Warrick moved his hand away from the hole, his last contact with Sara broken. Had he heard her right? Did she just ask him to tell Grissom what he thought she did? Taking a deep breath, he called to her, the fear in his voice causing his body to shake.
" Sara?"
He listened intently, wishing he could pull her out in the same way he had Lindsey, but he knew from the worry in the fireman's face beside him that something was wrong.
" Keep her talking," the fire officer told him as he palmed his hands over the crumbling boundary that kept her sealed inside.
Nodding numbly, Warrick moved closer, his mind fighting for words to bring her some comfort but he didn't know what to say, how could he when she was trapped inside, maybe hurt, maybe…Thinking back to when he pulled Lindsey out, he had seen the blood all over her cloths, the deep red stains splattered over the material that clung to her tiny body. If she was hurt, then so could Sara. Taking a breath, he called through the wall to her " SARA?"
He listened, keeping perfectly still while the emergency services pulled part of the wall away, making a wider gap for them to peer through.
Sara didn't move, didn't make any indication at all that she had heard them, but instead stayed slumped against the wall, her eyes closed.
" SARA?" Warrick called again, his voice heavy with worry as he frantically helped with the tearing down of the wall, ignoring the debris that threatened to tumble down to seal her further inside. He needed to help her, to help them, anything to make the obstacle between her and them smaller.
" Ok people stop," a voice came beside him, halting their movements allowing Warrick to see Sara fully for the first time since this nightmare began.
Moving him aside, Warrick watched helplessly as a paramedic made a tentative move to amble in through the opening, his movements deliberately slow for fear of causing another cave in.
If Sara was aware of any movements inside the small room that had ultimately delivered her a death sentence, then she made no indication of it.
" Sara," the paramedic spoke softly as he scrambled over pieces of glass, rock and broken mirror to get to her " Sara? Can you hear me?" Moving closer, his eyes wandered over her battered body, her whole side now caked in oozing blood that stained her cloths. Lifting a hand, he pressed his fingers to her neck, willing her to be alive, only to sigh with relief when he found the faint pulse drumming against his fingers.
Outside, Warrick held his breath, tears stinging his eyes as his usual restrained emotions reared up inside him, consuming his heart with fearful sorrow. This was Sara, the strong one out of them all, she had to survive, she had to.
" I've got to get to her," he told the paramedic, his own voice sounding foreign to his ears ", let me come inside there, please?"
Looking up from the woman he was attending, the paramedic shook his head sadly " I can't let you in here sir, the building is unstable."
" But, is she…?" his voice trailing off, he couldn't bear to say the word, the final extinction that would tear his life as well as his friends apart.
" She's alive," came the reply ", barely, but she's alive. I'm going to try and lift her out." Moving slowly, he carefully maneuvered her unconscious body into his arms, the desperate measures of the situation causing him to avoid all the training he had been given.
Edging closer to the opening in the wall, he lifted her body carefully, guiding her head through to the fire officers who treated her with just as much care, their cumbersome hands, gloved and dusty supporting her upper body with her accompanying paramedic until she was finally free of her incarcerating tomb.
Warrick gasped out the breath he had no idea he was holding, his relief allowing the wash of tears to escape down his cheeks, which he made no move to wipe away. Moving closer, he knelt down beside her to see for himself that she was breathing, his heart overriding his logical brain as he stooped down to scoop her up into his arms, " I'm taking her out of here," he croaked, his voice catching in his throat as he held her to his chest.
" Sir?"
" No," he groaned, his eyes showing more emotion as he started the slow walk towards freedom ", when we're outside then you can take her, but not now," his voice trailed off as he buried his face into her hair, his tears coating her dust coated strands.
The firemen nodded their approval, all of them turning to pursue other parts of the wrecked building for survivors, while the paramedic turned to follow behind the latest victim of this destruction.
Catherine paced the sidewalk, her hands twisting together nervously as if the mere movement could bring what little comfort she could muster. Images ran through her mind casting endless scenarios on what her daughter was going through right now and if she was alone and afraid.
