Authors Note: Thanks so much to all of you that read and reviewed my story so far! Sorry it's taken a bit to get this next chapter out, but I've been pretty busy with finals this past week.
Chapter 3: It's a Long Way Down
It didn't take Sara long to figure out what was happening. Growing up in California had made her more attuned to any sort of tremors in the ground. Her home state was the number one state for earthquake activity, after all. Twice yearly drills all throughout her schooling, numerous TV shows and documentaries about The Big One, and of course her own experiences as she personally lived through each quake had been ingrained in her memory. She had experienced a few minor earthquakes since her move to Las Vegas about seven years ago, had even been at work for a few of them, but something told her that this occurrence was going to be different.
As soon as the initial back-and-forth movement started, Sara quickly ducked under the table she was working at, grabbing on to the table leg and covering her head and neck the best she could with her remaining arm. It was almost an involuntary reflex, her subconscious taking over her body movements as her mind was busy processing the overload of information from everything that was happening around her. She knew she had to protect herself, knew she should cover her head and back, shielding the most crucial parts of her anatomy. STOP, DROP, COVER, and HOLD. It was the saying she had heard continually in her earlier years at school, and now she couldn't stop it from repeating in her mind. It was almost like a mantra, her brains current best idea for the sacred verbal formula. She wondered how those words could possibly contain the perfect mystical potentiality to get her through the situation. They weren't exactly comforting or inspiring.
Sara's current location in the layout room provided an ultimate view of the main hallway running through the crime lab and when she braved a look up from her crouched position under the table, she was surprised by what she saw. The floor of the hallway was coming towards her in waves, like the ripples in a pond from a tossed pebble. The movement started out small, almost imperceptible. But from Sara's vantage point near the ground, the motion of the hallway frightened her. With each ticking second, the amplitude of the waves increased in magnitude, causing stress on the foundation of the structure and the walls holding up the building around her. It was strange how things that were normally solid and secure seemed to liquefy with the vibrations of the earthquake.
Unexpectedly, a pair of feet appeared in her line of vision, weaving from side to side as they made their way toward her. Glancing up, Sara saw Nick leaning down to crawl under the table with her. A loud yelp escaped his mouth just as he was kneeling down to the floor, the ground rising up to meet his descending knee joint. The sound was barely audible over the low din and rattling of the building being violently shaken apart. Sara stole a concerned look his way, worry evident in her expression when she saw the pain unmistakably written across Nick's face. She could see his mouth moving, spitting out muted profanities, but the sounds never reached her ears. All that was audible was the clattering of lab equipment and shattering of glassware over the low rumble of the earth moving.
Suddenly, Sara's senses detected an increase in the intensity of the shaking. The sounds got louder, deafening, as more objects came crashing to the ground. The table she was firmly holding on to started moving about, jerking from her grasp and taking on a life of its own. With both hands now free, Sara curled tighter into herself, her arms covering her head, desperately trying to shield herself from any falling debris. Nothing was in her control. The power had been taken from her, brutally yanked out of her hands. Now her fate and her life were up to nature's jurisdiction. Sara squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the reality of her surroundings. It was only a few hours ago that she was wrapped in Grissom's arms, ecstasy spreading throughout her entire being as a result of the things his hands were doing to her body.
A calming feeling stole through Sara's body as her mind drifted to thoughts of Grissom. Him in his office, brows furrowed over a stack of paperwork; him bent over a piece of evidence at a crime scene, snapping photographs or reciting odd pieces of trivia; or him at home, in the middle of a deep slumber after a rather exhaustive night spent in bed with her. And Grissom's eyes as he finally told her he loved her. She had heard those words from many people in her past, but never had they been as beautiful as they were when he had finally said them to her. She could still see his lips moving as the words rolled from his tongue, the simple phrase quelling all of the fears she held in her heart. For a few moments, Sara had succeeded in transporting herself to a different place, enjoying the memories she had created with the man she would spend the rest of her life loving.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a distant crack and then a low humming sound, a din of electrical activity, which dissipated just as quickly as it came. The lights flickered an unprolonged amount of time casting strange shadows over a once-familiar environment, and then came the inky blackness. The jolt back to reality awakened her senses, and Sara reached over with a free hand to reassure herself that Nick was still next to her. When her fingers found his hand, she grasped them, desperately needing to hold on to something familiar and safe. She had never experienced an earthquake in such darkness, definitely not one of this magnitude, and the experience was a little unnerving. Her history of primary school drills and numerous small Californian quakes had not prepared her for the situation she now found herself in.
