Chapter 46
RPOV
All of a sudden, every light in the room began to brighten until there was a blinding white light surrounding us. That was followed by small explosions as every light blew into a million pieces. It seemed that any source of electricity was going into overload, with cables setting on fire and electricity arcing around the room. Parts of the walls and ceiling started to fall on top of us with smoldering debris raining down. Tank was the one who responded the quickest.
"Everyone out, now"
Stephanie was the focus of my thoughts. I had to see if I could get to her, I had to do everything I could to get her out and if I died trying then so be it. I always knew I might die to keep her safe, that she was my life, my light and my salvation. With my flashlight guiding the way I raced away from the entrance toward the stairs that led down into the lower section. I looked for Ash, but I couldn't see him amid the falling debris or sparks that were flying around. As I approached the door where he'd been working, I realized it was open, but just as I was about to run through, he came out through the smoke and light. He had cuts and blackened areas on his skin. Parts of his shirt was open from fragments that were burning. But the sight of Steph laid in his arms drew my gaze and without hesitating I took her from his arms.
"We need to move quickly Ranger. I think the whole place is going to blow"
I made for the stairs trying to avoid the sparks and falling debris, aware that Ash was ahead of me. The air was heavy with an acrid smell and burning plastic. Hot embers were raining down, so I tried to pull Steph as close into me as possible. I was coughing and struggling to breathe as I made it out of the stairwell. As I staggered forward, I was approached by three men wearing protective suits and gas masks. As one tried to pry Steph from my hold, I felt a renewed surge of energy run through me. No one was taking her from me. Once outside my breath came hard and heavy as my lungs demanded to be replenished with clean air.
"Ranger let me check Steph over"
I didn't want to let go of her, but my vision was beginning to waiver. I felt her being lifted from my arms, though any sounds were muffled around me. I knew I was laying down and panicking tried to sit up. A hand pushed me back down and replaced a mask from my face that I must have pulled away.
"She's right here with us Ranger. Let us do our jobs"
I relaxed at the sound of Bobby's voice, he'd make sure she was taken care of.
My first conscious thought was asking what the hell the noise was. My second was asking where the hell I was. It was the third thought that had me fighting to get my senses and body in motion. Where was Stephanie, and was she alright? As awareness came to me, I realized the sounds were from monitors next to me. A steady fast beeping was probably my heart, but it was another beeping that had me confused. I slowly opened my eyes, blinking against the light, and then turned my head to the side, to where I thought I heard another beep sounding.
My heart hitched as I recognized the brown curly hair spread out across a pillow. I watched as her chest rose and fell in a regular rhythm. There was an oxygen mask over her face and an IV tube running fluid into her arm. I needed to move, I needed to be close to her. Touch her, feel her close to me. Only then could I calm down when I assured myself that she was really here with me. I slowly sat up clenching my eyes shut against the dizziness that swept through me. Once I had myself under control I turned and dropped my legs over the side of the bed and dropped my weight to my feet. That went far better than I thought it would and gave me the strength to move across to the other bed. I leaned over to get support from Steph's bed and was soon leaning down next to her. My hands supported my weight on either side of her head and I leaned down and kissed her forehead. I was sure I saw her eyes flutter underneath her eyelids but as I watched for longer, they were still.
"Ranger what the hell are you doing up?"
I looked up to see Bobby smiling at me.
"How you feeling man?"
"Fine. What's wrong with Steph?"
"We think she got hit by an arc of electricity. There's an entry burn on her hand. She was hit by debris and has some minor burns but like you she also inhaled some nasty gases let loose from smoldering materials in the wall"
"What type of building materials would cause that?"
"Buckley used all sorts to insulate that lower working area"
"Why is she so still?"
"She's healing, she took a hell of a kick. She'll be fine, just give her time"
"Can we move the beds closer so I'm near to her?"
"Yeah, I'm sure that can be arranged"
Once settled beside her I felt a calm come over me, I knew that being next to her would help her, would assure her that I was close to her. I drifted in and out of sleep over the next few hours but was hyper-sensitive to any of her movements. Over the last hour her movements were more pronounced, so now I was waiting for her to wake up. I noticed her eyes moving as I had a few hours ago then her eyelids began to flutter open, blinking quickly against the light. I made sure then that I was facing her when her eyes fully opened, to be the first thing that she saw.
"Babe, I'm so sorry"
"What for?"
I could see her expression change to one of confusion.
"I let you get trapped in that room"
"It wasn't your fault"
"I couldn't get to you"
"What happened was beyond what we realized. There was nothing we could have done to prevent it. I was destined to be in that room"
"Babe what happened?"
"Later"
As Steph fell back to sleep, I was confused with what she'd said. Had we somehow been played into going there? Had someone else contrived the situation in order to get Steph inside that room? But why, what did anyone think Steph would or could do? I'd need to wait until she was feeling better before I asked her again.
