” Pa answered. “It looks like it’s going to be a barn burner.”

After he said that, Devin and I decided to sit down and watch the game with them. It turned out that Pa was right and LSU won 35-31. As soon as that game ended, Devin and I took a break and went out to chat with our moms for a while. Eventually, Mom asked a question.

“I know your fathers are watching another football game, so would you please go in there and ask when we should plan on having supper?”

“Sure,” I said, and then Devin and I headed into the living room. We waited until there was a commercial before we spoke. Who’s playing this time?”

“Michigan and Alabama, and it is going to be another good game,” Pa replied. “You should stay here and watch it with us.”

“Ok, but first Mom wants to know when she should plan on having supper.”

“Tell her 7:30 will be good.”

“Ok,” and then I ran out to the dining room to tell Mom before I returned.

Pa was correct and it was another good game, with Michigan winning by a touchdown, 27-20, and then we went out to the dining room to eat. During the meal, Devin asked a question.

“When are you and Ma leaving?”

“Tomorrow morning,” Pa replied. “I’m not going into work until the afternoon.

“But they’re going to have breakfast first,” Mom quickly added.

“Ok, then we’ll get up to have breakfast with you before you leave.”

“Ok,” Pa said, “but there’s another football game on tonight, if you want to watch it with us, but it doesn’t start until 8:45.”

We quickly talked it over. “Ok, we’ll watch that game with you too,” Devin replied, “because we can always go back to bed after you leave, since I’m staying here.”

We didn’t have to rush through supper so our dads could get in to watch the next game, so we stayed in the dining room after eating and talked.

“When are you boys heading back to Fort Collins,” Ma asked.

“Classes don’t start until the 16^th, because Monday the 15^th is Martin Luther King Day, so we’ll leave on Sunday to avoid the Monday traffic.”

“Ok, just have a safe trip.”

“And Mickey, I didn’t really get a good look at your engagement ring last night,” Mom said, “because the banquet room was pretty dark. Would you mind showing it to me now?”

“Sure, that’s no problem at all,” I said as I got up and walked over to show her.

“It’s absolutely stunning and not that dissimilar to a woman’s engagement ring, but the band is wider. You have very good taste, Devin, and it must have cost you a small fortune.”

“Thank you and it was exactly what I wanted to give Mac, so the cost was secondary. And then I just couldn’t wait any longer before I gave it to him, because I wanted a firm commitment.”

“I think you’ve got one now.”

Eventually, we went in with our dads to watch the next football game, and it was another good game between Washington and Texas, with Washington winning, 37-31. And when the game ended, Devin and I hurried up to my room to go to sleep.

My mom made sure that Devin and I got up in time to have breakfast with them the following morning. Once again, we talked as we ate, and then we said goodbye to my parents as they left for work, and a short time later, Devin and I helped to carry Ma and Pa’s things out to the SUV.

“You two have been absolutely glowing since Devin gave you that ring and I’m very happy for both of you.”

“Thanks, Ma,” I said, and then Devin and I gave her a kiss and hugged both of them before they drove away.

Once we were alone, I said something to Devin. “I love this ring, but I hope you know I’ll only be able to wear it when we’re here or at the cabin.”

“Why? I bought it for you to wear all the time.”

“It would look kind of funny on a bear or a wolf, and if I transitioned into someone else, it would be a dead give away that somehow I changed into this other person.”

“Damn, I never even thought about you transitioning when you were wearing it.”

“We can explain the clothes being the same as being a coincidence, but it would be much more difficult to explain the gorgeous ring being on both of us as well.”

“Yeah, you’re right. And by the way, did you notice the engraving inside the band?”

“No, because I haven’t taken it off since you put it on me.”

“Then take it off and look.” ‘

I did. “Oh, how sweet. “1-1-2024.”

“And when we get ready to buy our wedding rings, we’ll have the date of our wedding engraved inside. That way we’ll never forget, and it will be recognizable if you ever lose it or it gets stolen.”

“Good idea.”

“Yeah, I thought so too.”

Devin and I spent the rest of the day alone, and the same was true of the other weekdays while my parents were at work, and during that time we acted much the same as we did when we were in elementary school. Since there was quite a bit of snow on the ground, I dug out my old sled so we could take it out and ride it down the hill together, and we spent nearly the entire day doing that.

The following day we even built a snowman in the front yard, and after that we had a snowball fight. The next day we built a snow fort and had another snowball fight, and on Thursday we constructed an obstacle course in the snow and had fun trying to see if we could remain standing and not slip and fall as we raced each other. Yes, we both knew these things were pretty juvenile, but it really helped to counter the stress we’d be facing when we got back to campus. We also balanced out juvenile behavior by fixing supper each night.

“Did you boys have some of the younger neighbors over this week while we were at work?” Mom asked when they arrived home on Friday. “I only ask because it seems as if something new appeared in the yard every day while we were away.”

“No, Devin and I just thought it would be fun to do some of the same things that we did together when we were younger. That’s all, and we had a blast acting like we were kids again.”

To show us their appreciation that we had fixed supper each week night during the past two weeks, my parents took us out to eat on Saturday night. It might also have been motivated by the fact that we were leaving the following day and heading back to Fort Collins.

