[HANSON STORIES]

To Look Within My Soul

Chapter 18 - Waiting Out The Storm



Taylor woke up feeling Jason's arm over his chest. He turned his head and smiled seeing Jason sleeping next to him peacefully. He looked up at the ceiling and listened intently when he frowned still hearing the wind rage outside. He wondered if he should wake Jason up or just let him sleep. Suddenly he jumped when he saw Snow's head pop up from the side of bed.
"You scared me!" Taylor whispered and then smiled as Snow licked him on the cheek.
"How do you feel Tay?" Jason asked as Taylor turned looking into his eyes and smiled.
"Warm. I finally feel warm." Taylor stated as Jason leaned up onto his elbow and looked over at Snow.
"Good! Hey boy? Feeling left out?" Jason chuckled as he reached out and petted Snow on the nose. He barked loudly and panted.
"Guess that is a yes." Taylor laughed moving his left leg and then groaned.
"What's wrong?" Jason asked with concern.
"My leg is so stiff. It feels so hard to move." Taylor answered swallowing hard.
"The left one?" Jason asked watching him nod.
"I want to check you over." Jason announced and then got out from under the covers. He pulled back the blanket from Taylor's body and grabbed his leg bending it at the knee. Taylor winced sucking in a sharp breath of air.
"Hurts?" Jason asked with concern.
"It hurts but I think it is just very stiff from walking on it." Taylor answered and then sat up.
"Your hip doesn't hurt when you sit up?" Jason asked as Taylor smiled at him.
"No. Just my leg feels stiff. My hands hurt though." Taylor stated seeing the deep colored bruises around his wrists.
"They do look bad. Grab my fingers and squeeze them as tight as you can." Jason instructed holding out his hands with his pointer fingers out in front of him. Taylor grabbed them and squeezed as best as he could. He looked up at Jason to see his reaction.
"Can you grip my fingers any tighter?" Jason asked.
"I'm squeezing as tight as I can." Taylor said swallowing hard.
"Okay. Your grip is somewhat weak, but that is to be expected." Jason concluded and then they both looked up hearing a loud thud on the door above them.
"What was that?" Taylor asked as Jason stood up and walked up near the stairs looking up wondering what that sound was.
"I don't know. I think the snow storm is still going on out there though by the sound of the wind." Jason commented sadly.
"How long do you think it will last?" Taylor asked flipping his legs out from the bed.
"It could stop soon or it could last for days." Jason answered still looking up at the door fearfully.
"Days? But won't we be buried in here?" Taylor asked fearfully as he stood up and rocked a little off balance but caught himself.
"I think we already are Tay. I don't want to scare you but I couldn't lift the door open last night." Jason stated looking back over at him watching Taylor's eyes grow wide at the news.
"We're trapped in here? How are we going to get out?" Taylor asked as he walked forward feeling pain enter his left hip bone.
"Hopefully they will get us out. We just have to sit tight and wait out this storm. Don't worry Tay. We will be fine." Jason assured him as Taylor came up next to him gazing up at the door.
"I hope you're right." Taylor said with fear sounding in his voice. Jason put his hand on his shoulder and rubbed it trying to assure him.
"Well let's eat something. Are you hungry?" Jason smiled trying to change the subject as he walked over to the cabinets and opened up a door.
"I'm starving! What do you have to eat?" Taylor asked curiously, slowly walking over to the table and grabbed his jeans that hung over a chair and noticed that they still felt a little damp to the touch.
"Oatmeal. I'll make that." Jason said and then fearfully looked into the cabinet seeing that the food stock was very limited. He only had two boxes of oatmeal and saw a few cans of soup still sitting on the shelf. He didn't want to alarm Taylor and said nothing. Taylor looked over at Jason and sensed something wasn't right.
"Jason? What's wrong?" Taylor asked looking at him intently as he sat down on one of the chairs.
"Nothing Tay."
"Jason? Tell me what is concerning you. Don't lie to me." Taylor declared watching Jason's eyebrows crinkle together. He walked over to the table carrying the box of oatmeal in his hand and put it down on the table in front of him.
"Okay Taylor. There isn't much food in the cabin. I have this box plus another one left and just a few cans of soup." Jason informed him watching him rub his hand across his forehead.
"How about the fridge?" Taylor asked hopefully watching Jason sit down across from him.
"Nothing is in there. When I left the cabin I cleared it out completely because I shut down the cabin after marrying Alice. I'm sorry Tay." Jason said sadly looking down at the table.
