Lost and Found Read online

  LOST and FOUND

  by

  Jennifer Bryan Yarbrough

  LOST AND FOUND

  Written By: Jennifer Bryan Yarbrough

  Copyright 2013 by Jennifer Bryan Yarbrough

  Editing: Tammy Lindey at Butterfly Dreams Proofing and Editing

  Published by Jennifer Bryan Yarbrough

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce

  this book by any form. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places or events are entirely a figment of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead are coincidental.

  This book was printed in the United States of America

  First Print 2013

  ISBN:

  Dedicated to Dora Bryan

  You have always been my biggest fan.

  I love you Grandma.

  CONTENTS

  LOST and FOUND

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  How I ended up driving the last leg of this 2000 mile trip, I will never know. I guess we can blame my sweet and wonderful, love of my life, tired husband. He has been a trooper driving the first 1500 miles since leaving Kansas, because he knows how much I hate driving long distances. Derek travels for work every day selling automotive parts and when I suggested driving to the coast of Oregon to visit his sister during spring break, I knew he would say no because he is always on the highway somewhere, every day, but he was all for driving the trip and suggested we drive straight through. I wanted to fly and make it a quick trip with only 1 layover, but I could see the dollar signs in his eyes at my suggestion, so drive we did.

  I glance over at my handsome husband-who was my high school sweetheart-with his head on his pillow in deep sleep. I am so jealous of him at the moment, because I would love nothing more than to sleep myself. I glance into my rear view mirror at our 3 kids, Jordan (10), Jeremiah (8), and our little baby girl Jenna (5) and my heart melts. They are my gifts from God, my three little hearts that walk outside my body every day and are truly the biggest blessings I've ever received.

  There’s always something going on in our crazy life, whether it is baseball, soccer, or basketball. I know I made Jordan’s baseball coach mad by going on this trip, because he was going to miss crucial (his words) practices over the break. Family time comes first above everything, so he will just have to get over it, is what I told him. We haven’t been on a vacation since before Jenna was born and there was no way we were cancelling over baseball practice. Yes, I am one of those types of people that have problems telling people no and I always end up doing what is asked of me just to avoid confrontation. It drives Derek crazy, but it makes life a lot easier most of the time.

  I feel like all I keep doing is turning the heater up and then down, because the temperature keeps dropping, according to the temperature gauge. Derek told me to wake him up if I felt that the roads were getting bad, but he needs his sleep and I’m a big girl, I can do this, I think! There is nothing on the radio and after this long trip, I can’t handle listening to anymore Maroon 5 or Matchbox 20 CD's and I'm shocked that I would ever think that!

  I need to call Claudia, to let her know the progress of our trip and because I am bored and trying my hardest to not fall asleep. If anyone can entertain me, she can. I dial her number and she picks up on the first ring!

  “Tell me where you are, Olivia! Ha-ha.” I could hear the excitement in her giggling voice. She couldn’t even say hello!

  “Oh Claud, I really have no idea! We are on some Podunk, 2 lane highway that looks like something out of a Jeepers Creepers movie.”

  “Well look out for big flying creatures, hehe. No seriously. Where are you?”

  “Oh, I guess maybe about 300 miles away? Maybe? Derek is making me drive this last leg of the trip. I guess he is trying to build some self confidence in me, haha. You know me, if it’s not an hour away from my house, I’m not driving!”

  “Oh I know how you are! How’s the weather? Have you run into any bad weather? I have been so excited and anxious at the same time about you guys coming to visit and you know how rough the weather can get this time of year.”

  “It’s rained on us pretty much the whole trip. I think we’ve seen the sun for a total of 30 minutes, but nothing too bad. I’ve been trying to pay attention to the temperature to make sure it doesn’t get below freezing” I glance at the gauge and realize that it’s 17 degrees! When did that happen? I glance at the road and realize that it's nothing but solid ice!

  “Claud, I need to go! I’m going to wake Derek up and let him drive. He’s better at driving in this mess than I am. I need to find some place to pull over so that we can switch drivers."

  “Be careful, sweetie. I love you and I can’t wait to see you guys, and can’t wait to hug you! Call me when you’re out of that mess. I’ll be praying for you guys! Love you!”

  “Love you too girl and we can’t wait to see you either! Call you back here in a little bit.”

  I see a big bridge coming up and I see the road signs that say SLIPPERY WHEN WET and something about bridges and overpasses being the first roads to freeze. Oh lord! When I get past this bridge, Derek is taking over! Slow down Olivia, slow down! I was so distracted by my conversation with Claudia that I wasn’t even paying attention to how fast I was driving. I let go of the gas pedal to coast across the bridge, no way am I pressing on the brake pedal on ice. That’s the one thing Derek told me NOT to do if I thought I saw ice. I look ahead at the length of the bridge and my first thought was that this is the longest bridge I’ve ever been on and my second thought was what in the hell is standing in the middle of the bridge?

  I get closer and it looks like some kind of animal! I know I’m in Oregon and there is lots of wild game in the woods and you can’t get any woodsier than where we are now, but what is that? It’s a deer, oh my word! A DEER! Right in the middle of MY LANE and it’s not moving. It’s just standing there like it’s waiting for me.

