Princess Pinky: Yup dude, Phoebe has become a Doctor, and a very good one, I might add.
Maybe she can do something about Lexie…maybe. I also think Karen is cool, and you should see her brother. He's sweet. Thanks dude, for reviewing.
Peanut2lb: Today I'm going to start by thanking you. Your reviews always make my day.
Dude, what can we do? Lexie is such a mess. I just hope Prue, or anybody; could knock some sense inside that naughty head of hers; but don't worry, I'm getting there.
Uhm…dude…-clears throat- were you really in that Northridge E-Quake? … Wow, could you share some more, I mean, I wouldn't like to pry and all, but I'd really like that. You're cool.
Faith Kingsley: Go you! You've reviewed again! Thanks! And yes, our Phoebe is a Doctor, how about that? Cool, right? Dude, Lexie doesn't want to die…She's trying to make her sisters hate her so that when she has to go away they won't miss her that much or suffer for her; Let's see what Sophie can do about it.
AlyssaAs: Wow; you're right about everything. I promise Lexie will learn her lesson. TFR
C.C. McKenna
Earthquake
Chapter Six
University of California Berkley Seismological Laboratory
9:17 P.M.
"Damn…this can't be right, I have to double check this information; it just can't be possible for a seismic activity of this magnitude to be going on right now". Luke Peterson put away his eyeglasses and wiped his eyes with nervousness; he re-checked the computers for possible mistakes but everything was in order. There was no doubt about it; a 7.9 magnitude earthquake was about to happen any time soon. He grabbed the phone and quickly dialed the NCEDC Northern California Earthquake Data Center.
"Parker?" Peterson's voice sounded extremely serious and very nervous. "We've got a problem" He scratched the back of his head while he stared at the monitor.
"I know…" John Parker replied with fear; he knew what Peterson was about to tell him; his heartbeat was completely out of control and he swallowed with difficulty while he gripped his fingers around the phone. "I've got your message in my computer…I've dialed the White House, I'm holding to speak to Mr. President"
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"I'm starving" Lexie smiled as she approached the buffet table. "Those shrimps look delicious" She smiled, of course she wasn't really hungry, but she didn't like the idea of having to face Sophia, not yet anyway.
Sophie frowned and stared at her friend. "Please, tell me you weren't pretending to be drunk just to upset your sister".She seemed to be pretty mad but Lexie didn't care.
"Maybe" Lexie shrugged. She pretended to be busy checking the food on the table. "What if I was? I mean, you can't deny I was awesome, can you? I mean, I really got her mad at me, didn't I?" She looked at Sophia with a rather cynical smile on her lips.
Sophia shook her head and turned around to spot Lexie's sister; Prue looked very distressed, nevertheless, was fairly managing to answer the media's questions, which unfortunately had already gathered around her for an interview.
"You're crazy Bond, you really are fucking crazy!" Sophia turned to Lexie and spat with anger; barely controlling her urge to slap her; and notbecause of what she'd done,but for her sister; Prue didn't deserve that, not in her book, she didn't.
"Oh, come on, don't tell me it wasn't fun" Lexie laughed with sarcasm.
"Dude, you need fucking help, that's what you need!" Sophie couldn't control her anger, so she came forward and pushed Lexie against the food table, slightly shaking it. "Damn it" She thought to herself, realizing it was too late to go back.
"Whoa…easy Sophia, I swear I don't need help to get to these shrimps" Lexie laughed harder, deliberately ignoring her friend's words.
"Lexie, if you don't cut this off,I promiseI'll get the hell out of here;you're fucking pissing me"
Lexie turned around to face Sophia; narrowing her eyes, sheangrily dropped her plate on the table. "Chill out Sophia, there's an explanation for all these" Lexie spoke, spreading her arms wide with desperation.
"Well it better be good 'cause I sure don't like the way you behaved with your sister, this exhibition is very important to her and you almost ruined it; I don't know why did you have to be so mean, and I don't know why did I agree to come with you in the first place!"
"Hey, that's enough" Lexie shout back. "You're my friend, remember? She shoved Sophia back. "You should be on my bloody side," She pushed her again. "Not hers" She threw a hand in the air, without looking, to where her sister was supposed to be."And besides, you don't know nothing…" Lexie bit her lower lip and took a couple of quick breaths; her mind whirling rapidly trying to decide whether if she should open up to her friend or keep it for herself.
"Well I still won't if you don't tell me what the hell is going on!"
"Listen," Lexie swallowed hard, "I've been seeing…"
"Hey Kiddo!" Karen waved walking cheerfully towards them and interrupting their conversation; Michael smiling broadly beside her. "I Hope you don't mind my 'kid' brother tagging along with me" She smirked when Michael gave her a slight squeeze on her elbow.
