Part 236
Air! She had to have some air. Things started spinning and she felt lightheaded. From out of nowhere, a man caught Sarah.
"Sarah, are you okay?"
‘That voice…. I should know that voice,’ thought Sarah and she looked up to see her brother Mark. "Mark, where did you come from?"
"I was just gonna ask you that same thing? I was headed home from a
business trip. Why aren’t you with Howie?"
"Howie…. I have to get to him. He thinks I was on that flight."
"Which flight?"
"Have you heard the news?"
"Yeah."
"I was supposed to be on the flight that hit the first tower."
"Shit, Sarah…where were you going?"
"To LA to record some stuff. Mark, I have to get to Toronto but the
airports are all shut down. Howie is going to be climbing the walls!"
"Okay…Let’s go see what we can find. Where’s your bag?"
"My bag? I don’t…. Danny must have taken it. God…Mark!"
"Danny?"
"He was one of the crew for the guys. He was headed home for the birth of
his second child."
"Come on! We need to get you back with Howie…as soon as possible."
"No…I have to find Raoul. He went to find out what happened and I haven’t seen him since."
As Sarah said that, Raoul reappeared. "Sarah….you’ve heard?"
"Yeah. Raoul…I’ve GOT to get to Toronto. Howie is going to go nuts."
With that, Mark, Raoul, and Sarah took off together to find a way for Sarah to get to Toronto. What they found was the city of Boston shut down. There was NO transportation in or out of the city and no communication either. All cell phones were disabled and the landlines were down. At the last stop, after hearing there was no way to get to Howie or even get a message to him, Sarah sat down and began to cry. She knew exactly what he was thinking if he’d seen the news and by now, two o’clock, she was positive that he had heard the news.
Mark put his arm around his sister. "How about we go get a hotel room
and crash until we can figure something out?"
"Food. I need to eat," said Sarah in a daze. It seemed that she had gone into autopilot, working on sheer instinct.
"Okay, we’ll get something to eat and a room. You can’t get to him right now so we might as well make sure you take care of yourself. You aren’t looking very well. Are you okay?"
Sarah didn’t even think as she said, "Mark, I’m pregnant."
Mark hugged his sister, "YEAH! SIS! That’s awesome news! How is Howie
with this?"
Sarah grinned remembering the day she’d told him. She said, "He’s
really excited. We haven’t told management or the crew or the fans because of
the last miscarriage but we were planning to tell them after I got back."
"Come on then. We need to get you some food and you need to rest."
The threesome made their way through the city to find some lunch and a room. They managed to get to the same hotel the guys had stayed in for the shows and they went up to their room. Mark ordered room service for them and they tried Sarah’s cell phone once more while they waited. No signal.
The next twenty-four hours, Sarah was a basket case. She had seen the report that she was on the flight with Danny and she knew in her heart that Howie had heard the news and was thinking the worst. She also thought about Jesse. What would she do if she heard that her mother was supposedly dead?
Raoul watched as Sarah tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He didn’t know what to say to Sarah to calm her down because he was worried about Howie as well. He knew how much Sarah meant to him.
Sarah gave up trying to sleep around two and she got up to go out onto the balcony.
Raoul asked softly from his chair in the corner of the room, "Are you okay?"
Trying to hold back the tears, she responded, "No. Raoul, Howie is going crazy…I can feel it. I need to get to him. And Becca. What the hell is this doing to her? God, they have all probably been told that I’d dead."
"Have you tried the phones again?"
"No, not since I went to bed."
"Why don’t you try again?"
Once more, Sarah went to the phone, dialed the number she had engrained in her brain now. As she listened to the phone ringing on the other end, she began to have hope.
"Four Seasons Hotel."
"Howie Dorough’s room please."
"I’m sorry, but all calls have been blocked for that room."
"I’m HIS WIFE for gods sakes. The reason the calls have been blocked are because they think I’m DEAD. Let me speak to your manager."
"I’m sorry, but he’s not available right now."
"Look, at least take a message. Tell Mr. Dorough that I’m okay and I’m in Boston, trying to get a way to Toronto. Please, it’s REALLY important that he gets this message."
"I’ll try but they’re being pretty tight with security."
Sarah hung up the phone and looked at Raoul. "Billy has security tight. I have NO IDEA that the message will even get through."
"Don’t give up hope, Sarah. You at least left a message. In the morning, we’ll find a way to Toronto and it’ll be okay."
Sarah gave Raoul a hug and then went out onto the balcony of her room to look out at the stars. "God, I know you’re listening. Howie is hurting right now but you have to let him know that I’m okay. He can’t take any more hurt or pain. His faith has been put to the test far too many times in the last couple years. Please, look out for him until I can get back to him and be in his arms."