The Blizzard

“Bethany! Bethany!” The doctor called down the hall to the nurse.

“Dr. Meechim, yes?”

“Can you page Dr. Schultz and have him look over Ms. Cortez’s file. Her temperature and her chest pains make me think pneumonia.”

“Where are you going Dr. Meechim?”

“Did you hear the weather report? Collins County is going to get four feet of snow tonight.”

“I heard. We all heard.”

“Well, I have got to get home to my family. Please, just give Dr. Schultz the file and have him keep an eye on her. Pneumonia. Tell him I think that she has pneumonia.” Dr. Meechim wasted not one second as he turned to gather his coat and hat.

“I’ll tell Dr. Schultz, but I already know he has a full roster tonight.” Dr. Meechim began to walk down the hall towards the elevator. “He is going to rip me a new one, Dr. Meechim.”

“I’ll make sure that he does no such thing.” Dr. Meechim called back before he entered the elevator.

~

“That was Ashley on the phone,” Dr. Meechim walked back into his kitchen.

“What time is the next available flight?” Cynthia Meechim, the Doctor’s wife asked.

“The storm last night shut everything down. She’ll be stuck in Detroit for at least the next twenty-four hours.”

“Gosh, I hope she stays warm.”

“She’s in an airport, honey. They have a Tim Horton’s and gift shops that sell neck rests at every terminal.”

“I’m just glad you got in when you did. I couldn’t imagine if you were stuck at the hospital for the entire weekend.”

Cynthia cleared the breakfast table just as the Doctor reached for more bacon.

“I could imagine.”

“Where is Ashley?” Walking into the kitchen with his hockey skates over his shoulder and stick at waist level was Connor. He is the Doctor and Cynthia’s youngest child.

“Detroit.”

“What a dump of a city to be stuck in,” Connor picked at the extra bacon, “Wasn’t cousin Jeff just mugged outside of a bar in Detroit?”

The doctor got up to pick at the bacon, “He’s got no more sight in his left eye.”

Cynthia dumped the plate of bacon. “What a shame. He made the most beautiful China cabinets. They weren’t just sturdy, but the attention to detail was breathtaking. What is he going to do now?”

“Aunt Janie says he is going to work for the IRS.” The Doctor answered.

“IRS? What a waste of talent.” Cynthia sighed.

“I’m going to the pond. I’ll be back by dusk.”

“Make sure you bring a shovel, Connor. There has to be at least six feet of snow on that pond.”

“That’s why I said I’ll be back by dusk.”

Connor left out of the kitchen door and walked across the back deck as his parents watched in curiosity. The Doctor admired his perseverance.

“He should be gone all day, and now we have the house to ourselves,” Cynthia hinted, “Want to have some sex?” She giggled.

The Doctor immediately began to walk upstairs. He shouted back, “You’re not going to make me do this by myself are you?”

Cynthia giggled and walked upstairs.

~

The Doctor walked into his kitchen freshly showered and wearing a new set of clothes. He took of whiff of the kitchen air.

“Barbecued Stuff chicken breasts? My favorite.” The doctor kissed the back of Cynthia’s head as she stirred the vegetables on the stovetop.

“You must be starved from this afternoon.” She turned and spanked the Doctor’s butt, putting a small skip in his step.

“Mmhm.” The Doctor looked out the kitchen window straining his eyes in the direction of the pond. “Any word from Connor, yet?”

“No, he has about a half hour before dusk.”

“I wonder how much shoveling he got done.” A split second later the lights, digital clocks, and furnace inside the house shut down.

“What in the world.” The Doctor looked around at all the lights and than at the electric stove, “Yep, we lost power and heat.” He immediately began to head towards the basement.

“Are you checking the fuses?”

“Yep. This chicken is not dying on us.”

~

Connor sat at the edge of the pond untying his ice skates. A motor from far off in the distance can be heard above Connor’s humming. After both his skates are off and both of his shoes are on the engine motor comes to a momentary idle and than shuts off parked behind a snow bank.

“Hello? Mr. Peters, my parents said that I’m not supposed to play with you anymore after they saw my bruises. You’re not supposed to check in pond hockey.” Connor tied his skate laces together and slung the pair over his shoulder. With his stick in his hand he began to walk home.

Roughly one hundred yards from the pond Connor heard the engine behind the snow bank start up. He kept his head down and kept walking. Seventy five yards away from his house now, and the snowmobile from behind the snow bank, driven by a man in

a black Dickies Duck Coverall and black helmet, sped towards Connor.

