Tornadoes have ravaged a portion of the country, including Nashville, Tennessee, where this story takes place. Louisiana Sandusky, 33 1/2, is sitting at the bedside of her daughter, Ronee', aged 10, who is recovering from a mild concussion after being hit in the head with hailstones. As of this writing, the weather is still threatening outside, with more severe weather expected. Louisiana has just gotten off her job as charge nurse, and she is emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausted. She is writing this on her laptop as she watches her young daughter sleep.
I don't know if I can take any more of this. It has been a very bad day, and a very bad night, for me.
My nerves are shot and frayed, and I am so upset I can hardly eat anything without wanting to throw up.
Last night (and earlier, like about four in the afternoon), and so far today, our area has been slammed with severe storms; and more severe weather is expected. Many people have been injured, and so far, according to the news reports this morning and now, at least 32 people total across five states have been killed as a result of these storms. One of those people injured so happens to be one of my children, Ronee', who is recovering from a mild concussion and contusions. She was injured after being hit in the head with hailstones, and for a time, she was knocked unconscious. She has since regained consciousness (thank GOD), but she has a severe headache, and she is also bruised all over her body. In fact, her body is covered with bruises from where hail pelted her. She is presently in a bed, here in the Pediatric Stepdown ward, and she is fast asleep. The medicine she is being given in her I.V. has caused her to fall asleep, and it is best that she gets as much rest as possible as she recovers from her head injury. As a precaution, she has on a heart monitor, and she is on nasal oxygen; this is necessary because she has some breathing problems, and she has had some past times where she has stopped breathing due to allergies. Her doctors think she will be in the hospital overnight, or at least, a few days, before she is released, just so they can keep a close observation on her.
Ronee' was injured when she was getting the mail, and a particularly big hailstone (as big as a golfball, maybe a little bit larger) happened to bounce off her head, knocking her unconscious. When she didn't come in from getting the mail, I happened to look up, to see what was keeping her; and I saw her lying on the ground, not moving. As you can very well imagine, I panicked, and I had one of the older kids bring her in, where I then looked at her; and I knew she needed medical aid. She was unconscious, and blood was streaming from a cut on her head; plus her body had big, red welts all over it. I had Bill call for an ambulance, and the ambulance then took her to Nashville Memorial, which is the closest hospital to our place, and she was then admitted. She has been here ever since. She went in yesterday afternoon.
I stayed at the hospital until past nine o'clock, and as much as I didn't want to leave Ronee' 's side, I knew I had to, as I had to work the next day, bright and early. I had to be at the hospital at 5:30 a.m., so I could clock in for my 6:00 a.m. shift. I didn't sleep good at all last night because one round after another of storms came coming through, and the kids were all up, crying about the storms. Plus Johnny's weather radio was going off (and it still probably is continuing to go off as of this writing; severe storms are again traveling across our city; I can hear the heavy rain pelting the windows, and the tornado sirens are going off for the umpteenth time, it seems, setting my already frayed nerves close to the breaking point).
Most people do not enjoy weather such as the type that is going on at the present time, but Johnny, my little weather-lovin' son, absolutely ENJOYS this weather. He loves the excitement and drama that severe weather brings, and he has gone storm chasing before, thanks to the Sunshine Kids Foundation. He would do it again in a New York minute if he got the chance.
I can do without the storms and the severe weather, thank you very much, especially since I was born deep in Hurricane Country. I have been in a few hurricanes, and I have even been in a few tornadoes; and it is something I DON'T want to do on a frequent basis, thank you very much! :(
As long as there is a threat of severe weather, you can probably guess that I won't be sleeping (if at ALL) the next few days until this pattern calms down and the threat ends. I don't sleep heavily as it is, but when it storms outside, I am bright-eyed and bushy-tailed! :) So I won't be worth a WAAHHHH this week, thanks to this LOVELY (and I use this word on a sarcastic note, by the way!) weather we are having!
And just heard on the news that Alan Jackson's home is flooded. LOVELY. Now what will happen NEXT? I am almost too afraid to find out...
Will write more later. Oh, CRUD....The damn power just went out, and the tornado sirens are going off again--
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Reviewed by Hasan Abood
5/20/2003
I must say "Weather Worries" is a very good short story that contains elements of suspense. :) Also, I would like to thank you very much for taking the time to read my short story.
I share your "weather worries". I hate thunderstorms, especially the thunder. The tornado that ripped through here not many years ago didn't help my fears very much.
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I don't know if I can take any more of this. It has been a very bad day, and a very bad night, for me.
