list!" Katie's dad practically shouts as he waves for his wife to follow him.
"Oh, thank you Jesus," Katie’s mom praises, and gives Jules one last squeeze. "Love you."
"Love you too. Give her a hug for me and tell her I'm okay." They nod and rush out in a swirl of relief at knowing their child is okay.
West gives Jules a look then. "Uh, I think I'll go too and check in. See who's here and all."
Her father takes a seat on the edge of the bed as Jules works to get herself together again. "Is your dad coming back here, West? Can I offer you a ride home when we leave?"
"Thanks, but I'm good. He'll be coming back at some point." Jules listens as West explains to her father how his dad was going to go by their house, and that he left to help with rescue work. He also tells him what Dr. Metzger said about her condition. She sits there and stares as he talks about her. He could have left as soon as her father walked in, but he is taking care to be sure her dad is filled in on everything he's missed.
She looks at his hands in front of his waist. They are clasped in front of him with one rubbing the other, and she notices that she’s opening and closing her own fists as she thinks about their connection tonight. When she realizes he is speaking to her, she snaps out of her reverie with an embarrassed, 'Huh?'
"I said I'll see ya around," he repeats, and his brown eyes cloud over as he looks at her.
"Oh. Hey, dad? Could you give us a moment?" she asks, and West's lip curls up slightly at her request.
Her dad is confused by the request, but presses a kiss to her head and replies, "Sure pumpkin. I'll go see if I can find out when we can take you home."
Stopping in front of West, he offers his hand to him once more. They shake hands and his voice is formal as he says, "Thank you, son. We are indebted to you."
The sentiment embarrasses West again, but he nods and gracefully accepts the praise. Her father leaves and pulls the curtain closed behind him, and once again Jules is left alone with West.
When her father and the Luthers first walked in, she hit the button to lift her bed into a sitting position so they could talk. She looks down at the blanket that covers her lap and begins to pick at the cotton once more. She wants to tell West she is sorry for giving him a hard time earlier, but she doesn’t have the right words to say. She keeps thinking about how if he hadn't spoken to her or grabbed her arm, she and Katie would have run towards their other friends and might not have ended up in the house. Who knows what would have happened to them then? He saved her life tonight. Her shoulders shake as the memory of the twister chasing behind them as they ran across that dark field comes to her mind.
Sitting forward, she pulls her knees to her chest and presses her forehead to them as she hears the terror of all of those other students screaming and her mind replays the chaos in the parking lot again.
The bed sinks next to her hip and she is pulled into his arms; his scent a mixture of dirt, sweat and antiseptic. It is that smell — his smell — that brings a memory from the basement forward.
He pushes her down as the house above them starts to groan in protest of the approaching tornado. She strikes her head on the cement floor, but has no time to think as West lands on her and pulls her into an almost-spooning position with his body on top.
She hears her friends’ screams and West curses; his breath blowing the hair at her face. She grabs his hand and shouts, 'I don't want to die!' as the sounds around them grow louder and louder.
"We're not gonna die tonight, Buffy. I'll be damned if I finally get the nerve to speak to you again, only to die in this place."
"You told me we weren't going to die...thank you," she whispers and wraps her hands around the arm he has stretched across the front of her shoulders. "I don't know what else to say, West."
She feels him stiffen. "I thought you couldn't remember anything
"Oh, thank you Jesus," Katie’s mom praises, and gives Jules one last squeeze. "Love you."
"Love you too. Give her a hug for me and tell her I'm okay." They nod and rush out in a swirl of relief at knowing their child is okay.
West gives Jules a look then. "Uh, I think I'll go too and check in. See who's here and all."
Her father takes a seat on the edge of the bed as Jules works to get herself together again. "Is your dad coming back here, West? Can I offer you a ride home when we leave?"
"Thanks, but I'm good. He'll be coming back at some point." Jules listens as West explains to her father how his dad was going to go by their house, and that he left to help with rescue work. He also tells him what Dr. Metzger said about her condition. She sits there and stares as he talks about her. He could have left as soon as her father walked in, but he is taking care to be sure her dad is filled in on everything he's missed.
She looks at his hands in front of his waist. They are clasped in front of him with one rubbing the other, and she notices that she’s opening and closing her own fists as she thinks about their connection tonight. When she realizes he is speaking to her, she snaps out of her reverie with an embarrassed, 'Huh?'
"I said I'll see ya around," he repeats, and his brown eyes cloud over as he looks at her.
"Oh. Hey, dad? Could you give us a moment?" she asks, and West's lip curls up slightly at her request.
Her dad is confused by the request, but presses a kiss to her head and replies, "Sure pumpkin. I'll go see if I can find out when we can take you home."
Stopping in front of West, he offers his hand to him once more. They shake hands and his voice is formal as he says, "Thank you, son. We are indebted to you."
The sentiment embarrasses West again, but he nods and gracefully accepts the praise. Her father leaves and pulls the curtain closed behind him, and once again Jules is left alone with West.
When her father and the Luthers first walked in, she hit the button to lift her bed into a sitting position so they could talk. She looks down at the blanket that covers her lap and begins to pick at the cotton once more. She wants to tell West she is sorry for giving him a hard time earlier, but she doesn’t have the right words to say. She keeps thinking about how if he hadn't spoken to her or grabbed her arm, she and Katie would have run towards their other friends and might not have ended up in the house. Who knows what would have happened to them then? He saved her life tonight. Her shoulders shake as the memory of the twister chasing behind them as they ran across that dark field comes to her mind.
Sitting forward, she pulls her knees to her chest and presses her forehead to them as she hears the terror of all of those other students screaming and her mind replays the chaos in the parking lot again.
The bed sinks next to her hip and she is pulled into his arms; his scent a mixture of dirt, sweat and antiseptic. It is that smell — his smell — that brings a memory from the basement forward.
He pushes her down as the house above them starts to groan in protest of the approaching tornado. She strikes her head on the cement floor, but has no time to think as West lands on her and pulls her into an almost-spooning position with his body on top.
She hears her friends’ screams and West curses; his breath blowing the hair at her face. She grabs his hand and shouts, 'I don't want to die!' as the sounds around them grow louder and louder.
"We're not gonna die tonight, Buffy. I'll be damned if I finally get the nerve to speak to you again, only to die in this place."
"You told me we weren't going to die...thank you," she whispers and wraps her hands around the arm he has stretched across the front of her shoulders. "I don't know what else to say, West."
She feels him stiffen. "I thought you couldn't remember anything
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