Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. Stephenie Meyer created this little world I like to play.
Many, Many thanks to angelgoddess1981 for her excellent banner making skills, and Mina Rivera for the use of her wonderful Docward Manip. ;) In addition, my good friend, Amber, sent me another banner. I just love them both!
And to AngelycDevil for helping me to write this story. We posted this together as ContentDevil for the Fandom for Oklahoma. Because I love messing with Edward's mind, I wrote his chapters, AngelyDevil wrote Bella. She is also posting over on her FF profile, so feel free to give her a read and a review!
Also, to my bestie, Sue, who gave this a beta's eye. You are an amazing person, and I just can't wait to see your book come out! I'll be able to say I know someone famous!
Thank you for each and every review! I am so totally overwhelmed by the response to this story! You can't know what your responses mean to me.
This chapter may be somewhat repetitive, but having gone through 9/11 where someone I loved was in the Pentagon, I can tell you that the perspective of the family waiting in agony, and the person in the rubble can be very different.
Edward POV
It was taking too long!
Panic crawled in my chest again, pushing aside the hope that I'd found upon hearing her voice. It seemed that as soon as I knew she was at least alive, every fear I had combined to overwhelm me. She could be injured; she could be bleeding out even as we worked to get to them. Alice…she'd had a baby in the middle of a tornado. She needed care! It was too early, and the fact that she'd gone into labor at the stress wasn't good. It could've been as a result of high blood pressure. They hadn't said anything about Jasper. Was he okay?
And the baby… it was too noisy to hear anything more, with all the metal and rubble being moved. I couldn't help but worry about the baby. A child born in the worst of conditions; he or she was a miracle. It was a miracle that any of them were alive, considering what they were buried under.
As hysteria threatened to take over, I forced myself to take a deep breath. "Edward, breathe." I needed to touch Bella, to kiss her and know she was okay. I could handle anything after that.
"Stop!" Mack, the man in charge, yelled out.
When the noise stopped, we could all hear the groaning sounds coming from the area. Mack and several others gathered in a huddle, and as they consulted on what to do, I felt like my heart would beat out of my chest. Thankfully, Jake made his way over toward them with Riley. Within a few seconds, he was pointing to his chest. They were arguing over something, but Riley was taking Jacob's side.
"Wonder what that's all about?" Carlisle said softly, stretching his muscles. We were exhausted and sore.
"I don't know, but if they don't hurry, I'm going to fucking explode."
The silence made me even more nervous; I couldn't hear the baby anymore. Thankfully, Jake and Riley began making their way back over to us.
"We've got to stop digging," Riley said.
"WHAT!" The word tore from me before I let him finish.
Jake knocked him in the shoulder. "Wait Edward…what Riley means is that we're too close and the debris is unstable. We gotta go in, and…since I had training with Search and Rescue, I volunteered."
"Jake…" I turned back to look at the mess in front of us "…I don't know. I don't want you to—"
"Whatever," he shrugged, accepting the fireman pants and jacket from the man who walked up and beginning to shrug into them. The thick material would help protect him from cuts and scrapes.
I was faced with being a hypocrite…not wanting Jake to put himself in danger, while at the same time thanking God that he was the one going in for them. Jake had been my best friend since kindergarten. He'd always been there for me and had even been the one to teach me to fight. I could still remember standing before Grammie with a busted lip and bleeding nose, Jake, in the same condition, beside me.
"Grams…they called Edward gay because he was reading." Jacob had shrugged as if that was a good enough reason for us to have pummeled the three guys in the neighborhood.
Years later, we'd used the same fists to protect his cousin, Seth, who had come out. A bunch of bullies had surrounded Seth… and we'd surrounded them. I'd been the best man at Jake and Nessie's wedding, and I expected he would be at mine when I could finally find the balls to ask Bella to marry me. I'd stood beside him the day he'd buried his father, he'd stood by me at Grammie's funeral, tears falling down his face just like mine.
"Jake!" I stepped forward when he went to go.
"Dude! Don't embarrass me here," he snarked, but grinned back at me when he started forward.
"Where the hell you going?" I asked Emmett as he moved forward as well.
With a goofy grin, he flexed his muscles. "See, here's where they define between the men and boys. Wimpy doctors get to stay here, while the big, burly men go forth into battle." He blew a kiss at Carlisle and me, but his sarcasm ripped a bark of laughter out of the both of us.
Several more followed them, protected by the heavy gear. And then with surgical precision, they began the delicate process of making a path toward where we knew the basement stairs should've been. Aided by a rope that they would use for leverage, the men began to work themselves slowly down the angled path they cleared.
My leg started jerking with nervous energy; Esme soothed me by coming over and making me sit. She handed me another sandwich and growled at me when I started to refuse.
"Edward…you are going to need your energy when she comes out of there. You aren't proving anything by refusing to take care of yourself. You would expect Bella to do that, right? If the situation was reversed?"
I couldn't argue against her logic. Carlisle sat beside us, and she gave him the same lecture. I choked down the food and water while we watched the area that had been spotlighted. It was three o'clock in the morning, and in the distance, I could see other similarly lighted areas in the distance. The sound of the generators was a low drone across the area. At times, I could hear the occasional yip of one of the dogs in the distance.
It was then that the enormity of the situation hit me. A damn tornado had hit in the middle of the city. Like a kid skipping, the damn thing had bounced here or there, setting down like a fickle bird. I was certain that when day broke, we'd find that there were places where a barely damaged house or business stood beside a demolished structure. Kids in the school would relay stories of how they heard the "train sound" and felt the building shake, but how the structure held firm, the storm turning its rage on the library. Pictures of twisted trees that had fallen into beds of manicured flowers, like the Ying and Yang of creative nature, would be posted as to the capricious nature of the storm. And stories of life and death would abound.