“You don’t really have to take us out to eat,” I said. “I know how much the tickets for the New Year’s Eve celebration cost you, since they included so much, like the meal, the band, a free drink for each of us, and a room for the night, so we can just eat here.”

“We appreciate that you are trying to be thoughtful, but let us worry about the money. This is just something we want to do.”

I lost count of how many times during the meal that my parents told us they’d enjoyed having us around for a few weeks and Mom asked to see my ring again. They also told us to drive carefully on the way back to campus, and we assured them we would. We also had a decent and filling meal before we returned home, and then we watched TV with them before we went to bed.

When we woke up in the morning, we had breakfast with my parents before we left for Fort Collins, and while we were eating, Mom told us to drive carefully on the ride back to campus again.

“Yeah, we know,” Devin replied. “This isn’t the first time we’ve driven back to Fort Collins in the winter.”

“That may be true,” Dad responded, “but there are storm warnings out for the next few days, so your drive there is likely to be far worse than you’re used to.”

“Ok, then we’ll be extra careful,” I agreed for both of us.

When we finished eating, Devin and I went up to my room to get the last few items to put in his SUV before we took off. As soon as we did that, we said goodbye to my parents before we headed out.

“Just remember to drive safely on your way back,” Mom reminded us yet again.

“And call to let us know that you got there safely,” Dad added.

“Ok, I’ll call just as soon as we get to the house,” I agreed.

My mom then kissed me and Devin, and we gave each of them a hug, and since it was so cold out, they watched from the window in the living room as we drove away.

By the time we reached the diner and were about to change drivers, I turned to Devin and spoke. “I hate to admit it, but my parents were right about the weather being worse than normal. It’s been snowing the entire time so far and there were spots on the highway that were very icy, even though the plows have removed most of the snow, and it seems to be getting worse.”

“You’re beginning to sound like your mom.”

“I’m only saying this because there are a few places where the highway rises above the cross streets below, and those areas are likely to be slipperier than the rest of the route to Fort Collins.”

We switched places and Devin took over the driving, and I’m glad he did. It was nearly a total white out as we made our way to Denver, and not just from the falling snow. The wind was blowing the snow from other areas, even as we were making our way through Denver, so the drive back was truly very stressful, even if I wasn’t the one driving. And it didn’t get any better as we were leaving Denver either.

We both breathed a sigh of relief when Devin pulled into the driveway of the house in Fort Collins. Fortunately, the caretaker had kept the driveway and sidewalks clear for the most part, and he’d also thrown down some rock salt so it wasn’t so slippery. We carefully carried our things into the house, and then Devin pulled the SUV into the garage.

“Damn, I had to brush a ton of snow off the SUV before I drove it into the garage,” he gasped when he came inside, “and there’s still quite a bit of snow on it.

“I don’t remember it ever being this bad during the past two years.”

“I don’t either. There might have been snow everywhere, but the roads were usually clear and it never snowed this hard during our drive back. I’m glad we didn’t wait until tomorrow to return, because it might be even worse by then.”

“Now I know why my parents warned us more often this time.”

Now that we were in the house, I remembered to call my parents to let them know we had arrived safely. “We’re back in Fort Collins,” I said when Mom answered.

“How was the drive there?” Dad asked, since the phone was on speaker.

“It was very stressful, but we made it here safely. It’s snowing really hard now, so I’m glad we don’t have to go anywhere.”

“Then I hope you’ve got food in the house,” Mom responded.

“We have an emergency supply in the freezer, and that will do for tonight.”

“Ok and we’re glad you called. It’s never taken you this long to get there before.”

“The weather’s never been this bad before, that’s why it took us longer.”

“I’m glad you drove safely and took your time.”

“And I’m glad Dad warned us about the storm alerts, because it prepared us for what we had to deal with. Devin says hi and we’ll talk to you again soon. We love both of you, bye.”

Now that I’d made the call, we had to get something to eat. The dining hall won’t be opening until tomorrow, and we didn’t want to drive anywhere to get something to eat, so we hit our emergency supplies, just like I told my mom. The thing was that we stocked up on breakfast items, in case we got up after the dining hall quit serving breakfast. So, we each had two breakfast sandwiches and a couple of Pop Tarts for lunch/supper, because the time was somewhere between those two meals, since our normal drive back took twice as long this time. It wasn’t a great meal, but it sufficed.

“Do you think we might have a snow day on Tuesday?”

“It depends on if it keeps snowing like this. The dining halls are supposed to be open tomorrow afternoon, since the other students should be getting back by then, but I’m wondering if some of the staff will be able to make it in.”

“I guess that might depend on where they live,” Devin said.

“Yeah, those that live in the city might be ok, because the plows will be out, but those out in the country might not get the plows passing by their place quite as often.”

“And if the dining hall isn’t open, we’ll have to go out to buy some food. Maybe we should buy some frozen dinners this time as well.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

“You know, if the snow continues, maybe some of the individual classes might be cancelled, even if they don’t give us a snow day.”

