Triad Storm

Miracle

Novah peeked around the side of the house and could see the old man looking in her direction. As she was about to motion to him, Sam opened the door and began to talk to him. Instead, she looked at the truck to see an old tarp covering the truck bed. With a sigh, she ran as fast as her legs could carry her and climbed under the tarp. As she laid there she held her breath, hoping Sam didn't come towards the truck. She couldn't hear them talking anymore and she knew it was a matter of time before Sam found her missing.

Soon footsteps were getting closer and closer to where she was hiding. She placed a hand over her mouth to stop the scream, bubbling up in her throat, from escaping. As she was sure she was about to be found, she felt the truck start and move. She didn't let herself get excited just yet because it could still be dangerous. To see what was happening, Novah slowly crawled to the tailgate and slightly lifted the tarp. She smiled as she watched the farm house slowly fade from view, that's when she knew it was going to be okay. Looking down at the keys in her hand, she squeezed them harder. Her quick thinking probably stopped Sam from following her and getting her back.

She laid down and let out a huge sigh of relief but panic set back in when the bumpy ride got smoother. Was he going into the city? She finally realized that she was naked in a stranger's truck. Panic crept back in, not knowing who this man was. What if he was like Sam? Tears flowed from her eyes not wanting to trade one monster for another.

Still crying, she felt the truck stop and shut off. The driver's door opened and then shut. Footsteps got closer and closer to the tailgate. As the steps stopped, Novah squeezed her eyes tightly shut and she held her breath in fear. She felt the tarp fly up and braced herself for the blows that were to come, but instead felt hands slowly sit her up. She slowly opened her eyes to see and old man with a look of confusion mixed with concern. "Honey, how long have you been in there? Where did you come from?" Novah couldn't do anything but cry in fear. The old man held his hands up as he pulled a cellphone from his pocket. "I'm calling the police, okay?" Novah nodded and sobbed like a baby now. She was going to be safe. She saved herself and all she could think about was getting home to Max.

The old man walked to the truck cab and returned with a blanket. He wrapped her up in it as he stood there trying to get her to talk to him. As she finally had no more tears to cry, the police pulled up in a hurry. She watched as a police officer opened the back door of his car and out rushed Max. Novah almost exploded with happiness. She thought she'd never see him again.

As soon as he reached her, he pulled her into a strong hug kissing the top of her head. "Oh my gosh, Novah! Are you okay?" Max asked, pulling away to look at her. As his eyes roamed her body, she suddenly felt self conscious. She had never felt shy being naked in front of Max, till now. She quickly covered herself and turned away from his eyes wondering eyes. Hurt and confusion played across his face as he watched her turn away from him. So he slowly sat next to her and used his index finger to make her look at him. "Novah? Please look don't turn away from me." She finally looked him in the eyes and let him see all the fear she was feeling inside.

Max burst into tears at the fear in her eyes of what he was either thinking or going to do. He hated Sam for whatever he had done to her. She wasn't his Novah, she was a scared little girl right now. He leaned closer slowly as to not scare her further. "You're safe, No. I'm not going to hurt you and I'm not going to let anyone else hurt you either, ever again." He pulled her to his chest and he heard her breath in his smell. As if she was storing it in her memory for later. 

The police finally interrupted and walked over to Novah. "Ma'am, we need to ask you some questions. If that's okay?" Novah side eyed them not wanting to let go of Max, and nodded. "Who kidnapped you?" Novah felt tears forming again as she opened her mouth to speak. "Sam, he was the one that took me." as a tear fell down her cheek, she felt a sob coming.  As it escaped she screamed at the police. "He took me and he raped me! He was going to kill me!" she could feel herself loosing it. The police looked at her, with pity in their eyes. The youngest policeman, walked forward with his hands up. "Calm down, ma'am. It's going to be okay." As he reached her side, he wrapped his arm around her, forcing her to stand up. "I'm going to help you walk towards the ambulance, okay?" Novah looked over her shoulder, to see the other policeman stopping Max from following her. "Wait, no wait, please! I want Max to come with me." She looked up to see him shaking his head. "He can't ride with you, but I can." Novah began to shake in fear.

Reaching the ambulance, the policeman helped her climb inside. She laid down slowly as the EMTs began to hook her up to a bunch of machines. As the moved the blanket to put some kind of stickers on her, she heard the EMT gasp. The look on the policeman made her scared. He looked at her, for the first time, with tears in his eyes. "Ma'am, are you pregnant?" Novah nodded, unable to speak. "Were you pregnant when he took you?" She nodded again and got a look of panic from everyone around her. The EMT turned quickly and yelled at the driver. "Lights and sirens, now!" Novah felt the ambulance take off like a shot. "What's wrong?" Novah asked. The EMT came into view now. "Novah, right?" she nodded. "Okay, Novah, I don't want to worry you but I think your water just broke and you're in labor." As she heard the words, the pain from a contraction swept over her.