Everything in Between (31 page)

Holding his breath, Chip listened. Faintly, the sound of moving air let him know he was near the stairwell. Moving from pocket to pocket, Chip forced his way there. As he’d hoped, debris had fallen to block the stairs, but the well itself had remained intact. He climbed over debris and wriggled under it until he reached the basement. A door marked
maintenance
opened into the basement, but Chip had to clear it of rubble before he could open it.

“I’m in the basement now,” Chip said. “I’ve got sky.”

“He’s in a hole,” Chip heard Gian explain to someone. “The floors and ceilings above him are gone. Chip, we got your heat about sixty feet from the two vics.”

“There’s a world of garbage between me and them,” Chip said.

Elton’s explosives combined with the architecture of the building created maximum damage. The air looked solid because of dust yet to settle. Chip’s anxiety climbed a notch. If Zae and Braeden survived the collapse of the building, they might still suffocate from lack of clean air.

The sound of his breathing and an occasional creak of the building was all he could hear. Chip held his breath, listening. “Call me, professor,” he said. “Say something, baby, please. Tell me where you are.”

He listened. A sound would give him a target, a direction. He could find the most direct route to Zae and Braeden, lessening the chance of bringing more debris down on them if he knew which way to go rather than burrowing blindly.

He couldn’t hold his breath any longer, and he drew in air, the respirator hissing loudly.

* * *

Zae heard her name, but couldn’t determine the direction from which it came. That didn’t matter, not since she recognized the voice. She sat up. In the darkness, she couldn’t see much farther than the circle of faint moonlight bleeding through the hole where ceilings and floors once were.

“Colin,” she gasped, spying him at the edge of the dim.

He wore a golf shirt and khakis, his typical around-the-house outfit. His afro was short and neat, his line just as sharp and precise as ever. He pulled his hands from his pockets and offered her one. Zae hesitated.

“You aren’t dead, baby.” Colin smiled.

“But you are. If I’m not dead, how are we together now?”

“That’s a metaphysical debate for another time,” Colin said, his voice as strong, deep and melodic as Zae remembered it. “And I’m sure there are other questions you want to ask me.”

“Honey, you know me too well. Have you missed me?”

“Never.” Shaking his head, he squatted to face her. “I’m always with you and the children. There are times I’m with Gian and Cinder, too.”

“Did you hear us at Del Brown’s? Do you know about Cinder’s baby?”

“I shared those moments with you. My family’s happiness gives me the chance to live happily ever after.”

“You’re not alive, Colin,” Zae said tenderly. “How can you live happily ever after? I was supposed to be a part of your happily ever after, but you’re all alone.”

Colin’s warm smile conveyed peace and understanding. “I’ll never be alone. I have more love than I could ever have conceived. Yours shines brightest. The happier you are, the happier I am.” He took her hand and folded it into the strength and warmth of his own. He rubbed it against his cheek. “Your skin. That’s what I miss most.” He leaned forward as if to kiss her, but instead whispered in her ear. “Call him, Zae.”

“Who?” Her voice sounded much too far way. She lay back down, her vision dimming. She felt Colin’s presence, smelled the sweet mint of his breath, but she no longer saw him. “Who do you want me to call?”

“You know who,” Colin spoke softly in her ear. “
Him.
”

“The Lord?” Zae guessed.

“You’ve already called that Him, and He’s already answered.” Colin’s voice sounded so far away, yet it was whispery soft on her cheek. She felt his warmth and weight as much as she had on any day of his life. “Call him,” Colin repeated. “I won’t leave until you call him….”

Darkness shrouding her, Zae sought him. She tried to call for him, but her voice had no power behind it, and the harder she tried to draw in air, the heavier grew the weight on her chest. “Don’t go,” she whimpered, razor-sharp pain blooming in her legs, back and head. “Help me.”

It became more difficult to breathe, and she fought to remain conscious. The most intense pain, that in her right leg, was fading to numbness. Uncertain if that was good or bad, she was thankful for the respite. Her mind searched for Colin, but she couldn’t feel him, not the way she’d been able to in the past when she was lonely, hurt or troubled. He was gone.

