Souls' Rescue Part 2

Kelly placed a bandage on her temple and held it in place by wrapping gauze around her head. "Marine? Hope he's not in the Middle East right now."

"He's in Germany. He's already done two tours in the war zone."

"You know, I always wanted a brother, but my dad said I was all the boy he ever needed."

"I'm the only girl, the youngest of three. All my dad ever wanted was a little prissy girl to show off."

"Heh. My dad couldn't have made me prissy if he tried. My ma says I was born with the wrong plumbing."

"Not nice."

"She doesn't mean anything by it. She didn't care if I was a tomboy, as long as I was a good kid."

"Were you?" Talia asked.

"Um, sometimes."

Kelly heard a creaking noise that grew steadily louder. It sounded like something was shifting. Kelly braced for debris to fall around them, but the noise stopped.

Kelly keyed her mic. "Jimmy, what's going on?"

"Don't worry about it. Should be breaking through any minute."

"Copy that. Not much longer, Talia." There was no response, so Kelly moved so her light would be near Talia's face. "You okay? Keep talking to me."

"I'm not going to live through this, am I?"

"Don't talk like that. You heard my lieutenant. They're going to get us out of here."

"Not us," Talia said. "You should let them haul you out. I mean, what can you do for me?"

"I can be by your side until you're safely on your way to the hospital." Kelly saw new tears on Talia's face and didn't hesitate to wipe them away. "Hey, don't cry."

"I don't want to die."

"And it's my job to make sure you don't, so I'm not going anywhere." Kelly smoothed her hand over Talia's forehead and felt a strange flutter in her stomach. "I promise."

"Don't make a promise you can't keep."

"Hush." Kelly brushed hair back from Talia's face and resisted the urge to kiss on the cheek.

Talia drew in a ragged breath. "Thought you wanted me to talk."

"Smarty. How about no more talk about dying?"

"I'll try."

"There is no try. Only do or do not," Kelly did her best Yoda impression.

"You like Star Wars, too?"

"You mean there are people who don't?"

"My mother would never dream of seeing a nonsense movie like that. It would be a waste of her time. "

"She doesn't go to the movies?"

"Never. Which is weird, because my dad loves movies. Probably why they're divorced."

"Could be."

"Do your parents go to the movies?" Talia asked.

"They used to go all the time. But my dad died in 2001. "

"Oh, sorry."

Kelly felt tears threaten. Whenever she talked about her dad, that happened, but she forced them back. "It's okay. He was a great dad. Used to take me for rides on the fire truck, let me run around the firehouse like it was my second home. I had more uncles than any other kid I knew, because the other guys were like our family. Still are."

"Wow. What a wonderful childhood that must have been. I always wanted to see a fire truck up close. Well, when I was a kid."

"That can be arranged."

"Really? I mean, I don't want to sound like a nerd or anything."

"Of course you're a nerd," Kelly said. "You like Star Wars. That makes you a nerd. And I'll take you on a tour of the station when you're out of the hospital."

"Can I ride in the truck?"

"Only if you let me take you on a date first." Kelly was stunned that those words had tumbled so freely from her mouth, shocked that she'd even asked her the question. Asking a woman trapped beneath a ton of bricks and debris to go out with her was crazy. What the h.e.l.l was she doing? Sometimes, being impulsive turned out to be embarra.s.sing and not the smartest thing at all.

"A date? Seriously?"

"Sure. Why not?" Might as well go for it. There was something about Talia that Kelly felt drawn to.

"Um, okay."

Kelly started to reply, but the noise started up again and drowned out her words. After a few moments, it was quiet again. She moved the blanket back to check on the progress. A sliver of light shone in above them and several gloved hands were moving debris. The hole quickly grew until it was large enough for someone to look in.

The first face she saw was Scott's.

"'Bout d.a.m.n time," she said.

"Bite me," he said. "Just a couple more feet and we'll be able to slide her out onto the back board. Her leg's pinned under a tire and axel. We're going to have to lift it to move her."

Kelly now had more room to navigate. She placed her hands on either side of Talia's head. "I've got her. Let's do it." Shifting to protect as much of Talia's torso as she could, she said, "We're almost out, Talia. Just one last bit of-"

Talia said something that Kelly couldn't understand. Her eyes rolled back in her head.

Kelly panicked. Had she stopped breathing? "s.h.i.t." She felt for a pulse in her neck. It wasn't there. "She's coding!"

Kelly's words brought a flurry of activity. What seemed like a horde of firefighters scrambled to pull away chunks of rubble. They moved like madmen, superhuman, momentarily caring nothing for their own safety.

The truck creaked and shook as it lifted away, and a thousand beams of light, prisms through both broken and unbroken gla.s.s, hit Kelly in the face, temporarily blinding her.

