Hello July

 

Vada did not want Justin at the hospital, but he wouldn't let Carmen go anywhere without him. 

Of course, it was Rico who was still knocked out cold. She didn't think he would ever wake up.

"He, he will always be my friend," Carmen and her big eyes were so sincere, but Vada didn't buy it, she lived to tell the tale how she went in after Rico in Vada's old place, which was still in Vada's name.

It made Vada's mouth twitch. Why didn't she know the basement might flood at the apartment complex?

She looked up to see Justin standing with two coffees and neither were for her. He looked as if he might be afraid Vada would tell some fake lie.

"Well, you two are just crazy," Vada was in a tizzy.

"But..but if Justin hadn't come after me, I don't know if I could even be..here talking to you," Carmen stood up for Justin. "I'm glad, he was there." After all, it was Justin who saved Rico.

Vada winced. This was just too much. It was so strange about the flash flood. She hugged herself tight, wondering why Rico hadn't stayed with her. Instead, Cabin Boy here who must have swam with mermaids while growing up was the hero. She couldn't even look him in the eye.

"It's not like you're that drunk," Rico had said that night. "You'll be OK." 

Vada sighed when she thought about his last words. She just knew she would hear from him in the morning. Now she felt shell-shocked. It was as if she needed to get out of there, but she didn't know where she could go. At least, her new apartment was safe.

This epic summer of bad weather was getting to her. First, it was the tornado warnings, and now this. No way did she want to be alone. She hoped this didn't mean Carmen and Rico were back together. Yes, maybe she was petty. But why did Carmen feel the need to be Wonder Woman?

Even Justin surprised himself. He was certain he was a statue that night, but as soon as Carmen went out the door he followed. What had happened to him? What was this? He'd never been one to jump into anything. Oh, he was a watcher, maybe a voyeur in life. It was like he wasn't even himself that night. Someone else was the hero. Not him. It was downright ridiculous how it happened, and now he was the fool, evidently.

Oh, it made him cringe to think he'd gone into the flooded hallways. But he couldn't let Carmen alone. Still, she was a fighter. He followed her lead. Before he knew it, she disappeared. He didn't know how it happened. Feeling his way into the depths of the unknown. This wasn't the sea. This was someone's apartment underwater. Actually, a place where he used to live. He'd never thought in a million years that something so disastrous could happen like that. It was mind-blowing. Even now.

He cleared his throat. Yes, even he was coming down with something, but somehow it felt like nothing. Nothing like what Rico was going through.

After Vada left to see Rico while they were still in the sterile hospital waiting room. "She can call you crazy all she wants, but I bet she wouldn't have saved him," Justin said before he could stop himself.

"But you saved both of us," Carmen looked at him as if she knew who the real hero was.

Justin sighed and put his arm around her. He didn't believe that. Carmen was his co-worker. His roommate. His best friend.

"If you hadn't gone, I wouldn't have," Justin told her. He knew she was just as exhausted as he was. It would take the rest of the week or more to recover from this.