She awoke to a coughing fit. The dust was so thick she could barely see. A pinhole of light shone from somewhere above. She tried to move to assess her situation and found that she was unable. Something was pinning her down. Wait. Someone was pinning her down. Oh God.
"Cal?" Gillian took a deep breath and started coughing again. No answer.
A memory swept through her followed by sheer terror. He had shoved her down and covered her body with his own. He had taken the brunt of the explosion. They were now in a crawlspace only afforded them by a single fallen beam.
Her face was wet. She hadn't realized that she had started to cry. She tried again. "Cal?"
Nothing.
With a more concentrated effort she began to wiggle out from under him. Didn't have a lot of room to move but managed to pull herself out enough until she lay next to him. With shaking hands she reached over to gently turn him over. He seemed heavier than he should be, being that he wasn't a large man. Dead weight. No. Not dead. Can't be. Don't even think that.
She was finally able to turn him over to find his face slack, sticky blood coating the right side from hairline to jaw. With trembling fingers, she reached out to check his pulse. Hesitated, but had to know. Please don't let him be dead.
Gillian let her air out with a quiet 'huff.' Hadn't realized that she'd been holding her breath. He did have a pulse. Alive. For now. Stop it!
The first thing he became aware of was the stinging wetness in his right eye. He started to bring his hand up to wipe it away but quickly faltered. The simple action brought a ripple effect of pain so intense he had to bite back nausea. Okay. That was a bad idea.
Somewhere he heard a voice say his name. A very familiar voice. Cal grunted in response before spiraling down into darkness once again.
Gillian had positioned herself so she could cradle his head in her lap. He had stirred briefly but was now quiet.
She had somehow dozed off while hunched protectively over Cal's prone form. With a start, she realized that she could hear movement somewhere above them. "We're down here!" Gill tried to scream but only managed a croak. Swallowed thickly and tried again. This time her voice had more strength. "WE'RE DOWN HERE!"
There was definitely the murmur of voices.
Cal awoke in her lap, coughing. Even in the low light, she could see blood upon his lips. No, no, no. "Hang in there Cal! Please!" Gillian whispered fervently into his ear. "They know we're here."
He cracked his eyes open. They were glassy with pain but she noted that he was able to focus on her. "Tryin', luv."
"No trying. Do it!" She brushed his face gently with her fingertips. "I mean it Cal."
He gave a weak smile. "That sounded a little like Yoda."
She returned the smile through a torrent of tears. Kissed his forehead. "You're such a geek."
Cal gave a low chuckle before coughing again.
"You alright down there?" A voice floated down from above.
"We have an injured man down here! Please hurry!" Gillian fought to control the waver in her voice. Cal was unconscious again. He looked almost gray. The human body can only take so much and she had no idea to the extent of his internal injuries. Someone who was always larger than life can die too. She sobbed and allowed the tears to flow unhindered. She cradled him tenderly. There wasn't a lot of time.
What do you think? Should I continue? ;P