Page 60 of Exchange of Heart

‘I figured you’d appreciate it once you got your body back.’

I turned away as tears threatened to fall. ‘I’d better get dressed then.’

‘Want a travel coffee?’ he asked.

I nodded with flushed cheeks and a tingling chest. Our hour and a half drive to Katoomba would be filled with warm, fuzzy compliments and laughter.

I could feel it in my bones.

My bones lied.

Rain caused horrendous stop-start traffic on our way out of the city, then just as we said goodbye to the hustle and bustle, we found more traffic on the motorway. Almost two hours into the drive Corey insisted we pull off the motorway for a bathroom break, despite having passed a truck stop only ten minutes previously. Thanks to cautious drivers, we’d only made it as far as the exit to Penrith.

‘It’s your damn bladder, Nora. Don’t get huffy with me,’ he said.

The rain pelted harder, and I was secretly grateful to stop driving while it hopefully cleared. It was getting hard to see out the windscreen, despite the wipers’ frantic swipes. Corey pulled into the library carpark as people came rushing out of the building.

He wound down his window and poked his head out. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Flash flooding. Everyone needs to evacuate. Barely a one-in-eighty-year chance, but today’s our unlucky day. All the rain the last few weeks hasn’t helped.’

If only we’d been treated to the same rain in the city, we’d have had a chance to see more umbrellas. ‘We need to leave.’ I balled my nerves into clenched fists.

‘Yeah, I heard. I’ll be quick in the toilet, then we can go.’

‘No,’ I said. ‘Like, right now. I don’t want the river and dam to break and sweep our car away.’

‘But I need to pee,’ said Corey.

‘Your dead body can release the urine when you’re floating in the flood waters then.’

‘Actually, it’s your body.’

I threw my hands in the air. ‘Just drive, I don’t have the mental capacity for this right now.’

The car rolled at snail speed while the windscreen wipers continued to race side to side, barely making a dent in our visibility. The next suburb over was high enough to take a break while we waited to hear what roads we could still use. We stopped at a fast-food chain for fries and stood at the counter watching the news report on the TV while the lights flickered.

‘There it is again!’ I pointed to the screen as Corey’s weird green-speckled umbrella floated behind the news anchor.

Had this man found it after we left it on the street after the storm? Had the wind carried it through the air like a plastic bag and floated it all the way out there?

‘I can’t see who’s holding it,’ Corey squinted.

‘Me neither, but it’s definitely there. We’re so close,’ I grinned as I accepted the hot fries from the teenager behind the counter and took a victory bite of the salty goodness, then raised it in the air. ‘Tastes like success.’

The TV switched to an emergency broadcast announcement, informing us of catastrophic winds and blocked roads.

‘Seriously? We can’t even get back to the city while we wait?’ asked Corey.

The success I’d tasted earlier turned to bitter disappointment. Driving was too dangerous which meant we were stuck here. The third time the lights above us flickered, the last remaining couple inside dashed to their car and drove away. Corey fidgeted with the food wrapper, avoiding my gaze.

‘Should we get a hotel for the night, then? It’s almost the afternoon now, and we can’t sleep in this place,’ I said.

He shrugged, scrunched up the wrapper, and tossed it into the bin.

‘Good shot,’ I said as the power went out completely.

Staff came from out back with torches to let us know they were closing up, so we raced through the rain to the car and sat in our seats.