Chapter Text
Standing. Staring. Watching. That’s all you could seem to do right now.
Everything was so loud, you could see everything happening around you, yet it was all so quiet. You knew there was noise around you, yet you couldn’t hear it. You could only stare at the destruction that was left in the path of the most recent tornado. The one that just swept everything you knew away. The one that almost took you with it.
You hurt everywhere, the pain was unbearable. But you couldn’t move yourself to sit down. It’s like you were frozen where you were. Your eyes slowly moved from what was left of your house to your legs. You were outside when it hit. It came so fast. It was gone so fast. You didn’t have time to react. To find shelter.
Your pants were shredded up to the knee, and both your legs were covered in bruises of varied sizes and gashes. Your hands finally started to move and they ran over your body. You could feel holes in the shirt you were wearing, small gashes against your skin hiding behind some of the holes.
And your head. Your head was pounding. You reached a hand up, hissing immediately as your hand whirled back covered in bright red blood. That’s when everything came back to you: the noise, the emotions, the feelings, the thoughts. Your head turned in every direction and you could hear yourself breathing heavily, shakily. You felt yourself trembling as the tears welled in your eyes.
But you had no one to comfort you. You lived in this house by yourself. This house that was so easily swept away in front of your eyes. How you didn’t wind up in the tornado boggled you. It was so close. You were so close to it. If you zoned out hard enough you swore you could still hear it thundering past.
Unable to hold you up further your legs gave out beneath you. You dropped down to the ground on your knees, bracing yourself with your hands, and you stayed like that for what seemed like forever. You eventually sat back on your heels as your palms rested against your thighs. The more time that passed the harder your head pounded. Your vision was slowly starting to blur and darken as the world spun around you. “S-Shit…” You gasped out, bending forward again and putting your arms over your head.
The tears were warm against your face and burned the small cuts scattered upon your cheeks and one bigger one under your left eye. It started as a silent cry, which turned into silent sobs until you were screaming what could’ve been considered bloody murder. Your right hand balled into a fist and slammed into the pavement beneath you as you crumbled against the pavement, ducking your head into your chest.
Footsteps echoed all around you and words were being thrown at you. But you didn’t care. You didn’t care right now. How could you care when you had nothing left? Your eyes were squeezed shut at this point as the tears just flowed, only opening as you felt yourself being gently and carefully brought to your feet.
You lifted your head to see who had gotten you to your feet and suddenly the words the person was speaking registered in your head. “Sir? Can you hear me?” Your mouth fell open as you tried to speak, but you couldn’t. You could only nod. It was a man who had brought you to your feet, and he looked familiar but you couldn’t place it right now.
Your vision started to blur and darken again and your head slowly tipped forward, your knees buckling beneath you. The last thing you remembered seeing and hearing was the man holding you picking you up into his arms and calling out for a paramedic. Then it all went dark.
~~~~~~~~~~
When you woke up next you could hear beeping. Slow. Steady. Consistent. Your eyes opened slowly and immediately you shut them to block out the bright lights above you. You gave yourself a few seconds before opening them again. It didn’t take you long to realize you were in the hospital but you didn’t remember how you got there.
You heard a gentle knock on your door and a nurse came in with a small try. “Oh, you’re awake now!” She exclaimed softly. You carefully pushed yourself up in the hospital bed as everything that had taken place hit you full force. You teared up and sighed. “How… How did…” You started, but the nurse shushed you quickly. “Save your energy, dear,” She said as she prepped a syringe to put in your IV. “You were in a tornado, a bad one. Someone found you and brought you here after you passed out in front of him,” She explained to you, connecting the syringe to your IV and injecting the liquid in it into the stream. “You were badly injured, it’s almost a miracle you're alive and awake right now, which I know is pretty grim to hear but you were in critical condition when you got here.” She disconnected the syringe and disposed of it, washing her hands in the sink tucked into the back corner of your room.
You let the information sink in before speaking. “Who… Who brought me?” You asked hoarsely. The nurse filled a plastic cup up for you with water to drink and handed it to you. “He didn’t say who he was, I’m afraid. He could only drop you and leave, something about another tornado that had hit a town not far from here. He was an interesting man,” She said casually as she busied herself with checking your vitals and various monitors. “Some good news for you though, you should be able to leave within the next few hours. You were out for a while but you were stable the entire time. Doctor will be in as soon as he can, he’ll want to check you before you leave but you’re in the clear.”