Casting a glance towards Grissom, she could see the worry etched into his face, creating a chasm of sorrow inside his blue eyes. She knew she had acted a lot less than a friend should, but under the circumstances, her daughter was the main priority in her heart right now, and friendship came a long way behind.
How could this be happening now? Only a few hours earlier she had left her daughter with her friends, the people she trusted most in this world, and now, here she was, her life in total chaos with the tussled emotions raining droplets of fear over her heart. She was lost, with nowhere to turn and no one to guide her this time.
A sudden hum of voices broke through her dazed mind, alerting her to some kind of movement behind her. Watching numbly, she moved aside as emergency staff surged passed her, pushing her backwards in their quest to help the injured emerging from the building.
Grissom too looked up eagerly, his eyes scanning the crowd for any sign of his friends, his heart screaming loudly inside his chest, praying for it to be Sara.
Standing up from the sidewalk, he moved slowly over towards Catherine, his voice failing to reach his lips as he reached out to touch her arm.
" I," she started, her voice engulfed in tears as she watched helplessly ", my baby, I shouldn't have brought her here, it's my fault…"
Her voice trailed away to give in to the tears building up inside her eyes, she had just lost Eddie only weeks ago and now she was losing her daughter too. Sudden anger reached out from her heart, rearing up inside her as she yanked her arm from Grissom's touch, her seething words dying on her lips as a small voice screamed out to her.
" Mommy…"
Catherine's head snapped up, her eyes searching frantically as she pushed through the crown before her " LINDSEY?" she screamed, her head turning from face to face until she saw her, in the arms of a fireman being carried to safety.
Surging forward, Catherine ran to her daughter, snatching her out of her rescuers arms, pulling her close to her body as she rocked her from side to side, the tears flowing freely down her face as she clung to her in desperation.
" Lindsey," she whispered, kissing her daughters face, hair, and every part of her she could reach only to pull her tightly towards her again.
" Mommy," Lindsey sobbed, her arms tightening around her mother's neck " I need to help Sara, they wouldn't let me help Sara."
Grissom moved towards Catherine slowly, unwilling to intrude on their reunion until he heard Sara's name and stepped up closer to listen, the drum of his heart almost drowning out his senses " Sara?" he asked worriedly, his eyes scanning the little girl worriedly only to leave her face to return to the smoldering building before him.
" She needs me," Lindsey cried, struggling against her mother's arms as she fought to escape " she's bleeding mommy, she made me leave her."
Catherine's eyes searched over her daughters face as if seeing her for the first time as her eyes registered that there was blood in her hair, " Oh god," she gasped " baby you're hurt…"
" No mommy," Lindsey sobbed, her tears soaking through to Catherine's skin as she clung to her " not me, Sara's.."
Grissom's gasp caused Catherine to turn to him, her eyes only seeing her daughter and not the bloody hand patterns on her cloths. When she finally came to her senses, she looked down to where his horror filled eyes were staring and almost dropped Lindsey to the ground. Blood, so much, spattered everywhere over the small body in her arms, too much blood surely for one person to lose?
" Lindsey, " she gasped, as one hand reached to her daughters skin beneath her cloths " you're bleeding.."
" NO," Lindsey cried, struggling until Catherine loosened her hold slightly, " Sara's bleeding, she held me when the wall fell down. I have to help her like she helped me, please mommy let me go…"
Grissom could feel the nausea rising inside his stomach, his fear mingling inside to build up a cocktail of endless regrets that roared through his heart. Sara's blood? Was she alive? The thoughts of losing her now before he had had a chance to show her how much she meant to him seemed to rob him of his breath, his body no longer able to burden the sorrow that plunged deeply through his heart. Sinking to his knees on the sidewalk, he lost all ability to find his strength, if she died, if he lost her now…
From beside him, Catherine watched in sudden horror, the realization of her earlier words to him suddenly rearing up inside her mind to curse every beat of her heart. How could she have accused him of not loving anyone when here he was, his pain laid bare before him.
Closing her eyes, she pulled Lindsey's shaking body to her own, her own selfish relief fuelling her heart into soundless prayer. Sara had to be ok. She had to be.
TBC……
