The Second Heart (5 page)

Vi sat up next to her and pointed to the
window. “Look.”

Meredith’s glanced over, and saw that streams
of water were pouring down the glass pane. “It’s raining,” she said
stupidly. And then, “Oh! It’s raining! That’s awesome!”

She jumped up from the bed and ran to the
window, peering outside. She couldn’t tell whether the fires had
been put out by the rain, but she still felt like it was a good
sign. She broke into a relieved smile before turning back to face
the bed.

Next to Vi, the clock on the nightstand
displayed 1:38 in glowing red numerals. Meredith stretched her arms
above her, shivering at the night chill, before climbing back into
bed. The covers had retained her body heat, and it felt warm and
inviting to get back in. She pulled the blankets up to her chin and
snuggled into her pillow. “The best part of waking up in the middle
of the night is getting to go back to sleep again,” she noted
sleepily.

Vi patted her head and said, “See you
tomorrow, kid.”

Soon they had both gone back to sleep,
reassured by the rain that drummed softly on the tile roof above
their heads.

When Meredith opened her eyes again, pale,
watery light was making its meager way into the room from the
window. She glanced over at the clock, assuming it was still very
early in the morning. To her surprise, it was well after nine. It
was still raining heavily outside, and yesterday’s concerns about
all the fires seemed almost silly.

Vi still slept beside her as Meredith grabbed
her phone from the nightstand beside her and checked for emails.
There was an update from the university stating that classes were
still suspended. She had another email from a classmate who was
going to be hosting a “Fire Party” that evening at their house in
honor of the closed campus. She stretched leisurely in bed and
considered suggesting it to Miguel, though she knew he would
probably want to stick to their dinner plans.

She lay in bed for a few more cozy minutes,
noticing that she had a mild stomachache. Sliding out from under
the covers, Meredith grimaced as the cool morning air hit her skin.
She quietly opened the closet doors, glancing back at the bed to
make sure she hadn’t disturbed Vi. She found an oversized gray
sweatshirt hanging on the rack with the words “Grammar Queen”
emblazoned on the front. Meredith pulled it over her head and then
found her jeans in the pile at the foot of the bed, yanking them
on.

She left the bedroom, gently closing the door
behind her, and made her way into the bathroom. Looking in the
mirror, she saw that her fair skin was even paler than usual, and
she had dark circles under her eyes. She opened the medicine
cabinet and was glad to find some antacid tablets. She popped
several of them into her mouth, and still chewing, headed out to
the living room.

Amelia was sitting on the couch with her feet
tucked up underneath her, sipping coffee and working on a crossword
puzzle. She wore a fuzzy pink robe over a gray cotton nightgown and
bright purple socks that had polka dots on the bottoms of the feet.
She looked up as Meredith entered the room. “Good morning, sweetie.
Sleep okay?”

Meredith nodded. “Thanks for letting us stay
over. I hope your generosity extends to a very large cup of coffee,
too.” She smiled briefly at the irony of chasing antacids with
coffee, but she knew she’d have a raging headache if she skipped
her morning brew. Plus, drinking a cup of coffee was one of her
most cherished daily routines.

Amelia smiled. “There’s a pot on in the
kitchen. Cream’s in the fridge, sugar’s in the pantry.”

Meredith didn’t hesitate as she beelined for
the coffee maker in the kitchen. The coffee smelled wonderful; Rob
favored specialty coffees with caramel and cinnamon spice
flavoring, so coffee at her parents’ house was always a special
treat. Meredith found a mug in the cupboard and filled it, feeling
nostalgic once again. The cup had a cartoon saguaro cactus on it,
and it was one that her parents had owned since Meredith was a
little girl. She had enjoyed hot chocolate out of it many times.
After she doctored her cup of coffee to perfection with cream and
sugar, Meredith returned to the living room and joined her mother
on the couch.

“So what are you going to do today?” Amelia
asked conversationally. She set her puzzle aside and removed her
reading glasses, turning to face Meredith.

