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Chapter Five

The Damage

The air was slightly cooler, Sam thought, as he stood by the open window on the first floor of the American Embassy. Jack had locked his son in the first available office he could find, thinking that would be enough to keep him from going to Laura and now, as Sam peered out the window, he rolled his eyes at the thought. Detaining him had been his mother's idea, after he had proceeded to attempt to walk right out the front door despite his father's command that there was no way in hell he was leaving the building; Sam knew he would have made it too, if his head injury hadn't started pounding right at that moment, causing everything in his vision to start to spin. Nearly passing out on the spot only further proved Jack and Lucy's point that there was no way he could even think about leaving and had made it easier for his father to force him into the office and lock the door.

Sam pushed the window open a little farther, he could definitely squeeze through now. The bushes beneath him were brittle and covered with a thin layer of frost but he figured they were better then dropping onto the concrete below. Sam stepped away from the window and turned to face the oak desk beside him, which hadn't been damaged in the earthquake and checked again to make sure that everything he had spread across the surface was everything he needed. The plastic first aid kit, a flash light and his radio, everything that he had managed to find before his mother and father went on their over-protective kick. The sudden movement caused a sharp flash of pain to slice through Sam's head and he figured being over-protective wasn't exactly misplaced in this situation.

When the pain had subsided, Sam put the radio and the first aid kit in his pockets, one of which still held Laura's engagement ring. Whenever he thought about possibly listening to his parents and letting someone else go to Laura, he remembered the engagement ring and how he sure as hell was going to give it to her. And he couldn't wait around here to do that, now could he?

Waiting to hear if Laura was all right was never an option, however, Sam knew that. Being away from her tore at his heart, much more then he had expected, and he knew, without a doubt, that he loved her with all his heart. And he couldn't risk the chance of not getting to tell her how deeply he really loved her, whether she knew or not, he needed to say it.

Sam put the flashlight in his pocket as well, figuring he wouldn't need it until he got to the building and turned back toward the window. He took a deep breath and swung one leg out so that he was straddling the sill; the pain in his head forcing him to remain still for a moment. He wished he'd taken another one of those pain pills his mother had given him. Everything seemed to turn upside down for a moment and Sam shut his eyes, holding his breath and willing the pain to stop; he was never going to get to Laura if he had stop every ten seconds.

Sam's eyes snapped open quickly when he heard a sound from the other side of the locked door of his temporary prison. The door knob was rattling and his father was saying his name as he started unlocking the door. "Damn." Sam mumbled. If his father caught him, then he'd never get out.

The door swung open just as Sam attempted to swing his other leg, nice and slow, out the window; nice and slow didn't work so well and he slipped off the sill and crashed into the brittle bushes below. For a moment, a wave of blackness over took him as his head hammered, feeling like it was about to explode. Slowly, the pain began to fade.

"Ow." Sam mumbled, opening his eyes and remaining where he was, on his side in the bushes. "That was a bad idea." He sighed and shut his eyes again, mentally checking over the rest of his body. He ached and he was sure he was bruised but he doubted anything had broken; the fall was only a few feet, but his head hurt like hell.

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Jack finally managed to get the door to the office unlocked and the door swung open, revealing an empty room. His eyes scanned the small area in front of him rapidly, attempting to locate Sam or any sign of him; the room was empty, there was no doubt about that.

His eyes settled on the open window and a curse escaped Jack's clinched teeth. "Sam..." He mumbled, attempting to turn around on his crutches and nearly falling to the ground. Jack managed to right himself and headed back into the hallway, wishing he could still ground his son. Either way, Sam was going to get an ear-full when he finally found him.

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When Sam finally opened his eyes again, his head wasn't pounding near as much and he found himself staring directly into the concerned face of his best friend, Brian Parks. He jumped in surprise at his friend's sudden appearance and lifted his head slowly, pushing himself into a sitting position. Brian was kneeling in front of him, looking more confused now then concerned; well, Sam could vouch for being confused as well, where had Brian come from? How long had his eyes been shut? One of the broken branches of the bush he had landed in jabbed him in the ribs so he knew, at least, that he was still outside the Embassy.

