Page 89 of Give & Take
I have never—never—been so happy to hear Raphael’s voice. And that’s saying something, because besides my kids he’s the highlight of my life. I can say that now seeing as the lives of all three of us are flashing before my eyes.
Raphael leans out his window—the one that opens onto the backyard. He quickly assesses the situation. Aurora’s on the deck now, crying as she stands by the railing. She hasn’t gone inside, but she’s still in a better position than Nova.
Raph’s arms are rigid as he grips the windowsill, his eyes on the animal. “I’ve got the cat,” he says calmly to me.
I sprint forward, scooping Nova up in my arms.
I throw her onto one hip, vaguely register a boot sailing out of Raphael’s window. I turn to see it bounce hard off the cat’s shoulder.
The animal yowls.
Must. Get.Aurora.
“Something else!” I yell without looking, running toward my youngest with Nova bouncing on my hip. I barely notice how heavy she is. That is, until my foot catches on the hose connected to Gas-patch. Nova and I both scream as I fall. I turn at the last minute, Nova landing on me and knocking the wind out of me. “Run!” I wheeze from the ground. “Get Aurora! Go inside.”
Nova scrambles to her feet. “What about you?”
“Inside!” I say after a suck of breath. “I’ll be fine!”
For once, my contrarian daughter listens without hesitation, sprinting into the house.
A second boot flies out the window, hitting the cat again. I only know because of the cat’s cry—I can’t see it anymore from down here.
“Run!” Raphael yells. It’s unclear whether he’s talking to the cat or me.
Vaguely I hear the patio door slam shut. Good. They’re safe.
Pain screams from my wrist as I get myself up, but it’s gone in a new wash of adrenaline.
I stumble up the steps of the deck then sprint across it. I hit the patio door, then reach for the handle yanking it open.
But the door is locked.
“Nova!” I hiss, not wanting to yell.
“Lana?” Raph calls. He leans out the window again.
“I’m locked out!”
“What?”
“Nova. By accident. She locked me out.”
“Yes, it’s still there,” he says.
I realize belatedly he’s not talking to me. He’s on the phone. Animal control, I assume.
“Yeah, that’s what I’ve been doing,” Raph says, looking from where the cougar is to me. “I can’t…my uh, my girlfriend, she’s in danger.”
The cat looks at me, its eyes wild. I look at Raphael, my eyes just as wild, registering somewhere that he called me his girlfriend.
That I liked it.
But his eyes are even wilder.
The cat roars. Raphael doesn’t hesitate. “Here!” he calls. He tosses me the phone. And then Raphael LaForest jumps out his second story window.
Chapter 24
