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Before she has time to respond, a gigantic thunderclap actually shakes the ground beneath our feet, and we both look up through the canopy of leaves overhead just in time to see a bolt of lightning smash into one of the tree’s arcing branches. Did that just happen? Lightning, striking the tree we’re standing under?
You have got to be kidding me. I might let slip something I wouldn’t usually say on a date.
Sage leaps away from the tree’s trunk and wraps her arms around me, burrowing her head into my chest.
Is the earth actually vibrating? Is the tree? “Come on,” I say.
She doesn’t raise her head, just shakes it furiously. “Sheltering under a tree is the safest thing to do during a storm. Everyone knows this.”
At least I think that’s what she said, but between the near-constant rumble of thunder and the fact that her face is buried in my pecs, I might have misheard.
I know I didn’t actually just get hit by lightning, but I feel pretty buzzy anyway, and I’d rather get Sage inside somewhere than stand here and see if the tree begins to burn.
“Sage?” I say. “I think we should get inside.”
“Maybe we should just wait it out,” she says, her face still tucked into me.
“We’re pretty close to the clinic,” I say. “Let’s just get inside, and then we can watch through a window for the storm to pass.”
Is that any better? Do people get hit by lightning through windows? I bet she knows the answer to that. But I don’t think I’ll ask her. She’s moving her feet, so I tent my jacket around her. I’m not sure if I’m more concerned with keeping her head dry or keeping her eyes off the sky, which is now practically strobing with lightning flashes.
The light show in the sky almost distracts me from noticing that lights are off all over campus.Almostdistracts me, but not quite. The storm knocked all the lights out. If power is off at the clinic, I’ll have to get creative about entering the building. My key card works with an electronic reader, and I don’t even know where the backup metal key is.
We must look like a crazy lump, with Sage tucked into my coat and bent over to hide from the storm. She’s moving along with me pretty well, maybe because with her head still hiding in my chest, she has great view of our feet.
I glance back at the tree we were standing under, and I can see one huge branch dangling off to the side.
That is the closest I’ve ever come to being hit by lightning, and I have to say, I’m now definitely more nervous about it happening again than I ever was before today. If Sage’s one-in-fifteen-thousand data was right, what is the chance of a second hit in the same storm? Maybe I’ll look it up. But probably not while Sage is with me.
I hurry Sage along. Rain is streaming off my head, running down my face, splashing up from our feet. But hopefully Sage is staying mostly dry.
At the door to the clinic, the key-swipe pad light is off. Great.
“We made it,” I tell Sage. “But it looks like the power’s out. Stay here a minute, and I’ll go in through a window.” We’re standing under the door’s awning, but I take my coat off and tent it over her head so she doesn’t get rained on any more than she has to.
She raises her head and tears are streaming down her face.
I reach for her. “Never mind,” I say. “I’m not going anywhere.”
10
SAGE
Idon’t want to be a baby, but we just almost got hit by lightning.
Actual lightning. From the sky.
And now I’m possibly panicking.
You can’t blame me. It’s the most natural reaction I’ve ever had to any dangerous situation ever.
And I held it together like a pro, until now.
Now I just have to fall apart for a minute.
Grayson wraps his arms around me, and for a few minutes I don’t think. I just let the tears come. Thunder still rolls, but it’s not sharp like it was a few minutes ago. It’s rumbly, but it doesn’t seem as dangerous.
Finally, I take a deep, shuddery breath. “Okay,” I say.
