Idoms...sayings understood by native speakers part sixty seven
Sam scolded Janice the entire time they traveled to the little restaurant he had made reservations at. It was their day,and the kids were going to be picked up by his mom.
"Sam, honey, stop. Everything turned out all right."
"I love you. You are my life. So will you stop doing insane things like this?"
"You know, I probably won't." She remembered. "You are my best friend in the world. You know me."
"Damn it, Janice. I do know you." He grew silent in the car as he remembered all too well. They had grown up together. They had pictures of them both naked in the little swimming pool out back of his mom's trailer when they were two years old. He knew Janice's grandma, and the fact that the parents left her behind because of the birth mark. He had never thought of it as ugly. Just interesting... and when they had entered the first grade, that was the first time, he realized that other kids found it ugly and different and distanced themselves. He remembered leaving her in the lurch when they were in second grade... not wanting to be seen as friends with her so he could belong. She told him then, that he would never be able to do that and live well....He smiled to himself. It was a long hard lesson to learn.
Janice sank into her seat and thought back. Sixth grade, the girl, Sam had had a crush on and had confessed to, talked about how stupid he was behind his back. Janice smiled ruefully as she confronted the girl about her best, albeit distant friend and a hair pulling, cat fight ensued. Sam came up then and heard the girl telling Janice that even though Sam was stupid, he was at least smart enough not to include her as his friend. Janice was just too ugly.
Janice remembered lying on the ground with her clothes torn and face bloodied. She hugged herself as she could still feel the arms that surrounded her as if she was something precious. The words that had comforted her many a night as she waited for Sam to get home.
"Ugly? This girl is the most beautiful girl I will ever hope to know."
He sighed as he drove. Gently, he reached over to take her hand and he pulled it to his lips.
"I will always love you. That is why I worry about you all the time."
"I will always love you. I will be more careful, but the circumstances needed to be addressed."
He nodded as he pulled into the parking lot and then felt his pager go off, not on vibration but on alert. He parked quickly and pulled out the pager reading the message. He quickly typed in, responding now. ETA five minutes. What is the bed availability?
He noted the response. Typing in, "clear the ICUs of stable patients and down grade everyone possible, clear everyone out of ER that is there for minor complaints. Clear four rooms in the OR.. Prepare the ER for four shocks, and eight minors. Send that to the EMS dispatch. If they need more and the other hospitals cannot respond, have them call us back.
Janice had unlocked her seat belt and leaned over reading the messages.
"A ten car pile up from a jackknifed truck? Damn."
She rebuckled and got on the phone.
"It's me. Call the volunteers to get coffee and sandwiches ready. There has been an external disaster called for in the tricounty area. Thanks, kiddo. I owe you."
Janice smiled at her husband. "Ready?"
---
Joe moaned he felt pain in his leg and arm. He looked over at Charlie who was laying on him and not moving. Moans and groans could be heard. Joe started a weak roll call to figure out if anyone else was awake, alive and how they could move. He looked at the smashed window beside him and saw the grass was sticking through it. My God, he thought, we must have rolled.
----
Lynn was being pulled out ever so gently from the broken window of the passenger seat on the driver's side. She was unconscious. One of the other team members asked about the other van.
"What other van?" asked one of the firefighters. He signaled his crew and sent them to search. They walked along the interstate and found the tire markings in the grass down a very steep embankment.
The ambulances to Lansing Memorial Hospital showed up taking the four shocks and eight minors.
The ambulances of Dubois County hospital took three shocks and six minors.
The ambulances of Charity hospital took three DO As, two shocks and four minors, since Charity was the smallest hospital they were designated as the morgue to keep the other two hospitals free and clear of family traffic. The sky continued to cry and flash which had grounded all helicoptor traffic and stopped life line from being able to come.
---
Rick hit his speed dial on his cell. Maybe she would answer... maybe she was okay. No answer came. He sat staring at his cell.
"Mrs. Smith, find out where they are taking the injured... find out about our teams..."
"I will, sir." She sat down at her desk hitting the phone numbers of the news stations to find out the number with information of the victims involved in the accident.
---
John sat in his den, fuming. Where the hell did she go? Was that ugly woman involved? He got up and poured himself another drink, putting it on the table in front of him, he pulled out his cell phone and looked at Jenny's picture again, the one of her fleeing from his men. He glared at the black t shirt. Was it the same one that the other woman has on? He saw one word as she had turned to flee, Beam.... He thought and thought about the other woman, but all he could think of was that grotesque birthmark, the purple red stain on the left of her face. He could not get past it.
Christopher entered the room and grinned at John.
"I did not know you had it in you, bro."