The minute Talia's leg was free Scott was there to help Kelly slide her onto a long, hard plastic board. Kelly felt like she was in a dream. She was moving in rhythm with the other paramedics, doing her job like she was on auto-pilot. Give meds, start CPR, defibrillate. It all ran together so fast. She couldn't keep track of everything.

Another firefighter cutting away Talia's pants suddenly yelled that Talia was bleeding. Kelly looked up from the medication she was giving to see a pool of blood oozing all over the board and immediately realized what was happening.

She pushed the man out of her way and straddled Talia's legs, placing her hands over the femoral artery just above Talia's knee. "Arterial bleed! Let's move!" She used all her strength to apply enough pressure to get the bleeding to stop.

"Ok guys," Jimmy said. He was somewhere close, but Kelly couldn't see him. "Lift the backboard and get it on that stretcher. McCoy, you keep pressure on that artery and get the h.e.l.l out of here."

Kelly focused on her hands, balancing as best as she could and careful not to move off the artery as the backboard was carried to the stretcher. Scott was there to make sure she didn't fall off.

A man dressed in a nice suit with a horrified look on his face followed. As they neared the ambulance, he rushed to the stretcher and took Talia's hand. "I'm here, darlin'. I'm right here."

"We'll take care of her, Jacob," Kelly said. Her colleagues rolled the stretcher toward the waiting ambulance. The last thing Kelly saw before the bus doors slammed shut was the man falling to his knees, crying.

Chapter Four.

KELLY STRADDLED THE cot as they rolled into the emergency room. She continued to press down on the ruptured femoral artery in Talia's mangled leg, her strong hands holding back the blood. Kelly's slacks were wet and her knees felt warm and sticky. Her wrists tensed to the point of pain, but she never considered letting up the pressure. She let her fellow medics give the vitals so she could concentrate.

"Her right leg is partially severed above the knee," one of the other paramedics informed the doctor as they wheeled the cot into the trauma bay. "We've got all other bleeding under control. Blood pressure is seventy over palp. Pulse is weak and thready."

"She lost consciousness," Kelly said, "as soon as the weight was lifted off her."

"How long was she trapped?" the doctor asked.

"About an hour and a half," one of the paramedics said. "She coded during extrication, but we got her back. She was down about two minutes."

Sweat dripped from Kelly's forehead and into her eyes. "Can I get some help here with pressure?"

The doctor said, "Hang on. Just one sec..."

Kelly let her gaze rest on Talia's pale face. She ceased to pay attention to the flurry of activity around her. She didn't need to. She'd been a paramedic long enough to know what was happening and to trust that the team would do all they could to save Talia's life.

"Get me a tourniquet on that leg," the doctor said. "Clamp!"

While someone called for a surgeon, nurses worked to remove clothing with practiced efficiency. The other paramedics milled about doing whatever they could to help. One of them offered to take over for her, but Kelly vehemently told him no. She wasn't going to let go of Talia.

A nurse took Talia's vitals and announced that her blood pressure and pulse rate had dropped. Her breathing was more ragged despite the oxygen mask.

"Don't go," Kelly whispered. "Not yet. Please."

The doctor bent over Talia's leg and applied a surgical clamp on the torn artery. "You can let go now."

"I don't want to let go." Kelly was surprised to hear the shaking in her own voice.

"It's okay." Two of the other firefighters helped Kelly down from the cot.

The doctor asked, "Any idea how much blood she's lost?"

Someone Kelly couldn't see responded, "Close to 900 cc's. She's got two liters of normal saline on board."

"Call for whole blood, then let's get her to the OR, stat!"

Kelly stumbled backwards as the team of nurses and doctors worked to get Talia out of the emergency room. Scott's strong arms were suddenly holding her up. "C'mon partner," he said. "Let's get you taken care of."

"I'm okay."

"Sure you are. Except that your head is bleeding and you look like h.e.l.l."

THE WAITING AREA for the emergency room was crowded with people. Many had to stand since every chair was taken. Scott wheeled Kelly through, on the way to the exit, but before they could get to the door, a little Irish woman in jeans and a brown top pushed everyone aside. Marina McCoy's hair was brick red, and her face held such anguish that Kelly nearly cried.

"I'm fine, Ma."

"You're not fine." Marina knelt beside the wheel chair and took Kelly's face into her hands. "How bad is it? Someone said you have a concussion."

"I-"

Scott spoke over her. "She has ten st.i.tches on the side of her head and no, there's no concussion. She's got a d.a.m.n hard head. The doc said to keep an eye on her tonight and she gets a free pa.s.s from work for our next shift."

Kelly scrunched up her face at Scott as soon as Marina let go of her. "Traitor."

"Best friend," he whispered to her. To Marina he said, "Want me to help you get this stubborn broad home?"

"Yes, please," Marina said. She touched Kelly's cheek. "You sure there's nothing else wrong?"

Kelly held her mother's hand. "I promise."

Chapter Five.