You nodded a little bit and thanked her quietly as you sipped on the water. She gave you a small, reassuring smile as she left you alone once again. You tapped your fingers against the plastic cup in your hand as you thought of what happened. You didn’t have anywhere to go and you didn’t have any money to stay somewhere. You frowned but quickly pushed those thoughts aside.
Looking around the room you found the remote for the TV on your bed and you grabbed it. You had nothing better to do while waiting and turned on the TV. The channels were boring but you eventually settled on one covering the tornado that hit where you lived. Through the news coverage, you found out you’d been in the hospital for three days, but you didn’t know which hospital you were at. You knew there were three options for hospitals in the area and making an educated guess you figured you were admitted to the one that was easily walkable to your house.
You looked around a bit before finding a small flyer on the wall about fall safety and pinpointing the hospital name, a smile spreading across your face when you realized your educated guess was correct. A soft knock echoed through your room again and you exhaled sharply. “Come in,” You said, your voice still hoarse from not being able to use it.
The door swung open and you assumed the man coming in was the doctor. “Hey, (Y/n), I’m Doctor Ireland. How’re you feeling?” He asked you as he shut the door behind himself and sanitized his hands. You shifted in bed a little. “Better, I guess. As best as I can after, you know…” You answered honestly. Doctor Ireland nodded with a sympathetic look as he checked your vitals and monitors, sitting down next to you in the chair and doing a few physical tests to make sure you were healthy. After listening to your heart and lungs he sighed softly and folded his hands in front of him. “You’re in good shape and I’m not worried about any complications. Most of your cuts, gashes, and scrapes were superficial except for the one under your eye. That one needed stitches and will have a scar once fully healed. Nothing was broken and you had no concussion, either. You’re very lucky to come out of a tornado like that.”
You listened to the doctor explain everything and nodded here and there. “I’ll send in someone to discharge you. We’ve also got a new set of clothes for you via some donations to the hospital,” He said as he stood up and moved to exit the room. “Thank you, Doctor Ireland,” You said softly. He smiled at you and nodded before leaving the room. It didn’t take long for someone to come with discharge papers, which you declined to take with you. Before you knew it, you were out of the hospital and walked the streets back to the rubble that was your house.
The closer you got to it the more you could see the damage the tornado did. It wasn’t long until you were standing in front of where your house once stood. People were still around the area cleaning and gathering belongings. You sighed and ventured into the rubble carefully, sifting through areas to try and find something. You eventually found your wallet, buried under what used to be the coffee table and a bunch of housing materials. You opened it and found some cash inside, your debit card, ID, and a few other miscellaneous items. At least you had this to your name.
You looked around the ruins for a moment as tears welled into your eyes. You moved over to where your bedroom would be and dug through the rubble again, trying to locate the safe you kept in your closet. It didn’t take long to find it and it seemed only slightly damaged. You tried your luck unlocking it and much to your surprise it still functioned. You opened it up and sighed with relief.
Inside the safe were important documents, some of which you grabbed and shoved into your shorts pockets that were deeper than you expected, but also a bulging envelope. You grabbed the envelope and double-checked that you had everything you needed from the safe before closing it and locking it back up. You didn’t know when you’d be back to this place. You had a feeling you wouldn’t, so grabbing crucial things from this safe was your top priority.
You looked at the envelope in your hand and opened it carefully. When you first bought this house you took out a large sum of money in cash and put it into an envelope to keep in this safe. You never thought you’d be in this situation, but you were glad you decided to make that move. This money was hopefully going to get you a place to live, even if it were a small space.
As the sky started to darken as the sun set you knew it was time to move on. Leaving your home for what was most likely the final time you didn’t look back. You walked yourself to the nearby diner and motel on the outskirts of town and noticed it was unusually busy. Trucks and vans of all kinds were in the parking lot tonight, people crowded around and chatting. You avoided everyone as best as you could and slipped into the diner. You were sat immediately and you looked over the menu, rubbing at your head that had started to ache a little bit. It didn’t take long for a waitress to take your order and get your food. You didn’t hesitate to dig in as you thought about what you’d do tomorrow. You sighed heavily, deciding right now it was just best to focus and eat your food.