  I nudge Derek without looking away. “Derek! Wake up! Derek!”

  “Wh....wh... what, what’s going on?” He raises his head up, trying to get his bearings, but I could tell by my scream to wake him up that he knew this was serious. I hear Jenna from the back seat awake from my scream.

  “Mommy! You woke me up!”

  “Honey, I’m so sorry, but Mommy had to wake Daddy up. Go back to sleep, sweetie.”

  “Ok Mommy, but try to be quiet this time. I need my sleep!” Oh she is such a sweetheart and so funny and I can’t wait to get past this bridge, so I can cover her in kisses.

  “Honey, you’re driving on ice!” I could tell Derek was panicking as bad as I was, which didn’t help my nerves any.

  I know, I let go of the gas, but I think that’s a deer ahead of us and I’m afraid to press on the brake”

  “Honey, just barely tap it once to slow down some. Maybe it will move out of the way by the time we reach it." He is wide awake now and sitting st
raight up and trying to give me some confidence in my ability to get us past this bridge.

  I tap the brake and we immediately start going sideways and the van starts careening into the other lane. I turn the wheel to try to get back into the lane we are supposed to be in and then we are sideways and as we are heading into the side of the bridge, I hear Derek scream, "everybody hold on!”

  I feel like I’m in a tunnel somewhere. I hear Jenna screaming for me in the distance and screaming for Derek, screaming at her brothers and she keeps saying; “Mommy, wake up! Mommy, wake up! Daddy! Daddy! Dordan! Deremiah!”

  My head is killing me and I feel like something is pressing into my stomach. The last thing I remember was driving across that horrible bridge.... On ice.... The DEER! Oh my God! The Bridge! My babies! Derek! I try to open my eyes, but I can’t seem to do it. All I hear is Jenna’s constant screaming. I hear a tap tap on the window.

  “Ma’am! Are you okay? Ma’am!”

  I slowly open my eyes and look around and all I see is the sky outside my window and water! I try to rise up and the van shimmies and feels like it moved forward a little. Oh my God! We are hanging off the side of the bridge! Oh my God! Oh my God! Please God, save us. Get us out of this van in one piece, Please God! I look to my left and there is a man looking at me through the window.

  “Ma’am, I’ve already called 911, help is on the way. Are you hurt? I hear your baby screaming. Is there anyone else in there besides you and your husband and the baby? I can't see through the tinted windows."

  “Ye ye yes! My 2 boys are behind my husband and I in the middle seats. Please help us!”

  “I’m working on it, but I can’t open any of the doors. Do they automatically lock? Can you try to reach over here to unlock the doors?”

  I try to sit up further to reach the door lock and unlock button and I feel like my stomach is on fire. The seat belt must have really squeezed me when we crashed. Thank God the air bags deployed, or Derek and I might have hit our heads on the windshield. Derek! I look over at him and he's unconscious, but I see his chest slowly rising up and down, which let me know that he was breathing, but he wasn’t moving at all. I can’t turn around, so I look in the mirror and I see Jenna bawling her head off, still screaming for all of us. Thank God she’s conscious and alert.

  I try to see how Jordan and Jeremiah are, but I can’t see them very well and they’re not making any noises, so they must be unconscious as well. I rise up further and lean towards the instrument panel on the door to push the unlock button. I hear the click sound of the doors unlocking and the man that was standing outside my window opens the door.

  “Ma’am, can you feel your legs? Do you think you could move, so I could get you out of there?”

  “No get my husband and kids out first. They’re the ones I’m worried about. My husband and boys are unconscious.”

  “Ma’am, I don’t know how much longer this van is going to stay in this spot. When you rose up, it moved a little further past the edge. Please let me get you out if you think you’re ok and then I will try to get your family out. The paramedics and firemen should have already been here and I don’t know how much longer this van is going to stay on this bridge. Ma’am, we need to hurry up and get you all out."

  "Can we please just wait for the paramedics? What if they’re hurt bad and something serious is wrong. We probably shouldn’t move them.”

  I suddenly hear sirens in the distance. Thank God. They’re almost here. I want to try to turn around to check on the boys, because I still can't hear anything coming from them. Derek has moaned a couple of times and hopefully is coming out of consciousness.

  “Jenna, honey, it’s going to be ok. Calm down baby, help is on its way.”

  “Mommy, I’m so scared and my leg hurts so bad. Deremiah and Dordan are sleeping like Daddy. Mommy, are they ok?” She is trying to be so brave and I could see in the mirror that she was still crying, but her sniffling had quieted down some.

  “Baby, they’re all ok . Do you hear the sirens from the cop cars and fire trucks? They’re coming to help us, honey. They’re going to get us out of here and take us to the hospital to get checked out and then we are going to go see Aunt Claudia. Please don’t cry, honey. We are going to be ok and your Daddy and brothers are going to be ok.”

  “Promise, Mommy?”

  “I promise, baby. They’re almost here to help us. I love you, baby.”