In a full sprint through knee high snow Connor clutched his gear. He was within fifty yards of his house. The engine grew louder. He was twenty five yards from his house. The engine was right on top of Connor. It sped by, coming within inches of Connor, spraying him from head to toe with snow and knocking him down. The snowmobiler continued towards the horizon and setting sun.

“Real funny, you dickless turd!” Connor shouted in anger.

~

Inside the Meechim house, Connor found his parents sitting fireside in the living room with a bottle of wine and dirty food plates.

“Connor, come join us.” Cynthia held open her arms.

“Why are the lights off?” Connor asked.

“Power outage. Your mother and I tapped our inner frontiersmen and built this fire.” Connor sat between his parents and they wrapped their arms around him.

“Connor, you’re soaking wet. Did you fall in the pond?”

The Doctor burst out laughing. He was drunk.

“No. A snowmobiler almost ran me over. That’s what happened. He chased me down from the pond and almost ran me over. Fucking bastard.”

“Language. Please.”

“What would you call him? He’s certainly not Mr. Fucking Rodgers.”

“Language, again.”

“I’m sorry. I’m just cold and hungry.” Connor sniffed the air. “Barbecue chicken? That’s my favorite.”

Smash. Glass from the upstairs had shattered across the floor after a horrific crash. The sound of wood being splinterd was heard and more glass was shattered in the dinning room.

“Aaaah.” Cynthia screamed and clutched the Doctors arm. “What is going on?!”

“It sounds like the windows were knocked in. Stay here.” The Doctor got up and ventured into the dinning room. “Cynthia, I told you that the oak tree was too close to the house. God damn it, my FDR telescope.” The doctor picked up a gold telescope and set it back onto the tripod. Cynthia and Connor walked in to see a tree limb through the front window and snow scattered on the love seat, reading chair, dinning room table.

“Ten to one that the same thing happened up stairs. Which room would that be?”

“Ashley’s bedroom.”

“Oh, well. There’s always home owner insurance.” A gust of cold air seeped through the broken window and chilled all three of the Meechims.

“Do you guys smell smoke?” Connor asked.

The fire place was spilling smoke back into the living room.

“The fire place is blocked. Connor, help me put the fire out.” The father and son grabbed snow and threw it onto the flames.

“We cannot stay here tonight. We’ll freeze to death.’

“Obviously, Cynthia. You have no right o get mad at me. All we can do is think of some place warm to go for the night.’

“My sister’s house upstate. Danny has been preparing for the apocalypse so they’ll have plenty of essentials.”

“Your sister hates me ever since I forgot her Christmas gift two years ago, and Danny never talks. Ever.”

“Well, do you have any suggestions dear, because I am fresh out?”

“The Best Western off of route six.” Connor chimed in. “They have free HBO and a continental breakfast every morning.”

“Everybody pack an over night bag and meet at the car in five minutes.”

~

With extreme caution Dr. Meechim drove his family down the deserted snow covered country road. No one spoke, but all silently wished for a quick end to the sudden madness.

“Why did we stop?” Cynthia asked. The Doctor put the four door Volvo Sedan into reverse and than again into drive.

“We’re stuck. That’s why.”

“No. Please, tell me you are kidding.” Cynthia put her head in her hands and fought back sobs of esperation. The Doctor saw how upset his wife had become.

“I have a shovel and sand in the trunk. Don’t worry Cynthia, we’ll be out of here in a couple of minutes. I promise.”

“I’ll help you, Dad.”

“No. Stay here and keep your mother company.” The Doctor removed the sand and the shovel from the trunk and got to work. Connor and Cynthia sat in silence for a couple of minutes, until Connor heard a familiar noise.

“Do you hear that, mom?”

Cynthia gave a pause from her thoughts and listened to the night, “Yes. Is that a motor? Thank god, maybe he can pull us out.”

A single headlight drove up to the back of the Volvo, blinding Connor and Cynthia. Doctor Meechim entered the Volvo, and turned the keys in the ignition. The engine shot to life.

“Is he pulling us out?” Cynthia asked. The Doctor lowered all of the windows in the car. “What are you doing? Is he pulling us out?”

“Dad, it’s freezing, put them back up.” Connor turned to the sde of the car, where the light from the headlight was shining. The goon from the pond who had almost killed Connor was standing next to the Volvo with a revolver pointed towards Doctor Meechim.

“Good evening, Meechim family.” The slick Spanish accent was slightly muffled from under the helmet. Connor’s warm panting breath blew out clouds of mist.

“This is the guy from earlier. Mom, Dad, it’s the guy from the pond.”

“Connor, be quiet.”

“He’s right. I’ve been watching all of you for two days now. This will only be satisfying for me if I tell you exactly why I am going to kill you in this particular manner. Which is you all are going to freeze to death, if you haven’t noticed by now. I know how freight can alter the processes of the brain.”