"Well we don't have anything to worry about. We'll be going back home soon anyways." Taylor exclaimed seeing Jason smile at him and nod his head.
"Yeah. You're right. What are we thinking here anyways?" Jason smiled liking that Taylor was staying hopeful. He walked back to the stove and pulled out a pot and filled it with water by the sink. He turned on the fire and let the water heat up.
Taylor rested back into the chair wondering what his family was doing now. He also thought about Sherri hoping that she was okay still remembering the fear and pain on her face. Jason looked over at Taylor seeing that he was deep in thought.
"What are you thinking about?" Jason asked as Taylor looked up at him.
"About my family and Sherri. What happened to that guy?" Taylor asked as Jason poured some oatmeal into the water.
"I found the jerk with Sherri in his car." Jason angrily said remembering.
"What was...?"
"He was attacking her, but I stopped him before he did anything!"
"Oh God! Poor Sherri. She...she must have been so scared. I wanted to help her. I was trying to find my way back when..."
"Taylor? She is fine. I tied him up and she brought him back to the store. She knows this territory well."
"I wonder what they did to him? That guy was insane. He actually thought that Sherri and I were boyfriend and girlfriend. The memory of the look of hate in that guy's face still gives me the creeps." Taylor angrily stated looking at his wrists again sadly.
"I still believe David thinks that. He needs a lot of help." Jason said as he poured the steaming oatmeal into two bowls. He grabbed two spoons from the drawer and put one in each bowl and brought them over to the table, placing one down in front of Taylor.
"It is going to taste rather bland. I don't have any milk or sugar." Jason informed him and sat down.
"It 's still food. I don't mind." Taylor said cracking a small smile as he scooped up some of the oatmeal onto the spoon with his hand shaking and ate the spoonful.
"Just eat it slow." Jason advised and slowly ate his bowl of the oatmeal. He watched Taylor eat his as he painfully gripped the spoon.
"Wonder what my Dad and brothers are having for breakfast?" Taylor asked looking up at Jason intently.
"Probably having a better breakfast then this." Jason added in with a smile.
"Ahhh...yeah. Jason? I am still wondering what made that sound before on the door." Taylor said casting his eyes up and down.
"Well don't worry about it Tay. Since we are going to be here for awhile I want to continue with your therapy." Jason said watching Taylor nod his head.
"One thing.....I guess I don't need those crutches anymore. I was forced to walk without them." Taylor smiled leaning forward placing his elbows on the table.
"I noticed before that you are limping when you walk. I want to make sure that the forced walking you had didn't do any damage to your hip." Jason explained as he got up grabbing both the empty bowls and placed them into the sink. Taylor stood up slowly and walked toward the bed while Jason watched him not liking the way he limped.
"Tay?"
"Huh?"
"Do you feel any pain in your left side when you walk?" Jason asked walking over to him and stood in front of him.
Taylor sat down on the edge of the bed and looked up at him.
"Yeah...but it isn't real intense. It's more like a ache in my side. Why?" Taylor asked swallowing hard watching Jason sit down next to him on the bed.
"If you had to tell me the level of pain you feel... how would you rate it between one and ten? Ten being the most severe." Jason asked watching Taylor dart his eyes back and forth thinking.
"I would say maybe a five. It really doesn't hurt so bad Jason. Look... I walked on my own. I think we just have to work out the kinks." Taylor added flinging his hands out for emphasis. Jason smiled and reached his arm around his shoulders and hugged him next to his chest.
"Okay Taylor. We will work on that." Jason said as they both sat together on the bed becoming suddenly silent. Taylor shifted pulling away from Jason and ran his hand through his hair.
"Jason? If we are trapped in here for several days do we really have enough to eat?" Taylor asked wanting to know.
"I guess maybe we should ration the food just in case. Don't worry we will get out of here. Everyone knows that we are here." Jason stated in a reasuring tone as his thoughts drifted to Alice.

The wind howled outside with the sky still cast in a deep gray shade. The huge tree rested on top of the door, after falling over from the high winds and the weight of the snow. The blizzard still whipped its angry fury through out the mountains.


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