THE STORM
SCENE 1: Norma leaning back on the hospital bed, emergency room, I.V line inserted in the crook of her left arm. Wearing a hospital gum. Hair still wet. Some scrapes, cuts and scratches in the face, bruises in arms and legs. A police officer is standing beside her, listening to her and writing down on her small notebook some words.
Norma:
Hailstones were slightly battering the roof of my car when we left the hotel. After a few miles driving, it became a real downpour. Suddenly, a flash of lightning moved from the clouds ahead to the ground in front of us and one second later we heard a clap of thunder. It didn't take long to evolve into a terrible thunderbolt. It wasn't possible to continue driving because of the heavy rainfall, the thunderstorm and my concern. I stopped the car in the middle of nowhere. Then, the wind started to blow with a dull roaring sound. Richard told me to calm down as the gust might stop as abruptly as it started, but it didn't, it became a gale.
The coastline was just foam from the waves, those so large waves we could only suspect. Lightning and thunder raged with fury. We were there, under that stormy sky, complaining about the gloomy afternoon we chose for our excursion, when an enormous white wave stroke the coastline and washed our car away, first, taking it against the breakwater with Richard and I inside the car then. What I just remember afterwards is me calling Richard. The windscreen was broken and Richard wasn't in the car. The wind, the thunderbolt, the rainstorm continued and I was in the car, upsidedown, alone, crashed into the breakwater. I was afraid of leaving the car, but staying there was much too dangerous.
A second wave came. Fortunatelly, I had enough time to get out the car and run the opposite way. Having my winter-wood-coat soaked and fighting against the wind made my running difficult and slow. An awkward thought assaulted me when I felt one of my ankles trapped. Amid all that stormy noise and the wild beat of my heart, I heard Richard groaning. He was lying on the ground, bleeding, forehead hurted, but conscious, uncapable to move or talk.
There were no shelter around. The nearest urban area was miles away from us. Richard is very big, I wouldn't have been able to move him from the spot on my own. I urged him to stand up and walk; it wasn't possible, he was very confused. So, I laid close to him, hug him, and wait. I am not sure how much time the storm lasted, to me it was of endless duration. The storm had dropped and it had started getting dark, early evening I guess, when I felt myself able to stand up and look around.
We were shivering. The temperature was not as cold as during the storm but chilly. Later at night it might be freezing. Richard wouldn't have been able to walk even if he had wanted to owing to a broken leg.
I am ignorant of what God touched us with Their finger, we have been so lucky!
I saw a light in the sky pointing to the ground. It found us. An helicopter landed and they rescued us. Apparently, the hotel owner warned the coast guard that our lifes were in danger due to the storm by the time we left as well as the route we took. We were brought to this hospital and that's all what happened, officer.
Lucy:
Thank you madam. I just needed to know exactly how you got there and why. That is a very dangerous place
