I'll Swim, You Play Your Football

Chapter 27

Cold was the only thing I felt. It was freezing in my car and I was too afraid to turn on the heat because I didn't want to kill my battery. It was getting later and the snow was falling harder. There was little chance we'd be out tonight. I looked to my right and saw the other side of the road had cars getting stuck too. This was a nightmare. I was curled up in the drivers seat with a little blanket and a thick pair of socks I found in the back seat. It was pretty much dark for the night but quickly becoming pitch black. It was only four but I was already feeling tired. I wanted to stay awake for as long as I could so I searched for things to do.

As I was thinking I heard snow crunching and then a knock on my window.

"You want to help us?" Jaime asked after I opened the door. I nodded and quickly closed it to put on my boots. I got out of the car and saw lots of people out of their cars.

"What are we doing?" I asked.

"Trying to move all the cars to the right lane. That way plows can get by."

"How far back are we going to have to go?" I asked a little concerned. If it's a whole highway of cars we'd be out here for days.

"Not far actually. They closed the highway not long after we all got on. There's two feet of snow, but a guy was just coming from a lumber store and has a bunch of boards that can help us move the cars far enough to get them out of the way."

"Ok." I said sounding quite alright with it, but on the inside I was cringing. I didn't want to do this. I wanted to be rescued. But I knew to be rescued this had to happen. So we started walking with our ragtag group and made it to the first car in the middle lane. We dug out in front of the tires and laid down the boards. The person in the car started the engine and drove forward. We walked forward and moved the boards back in front of the tires. The car made it pretty much into the right lane.
"Alright good enough. Let's go to the next one." A guy said. We did this to about 20 cars. Moving the boards at least three times per car. When we finally made it to the end I looked to my left and saw empty. It was just a bunch of snow on an empty straightaway. It looked so strange. I've never seen such an empty highway. I walked back to my car and got in. I was a little disappointed with how cold it was in there. Just as I sat down I heard a scream.
"Someone help!" I jumped out of the car and looked around. A guy had his hands on his head and was looking into the car.
"She's having a seizure or something!" I ran over to the car and saw in the backseat was a lady convulsing with her eyes rolled back in her head.
"There's nothing you can do." I said. "Keep her on her side so she doesn't swallow her tongue." It was the only advice I could give. The guy was in a panic but he quickly stepped closer and shifted her to her side. There was a crowd of us around the car, watching the scene play out in front of us. I slowly backed up and went back to my car. I closed the car door and put my head against the steering wheel. I wanted Alex. That's all. I pulled my phone out of the cupholder with a shaking hand. There was a missed call from Alex from a half hour ago. I dialed his number as fast as my numbing fingers could and listened to the phone ring.
"Hello?" His sweet voice answered. I sighed in relief that he was ok and smiled a little.
"You're ok Gup?" I asked.

"Ya. I made it home. How are you holding up?"

"I just want to hear your voice. That's all." I whispered.

"Baby are you ok?" He asked sounding a little concerned.

"I'm fine." I said quietly again. I felt like I couldn't speak too loud. I felt very weak.

"I want you here with me." He said sounding more nervous.

"I promise I'll make it to you. I'll just be a little cold." I said with a smile. My phone buzzed, warning me that I was on 20% battery. "I have to go Alex. My phone is going to die."