CABB's 2016 WFOL Micro-Fic Challenge
THE WIND
by JD Evans
Hoaahh...as the wind blows through the room...he stands waiting, waiting for her to awake. It was a long walk, but he didn't need to see which way to turn or not turn to get her home where she would be safe. He knew deep inside that if I wait surely she will come back to me. She lies very still on the bed...the day is quickly approaching. I will have to leave her and I can not.
The wind is beginning to flow through the curtains, forcing its way in, filling every empty space with chill. It isn't over! It will never be over for us, Catherine...never!
As the sun begins to show through the doors, he looks at her one more time...kisses her on her lips as if this and this alone would be just enough to awaken her and he would see that all that had happened that very night, after all of those months not knowing where she was, would be only a dream, and the dream would be over.
It is time...can not linger any longer. "Goodbye Catherine." Vincent makes his way out of the room, through the doors, and up to the roof of the building, as he has done many times when visiting Catherine, only this time was the hardest thing he had to do in his entire life.
As the curtains billowed to the ceiling, the gusts built and blew hard against Catherine's body. The chill in the room was like a winter's day after the rain, except the brush of air that was gracing her exposed limbs caused a reaction...there was a stirring and moaning of sounds where she lay.
Vincent was almost Below, on his way to the hub of the tunnels. He passed a few sentries on his way to the deepest part of the tunnels. He was not willing to see anyone, including Father. He didn't want anyone to know just yet what he himself had refused to accept.
Vincent, in his need to bury himself in the core of the tunnel world, was not aware of the scurrying that was already going on among the tunnel people. Word had gotten out that a woman was found, a very well-known woman, found unconscious lying on her floor, sometime after an anonymous call reported a possible assault on a 911 emergency service line.
Statement, would you like to make a statement about what you heard and saw? You are a neighbor on this floor? Yes I am, I live next door...I heard sounds of crying and thumps of movement on the floor in what I knew to be Ms Catherine's apartment, and I did not recall seeing her come in this evening...so I got dressed and decided to knock on her door. There was a faint cry from the back of the house. I knew that she could be in trouble. She is a Assistant DA, you know, and has had trouble before, so I immediately called 911 for help. They arrived not very long after. The security guard was very helpful in opening the door, and there she was on the floor, trying to get up.
The medics attended to Catherine and prepped her for a trip to the hospital. Father and Mary recieved a note from Above, brought down to them by Kipper from a helper who lived in a nearby building. He read the note and realized that Catherine was in great danger and wanted to tell Vincent. Since Vincent was not available to be found, a meeting in the library was called for all the tunnel dwellers to assemble immediately, and in the meeting it was agreed that a message would be tapped out on the pipes by Pascal to reach Vincent, and a visit to the hospital was to be arranged as soon as possible.
She's not dead...not dead! How can I live without her? How can I live? I will never see her again...never. What's that on the pipes? How did they know? They must have known...but how? Vincent could not begin to understand what was happening, but he did know if Pascal was sending this message, there had to be some truth to it.
He collected his belongings and headed to the library to see Father. "We've got word, there was a lady there at the hospital waiting in the hall just outside Catherine's room. We over heard her name and she's known to be a very good friend, Jenny was her name. She was talking about Catherine to a man. She referred to him as Joe, someone who worked with her at the DA office. We heard them saying that she will be all right, her recovery should take some time but she would be as good as new very soon."
Vincent, over taken by this news, sat down in his chair next to Father and said, "I shall see her again...very soon...and hold her close...as the wind blows though her doors...and this time I will come in."