Meredith glanced out the window at the
pouring rain. “Besides build an ark?” She relished the thought of
having the whole day before her. It felt like the time she was ten
years old and school was canceled due to a broken air
conditioner--she had stolen hours that she could use however she
liked. Her elation was short-lived, however, as she remembered that
she had plenty of chores and responsibilities that could claim her
time. Continuing, she said, “I don’t know. I’ll probably go home
and wash everything in the house, and maybe do some of my
anesthesiology homework. I’m not scheduled to work today, but if I
have time I might go in. There’s a little puppy with parvo that
could really use some extra love.”

“Sounds industrious,” Amelia responded. “I
also have a big day planned.”

“Oh yeah? What?”

“I thought I might sit at the other end of
the couch, for a change. See how I like it.” Amelia laughed as
Meredith stuck her tongue out at her.

“Oh, to live the life of a retiree. Full of
such glamour, such excitement!” Meredith took a long sip of her
coffee, enjoying the taste. “Is Dad up yet?”

“Yes, he’s been out in the garage working on
a dollhouse for Ivy.” Ivy was James’s seven-year-old daughter. The
spitting image of Meredith’s brother, Ivy had a shock of bright
blonde hair and luminous hazel eyes.

Meredith smiled at the mention of her niece.
The last time Meredith had seen Ivy, they had gone bowling together
while James went out on a date. James was a single father, and
Ivy’s mother hadn’t been in the picture since Ivy was about six
months old. Meredith enjoyed babysitting Ivy occasionally when her
schedule allowed it, though she realized that their bowling outing
had been almost a month ago.

Just as they were talking about him, Rob came
into the kitchen through the garage door. “Honey, can you give
Frank and Lydia a call? Their van has a window open.”

While Amelia went to the telephone, Meredith
drained the last of her coffee cup and stood up, stretching. She
carried the empty cup with her as she went to stand on the front
porch. The air was cool and damp, and Meredith could feel mist from
the splattering rain even though she was standing under the eaves
of the house. She looked at her parents’ neighbors’ van sitting in
the driveway across the street. It was an older model Chrysler
minivan that the family had owned for as long as Meredith could
remember, being passed down through their teenaged children as they
learned to drive. It was an old relic that still had brown paneling
on the sides and manual window cranks. From where she was standing,
she could see that the front passenger side window was open.

Rob came out and stood next to Meredith,
wrapping his arm around her.

Meredith leaned into his embrace, enjoying
the warmth of his arm around her shoulders. “I don’t envy them that
cleaning bill,” Meredith commented, wondering what the upholstery
would smell like after such a soaking.

“Do you think they’ll even bother?” Rob asked
seriously.

Meredith shrugged. The van certainly hadn’t
survived three teenagers unscathed. It had more than a few dings,
and Meredith knew firsthand that the interior had seen plenty of
coffee spills and other mishaps.

Amelia joined them on the front porch holding
a green umbrella that she usually carried in her purse. “They’re
not home, so I got Lydia on her cell and told her that you would go
roll up the window.” She held out the umbrella expectantly, smiling
sweetly as Rob looked at her with dismay.

“In this?” he asked incredulously, gesturing
toward the downpour.

“Come on, Dad, you’re due for a shower
anyway. You smell bad,” Meredith ribbed him.

“Shut up, brat,” he said with a smile, before
turning and scowling at Amelia. “He had better let me win a golf
game for this one.” Rob and Frank had a long-standing weekly golf
game that usually left Frank triumphant and Rob frustrated, but
determined.

Rob took off his flannel shirt and tossed it
at Meredith before taking the umbrella from Amelia’s hand. He
opened it with a sigh, eying its small size dubiously. Then he
thrust the umbrella over his head and stepped out into the rain.
The rain pelted him from the side as the umbrella failed to provide
him any appreciable amount of shelter, drenching him within
moments. His white tee shirt clung to him as he strode across the
street.

“I’m so glad he’s doing that instead of me,”
Amelia remarked with a smirk.

Meredith grinned and watched as her father
yanked open the door and vigorously turned the window crank. Once
the window was closed, Rob slammed the door shut and slogged his
way back toward them, frowning and looking thoroughly miserable.
Long strands of his reddish-gold hair were plastered to his
forehead and large rivulets of water streamed off him as he stepped
back under the overhang of the roof.