  “I love you too, Mommy. Will they look at my leg? It hurts so badly!"

  “Yes, Baby. They will look at your leg and see what’s wrong with it and probably put a big band aid on it. It will probably be your favorite kind of band aid. Do you want a pink band aid? One with stars on it? I bet they have some just for you, sweet girl.”

  “Okay, Mommy.”

  I can tell that she is working her way up to another crying spell, because her voice keeps breaking every time she says something. Oh, if only I was the super, powerful, Mommy can fix anything, superwoman that my little girl thinks I am. I wish I could fix this with just an “I love you”, “everything will be ok”, “Mommy can fix it”, like I always do with every small problem we come across. This is not a small problem that I can just put a band aid on. Please, Lord, Please! Let them get here in time! The sirens are getting closer and closer and the next thing I know, they’re all here. A fireman comes up to my door, asking me if I’m hurt too bad to get out and that the man that called them had told him I refused to get out.

  “Ma'am, I need to get you out of the van, so that we can get to the rest of your family out. I understand you have 3 kids with you, as well as your husband?”

  “Yes, my daughter, Jenna, is conscious and talking to me. She says her leg is hurting and my boys are still unconscious. I can’t turn around to check on them. Will you please check on them and check on my husband? His name is Derek Jeremiah’s behind me and Jordan is behind my husband and my daughter, Jenna, is in the furthest row, in a booster seat in the middle.”

  “I’m going to try to get the windows down, so that I can access the situation. My name is Pete, by the way. If you have questions, just yell my name. I’m not leaving this vehicle, ok?”

  “Ok, thank you so much. Please help us get out of here.”

  “That’s what I plan to do, Ma'am.”

  Somehow he gets all of the windows down. I look in my rear view mirror and Jenna is just sitting there, in her booster seat watching what all is going on. I hope I’ve calmed her down some, since help has finally shown up. I hear the other paramedics mumbling amongst themselves. I keep hearing things like, “It looks like he hit his head against the window”, “slow pulse”, and “this is a fracture for sure”. Oh no... My boys! Please let them all be ok? Please! I can’t take this. I just have a bad headache and my stomach is killing me, but I seem to be ok and Derek and my babies are all broken up. Why was I driving? I should have put my foot down and just said no! I should have made Derek let us stay somewhere for a night, instead of his big idea of driving straight through! What was I thinking? Who am I kidding? I agreed to what he wanted AGAIN and what I should have done was refused to go anywhere, until we all got some rest.

  “Ma’am, I can assure you we will be able to get them out better, if you’re not in the van. We are going to have to get the Jaws of Life to get the rest of your family out, but we need to get you out and have you checked out real quick, okay? Where all are you hurting?”

  “Well, my head is killing me. I guess from the air bag and my stomach feels like it’s on fire.”

  “Okay ma'am, can you move your legs?”

  “Yes, I just can’t move around very much.”

  “Ok, we are going to get you out and get a gurney to put you on over here in just a minute. Hang tight. They’ll be here in just a sec.”

  He walks away and heads to the back of the van. I can see him in a huddle, talking to some policemen and other firemen through my rear view mirror. I look at Jenna and see that she’s fallen asleep. I hope that she’s fallen
asleep and isn't unconscious.

  “Hey you guys, I’m going to go with the paramedics here in just a minute, so I can get out of their way. Then they will get you all out, okay? I love you all so much! Please be ok! I’ll see you guys here in just a little bit.”

  I feel so helpless, not knowing what all is wrong with them and hope that they've all heard me. Two paramedics show up beside me at my door with a gurney behind them and the last thing I want to do is leave my family, but I have to let them do their jobs.

  “Okay ma'am. We are going to get you out of here, okay? We are going to have you checked out over here at the ambulance, while the rest of the guys get your family out, so that we can get you all taken care of.”

  They both reach in and gracefully pull me out of the van and onto the gurney, as if I weighed nothing. I could feel the van sway a little, but they assured me everything would be ok, so I tried not to cringe as my body was lifted out of the van. All of a sudden, I hear a commotion and someone yelled that they weren’t through securing something and I looked back toward the van from the gurney I was laying on and it was gone. GONE! GONE! All I could do was scream.

  “NO! DEREK! JEREMIAH! JORDAN! JENNA! NO! MY BABIES! NOOOOOOOO!”

  **********************

  I raise my head from my pillow and realize I’ve had a nightmare. THE nightmare! The same nightmare I’ve had for the past year and a half, since my whole world was shattered on that icy bridge. I hear footsteps in the hallway and a knock at the door.

  “Come in” I knew I had tears all over my face. I always do when I have my nightmare.

  “Sweetie... Are you ok? Oh I wish you could go a solid week without having a nightmare. I brought you some warm milk. I know it makes you feel better.”

  I took the glass of milk from Claudia's hands after I turned the lamp on and gulped it down in a matter of minutes and just looked at her. She has been my saving grace through all of this and she sure didn’t deserve to have to put up with all of my problems and weekly nightmares. She leans over and hugs me tight and lets me finish the cry that I needed to get out. Once I was able to compose myself, I started talking.