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Isolationgroan.... cough "John. John, can you hear me? Wake up, John!" "I-is that you, Bekkah?" "Yes, John. What happened?" "T-there was an aftershock. Rubble from the garage started sliding your way. You didn't see it, so I pushed you down. Now we're trapped under it." cough "Ow!" "Are you okay, John?" "Uh, no, Bekkah. I have a foot trapped under the rubble. It hurts like hell. What about you?" "Just a bit disoriented. No broken bones that I can feel. Do you have your flashlight?" "Yeah. Let me see if it still works. Ah! Oh! I guess it does." "Point it down at your feet so I can see. I might be able to shift the rubble and free your foot." "No, I don't think you'll be able to move that. It would bring more debris down on us." "You're right. Can you turn around so you are on your back or side? You're pinning me down." shuffle.... shuffle.... groan.... cough... "That's as far as I can go, Bekkah." "Good enough. I can at least turn myself over and get my face off the ground." rustle.... zip.... rustle.... rustle.... zip... "What are you doing?" snicker... "A strip tease?" "Very funny, John. I'm taking off my tee shirt. If I remember my first aid courses right, I'll have to keep you from going into shock. My tee shirt isn't much, but it might help keep you a bit warmer. Prop yourself up as much as you can. I'm going to slide my legs to either side of you. Now lie back on my chest." "This is comfy. Your shirt is nice and warm. So are your arms." "Maybe for you. But you weigh a ton from my perspective. The slab I'm leaning up against isn't exactly smooth. And I'm getting dust in my mouth from your hair. Let me have the flashlight. I want to assess your injuries as best I can." "Here. Hey! Don't shine it in my eyes!" "Sorry. You've got a nasty gash on your cheekbone, but other than that and the foot, you seem intact." "How about you?" "How about me? I can't see any major cuts, and nothing is trapped. So I seem to be better off than you right now." "We have to get in touch with Scott. My telecomm seems to be working for once." "Mine, too." "I'll try him. John to Mole. John to Mole. Do you read me, Scott or Gordon?" "This is Scott. What's up, John?" "We're in trouble. I found some survivors and had Bekkah bring me the medikit and a backboard. Then she helped me move one of the survivors to triage. We were going back to our posts when an aftershock hit. Some of the debris started sliding toward Bekkah. She didn't see it and I tackled her to the ground. Now we're trapped under the debris." "Oh, that's just great! Now we have to rescue you, too! Bekkah, I told you to stay at mobile control." "I know, Scott. But John needed the medical stuff and he couldn't carry the patient out by himself. It made sense to help him. I didn't know that an aftershock was coming. It was an accident." "Okay, okay. I see your point. What's your situation?" "My foot is caught in some of the rubble and hurts like crazy. It's probably broken.We can't shift the rubble because it will bring more down on us. Bekkah doesn't seem to have any major injuries. We're in a little cave made up of large slabs of concrete. Man, I hope another aftershock doesn't bring that big one down on us. Right now, we have air and light and Bekkah is trying to keep me warm. Both of our telecomms are working, too. Don't know how long the air will last. Or the battery on my flashlight. "Well, sounds like you aren't doing too badly. Just sit tight. We need to finish with the four survivors Gordon and I found. Then I'll have Virgil give me your coordinates so we can dig you out. Leave both of your telecomms on. Bekkah, you set yours to my frequency and John, you set yours so you can contact base. I want them monitoring you, too." "Thanks a lot, big bro. You just want me to be the one to catch it hot with Dad." "Take your medicine, little bro." groan.... "John to base, John to base. Come in base." "Go ahead, John. I can't see you very well. Where are you?" "Um, would you believe...buried alive?" "C'mon, John. We have to stay awake." "I'm sleepy." "You have to keep talking to me. Tell you what. You ask me a question about myself. I'll answer it, and then I get to ask you one about yourself. Okay?' sigh..... "Okay......where did you get those scars on your abdomen? I remember seeing them when we rescued you from the Hood." "Which ones?" "The long ones." "Oh, those. Those are from my cesearean sections. All of my kids were delivered that way." "And that big dimpled spot?" "You mean my second belly-button? That was from my first c-section. It turned out I was allergic to the staples they used. The edges got all infected and the staples began to pull out. I had a big open wound that had to be cleaned and packed and dressed three times a day." "Yuck! How did you clean it?" "I didn't. Couldn't see it. A good friend who had been a nurse came over and did it for me. Took six weeks for it to heal." "Ugh. That's gross." "You're telling me. Now, what shall I ask you? Hmmm. What's your favorite sport?" "Track and field. I used to be on the school team during junior high and all through high school." "What part of it did you like best?" "The long distance running. Cross-country. I liked running with the grass under my feet." "I would, too, if I was any good at running. Your turn now." "Hmmm. What was your first car?" chuckle.... "I had an old Volkswagen Beetle. Sky blue colored. I bought it used. My dad told me it was the worst decision I ever made. But I didn't care. I loved that car." "Volkswagen Beetle, huh? Somehow it fits you. What happened to it?" "I hit an icy patch on a curve and went off the road. Rolled it onto its roof. It died like a bug, four wheels in the air." "Wow! Were you hurt?" "No. I was wearing my seat belt so I just had a few scratches from climbing out the side window. But that was the end of the Beetle." "Too bad." "Yeah." "Bekkah. Bekkah! Wake up!" "Huh? Wha' happened?" "You fell asleep. Wait a minute. Put your head down here so I can see it." "Hey! Don't shine the light in my eyes!" "You've got a bad gash on your forehead, did you know that? It's bruising up pretty badly, too." "I kinda figured. I was dizzy and disoriented when the dust settled." "Why didn't you tell me?" "What could you do about it? We lost the medikit in the slide." "I could have made a better stab at keeping you awake." "Hmmmmm." "Don't fall asleep!" cough.... "Scott," cough.... "what's your situation?" "Bekkah, we've located you, but there's a lot of rubble to shift. We have to take it slowly or those big slabs will come down on you." "Okay, Scott. sigh It's just that the air is getting a little sigh stale down here." "We're working as fast as we can." cough.... "I know. I just hope the air lasts." gasp.... gasp.... "john? you awake?" "yeah." wheeze.... gasp.... "what are we gasp going to do?" "i don't know, bekkah." gasp.... "i just don't know." wheeze.... gasp.... "Son? John? Can you hear me?" wheeze.... "y-yes, father." "How are you doing, son?" wheeze.... wheeze.... "not g-good, father." gasp.... " it's hard to" gasp.... "breathe." "Hang on. Scott and Gordon are nearly there." wheeze.... wheeze.... wheeze.... whe....... Silence. Darkness. Jeff stared at his watch. 10 seconds. 20 seconds. 30 seconds. 40 seconds. 50 seconds. 60 seconds. 70 seconds 80 seconds 90 seconds 100 seconds 110 seconds 120 seconds 130 seconds 140 seconds 150 seconds Jeff breathed, too. Eyes open. Scott's face. "John, just breathe easy now." "bekkah?" "She's breathing. She'll be okay." "good." Eyes close. Bright light. Eyes squint. "Stay still, Bekkah. I'm checking your eyes. You've got a concussion." Eyes open. Gordon's face. "john?" "We're taking him to the hospital. His foot is badly broken. But he's breathing." "good." Eyes close. |