Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13 Dex remembered the first aid kit that Dr. Gage kept in his glove compartment. He peered into the car's shattered insides. The computer screens had been sucked away. The air rifle and sound pods were gone, too. But the first aid kit was still in the glove compartment. Dex grabbed it and hurried back to Dr. Gage. Mom had made him take an advanced first-aid class last summer. He'd hated every minute, but now the training came back to him. He unzipped

the case, taking a deep breath to calm his hammering heart. He followed the steps he'd been taught: put on disposable gloves, use scissors to carefully cut away the muddy fabric that stuck to Dr. Gage's wounded leg. He didn't drop the scissors when he saw the gaping gash above Dr. Gage's knee. He didn't vomit at the sight of the blood, or at the sickening gleam of white bone through the open wound. He thought of Jeremy, imagining that he was right behind him, calmly walking him through the steps. He ripped open a package of gauze and pressed down as hard as he could. Blood soaked through, so he took more gauze and pressed harder. He kept pressing to try to stop the bleeding. The minutes crawled by. Dex gripped Dr. Gage's hand tight. No, he wouldn't let Dr. Gage go. He would hold on to him for dear life, the way Dr. Gage had held

on to Dex when the tornado tried to suck him away. The bleeding slowed and then stopped. Dr. Gage's skin didn't look as gray. His breathing seemed a little steadier. Dex was putting on a fresh bandage and wrapping it in adhesive tape when he heard the sound of a truck, and slamming doors, and then voices. A man and woman came running toward him. Relief poured over Dex as he realized it was Jimmy and Sara. "We found you!" Sara shouted.

She and Jimmy started to cry when they saw Dr. Gage lying there, surrounded by bloody gauze. They kneeled down next to him, and Dr. Gage's eyes fluttered open, but then he drifted away again. Sara turned to Dex. "Dex, you took care of him?" Dex nodded. He'd done all he could.

"You did real good," Jimmy said. Dex barely managed a nod as he fought back his tears. Within minutes, they had found a door in the wreckage to use as a stretcher. Dex helped them carefully move Dr. Gage onto the door, and they carried him to the pickup truck. "I'll ride in the back with Norm," Sara said. "Dex, you get up front with Jimmy." Dex shook his head. "I'm not going with you," he said. He hated to leave Dr. Gage, but Jimmy and Sara would take good care of him. "I need to find my mom and dad. I need to get home." The word home caught in his throat. "I don't live far from here," he said. His neighborhood was no more than a half mile away. "It's very bad out there, Dex," Jimmy said quietly. "This is the worst tornado I've ever seen.

It's just miles and miles of destruction. Parts of Joplin are completely gone." "Come with us to the hospital," Sara said. "We'll help you find your parents after we take care of Norm." Dex was tempted. He didn't want to be alone. But he couldn't wait. And Jimmy and Sara had no time to argue. They hugged Dex as though they were all family. Dex watched them drive off. And now it was time for Dex to head into the ruins, to discover what was left.