“Who will fix the house?” Cynthia was in shock.

“Do you see the things that death will make you think of? It is also rude to interrupt. Do not interrupt me again. Are you ready?”

The Meechims stared at the man in the dickies coveralls.

“I take your utter silence as immense anticipation. Alright.” He cleared his throat. “Two nights ago my mother, Victoria Maria Esposito Cortez died from complications due to pneumonia. She died coughing for air. I was there by her side the entire time, and I wondered all night, why was her primary Doctor not also by her side? I had to talk to four nurses, two doctors, one misanthropic receptionist, and even a janitor before I fully realized that you, Doctor Seth Meechim, her primary doctor had left for the night in order to beat the weather.”

“I gave the files to Dr. Shultz.” Bang. A round from the revolver spider webbed the windshield.

“Do. Not. Interrupt. I know you gave my mother’s file to Dr. Schultz, and I also know that he had too many patients that night to properly care for my mother, a fact that you decided was not as important as getting to see your wife and child. That was a big mistake Doctor Meechim, because now you and your family will die in similar circumstances.”

“Are you going to stand there with the gunpointed at us until we freeze to death? That is absurd. You’re going to freeze yourself.”

“Take off you coats.”

“You’re opening up the door for death and you think we are going to just run into it?”

“I think you are going to run.”

Bang. A round from the revolver tore into Cynthia’s knee. She clutched the door handle until it went white and let out a spin tingling death squeal. The doctor and Connor gave their coats to Cynthia to stop the bleeding.

~

“There it is again. Did you hear it that time?”

“Another gun shot? Who would be hunting at this time and in this weather?”

“My thoughts exactly.” Christopher Peters, the Meechims neighbor, put down the rest of his scrabble pieces and peered out his front window.

“I think I see lights about a mile and a half up the road. I should go check it out.”

“Christopher. It is literally a blizzard out there. You are not going.” Christopher’s wife insisted.

“I think it’s a car that’s stranded. It could be shots to signal they need help. Besides, I just played the word AMP. You’ve got this game wrapped up. If I’m not back in half an hour call for help.”

“I’m calling in fifteen minutes no mater what.”

Christopher shoved a buck knife in his ankle holster, “Susan, don’t be so paranoid.” Christopher left the room, and Susan placed a C-H in front of his last played word.

~

“Remember the first summer we dated, and my father didn’t know he was standing next to the fireworks on the fourth of July? Cynthia. Stay with me.” Doctor Meechim tried his best to put his wife’s mind at ease. A low engine was heard coming from the distance, and it grew progressively louder.

“His partner?”

“It was just him by the pond earlier. No one else. He looks worried. Dad, it’s got to be Mr. Peter’s. Think about it, he heard the gunshots and he can see the lights from his house.”

“Who’s coming!?” The armed man demanded.

“Seth…it’s too cold…” Cynthia droned as she slipped in and out of consciousness. A snowmobile with it’s head light pointed directly at the Volvo emerged atop the snow drift half way between Christopher’s house and the Meechims car.

“Seth…”

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. The armed man unloaded his revolver in Dr. Meechim’s chest. Christopher counted four muzzle flashes and four delayed echoes.

“Four more shots. He’s out of ammo.” Christopher punched the accelerator and raced down the hill towards the car. The armed man tossed the revolver and fled on his snowmobile.

~

Flashing red and blue lights bounced off of the white back drop that is the snow. A medical team had rushed Cynthia via helicopter to Mother of Mercy Hospital. Dr. Meechim’s body had been photographed for evidence and covered with a grey blanket as the sheriff’s team waited for the coroner to collect the body.

“He fled immediately after he fired, and when I came on the scene I saw Connor was in distress and decided to stay with him instead of pursue.” Christopher Peter’s was giving his statement as Sheriff Dunken scribbled in his notebook.

“You did the right thing. A common citizen should never persue a potentially armed and dangerous fugitive. Do you know anyone who can take the kid?”

“The doctor has a sister who lives upstate. I forgot her name though.”

A flare shot up into the sky signaling the search team had found something. Christopher got onto his snowmobile with the Sheriff following in his SUV, and both barreled towards the source of the flare.

The freshly shoveled ice of the pond had a gapping hole in the center, and a light from within revealed a snowmobile stuck at the bottom.

“There’s no footprints. The son of a bitch never managed to climb out. He must have been down there for almost an hour now.” Christopher noticed.

“Well, there’s no rush in getting him out.” Sheriff Dunken lit his cigarette and gazed down into the frozen pond as the red glow of the flare slowly burned overh