Leaning over the counter, I kissed her cheek. “I owe you, big time. Thanks.”
“I needed it after an operation,” she said. “It’s sort of old but should still work.”
“You’re my angel.”
Returning to our room, I filled a cup with water, then sat beside Jade. She’d crawled back under the covers, but accepted two tablets and washed them down with the water. “What were they?”
“The good shit.” Smiling, I brushed her hair back from her face. “Go to sleep. I’m going to find us some breakfast.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Within minutes, Jade was asleep again. I inspected her wounds and found them clean of apparent infection. Covering her, I kissed her cheek. I donned my boots and jacket, thenleft the room again. Downstairs, the clerk glanced up as I approached.
“How is she?”
“Sleeping. Uh, is there a diner or something close by? For breakfast.”
She glanced doubtfully at the blowing snow outside. “We’ve got a continental breakfast here, its included. Lots of coffee, juice. I really don’t think you want to go out in that.”
I, too, eyed the whiteout conditions. “Maybe not. Where’s this breakfast?”
“Just around the corner there.”
I pursed my lips in an air kiss. “You’re a doll.”
Only one other guest dined in the small room where I breathed in the scents of coffee and toasted bagels. I poured a big cup for myself, and put bagels, donuts, packets of jams, boxes of cereal, a couple pints of milk, others of juice, slices of bread, plastic plates, spoons, and bowls into a bag. The other guest stared in awe as I gathered my bounty.
“A family,” I said with a quick grin. “Big storm outside.”
“Gotcha.”
I waved at the clerk as I headed for the elevator, thinking food might be boring for a while, but at least we’d eat. Jade slept on as I quietly entered and set my bounty down on the desk. I put the juice and milk in the fridge, then turned the TV on, the sound low.
Jade slept on as I munched a bagel, sipped my coffee, and channel surfed. Finding a local station reporting on the blizzard, I set the remote down. The talking head spoke of the city paralyzed by the storm, air and vehicle traffic ground to a halt.
“Do not leave your homes,” the head intoned. “Don’t travel the roadways unless for an emergency. Plows are working to keep up with the snow, and emergency responders may notbe able to assist you. Stay calm and stay tuned for further information.”
“Try finding me in this shit, Dad,” I muttered.
***
Over the next two days, Jade slept, waking to eat a little food, drink milk and juice, pop a pain pill, use the toilet, then slept again. The storm blew itself out by evening of the following day, and at last I could venture into the town. I bought burgers at the diner down the street, walking across newly shoveled sidewalks. The town’s plows cleared the streets with an easy efficiency, permitting the mountain town to come alive again.
Jade munched an almost cold burger with relish, sitting up with pillows behind her. “This is good.”
I bit into my own. “Not bad. When you’re ready, we’ll go down there and eat them hot.”
Her cheeks flushed a faint pink, making me wonder what I’d said to embarrass her. “You’ve really taken care of me. Thank you.”
I waved my burger. “You took care of me. We’re square.”
“Think the cats are okay?”
I chewed, then swallowed. “Yep. They survived fine without us, they’ll be fine until we get back to collect them.”
“You really think we will? Get back to – collect them?”
“I do. It’ll take us a few days to drive to Washington, and, oh say another few days to chat up the feds. They’ll work their magic, arrest dear old dad, then we’re clear to head home.”