"Sam, what are you doing?" Brian questioned when he saw that his friend wasn't going to speak. "You've always been a little weird but..."

Sam gave a dry laugh. "Funny." He mumbled, shifting his position so that the branch wasn't digging into him anymore. "What are you doing here."

"I think I have the better question, since you're laying in a bush." Brian said, smiling slightly, though it looked like he didn't feel like smiling. He stood and helped Sam to his feet as well. "I heard about Laura."

Sam felt his heart skip a beat; had Brian heard something that he hadn't? "What about her?" He questioned breathlessly.

"About where she works." Brian classified. "And the earthquake." He added slowly, as though he wasn't quite sure that Sam was able to follow him.

Sam let out a slow breath, relieved that there had been nothing new about Laura or the building she was trapped in. While Brian watched him, he checked the three pieces of equipment that he had brought with him; he had landed on the radio and it was shattered in his pocket.

"As soon as I heard, I knew that you were going to go there." Brian continued. "I guess I was right." Sam didn't say anything, simply reached into his other pocket to check the flashlight.

Instead of pulling out the flashlight, however, Sam's fingers closed around the box which held Laura's engagement ring and he felt his heart lurch again. He pulled it out and stared at the tiny velvet box; Brian's eyes settled on it as well, and he placed a sympathetic hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm sure Laura's all right." Brian said, even though he wasn't. He had known Laura a lot longer then Sam, since Laura's mother was a friend of his family, and she was like a sister to him.

Sam looked up at him. "I have to find out for sure, Brian." He said. "If you see my parents, tell them I know what I'm doing."

Brian gave him an incredulously look. "Whoa, wait a second, you think I'm going to let you go alone? Why do you think I came here?" Sam just stared at him, his head pounding too much to answer. "When I saw the report on television, I thought to myself, 'Sam is going to go over there and that fool is going to do something to get himself killed.'"

Sam rolled his eyes. "What makes you think that?" He was getting impatient now, didn't Brian know that Laura's life was in danger and every second they wasted talking was one second that she might not have?

Brian didn't answer right away, his eyes settling on the bandage on the side of Sam's head. "What happened to you?"

"I have a concussion."

Brian's eyes went wide. "A concussion." He repeated with a sigh. "See, I knew you were going to do something stupid."

Sam put Laura's engagement ring back into his pocket and started walking away from Brian and in the direction of the Rio Grande. "Where are you going?" Brian questioned, somehow hoping that now Sam had a concussion he wasn't actually going to attempt a rescue mission.

"To Laura." Sam answered as though it was Brian who had the head injury. "Where do you think?"

Brian quickly headed after him. "I was hoping to a doctor." He mumbled. "But I guess not." Sam didn't say anything, just kept walking, slow enough so that his head didn't force him to stop. "You're an idiot, you know that right?"

"That's what I've been told." Sam answered, looking over at his friend with a smile that he didn't feel. All he could think about was Laura, she was all that mattered.

Brian nodded and finally caught up with his friend; Sam stopped and looked over at his friend. "Where are you going?"

"With you." Brian answered. "What did you think? Someone has to keep you from killing yourself."

Sam rolled his eyes again and started walking, ignoring the amount of organized chaos around him as government officials struggled to create some sort of order and start up rescue missions for those that might be trapped as a result of the earthquake.

As they walked, Brian and Sam were silent, both thinking about Laura; Sam's hand remained in his pocket, his fingers closed tightly around the velvet ring box and he prayed that it wouldn't be too late to give Laura the ring inside.

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Together, Elsa and Kate managed to push the metal shelf off Laura and carry her out of the storeroom, setting her on the heavy counter just like Kate had suggested. Elsa bunched up several shirts and rested Laura's head upon them, wincing at how fast they became soaked with blood from the injury on the back of her head. Laura looked so pale, even in the dark, so still and that feared that Sam wasn't going to make it in time.

Kate was at a loss of what to do; this girl needed more help then she was prepared to give her but how was she supposed to tell Elsa that? Elsa seemed to sense that Laura was in dire need of better medical attention and held her friend's hand tightly. Kate cleared her throat and Elsa looked up. "We can use some shirts to try and bandage some of her injuries." She suggested and the other woman nodded, looking reluctant to leave Laura's side. But she did and the two of them headed into the back of the store.

