Read Online United We Stand by Eric Walters - Free Book Online Page A

little girls clung to her on each side. I wasn’t sure if that was helping to keep her on her feet or not.
    “I was up all night checking on Ting because of her head injury,” Thomas said.
    “Every two hours,” my mom said. “That’s how I spent the night too.”
    “The night wasn’t as bad as the day,” Thomas said. “Waiting, not knowing my wife’s fate, was far worse.”
    “I know how hard that was,” my mother agreed. “We are both just so fortunate, so lucky.”
    “My luck was these two men of yours,” Thomas said.
    I felt myself blushing.
    “It was such a pleasure to meet you,” my mother said. “You have a lovely family.”
    “Thanks to your family,” Thomas said. “Once all of this settles down, we’d like to take you all out to the best restaurant in the city.”
    “That would be wonderful,” my father said. “But not necessary.”
    “It’s just a small token, a nothing compared to what you’ve done for me, for us. Thank you.”
    He shook my father’s hand and then mine. I offered Ting my hand. She took it and grabbed me, pulling me forward with such power that I almost toppled over. I couldn’t believe that somebody that small could be so strong. She wrapped her arms around me and gave me a big hug.
    “Thank you, Will,” she whispered in my ear. “Thank you.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    She released me, and then she hugged my father and my mother.
    “I’ll make sure we arrange to get together,” my mother said. “Calling my husband would be a waste of time. He has no idea what we’re doing or when we’re doing it, but I’ll arrange it.”
    “Thank you.”
    We walked them to the door, and once again they thanked us. It felt good but embarrassing. We stood at the doorway and watched as they got into their car, slowly backed out of the driveway, and started to drive away. Ting had her window rolled down and she waved, and we all waved back.
    We closed the door and my father headed back into the den. My mother and I followed. Suzie was at my father’s desk, on the phone. It sounded like a business call—something about getting computers delivered, but she didn’t know the exact address right now. The man on the other end of the phone seemed to be giving her some trouble about that and she started talking about why they didn’t have an address and why they needed the computers, and I could tell that his tone changed immediately.
    “That was so sweet,” my mother said. “Seeing Ting makes it all seem more real to me.”
    My father laughed. “Funny, it makes it seem more real to me to see it on TV,” he said pointing at the set.
    I looked at the scene on the screen. It was footage from yesterday. It showed both towers engulfed in fire, orange flames shooting out, thick black smoke rising up, staining the sky.
    My father turned to me. “Does it seem possible that we were part of any of that?”
    I shook my head. “I can believe we were there. I can’t believe that any of it ever happened or that … Oh … my God.”
    Before my eyes the South Tower began to fall. It collapsed into itself and was swallowed up by the gray cloud that it produced. That cloud rose up as the tower disappeared completely from view.
    “Wow,” my father said, under his breath. “I’ve seen it a dozen times but it still seems unreal.”
    “This is the first time I’ve seen it,” I said. I felt myself shaking. I hoped nobody noticed. I really hoped my mother didn’t notice.
    “That’s the first time?” my father asked.
    I nodded. And right then, even seeing it just once seemed like more than enough.
    We watched as the cloud started to dissipate and the shadowy outline of the debris became visible. The smoky gray cloud obliterated the skyline … the whole sky.
    “It collapsed straight down, but then fell to the front,” my father said. “We went out the side. If it had gone the other way …”
    He didn’t need to finish the sentence. If it had gone the other way we would have been