~~~~~~~~~~
On the other side of the diner and motel’s parking lot, Tyler Owens was working on his truck, chatting with his crew about their latest chase. “This tornado wasn’t far from the one that just hit three days ago, you know,” Dexter commented as he looked over readings and charts. Lily nodded as she tinkered with her drone. “Crazy how close those two were. I don’t think we were too far, man. I could see the rubble of some houses from the one three days ago today chasing with Tyler,” Boone added as he took a sip of his drink.
Tyler nodded slowly, sitting up straight and getting down from the top of his truck. “These things are just getting worse and worse, more destruction and chaos every day,” He said as he wiped his hands on his jeans with a shake of his head. “I’ll be right back, I can hear the food in the diner calling my name,” He announced as made his way to the diner before anyone could say anything.
Pulling the door open Tyler looked around once inside. There weren’t a lot of people in the diner tonight, though it was late by now. His eyes stopped on someone though as he looked around. They had stopped on you. He stood there for a minute before it hit him why he thought you looked familiar. The last time he saw you were being wheeled away on a stretcher and ultimately decided to at least introduce himself, pushing his original venture into the diner aside.
From your booth, you had just finished your meal and sifting through bills to lie down on the table when you heard someone say hello. You looked up and just barely recognized the man in front of you as the one you saw before you had passed out three days ago. “Maybe you don’t remember me, but I’m the person who got you to the hospital three days ago after the tornado, I just wanted to introduce myself to you, properly. Tyler Owens.”
You paused for a second and couldn’t help your jaw dropping a small amount. That name was familiar to you only because you knew him from news reports and the stuff he does on YouTube. You stood up as you placed the money on the table for your food. “Nice to meet you properly, Tyler,” You said, shifting your weight to one leg. “I’m (Y/n).” Tyler smiled at you. “I’m glad to see you’re out of the hospital now. Didn’t think I’d ever see you again but I’d been thinking about you, hoping you were okay.”
You smiled at his words, a small smile. “That means a lot, thank you,” You replied. “And… Thank you for helping me, too,” You added. “Of course, (Y/n), it’s part of what I do.” You chuckled a little bit. “Never thought the person saving me from the aftermath of a tornado would be the famous Tyler Owens… Not to be that type of guy,” You said softly, the smile on your face fading a little bit as you thought about the tornado again. “Never imagined myself in such a situation before. But maybe I should’ve, being in Oklahoma and all.” You crossed your arms over your chest, looking out of the diner’s windows. “I knew tornadoes could cause a shit ton of damage, but it’s not something I thought I’d ever be faced. Everything gone so quick, right before my eyes.”
Tyler listened to your words, a worried yet sympathetic look coming across his face. “Tornadoes are a shitshow, I learned that quickly when I first picked up chasing them,” Tyler responded, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Causing so much damage and hurt in such a short amount of time… It’s awful.” You looked back at him and nodded in agreement. Tyler looked around for something to write on before finding a napkin and a pen, jotting something down on it messily before handing it to you. “I’ve gotta get going before my crew comes looking for me, but feel free to reach out if you need anything.”
Looking down at the napkin you nodded, finding what you assumed was a phone number, Tyler’s phone number, written on it. There was a gentle pat on your shoulder before the sound of Tyler’s boots clicking against the floor made you look up as you caught him dip out of the diner. You looked back down at the napkin as a smile spread across your face again. “Now that’s something that I’m sure doesn’t happen every day,” You told yourself as you watched Tyler go back to his crew through the window. You folded up the napkin neatly and placed it in your pocket before moving out of the diner and getting a motel room.
It’d be a long couple of days for you and to say you were exhausted would be an extreme understatement. As you flopped onto the bed and let yourself dip into the mattress you were just barely thinking about your plan for tomorrow. You didn’t have a phone, you knew you’d need that again. A house or an apartment was somewhere on the list too but with the motel, you weren’t all too worried currently. Maybe a car if there was enough left over for one, and some other things like hygienic products for a good, long shower.
Quickly you were starting to realize yourself falling asleep and you pulled yourself up more on the bed, kicking your shoes off in the process and tucking yourself under the blankets. You pushed any thoughts of your future aside for now as you only wanted to sleep currently. The last thought on your mind was Tyler, and the napkin in your pocket. But before you could question the thought more you were fast asleep, unable to stay awake any longer.