Atop the counter, Laura mumbled something as she attempted to stir back into consciousness. Her fingers curled into limp fists as she attempted to open her eyes and break free from the horrible nightmare that was playing in her head, the terrible pain that filled her entire body. The pain was worse upon waking and Laura tried to shut her eyes again, to succumb to the darkness where pain wasn't so bad, but it seemed impossible; tears slipped from her eyes and she moaned, her entire head throbbing.

"Sam." Laura mumbled, stretching out her fingers as though she was searching for him. She didn't dare move anymore then that, for fear of making the pain even worse then it already was. "Sam." Her voice was louder this time and more tears fell from her cheeks.

Where was he? Laura didn't want to be alone, and she couldn't remember where she was or what had happened to her to make her feel like her entire body was on fire. Where was Sam? She wanted so much to wake up in bed beside him and forget this terrible nightmare but she knew that it wasn't a dream, no dream had ever felt this real.

From the back of the store, Elsa heard Laura's last cry for Sam and nearly dropped the pile of shirts that Kate had handed to her. Was it possible that Laura had already woken up again? She called to her friend and quickly headed back to the front of the shop, tossing the shirts aside.

Laura opened her eyes a little more, attempting to peer through the darkness, unsure what she was seeing. She heard a familiar voice call her name, knowing that it wasn't Sam, but attempting to turn her head in the direction of the voice. Extreme pain filled her body, sending flashes in front of her eyes, and Laura cried out, feeling as though every nerve in her body was being sliced into pieces. The back of her head was the worse and she could feel something warm and sticky on the back of her neck; it was blood, she knew, her blood.

Elsa took Laura's hand and the girl looked up at her, her wide eyes even wider with pain and confusion. "Elsa," Laura mumbled once she believed she had identified the face. "What's happening to me?" Tears stung her eyes but she didn't dare wipe them away, she didn't want to move ever again.

"There's been an earthquake." Elsa explained, holding Laura's hand tighter. "One of the shelves in the store room fell on your head." It sounded almost comical, but Elsa had never felt so far from laughing before in her life.

Laura's eyes fluttered closed for a moment as she attempted to let Elsa's words sink in; an earthquake? She remembered a little now, remembered the floor rumbling and shaking and the sounds of the building being stretched apart. An earthquake, it seemed so unlikely, so impossible...but that had been what she had thought about a super-storm that would create a new Ice Age.

Thinking about the ice sparked something in Laura's memory and her eyes snapped open again. "Sam." She said again and Elsa looked at her. "Where's Sam? Is he okay?"

Elsa was surprised; if she was suffering from a head injury, she wouldn't be worried about anyone but herself. "He's all right." She was glad that she was able to tell Laura something about the man that she loved. "He said that he's coming here, coming to get us."

Laura's eyes filled with tears again, this time for a completely different reason. Sam, her Sam was risking his life to come to her. As stupid as she thought the whole plan was, as much as she hated him for risking his life, putting himself in danger, she had never loved him more.

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In all the chaos caused by the earthquake, there was no one watching the bridge that stretched across the Rio Grande, no one to stop Sam and Brian from walking into Texas. The building where Laura worked wasn't far from the border and as they got closer, it was easier for Sam to see just how much damage had been caused by the earthquake. He didn't think there was a single building left standing.

And that included the Mall of Texas, the once proud and tall building where Laura had once worked. When the building came into view, Sam had a hard time believing that it was the same place where he had visited his smiling, laughing Laura so many times.

The building stood at a crooked angle, most of the windows broken out, metal, rebar and other assorted building materials jutting out at odd angles. The entire bottom foundation of the building had collapsed, something crumbled in upon itself, and the building itself appeared as though it had been split in half. Sam realized it was even worse seeing the destruction in person then on the television.

Brian looked over at his friend with uncertainty. "You sure you want to do this?" He questioned, already knowing what the answer would be. "Looks dangerous."

Sam nodded, he didn't care how dangerous it was. The woman he loved was inside and that was all that mattered.