She’d always figured he’d be closer at a moment like this, when death was near. She never imagined that Colin—her Colin!—would abandon her when she needed him most.

But then she felt a feathery sensation on her inner right wrist, the place Colin always kissed her when he wanted to be affectionate in public. It was chaste, yet exciting. It was a kiss of welcome, and of love. It was a kiss of farewell.

Zae began to fade, but then she heard her name once more, the voice calling it growing closer, pulling her back.

And it wasn’t Colin.

It was him. Chip…

Call him
, Colin’s voice sounded in her head once more.

Colin hadn’t come to her because she was close to death. He couldn’t help her. If he could have gotten her out, he would have. There was nothing he wouldn’t have done for her in life, and she now knew that death wouldn’t stop him either. Colin wanted to tell her that her best hope for rescue was someone solid and alive, the one man who would give his life for her, and who knew how to work his way through demolished buildings.

Zae drew in as much air as she could and shrieked,
“CHIP!”

* * *

Chip whirled to his right. “Don’t move, professor!” he called to her. “I’m coming through! How are you? Can you move?”

“If we could move, we would’ve climbed out of here already,” she said weakly. “I’m really not in the mood for stupid questions, so please keep that in mind the next time you open your mouth.”

Chip smiled for the first time since he left Zae’s bed and their nightmare began.

Even buried alive, Zae had sass to spend on him. He hoped it was a good sign.

He assessed the mountain of debris and decided his best course would be to clear a path along the cinder block wall of the foundation. With his gloved hands, he shoveled glass and chunks of mortar, scraps of twisted steel and drywall behind him. He wedged a door-sized sheet of drywall into the path he created, providing a solid support for the return trip.

Chip slid over the drywall and landed on the glass-strewn floor. The overhead clearance was low, preventing him from moving upright. The furnaces and water heaters lay in heaps, crushed under debris. The scent of gas was strong and the stench of burnt wiring left Chip even more concerned about another explosion. Zae and Braeden lay still, nestled together on a bed of broken glass, Zae’s black cardigan bunched around their heads. Debris partially buried them. The remains of the floor and ceiling yawned, hastening Chip’s actions. “I’ve got them,” he said, “but the world is gonna cave in on us soon. I can hear the beams cracking.”

“How are they?” Gian asked, his voice revealing his concern.

“I’m checking them out now,” Chip answered, directing his headlamp at them. “Don’t know if I can move them yet, not that I have much choice.”

Chip unhooked the first aid kit from his back and quickly withdrew a pair of wire neck braces. He rolled the sweater off their heads and quickly placed oxygen masks over their noses and mouths. Their inhalations triggered the operation of their air canisters, and both hissed into action. Chip fastened the wire braces on them, then, supporting Zae’s back with one hand, he carefully rolled her off Braeden.

“He broke my fall,” Zae murmured. “He told me to put my sweater over our faces to filter the dust. Smart kid.”

“Yes, he is,” Chip agreed, his stomach sinking. Braeden’s lips and face kept their bluish tint in spite of the oxygen. His right arm lay at an unnatural angle and a pool of blood was drying at his head. “Can you open your eyes for me, professor? Let me see those beautiful brown eyes.” Her pupils would reveal any serious head injury prior to moving her.

“He’s hurt,” Zae whispered, her voice failing her. “Take him out first. He couldn’t breathe, and he stopped talking a while ago.”

“Zae, I left you once and—”

“Braeden first, damn it,” she insisted. “I’m a tank. I can wait a little longer.”

“Open your eyes for me, love.”

Zae’s eyelids dragged open, and Chip peered into her eyes. Her pupils reacted to his headlamp, and they were even and focused. “You’ve got a baby to think about,” he said. “Let me get you out of here.”

“Braeden is somebody’s baby, too. Get him safe, soldier.”

