The whole sky seemed suddenly to split open; a long tongue of orange flame rushed up into the night, and I was conscious of a tremendous noise.
I saw Clair, her hands before her face, her eyes wide with terror. I couldn’t run any more. I was crouching, my hands over my ears when a blast of suffocating air struck me down.
I struggled up on my knees, saw the house sway, crumble, tried to yell, then the ground kicked up, trembled, and another tremendous explosion ripped open the shattered night sky. Blast picked me up and threw me away as the house came down like a pack of cards.
6
The nurse beckoned. I stood up, braced myself, crossed the corridor. “You can go in now,” she said. “You’ll keep her quiet, won’t you? She’s still suffering from shock.”
I tried to say something, but words stuck in my throat. I nodded, went past her through the open doorway.
Clair was lying in the small bed facing me. Her head was a helmet of white bandages; her right hand was bandaged too.
We looked at each other. Her eyes smiled. I went over, stood beside her.
“Hello,” she said. “We made it, darling.”
“We made it all right,” I said, pulling up a chair. “It was a close call, Clair. Too close. I thought I wasn’t going to see you again.” I sat down, took her left hand.