Grissom's face seemed to be etched into a perma-frown. Ever since he'd
gotten the phone call from Brass that two of his CSIs had been underneath a
house near Nellis Air Force Base when the magnitude 6.7 earthquake hit, and
had not yet emerged, he was beside himself with worry.
The damage from the earthquake itself wasn't very widespread. Most everything in Vegas was fairly new and built to the latest seismic codes. The Strip and surrounding area rode the quake out very well. It seemed that the area around Nellis Air Force Base near where the epicenter was located was the hardest hit.
As they had driven to the site, Catherine had speculated that perhaps the reason for the collapse was due in part to the vibration caused by the low flying fighter jets that flew in and out of the base. Not that Grissom was inclined to immediately disagree with her, he just wanted to wait until the evidence was in to determine a cause. At the moment, even he wasn't concentrating on the evidence though. He just wanted to find out if Nick and Sara had somehow survived the collapse. There was always the possibility that they'd been lucky and had found themselves in a void, but even that would make extrication extremely difficult, for if the weight of the debris shifted even slightly, they could be crushed to death.
Grissom tried to crowd out those thoughts. He glanced over and noticed Warrick frantically pacing the way a dog would when they knew someone was on the other side of a closed door. Catherine just stood there staring at the rubble. Grissom knew he echoed her thoughts. The house that had collapsed on Nick and Sara had sustained the most damage of any they'd seen on the way out to the scene.
A shout went up near the side of the house from one of the rescue workers. "I hear voices, sir!"
Grissom, Catherine, and Warrick all looked at each other. No words were exchanged as the rescue crews tried to establish contact.
"We've got two victims inside!" Another shout went out. "Both uninjured!"
A collective sigh of relief went out from the trio of CSIs standing there waiting. Nick and Sara had survived the collapse. But they also knew that this was only step one. They still had to be rescued from the rubble, and if there were any aftershocks, anything at all that could cause the rubble to shift, they might still be crushed to death.
Now that they had determined that they were alive, the rescue crews went to work trying to pinpoint their exact location. Then they would have to carefully begin removing debris to reach them, a process which could take hours. In the meantime, Grissom, a man not given to offer prayers, shot a few heavenward.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"See, Sara, I told you they'd find us." Nick tried to maintain a cheerful demeanor in spite of the fact that he knew all too well that they were still in a very precarious situation.
Sara had found herself leaning against Nick, trying to take comfort in the presence of another human being. The fact that Nick was her friend, was a bonus. "Tell me your most embarrassing moment."
Nick chuckled, he would be willing to divulge almost anything at this point if it would help them both stay calm and distract them from the situation. "My most embarrassing moment, huh? Well, there's so many to choose from."
"I'm sure you've got one that stands out from the rest." Sara insisted, her head resting against his shoulder.
"Ok. When I was a sophomore in high school, I wanted to ask this girl out, Sheila Thompson was her name. I'd known her since the first grade, so it's not like I needed to introduce myself. Anyway, I worked up the courage to ask her to the homecoming dance, and she actually said yes." Nick explained.
Sara put a hand on his knee and interrupted him. "Just when does this get embarrassing?"
"Patience, Sara, patience. We have time." He chuckled softly, praying silently that they did indeed have time. "Anyway, so we went to this dance, and we were having a really great time. There was this guy walking around with a video camera, and the live images were being flashed up on this screen over the stage in the gym. Just about the time he was walking by me and Sheila, one of my buddies decides that I need to flash the entire crowd, so he pulled my pants down and everyone in the entire gym got a front row seat to view my ass."
Sara put her hand over her mouth to try and stifle her laughter. "That's funny."
Nick raised an eyebrow at her. "You asked for my most embarrassing moment. What could be more embarrassing than baring my ass involuntarily? Ok, besides the fact that I was wearing MC Hammer styled pants at the time."
"So did she go out with you again?" Sara was still laughing.
Nick shook his head. "Nope. Her family moved away shortly after that. She was probably so scarred by the experience that they had to flee the state."
"Ah, Nick, I bet you have a cute ass." Sara tried to feign sympathy.
Nick grinned at her. "Well, Sara Sidle, are you flirting with me?"
She smirked at him. "Maybe I am."
"What's your most embarrassing moment?" Nick looked at her inquisitively.
She deadpanned. "This might be if we don't get out of here soon."
Nick furrowed his brow. "How is this embarrassing? There was an earthquake."
Her cheeks started to turn a little pink. "Well if we don't get out of here soon, I'm going to have to go to the bathroom."
Nick tried to restrain a chuckle. "You know one advantage to these headlamps is that you can turn them off. If you have to take care of business, we'll just turn them off."
Sara huffed and crossed her arms in front of her body. "Easy for you to say, if you need to take care of business, it's a whole lot easier to just whip things right out."
Nick laughed. "I'm sorry, I didn't design the plumbing. You'll have to take that up with the man upstairs."
Sara was quiet for a few moments. Finally, her voice, barely a whisper, broke the silence. "Nick, do you believe in God?"
Nick cleared his throat. He hadn't thought about church or God in years. "I guess so. My mom used to drag us to church when I was a kid, but I haven't been in years. Why?"
