Intrinsical - Lani Woodland [31]
From my vantage point, I could see Jody Lynn coming and hear the giggles of people trying to get to home base. As Brent took off running, I watched Jody Lynn turn to follow him, giving me time to quietly slink down to the ground that was blanketed with brown leaves. I was poised, ready for the right moment to sprint when someone loudly screamed, “No!” Hand over heart, I jumped, twirling toward the shout, just as I was struck in the chest by something I couldn’t see.
It hurled me backward, forcing the air out of my lungs. Breaking through branches that tore at and scratched my skin, I crashed down onto a muddy, foot-trampled trail several feet from where I had been standing. I pushed my fingers into the moist dirt, lifting onto my elbows, rocks embedding into my skin when a blinding flash of lightning struck down out of the sky on the very spot I had been standing mere seconds before. The air gleamed for an instant on impact, illuminating a figure that disappeared with the light. If any breath had remained in my lungs, I would have screamed. The world around me started to fade as darkness enveloped me.
****
I woke up with a start. My body ached and my mind wanted to shy away from the fact that I had almost been struck and killed by lightning. My eyes tried to focus on an anxious Cherie, still soft around the edges, leaning over me. Steve and Brent flanked her shoulders.
“Are you okay?”
The world began to slide back into focus. I was on one of the couches in our dorm lobby.
“How did I get here?”
“Steve carried you while Brent ran to get help.”
A small group of people stood on the other side of the room looking over at me anxiously.
“The nurse is on her way.” Brent kneeled down beside me his hands behind his back. “What happened to you?”
“I tripped,” I lied. “Good thing I did or I would have been struck by lightning.” Every muscle in my body protested in pain and winced as I sat up; it felt like I had been the victim of a buffalo stampede. I closed my eyes and willed myself not to throw up.
“I think you should stay put until the nurse comes,” Brent urged, backing up as I teetered to my feet.
“I’m fine! I want to go lay down in my bed,” I argued, leaning heavily on Cherie. “If the nurse comes, she can come check me out in my room.” It was a good thing that Cherie was strong, because she did most of the work as we made our way to the elevators. I stood confidently, waving goodbye to a worried Brent as the doors closed. As soon as they slid shut, I leaned my forehead against the metal doors, feeling soothed by their coolness, and took a steadying breath. By the time we reached our floor, I was able to walk with only minor assistance from Cherie, although my sore muscles caused me to limp slightly.
I was encrusted with mud that flaked off in a trail as I went, like Hansel and Gretel’s breadcrumbs. Running my fingers through my hair, I found more mud and enough twigs to start a fire. My arms were not only caked in wet dirt, but were scratched and bruised, and the left side of my cheek felt tender. The reflection in my mirror was even worse than I had feared. I was a complete mess and in desperate need of a shower.
Cherie lingered in the doorway. “Did you really almost get hit by lightning?”
I slipped off my filthy shoes and sank into my desk chair, causing more flakes of dirt to rain around me. “Yeah.” I hesitated. “Something saved my life.”
That got Cherie’s full attention. “Something?”
My wet socks stuck to my feet as I pried them off. “Yeah, someone screamed, ‘no’ and then I was hit here.” I pointed toward my upper torso just below my collarbone, grimacing when my fingers brushed it. I swore in Portuguese, using phrases that would have made my grandfather proud, and unbuttoned my shirt, gasping as I discovered two red marks in the shapes of opened hands. They were bright crimson