"Not at all" Lexie looked at Sophie then turned to Karen, managing to draw a slight smile. "Glad you could make it" She winked an eye and kissed Karen's cheek. "You brought him intentionally, didn't you?" Lexie whispered in her friend's ear.
"Hi, I'm Sophia" She unashamedly introduced herself, not giving Karen a chance to give Lexie a proper reply.
Karen smiled. "Well, hello, finally I get the chance to meet you…this is my ki…"
"Michael…I'm Michael" He cut her sister's words and shook Sophie's hand. Lexie coughed to dissimulate her amusement; pretending to be discrete, but Michael blushed anyway.
"H-hi Lexie" Michael stammered; but a cute smile followed instantly, showing off the cutest pair ofdimples in San Francisco. Lexie knew it; that was one of the things she loved about Mike; but as always, it was one of the thingsshe kept to herself.
"Hello Michael, nice to see you…" Lexie smiled and stood on the tip of her toes to reach his cheek, "again", She whispered and gave him a soft kiss.
Michael's blush suddenly became more evident and his tongue completely frozen under Lexie's sweet gaze;Mike's sister quickly came to the rescue. "Mike, why don't you get us something to drink, please"
"S-sure" Michael swallowed nervously.
"Champagne for everybody" Lexie looked at him in the eyes, enjoying his shyness.
"Dr Pepper for you young lady" Karen butted in.
"Well, you can't blame a girl for trying" Lexie grabbed some caviar from one of the various silver trays. "I've had enough anyway" She muttered under her breath before taking the snack into her mouth.
"What did you say?" Karen heard her perfectly well, but this time, Michael did the saving.
"I'll get her that D-Pepper you asked" Michael patted her sister's back. "Come on sis, give her a break" He winked an eye and headed for the bar, which was just across the hall, next to the exhibition area. He was beaming, and his sister was more than happy. Karen loved the idea of Lexie becoming her brother's girlfriend.
Prue took a little of her time togivea kissto Michael when hewalked byher side; she also thought of Michael as a great candidate for her sister. She liked him a lot but she knew that if she said a word to Lexie about him, she would automatically reject him.
"Karen Shawls, you did that on purpose!" Lexie buried her finger on her friend's chest and gave her a slight shove.
"Guilty!" Karen smiled scornfully.
"Forget it, I'm so not going out with him"
"Who says I want you to?" Karen walked to the buffet table. "He's just being polite and wanted to keep me company" She grabbed a shrimp from the silver platter and took it to her mouth. "This is scrumptious Lex…you should try them"
"I have" Lexie's reply was a mere whisper, but she grabbed one anyway; a big one.
Again, Prue interrupted her interview for a second to gaze over her sister, she sighed as a sign of relief when she saw Lexie smiling and having what it seemed to be a good time with Karen and Sophia; She loved her sister, no matter how wild and stubborn she was, she loved her. Prue smiled; she was tough, but when it came to her sister, she was a softy. She shook her head and went back to the reporters. Her gorgeous smile froze, and suddenly turned into a frightened grimace when the floor started shaking and the gigantic chandeliers above her head started swaying out of control. She immediately knew it was an earthquake, but she never imagined its magnitude. "Lexie!" It was the first thing that came up her mind, she shouted as she felt a gripping hand on her shoulder; she didn't have to look to find out whom it was; her heart knew it was Andy. She hastily turned to face him, she was shocked and frightened, but Andy pulled her to his chest and tried to take her to a safe spot.
Lexie screamed in horror and instinctively tried to run to her sister's side. Her heart completely stopped for a second when right in front of her the entire floor completely collapsed, unmercifully swallowing her sister, her future brother in law and all the people around them. She remained petrified, shocked, but Karen somehow managed to drag her to a safe place; She knew well enough that the substructure they were standing on was soon going to be breaking up as well. Screams and fear suddenly filled the place; Sophia was on her knees but she quickly got a hold of herself and followed Lexie and Karen. They panicked again when a loud thunderous noise was heard, and the remaining part of the floor also collapsed, swallowing them all at once.
Several hours had passed, it seemed like an eternity, an awful nightmare. Lexie couldn't believe what she was seeing. Of course she knew about earthquakes, and major disasters, but all that she'd seen on TV; she could have never imagined to be living such a terrible experience. She glanced around, afraid of making a false move that could set off another violent fall. She licked her dry lips, breathing with difficulty. The walls of the fancy edifice were gone and the place was now a complete disaster area; she slowly scanned the place around and despite of the lack of light she realized that the 25-story building had now dreadfully become a pile of debris.
The place was dark, but some sparks could be easily spotted around the place, there were smoke and screams and cries; she couldn't focus well enough, but still, she could easily feel the pain and fear that hovered around the devastated area. Lexie started coughing and desperately tried to breath some air, but the heavy dust that floated in the air made it impossible. She passed out again just after she became aware that she was buried under heavy bricks and stones, lying somewhere under the collapsed building, which now stood half of its original size.