Braeden made no sound when Chip took him by the shoulders of his shirt and pulled him free of the debris. Chip took an EpiPen from the first aid kit and jabbed it into Braeden’s thigh. His eyes fluttered open and his breathing became stronger.

“Help me,” he cried, tears streaking the grime on his face. “It hurts!”

“Good to have you back, kiddo.” Chip peeled the wrapper from a syringe of dilaudid, and injected it into the vein bulging in the crook of Braeden’s left arm. “This will help with the pain.”

Braeden’s tears slowed as the drug took effect. “The world blew up around us,” he said, slurring his words. “Everything is broken. Even me.”

“I know.” Chip quickly splinted Braeden’s right arm and wrapped his head wound. “I’m taking you out of here now. If you can, hold onto me.”

Braeden cried out in pain when Chip locked his arms around his chest, and hauled him toward the stairwell. “Where does the stairwell lead?” Chip asked Gian. “I can’t take him out the way I got in.”

In the background on Gian’s end, Chip heard Cory’s voice. “There’s a classroom off the stairwell,” Cory said in a rush. “It’s on the first floor, in back of the main building. If you can get to it, and if the structure is stable, the firefighters can break through the wall to get to you.”

“There’s a lot of ‘if’ in that plan.” Chip grimaced, shifting Braeden’s weight. “What’s Plan B?”

“We’re working on it,” Gian said.

Chip listened to him order the firemen to the back of the building. “Don’t do anything until I get Zae up, too,” Chip warned. “Once they start battering walls, they could bring more of the building down.”

“Will do,” Gian said.

Chip navigated the stairwell with Braeden draped over his shoulder, and he found the rear classroom. The wall seemed solid, but with the weak beam from his lone headlamp, he couldn’t see much past the rubble filling the room. He laid Braeden in the stairwell. “I think it’s a go,” he breathed heavily, sweat stinging his eyes. “Once I get Zae up here, you can dig us out.”

“Copy that, Captain Kish,” Gian answered. “Now go get Zae, and hurry. She’s not burning so hot right now.”

* * *

“Stay with me, professor.” Chip’s broken hand trembled as he bound Zae’s right leg. A chunk of steel had impaled her upper thigh. Knowing better than to pull it out, Chip used bandage tape to secure the steel in place to prevent further movement and blood loss. Zae’s tibia was broken, the fractured end poking through her flesh. The injuries he saw were bad enough, but the ones he couldn’t see terrified him.

“Gimme the time,” he said.

“Six minutes since you took Braeden up,” Gian said. “We’re waiting for a go on the wall. All the equipment and medical personnel is in place.”

“I’m almost done patching her,” Chip said. “It’s not good, Gian.”

“Let’s get her out, hoss,” Gian said. “One thing at a time.”

“I’m going to move you now,” Chip told Zae. “I can give you something for pain, but I don’t know how it might affect the baby.”

Zae raised a bloody hand to her face, streaking it from her temple to her chin. “I don’t want it.” Her words fogged her oxygen mask. “I’ll be fine. Do what you have to, soldier.”

He took her under her arms and pulled her toward the path he’d made to the stairwell. She cried out in pain, uttering expletives he hadn’t heard since his days in the service, but he kept going, scooting on his backside. He was hauling her onto the drywall platform he’d created when Gian shouted, “We’ve got movement above you! Try to get clear, something is going down!”

Chip covered Zae’s body with his own just as part of the floor above collapsed. The building screamed in its own unique pain as a fresh layer of debris crashed around them, stirring a new cloud of thick dust. Something broad and flat struck Chip’s legs, nearly pulling him and Zae back down to the floor. Glancing up, Chip watched the floor above perform a violent version of the wave as flooring, support beams and girders rained into to the basement. Through his headset, he heard the twins screaming for their mother and numerous male voices shouting garbled directions. Something heavy struck the back of Chip’s head, and he literally saw stars. He shrugged the object off, squinted his eyes closed and protected Zae as best he could until finally, thankfully, the chaos came to an end and the crashing stilled.