It had only been about two to three minutes since it first began, but Sara felt like an hour had passed by as the shaking finally came to an end. She found it strange to think that only a few minutes ago she had been sitting at the table she now found herself under, trying unsuccessfully to focus on the task before her as Grissom's words resounded in her mind. Only a few moments had transpired, but everything had changed. Her world had, literally, been shaken up. The earthquake seemed to have brought with it a total destruction of the crime lab. When the shaking started to show signs of abating, Sara let out a sigh of relief for sparing them any more destruction. With the gradual diminishment of the shaking, the associated noises also waned as everything in the lab found stable ground again.
There was complete silence for a few minutes, the only detectable sounds coming from Nick and Sara's breathing. The eerie silence made it seem like they were the only two left in the building. Sara couldn't help but feel like she had somehow been transported to the Twilight Zone and suddenly all other life forms had vanished from the earth. Was she dreaming? The low creak of a door swinging open further down the hall disrupted those thoughts, and she let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
"Nick? You okay?" she asked, not realizing she was talking in a whisper.
"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine. Just jammed my knee a little. Nothing to worry about," he whispered back, the lowered voices for some reason fitting the situation.
"You know, men always say that even if it's not true. I better not find out you've been lying to me."
Nick let out a faint chuckle before replying, "I would never lie to you Sara. I'm way too scared to get on your bad side…Should we get out and check on everyone?"
"I think it's safest if we wait a few more minutes, make sure nothing comes crashing down on us if there are any aftershocks. Which, with a quake that big, there definitely should be."
"Man that was intense. We don't get earthquakes in Texas. I hope nobody got hurt."
"Me too," Sara replied, as her thoughts once again drifted to Grissom. She sent a silent prayer asking that he had managed to find a safe place to hide. She didn't think she could handle it if anything had happened to him, not after she just got him back.
Nick noticed her sudden change in demeanor. "Hey, you alright Sara?"
"Hmm? Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"You just seem a little down. You sure nothing's bothering you? Anything you want to talk about?"
"No, just….thinking about the clean-up. It's gonna be something."
Nick studied her profile for a moment. He had always been able to read Sara, could always understand where she was coming from. This meant he could always tell when something was on her mind, but he knew that if he pushed her too much, he wouldn't get anything out of her at all. Although, he had a pretty good idea of what - or rather whom - was on her mind. "I'm sure everyone is fine Sara. You don't have anything to worry about."
Sara's mouth formed a tiny smile, imperceptible in the darkness that surrounded them. Nick always knew what to say around her; he was always the gentleman and friend, watching out for her and making sure she was alright. She was grateful that it was him she was stuck under the table with, and not someone else. "Thanks Nick. You – ," her thoughts were disrupted as she heard movement somewhere in the building. "Did you hear that? Maybe we should start looking around."
Sara felt around her, trying to determine the location of the table in order to get out safely. Everything had shifted during the earthquake, and she was now unsure of her surroundings. Reaching under the table once she was safely out, she grabbed on to Nick's hand and helped him up. "Is your knee alright? Can you walk on it?"
Nick took a small step forward and winced, "It's pretty painful, but I'm fine for now. We just need to find a flashlight before I trip and injure my other knee."
"Is there one in this room? Wait! There's a kit in the corner. Stay here and I'll get it."
She slowly took a step forward, keeping her hands out, trying to find something solid. It was like she was a kid again, blind-folded, playing 'pin the tail on the donkey,' only this time there wasn't going to be any cake afterwards. Once her hand brushed against the wall, she used it to guide her across the room, slowly navigating around debris made invisible due to the power outage. When she located the kit, she easily found the flashlight, her hands knowing instinctively where to find it. It was the same one they used when scanning crime scenes at night. She flicked the switch and steadily shined it in an arc around her, the dim light faintly illuminating the room and it's newly arranged belongings.
"Holy mother of all destruction…."
I also apologize if the ending seems rushed. I wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible.