"You can't go in there yet," said the rescue guy to Sonny, who had been accompanied by Trent, Brock and Clay.

"My wife is in there and I'm sorry but it ain't your call. I know the risks. I've been to a warzone, what have you lived?"

The guy shrugged. "Fine but you need to way a few minutes until the rescue team get Warrant Officer Perry out first."

Greg helped his team secure Ray on the stretcher. They had put an IV in and were transfusing him as his abdomen had been packed. He was going to be immediately air-lifted to Portsmouth.

Greg walked over to Emily as the team put up lights to give more visibility on her situation.

Emily held on to Ray's hand. Greg put his hand over hers. "You can let him go now, Emily. We've got him. You did a great job. Let them take it from here and let's worry about you."

She nodded and let go of his hand as they lifted the stretcher and walked him out of the room. She then turned her attention to Greg.

"How bad is it?" she asked as she cocked her head downward, indicating she was talking about her leg.

Greg had already had a look, but he let his eyes drift back to it. "In all honesty, it could be way worse. It's only compressed from the ankle down. There is mild heartbeat, which indicates that there is blood flow. Even if minimal, it's better than no blood flow at all."

"Yeah, because that would mean you'd have to amputate."

"Seems to me like you know a lot about medicine."

"I currently volunteer at different departments at Portsmouth and I had actually decided to enroll and become a trauma nurse."

"I think you'd be an amazing asset. I'd take you on board right away."

"We'll see. A few things seem to be more important right now."

He nodded.

"Do you know if my husband is here?"

Greg looked toward the door. Ray was just passing through the door. "I see a few men out there."

"You can't miss mine, he's probably wearing a Texas proud cap," said Emily jokingly.

Greg looked back at the door and identified Sonny immediately. "Yeah, I think your guy is here. Nice catch," he said smiling.

"Yeah, I know," she answered back.

Greg called out the search guy near the door and waved Sonny in.

Even though Sonny's eyes caught Emily's the minute he walked in, he couldn't help but see with his peripheric vision the chaos of the room and it blew him away. As he walked over, he crossed a few of the search and rescue team members passing with body bags and he swallowed. The thought that it could have been Emily made him ache inside.

Greg and his team were active around Emily, along with the rest of the rescue team, trying to find the best way to remove the slab off her foot.

Sonny knelt and took her hand before he kissed her gently. Inevitably he let his eyes stray down to her leg and she saw him fight the emotion.

"Hey, just keep your eyes on me," she said as she squeezed his hand. "I'll be OK."

"You're right. You are going to be fine. I'll have you square dancing in no time," he said trying to release the tension in the atmosphere.

"Emily, I'm going to put an IV in," said Greg. "it's going to be hooked up to a glucose drip. When you are ready, I'll sedate you and we'll remove the slab progressively as I monitor your vitals. We may need to intubate or shock you. Do you understand?"

Emily nodded. Greg stood. "We'll give you a minute." He motioned to his men to take a few steps back.

Sonny sat down next to her, still holding her hand. "I love you," she said.

"I love you more."

"I won't argue with you. There's something I need to tell you." She paused for a moment. "I decided I want to become a nurse and I'll sign up for classes next year."

He smiled. "So, no more TOC for you, not even as a civ?"

"I want to be able to help in another way both Navy and civilians. I'll train my replacement so you all will have the best there is, but in the end, this isn't what I want anymore."

He shook his head. "You're going to be an amazing nurse. They will be lucky to have you."

She became serious.

"Sonny?"

"Yeah babe?"

"If for some reason, I don't wake up, you need to make sure they keep me hooked up long enough."

He shifted his head side to side nervously.

"What are you talking about?"

"You need to promise me."

"I'm not going to promise that, because you are going to wake up. You hear me!"

"You need to listen to me! Just long enough and then you move on, do you hear me!"

"Long enough? What does that even mean? We are not talking about this!"

Her eyes filled up with tears and her chin started to tremble. A tear rolled down her cheek. "Long enough for our baby to grow inside of me."

His eyes shot down to her abdomen then back at her. His eyes suddenly welled up and he tilted his head. The look on his face was one of happiness struck by pain. It wasn't supposed to happen this way, to be this way.

"No.. No..", was all he could say.

"I will fight. I will fight for you, for us, for this baby. I will give every inch of fight in me to come back to you, but I will only be able to do that if I know that you will fight for us too."

"I will fight for you with every part of my being. I promise you I will." He said as he placed his forehead against hers and then kissed her.

Greg came back toward them. "It's time."

Emily looked at Greg and nodded, then at Sonny.

He sat down next to her, shoulder to shoulder and took her hand in his again. "You keep your eyes on me, OK?"

She nodded.

From the corner of his eye, Sonny saw Greg inject something into the IV tube.

Little by little, Emily's eyes closed, and he could feel her hand lose it's hold on his. Even though he knew it was only because of the sedation, it wasn't a feeling he ever wanted to feel ever again.

One hour later, Emily was airlifted to Portsmouth with Greg, two of his men and Sonny. She was stable but it was still unknown what would become of her lower leg and foot.