"We're here…please, somebody…anybody, get us out of here!" Lexie slowly opened her eyes when she heard Karen yelling for help. It was still dark, maybe even darker than before; She carefully moved her hand and slowly waved it in front of her eyes; as much as she tried, she failed to see it, but Karen's voice could be heard very close by.
"K-kary" Lexie muttered softly, suddenly realizing that she must have had some broken ribs, cause it hurt like hell when she tried to speak. "Kary!" She shouted louder and winced at the same time.
"Lex? I hear you… I can hear you, thank God! Hold on kiddo, somebody will get us out" Karen bit her lips trying to be brave and somehow she felt happy to find out that Lexie was alive and only a few feet away.
"I can't see you…I can't see a thing" Lex yelled with a frightened, quivering voice.
"Don't worry, I can't see a thing either; we're under a pile of rocks, and it's very dark in here" Karen bit her lip, not allowing herself to cry when she thought about her brother. "He's fine…I'm sure he's alive," She thought to herself…seriously believing her own thoughts.
Lexie sighed relieved when she found out that nothing was wrong with her sight and propped herself to come out of the hole she was in. "Prue…I've got to find Prue" She hissed, pushing some debris away.
"You can't Lex, it's too dangerous…we must leave that job to the rescuers, they'll soon be here, I can hear their voices"
"The hell I can't" Lexie tried shifting again, when she felt what it seemed a hand next to her leg. She quickly grabbed it and felt the pulse; it was slow, but steady. She quickly started pulling out the remains from her body and freed the other person as well.
"Wake up…please, wake up" Lexie softly patted the unconscious body beside her and gently placed her hand on the back of the head, slightly lifting it. "You'll be ok…you'll be ok" She assured, overcoming her own pain.
"I know" Sophia replied weakly, hesitantly reaching out to find her friend's hand; which she clasped tightly when she suddenly stumbled upon it.
"Sophie!" Lexie raised her voice with surprise, not even paying attention to the sharp pain inside her chest. "Thank God you're ok"
"Well," Sophia winced, "that could be relative, I think I have a broken arm, and my head hurts like hell", she placed her hand on her forehead, "I think I'm bleeding"
Karen freed part of her trapped body and tilted her head, trying to listen to her friend's conversation. "Lex…you ok?" She asked anxiously still lacking of a clear sight. "I need to know how are you"
"Yeah Kary, I'm fine, I'm trying to help Sophie, she has a broken arm, and… and I…I think I have a few da-damaged ribs of my own, 'cause it hurts quite a bit when I breath, but don't worry, I can handle it"
"I'm sorry sweetie, hang on, I'm almost free, so, just keep calm, I'll be with you as soon as I get this stupid limp leg out"
"Is it… b-broken?" Lexie held her breath, slightly squinting with concern.
"Yup, but don't you think that a little inconvenience like this will hold me back… hang on," Karen hissed, "It's almost o-ut…t-there, I got it" She muffled a painful cry and closed her eyes tightly, waited a few seconds, and then courageously took a deeper breath to prop herself up, but the weight she inflicted on her leg was more than it could bear, so she fell heavily right back to where she was before.
"Karen!" Lexie shouted.
"I'm ok" Karen answered, wincing in pain. "I'm ok"
"Anybody in here?" The voice of an agitated fireman somehow uplifted the girl's spirits
"Yes…we're in here!"
"We need help!"
"Hurry up…please!"
The three girls shouted almost at the same time, their screams immediately followed by several other painful ones from around the place. The rescuer spotted Karen with his flashlight and hastily checked her injuries. He grabbed a portable oxygen cylinder and placed it over her mouth and nose, but she quickly removed it.
"No, I don't need it, my friend is some where out there," she waved her hand with desperation, "she has some broken ribs and I'm sure she's having a hard time breathing"
The firefighter nodded and spread his flashlight slowly around the dusted area, quickly spotting Lexie; she was kneeling and holding Sophia's head on her lap. He swiftly moved towards her and placed the mask on her face. "Here, hold this tight, I'll get some extra helping hands in here" He quickly checked her injuries and then bent down to check upon Sophie. "You'll be ok," he assured, wiping the blood away from her eyes, "I'll be right back" .
"Don't go!" Lexie shouted. "You need to find my sister, she's somewhere under this pile of…"
"I'll get some help miss, it's dangerous to go alone, now stay calm, and I'll be right back"
Lexie watched the man leave and slowly rested Sophia's head on the seat of a broken chair. She grabbed the oxygen and slowly got on her feet.
"W-what are you going to do Lex?" Sophie tried to sit up but failed her intent. "You know what the man said… it's too dangerous to go by yourself" She said nervously, already knowing what her friend had in mind.
"You know I have to do it Sophie; I have got to go look for her" Lexie kissed her friend'sforehead and carefully crawled away, moving slowly, but determined to find her sister.
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