The fear was back on her face. "Maybe we should say a prayer or something. I don't want to die."
Nick pulled her against him and just held her. "I'm not very good at it, but I'll give it a try."
The damage from the earthquake itself wasn't very widespread. Most everything in Vegas was fairly new and built to the latest seismic codes. The Strip and surrounding area rode the quake out very well. It seemed that the area around Nellis Air Force Base near where the epicenter was located was the hardest hit.
As they had driven to the site, Catherine had speculated that perhaps the reason for the collapse was due in part to the vibration caused by the low flying fighter jets that flew in and out of the base. Not that Grissom was inclined to immediately disagree with her, he just wanted to wait until the evidence was in to determine a cause. At the moment, even he wasn't concentrating on the evidence though. He just wanted to find out if Nick and Sara had somehow survived the collapse. There was always the possibility that they'd been lucky and had found themselves in a void, but even that would make extrication extremely difficult, for if the weight of the debris shifted even slightly, they could be crushed to death.
Grissom tried to crowd out those thoughts. He glanced over and noticed Warrick frantically pacing the way a dog would when they knew someone was on the other side of a closed door. Catherine just stood there staring at the rubble. Grissom knew he echoed her thoughts. The house that had collapsed on Nick and Sara had sustained the most damage of any they'd seen on the way out to the scene.
A shout went up near the side of the house from one of the rescue workers. "I hear voices, sir!"
Grissom, Catherine, and Warrick all looked at each other. No words were exchanged as the rescue crews tried to establish contact.
"We've got two victims inside!" Another shout went out. "Both uninjured!"
A collective sigh of relief went out from the trio of CSIs standing there waiting. Nick and Sara had survived the collapse. But they also knew that this was only step one. They still had to be rescued from the rubble, and if there were any aftershocks, anything at all that could cause the rubble to shift, they might still be crushed to death.
Now that they had determined that they were alive, the rescue crews went to work trying to pinpoint their exact location. Then they would have to carefully begin removing debris to reach them, a process which could take hours. In the meantime, Grissom, a man not given to offer prayers, shot a few heavenward.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"See, Sara, I told you they'd find us." Nick tried to maintain a cheerful demeanor in spite of the fact that he knew all too well that they were still in a very precarious situation.
Sara had found herself leaning against Nick, trying to take comfort in the presence of another human being. The fact that Nick was her friend, was a bonus. "Tell me your most embarrassing moment."
Nick chuckled, he would be willing to divulge almost anything at this point if it would help them both stay calm and distract them from the situation. "My most embarrassing moment, huh? Well, there's so many to choose from."
"I'm sure you've got one that stands out from the rest." Sara insisted, her head resting against his shoulder.
"Ok. When I was a sophomore in high school, I wanted to ask this girl out, Sheila Thompson was her name. I'd known her since the first grade, so it's not like I needed to introduce myself. Anyway, I worked up the courage to ask her to the homecoming dance, and she actually said yes." Nick explained.
Sara put a hand on his knee and interrupted him. "Just when does this get embarrassing?"
"Patience, Sara, patience. We have time." He chuckled softly, praying silently that they did indeed have time. "Anyway, so we went to this dance, and we were having a really great time. There was this guy walking around with a video camera, and the live images were being flashed up on this screen over the stage in the gym. Just about the time he was walking by me and Sheila, one of my buddies decides that I need to flash the entire crowd, so he pulled my pants down and everyone in the entire gym got a front row seat to view my ass."
Sara put her hand over her mouth to try and stifle her laughter. "That's funny."
Nick raised an eyebrow at her. "You asked for my most embarrassing moment. What could be more embarrassing than baring my ass involuntarily? Ok, besides the fact that I was wearing MC Hammer styled pants at the time."
"So did she go out with you again?" Sara was still laughing.
Nick shook his head. "Nope. Her family moved away shortly after that. She was probably so scarred by the experience that they had to flee the state."
"Ah, Nick, I bet you have a cute ass." Sara tried to feign sympathy.
Nick grinned at her. "Well, Sara Sidle, are you flirting with me?"
She smirked at him. "Maybe I am."
"What's your most embarrassing moment?" Nick looked at her inquisitively.
She deadpanned. "This might be if we don't get out of here soon."
Nick furrowed his brow. "How is this embarrassing? There was an earthquake."
Her cheeks started to turn a little pink. "Well if we don't get out of here soon, I'm going to have to go to the bathroom."
Nick tried to restrain a chuckle. "You know one advantage to these headlamps is that you can turn them off. If you have to take care of business, we'll just turn them off."
Sara huffed and crossed her arms in front of her body. "Easy for you to say, if you need to take care of business, it's a whole lot easier to just whip things right out."
Nick laughed. "I'm sorry, I didn't design the plumbing. You'll have to take that up with the man upstairs."
Sara was quiet for a few moments. Finally, her voice, barely a whisper, broke the silence. "Nick, do you believe in God?"
Nick cleared his throat. He hadn't thought about church or God in years. "I guess so. My mom used to drag us to church when I was a kid, but I haven't been in years. Why?"
The fear was back on her face. "Maybe we should say a prayer or something. I don't want to die."
Nick pulled her against him and just held her. "I'm not very good at it, but I'll give it a try."