"What... are you talking about, Christopher?"
"Oh, maybe it is just fate on our side then." He paused and then grabbed the remote and hit the button, the TV flickered on.
"I am not really interested in the stock market, Christopher."
"Ah, well, you will probably be interested in this, since my show got cancelled for this news."
"The Interstate North 65 between mile markers 26 and 34 is shut down. Traffic is being diverted to Friendswood and Camby. I repeat Interstate 65 heading north is shut down between mile markers 26 and 34. There has been a ten car pile up involving an apparent eighteen wheeler that jack knifed on the heavy rain soaked road causing a subsequent chain reaction at around lunch time this morning. Three people were declared dead at the scene and sent to Charity as the designated morgue. NIne critically injured, with eighteen serious to minor injured, were equally distributed to the area hospitals in the tricounty region. As a word of note, two vans from the Matthews Toy Company on their way to a project site at the capital were involved. As you can see from the wreckage, it is a miracle that anyone survived."
John watched anxiously as the camera panned over a smouldering semi lying on its sides with paper products strewn over the interstate. He watched as the camera moved backward taking into account two vans with the Matthews logo, one on its side and another down an embankment right to the motorcycle that was found under the back of an SUV. Damn, he thought. I bet my man was one of the DOA.
Christopher smiled. "You did not do this?"
"Why would I do something that would call for the media's attention like that?" He paused and glared at his brother.
"My, aren't we touchy?" Christopher saw the picture on his brother's cell because he had had it open in his lap the whole time the news cast was on. He hit the remote and turned off the TV. "You still trying to get at that blond chick?"
John rolled his eyes. "I am not some teenage hormone crazed male anymore, Christopher. I can handle this myself."
Christopher arched his eyebrow. "You know, don't you... we need you to be protecting us and A.J. This is no time to be chasing skirt."
"Give me a freaking break, Chris... I can handle myself."
"Well that is reassuring, because, I think we missed a minor detail in regards to the Steve Hauser matter. It occured to me while I was going over the accounts."
"What?"
"That orphaned daughter. What will become of her?"
"I don't know. I don't really care. I figure she will go to foster care, besides, she won't live long, she got that fifty plus year old heart... right?"
Christopher sighed heavily. "The books won't balance if we don't take care of her."
"How do you mean?"
"I mean we need to adopt her to show everyone how concerned we are about our employee's orphaned daughter... maybe even train her to become part of the family..."
John looked at Christopher...narrowing his eyes, he knew this guy was simply a number's guy who had never wanted to date or get married or as far as John knew had no real faults except to see green.
"And who in the world would we marry this sixteen year old orphan off to?"
"Carl comes to mind, and if not him, then, Rick."
"Are freaking kidding me? Why would we do that?"
"Because, they will feel sorry for her and stop working against the family in order to save her."
"I don't think it works that way, Chris... She is sixteen, don't you think people would talk?"
"Look, her heart probably has ten years at best. So we wait for two when she is eighteen marry her off. Keep it in the family so to speak. By then, one of those two bleeding hearts will want to rescue her. Don't you think?"
John arched his eyebrow at that. "Chris...could you just stick with the number crunching? You really worry me when it comes down with dealing with people."
"But.."
"But what?"
"I just feel like we owe her something."
"So she vexes you?"
"Yes."
"Have you seen her picture?"
"Yes. She is quite pretty and innocent looking."
John sighed heavily. Staring at his brother, he pondered out loud. "What would have possessed you to look at her picture?"
Chris looked at the floor. "You seem to be staring at your cell phone all the time at that blond. I could not figure out the attraction, so I started to view all our clientelle to see if I found any of them attractive."
John narrowed his eyes. "Chris, are you lonely?"
"John, I am close to fifty years old. I am too shy to get involved with anyone. I am too set in my ways, can I not be allowed to look at a picture of a girl?"
John considered this, wondering how he could have simply believed that Chris was nothing more than a calculator? "Sooooooo.....you want to date this girl?"
"Oh, good heavens, no."
"Soooooooooo.....you want to spy on this girl?"
"Not really."
"What do you want to do with this girl?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing except see her grow up and get married."
"What? You sound like a father."
"Exactly. That is what I want to be.. a father... I don't care to get into all that messy stuff and women are very difficult to calculate... but as a father, I could enjoy watching her... if she makes mistakes, I would enjoy the results and if she succeeds I would enjoy the results."
"Ah, I get it. You want to make it like an investment game... like your stock market game you play."
"Ummmmnnnn, yes. I guess you are right."
"Chris,when it comes to humans, they are unpredictable and don't add up like your neat little accounting columns."
to be continued...