“See? That wasn’t so bad!” Meredith told him
brightly.

“Not so bad? Come here!” Before Meredith
could escape, Rob trapped her in a cold, wet hug. She yelped as the
cold water soaked through her sweatshirt and nightgown to her bare
skin.

“Gah! Get off me!” Meredith pushed him away
laughing as she saw Amelia steal back into the house out of the
corner of her eye. “Coward!” she called after her.

“Not a coward--just not stupid, either.”
Amelia’s voice floated out of the house along with a taunting
chuckle.

“That she is not,” Rob said wryly as he took
his flannel shirt from Meredith, using it to dry his face and
arms.

“I’ll go get you a towel,” Meredith
offered.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I’m gonna make a
run for it. Why don’t you go get your lazy friend up out of bed?
I’m hungry for breakfast.” At that, Robbed jogged into the house
and toward the master bedroom.

Amused, Meredith shook her head and followed
her father into the house.

In the guest room, Vi was already dressed and
making the bed when Meredith went in.

“Hey Mere,” Vi greeted her. “Do you think you
could take me home in a bit? I rode my Vespa over here, and I don’t
relish the thought of such a wet trip home.”

Meredith grinned as she pictured Vi riding
her scooter in the pouring rain. “Yeah, sure.”

Meredith helped Vi fold all of the clothes
that had spent the night on the floor and then carried the packed
overnight bag to the entryway, setting it next to the front door.
Rob was in the kitchen cooking some eggs, and Amelia was just
coming down the hall from the master bedroom. She had dressed in
dark-wash jeans and a teal colored sweater, and her dark, thick
hair was pulled up into a ponytail.

“I cannot believe it’s still raining like
this. I want to put on the news to find out how many inches it is,”
Amelia said, striding into the living area. She stood in front of
the couch and looked around for the remote control. After digging
around in the cushions for several moments, she triumphantly pulled
out the remote.

“Because walking across the room was too much
work?” Meredith teased.

Amelia stuck her tongue out and flicked the
button, turning her eyes to the screen. Amelia sat down on the
couch as Meredith moved to stand behind her, resting her hands on
the cushion behind Amelia’s head.

The newscaster was middle aged with sleek
gray hair and a sensible blue necktie. His somber voice filled the
room.

“...heavy rains in several parts of the
valley are currently breaking all sorts of records and have left
our meteorologists stumped, as they had seen no indications of an
impending storm over the last few days. Sky Harbor Airport has
gotten three and a half inches of rain since early this morning,
with similar rainfall totals around the valley. The heavy rainfall
is causing dangerous conditions throughout the Phoenix metro area.
There are some key incidents that we would like to make you folks
aware of.”

By this time both Rob and Vi had come into
the living room and were standing on either side of Meredith. They
all stared at the TV with rapt attention.

The newscaster continued as the video cut to
an overhead shot of one of the major freeways in the city, where a
mudslide had blocked several lanes of traffic. “On the Superstition
Freeway at Rural, a retaining wall, unable to handle the extra
weight caused by the excessive rainfall, has given way and flooded
down onto the pavement. Several of the westbound lanes are covered
in mud and debris, making the freeway virtually impassible. Traffic
has been diverted onto Southern Avenue, and authorities are unclear
as to when the freeway will reopen.”

The newscast then showed footage of a family
being rescued from the top of their car, which had stalled out in a
flooded wash. “We’ve got flooded areas all over the valley,
including several major intersections. Police have asked us to
remind you to stay safe and to not enter any flooded areas, even if
it seems passable. The flood waters can be much deeper than they
appear, and currents do have the power to carry an entire
vehicle.”

The newscaster returned to the screen with a
concerned expression on his tanned face. “Outside of the Phoenix
metro area, we are getting heavy rain across North America, with
several major cities experiencing mudslides and flooding. In fact,
reports coming in from all over the world indicate that this is not
a localized weather event, but rather a worldwide phenomenon.
Experts at the National Weather Service believe that the rainfall
may be related to global warming, as climate change scientists have
long contended that weather events such as this one could manifest
overnight.”