“That’s possible, and then the students in those classes will just have a bit of catching up to do later, depending on if the professor is just late or can’t make it in at all. If that happens, then the professors won’t be able to hold it against the students in those classes for being behind, since they weren’t the ones that couldn’t make it in because of the weather.”

“I hope it clears up, though, because I don’t want to spend a lot of money buying food or eating out, since we’ve already paid to have our meals in the dining hall.”

We went to bed early that night, because there wasn’t a lot to do. We hadn’t got the syllabus for any of our classes yet and we hadn’t purchased our books yet either. We also didn’t have a TV to watch, although we could do some things online, as long as the storm hadn’t interfered with our internet service, but we didn’t even bother to check.

By the time we woke up, we discovered the situation had improved slightly. It was still snowing, but not nearly as hard, and it seemed that the snowplow drivers had been doing an exemplary job clearing the streets.

We walked over to the dining hall to see if they were open, so we went in to have breakfast. After we’d filled our bellies, we were walking back to the house when I thought about something.

“I’m not sure if Preston and Bailey will be there, but do you want to go to the dog park?”

“I’ll have to think about that, because I’m positive that Bear doesn’t want to run through snow that’s over his head. Do you think they might have cleared off any of the area inside the dog park?”

“I have no idea, and I’m not even sure if they have a way to clear off the snow so the dogs will be able to run around, but we can drive over there and see what its like. If they’ve plowed or snowblowed any of the area then we can stay, and if not we can come back here or stop of at the grocery story to stock up on more supplies.”

“Yeah, that sounds good to me, so let’s go check it out.”

Devin handed me the key to the SUV like he normally did, but he didn’t bother transitioning on the ride over there this time, because he wanted to assess the situation first. When we arrived there, we discovered the parking lot had been plowed so we were able to park the SUV, get out, and walk over to look around.

It was obvious that someone had already used a snow blower to clear off a small area so the dog owners and their dogs could get through the gate. There was also enough room for the dog owners to move around, but most of the area where the dogs would generally run was covered in a foot and a half to two feet (0.45 - 0.6 m) of snow.

I was still assessing the situation when Devin grabbed a handful of snow, made a snowball, and threw it at me. Planning to retaliate, I raced over to where there was more snow, made a snowball, and threw it at him. Suddenly, we were involved in a snowball fight.

Since Devin had been standing in the area that had been cleared off and there was only a small amount of snow near the chain-link fence, he raced toward the trees. That’s where the place where the person with the snowblower had blown all the snow, and there was definitely a lot more snow piled up there. We were happily engaged in a major snowball battle when suddenly I heard a loud popping sound. It sounded like a rifle being fired, so I crouched down and began looking around for the source of the sound, and that’s when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye.

A dead branch on one of the trees at the edge of the dog park had apparently given way under the weight of the snow that had accumulated on it and was now plummeting toward the ground. Unfortunately, this happened directly above where Devin had been crouching and the branch struck his head and shoulder on the way down.

Devin immediately crumpled in a heap and fell on his side, and now he was lying on the frozen ground. I raced over to see if he was all right and noticed that he wasn’t moving, although I could tell he was breathing, because I could see his frosty breath as the water vapor in his lungs condensed in the cold air. I could also see his scalp was bleeding where the tree limb had struck him, so I tried to think of what I could use to stop the flow of blood. I was wearing a scarf around my neck, so I took it off and wrapped it around his head, while also pressing it against his scalp with my left hand. I then used my right hand to grab the phone out of my pocket so I could call for help.

“9-1-1, how may I help you?”

“My friend was hit by a falling tree limb and is badly injured. We’re at the dog park and he’s unconscious and bleeding from the scalp, so I’m using my scarf to apply pressure to stem the flow of blood, but he needs an ambulance.”

“One is being dispatched to your location. Please stay on the phone with me until the ambulance arrives. Is your friend conscious and alert?”

“No, he’s not.”

“Can you tell if he’s breathing?”

“Yes, I can see his frosty breath when he exhales. He just isn’t moving and his head is bleeding profusely.”

We continued to talk until the ambulance crew arrived, and then the EMTs took over. They checked Devin’s vital signs first, and then put him on a gurney and moved him to the ambulance, where it was warmer. Once they were there, they removed the scarf I was using to clot the blood so they could inspect the injury. Once they’d assessed the severity of the situation, they wrapped his head in bandages, and prepared to transport him to the hospital.

“Where are you taking him?”

“We’ll take him to the CSU Medical Center. Do you know where that is?”

“Yes, I do, so I’ll follow you there.”

“You may not be able to keep up with us, because we’ll have the siren blaring and the emergency lights flashing to clear traffic out of the way.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep up.”

“Just don’t have an accident trying to stay with us, because we don’t want anyone else to get injured.”

I then raced over to the SUV, pulled the key out of my pocket, and hopped into the driver’s seat. I started the engine, turned on the emergency lights to let other drivers know I was following the emergency vehicle, and then I pulled behind the ambulance as it drove out of the parking lot. My heart was racing as I followed it to the hospital. One guy even honked at me when the ambulance and I did the same thing, cutting him off. He’ll live having to wait through another light, if that’s what happened, but I couldn’t stop wondering how badly Devin was injured.