But, I could only focus on four lives.
So I started praying. I was selfish, focusing on my family, begging for a miracle, promising to do better, to finally find a way to ask Bella to make me an honest man. I pulled at my hair, beat my fist on my leg, and did everything but fall to my knees and raise my hands to the heavens. Then, realizing what an ass I was being, I prayed for all the others…the families that had lost everything today, like us. I prayed for the injured, and the dead. I prayed for Felix and his family, who I was certain was probably frantically trying to reach him; Jane who might still be waiting at the airport if the authorities hadn't found her. I prayed for the faces I'd covered up by sheets and the unknown families behind them. I prayed for the rescuers, firemen, and medical personnel who were here to help.
I prayed for strength.
"Edward," Carlisle said softly, nudging my leg to bring me back around.
One of the guys was waving at us, gesturing for us to come over. I didn't have to be asked twice. I picked through the area quickly and gasped, as did Carlisle, when we saw the tunnel, of sorts, that they'd created.
"Bella! Bella, what's wrong?!" Jake's voice boomed back up to us, wiping all thoughts away.
I started cussing, images of her hurt, torturing me. My heart jumped out of my chest, and I felt as if I was going to fall over in a heart attack. I wanted to lunge into the space after them, but Jake's voice must have startled the baby, because it started wailing. There was a commotion from below and then I heard Jake chuckling. Bastard! This wasn't the time!
"JACOB!" My voice was a roar.
"Edward! She's fine," he yelled back up.
"E! Babe!" Bella's voice came clearly then, and I wanted to shout.
"Bella!" I called back. When I didn't get an answer for a minute, I started to panic, then stopped breathing as I saw Emmett coming out, carrying something.
Cradled in his beefy arms and protected by the heavy fireman's jacket was a squalling baby… a boy. He was extremely unhappy, his newborn eyes squinted shut from the bright lights.
"Thank God!" Carlisle said quickly, moving to take the baby from our brother. Esme wrapped him in a blanket as I could see Carlisle quickly scanning him. I felt I could breathe again when Carlisle's lips quirked into a smile, but my attention was captured by Emmett moving back down into the tunnel.
The sounds of more movement captured my attention, and I watched as Jacob came next, Alice cradled in his arms. She had several gashes across her arms and some blood that had streaked down her face from an injury just at her hairline. But I could see that she was okay…or as okay as anyone could be after giving birth in a major disaster. Jake handed Alice to another paramedic, who started jogging toward the ambulance across the way, following the fireman that had taken the baby.
"Jasper?" Alice asked with some strength.
"I got him, Ali," Jacob swore. I knew the nuances of Jacob's voice better than anyone other than his wife. Jasper might be injured, but in Jacob's assessment of him in that basement, he'd determined that our friend would be fine.
Then everything else faded away. For struggling up from hell was my Bella! Emmett was behind her, and I could tell he was making sure she didn't fall.
Dirty, ragged, covered in blood, she emerged more beautiful than any other moment in our existence. For she was alive, and the possibility that I might have lost her made the moment one I would never forget. I didn't remember moving, but suddenly I was before her, and she leaped into my arms.
Our lips met, unable to be separated any longer; the kiss was soft, a reconnection versus a frantic reunion. But it was enough, for now, as I was afraid she had injuries she wasn't even aware of yet. Brushing our lips together gently, I couldn't help but press mine to hers time and time again before pulling her against me.
"Babe…" she gurgled through the tears, wiping her face back and forth across my chest.
Even though I'd gently wrapped my arms around her, I could still feel her flinch, and I knew that a more passionate welcome would have to wait until I could check her over. For now, I just rocked back and forth with her in my arms. Words couldn't describe the feeling of relief and happiness that I felt that I could hold her against me. Softly brushing my hands over her skin, I just kept making hushing noises at her sobs.
"I'm here, angel. I'm here," I reassured her as she began babbling about the fear of losing me, of losing us. The heat of her blazed against me, reassuring me that she was real and not a figment of my imagination, while my words seemed to do the same for her. Finally, I felt her shudder against me.
"I ran…as soon as I saw the funnel. But it was like my feet wouldn't move fast enough."
"Angel… Oh God. I thought… Bella… I..." I couldn't form a sentence and leaned down to kiss her forehead regardless of the blood and mess. "Love, I… Dammit… are you okay?" I asked, finally pulling back to look at her, only to have her to tug at my scrubs, bringing me back flush to her.
"I'm fine, as long as I'm in your arms. E, I love you," she said on a sob.
A bark of laughter tore from my chest. "I love you too, Isabella Swan. Every day for the rest of my life and then forever."
Allowing the peace at holding her to seep through my bones, I kept murmuring words of love and comfort. It took one of the emergency personnel to tap me on the shoulder twice before reality interfered in our reunion.
"Doctor Cullen. I need to get her to the hospital."
Finally turning to him, I realized that we had an audience… the guys that had helped all stood just feet from us. They were beaming, dirty angels. "Thank you!" I mouthed, and squeezed Bella just a tad tighter, knowing I was a lucky man, and that they'd all played a part.
I didn't want to move from here, only wanting to hold her just a while longer, but I knew she needed to be checked out, and by someone other than my emotional ass. But Bella refused to move until Jasper was escorted out by Jake. He was the worse for wear. Holding his arm to his stomach protectively, he moved slowly. A large gash across his face was still pouring blood, and I could also see a large tear in his blood stained jeans. I suspected that there would be another large gash on his thigh. He needed medical attention immediately.
Picking Bella up, I walked behind the stretcher they'd forced Jasper onto toward an awaiting ambulance. That the guys around us all yelled out in victory only made my smile larger. The hope in my heart for what tomorrow would bring filled me to overfull.
:) Thoughts?