She moaned and turned into his chest. "My baby-" She snuggled tighter into his arms. "My baby-" Gregory could barely hear her. He had to convince himself that she had moved and force away his fear that it was a hallucination. She was alive. Olivia's hand slipped from his grasp and went to her stomach. Did it hurt her? Were there internal injuries? Her eyelashes fluttered as he lifted her head carefully with his hand. None of her muscles resisted his control. Her tongue moved weakly over dry lips.
"My baby-"
"Olivia-" Gregory began gently, hoping against hope he wouldn't have to go the hell through explaining why her baby wasn't there. "Do you know where you are?"
"What?" She groaned, and her head would have tumbled back to the seat if he wasn't holding her so tightly. Olivia couldn't keep her head up on her own. He tried to sit her up, but she remained in his arms. She was too weak, too disoriented.
"Listen to me." The command cut through some of her confusion. Her eyes seemed to catch him for a moment. "Olivia- do you know where you are?"
Swallowing slowly, she started to shake her head. "Trey. Where's Trey? Is he all right?"
"He's fine." He stroked her head, smoothing her dusty hair back. "He's fine."
Olivia struggled to speak again, and his throat tightened when he realized how much effort it took her. "Trey-"
"He's all right Liv." The force in his voice startled him. Olivia jumped slightly, both of her hands dropped to hold her stomach.
She winced and started to pull away only to realize she couldn't hold herself up. "Gre-" Her plea was interrupted by the immediate, desperate need to draw breath. Breath that did nothing to ease the pain. He wanted to cradle her until the pain ceased. Until nothing could hurt her again. Instead, he lent her his strength, sharing the warm of his body with her cold flesh.
The air was acrid with gasoline and spilt chemicals from the car. She hadn't noticed. Gregory felt her pulse race weakly beneath his fingers and studied the power lines down across the hood of the car. It wasn't safe.
"I'm going to get Trey out of the car." He promised as her head rested against his neck. That calmed her. Olivia lifted her head just enough of her own accord to look at him. One hand caressed his face, smiling strangely as her fingers came away damp with his tears.
"You-" She swallowed again and brought her hand to her lips. "You were crying."
He leaned her back into her seat, carefully making sure she'd remain stable while he moved. "Don't go anywhere." He insisted with as much humor as he could muster. "Stay right there."
Olivia reached for him as he turned to fight the door open. He turned back to her hand, trying not to think about how weak her grip was against his wrist. "You have to-" She squinted, trying to find him in the haze of her vision. "Save Trey. Get him- out of here."
"What do you think I'm doing?" Gregory asked with a confidant grin. "I'm getting Trey out of the car, then I'll get you out of the car. We'll take him to the hospital together." He kissed her hand and tucked it back carefully into her lap. Even his caution produced another wince. Trey was the least of his worries as he glanced back. The little boy was asleep.
The door creaked and whined with a protest of twisting metal as it opened. He kicked the bottom and it hung open enough for him to escape. The hood of the car was nearly gone beneath a mass of brick and concrete. What was left was soaking in a pool of vile smelling dark fluid. Oil and gasoline. He knelt and touched it. It was wet and the pool was still growing. The tank had been near full when he left the resort with AJ. Gregory smiled bitterly at the irony of it. He had been pleased to have that reserve then. Now it was more dangerous than even the last aftershock.
Leaving the car and the road to find a stick, Gregory poked the lines across the car. A shower of sparks erupted and Olivia jumped nervously.
"It's all right." He called calmly. "Don't worry." He dropped the stick and hurried to her door. Even with her injuries, Olivia knew the look in his eyes. The terror he was trying so hard to bury.
"Get Trey first." She ordered as she closed her eyes. Olivia couldn't look at the concern on his face. He wasn't allowed to worry about her anymore. "Get him out."
The rear door opened easier. Less damage had be done to the back of the car. He reached for Trey before deciding that it would be better just to get the seat out if he could. Gregory's fingers fumbled with the belt holding it down before it finally clicked free. Trey slept on as he carried the seat a safe distance from the car. He passed ten feet and looked back at the car. Olivia hadn't moved. He probably shouldn't risk moving her. He couldn't know the extent of her injuries. She hadn't mentioned the pain.
But then she wouldn't. Olivia would die quietly alone before asking for his help. She would give her life to save Trey.
Finding an embankment to put Trey behind, Gregory straightened his blanket and made sure he was warm enough. "I'll be right back. I have to get your-" He paused, it felt odd to refer to Olivia as anyone's grandmother. "My wife." That came easier. Trey wouldn't know the difference. "Out of the car."
"Mr. Richards?"
Gregory whirled around, startled to hear anyone speaking to him. Michael Bourne, that lifeguard boyfriend of Vanessa Hart, hurried towards him. He had on the blue jacket with the red cross of the EMTs.
"Hey- Is the baby okay?"
Something sparked behind them. Gregory felt fear close in iron bands around his heart. He spoke quickly as he turned around. "Trey's fine but the car is going to explode. Take him. Get him out of here."
Michael caught his arm as Gregory started to hurry back to the car. "That car is going to explode?"
"Yes." He didn't have time for this. "I have-"
"You have to get out of here." Michael insisted with the stupid nobility of good-natured people.
"I have to get my wife out of the car." Gregory corrected firmly as he turned back to cement his point. "You take my grandson to the clinic. Make sure he gets looked after until my daughter gets back. I have to get Olivia out."
Michael lifted the car seat. He had seen that manic look before and he knew better than to mess with it. It would be hours before any more rescue workers got here. Gregory's life was his to risk. "There's a triage center at the clinic. Eight blocks, that way." He pointed down the ruined street. "He'll be waiting for you there. Both of you."
He wasn't even sure if Gregory heard him as the other man returned to the car. Michael adjusted his grip on the car seat and started back to the clinic. One life at a time was the rule in a disaster. One life at a time.
Olivia didn't even look at him until he reached through the window of the car. Gregory pulled his hand inside his sleeve as he cleared the broken glass from the window. "Michael's taking Trey to the clinic. You remember Michael don't you? You met him at the lifeguard fundraiser last year."
"Promise me." Olivia whispered as she tried to turn her head towards him.
"Promise what sweetheart?" The door handle on the outside had been stripped from the car. He reached down past her shoulder for the interior door. "I need you to get away from the door so I can open it. Can you do that?"
She didn't say anything. He touched her cheek and drew her attention back to him. "I'm going to open the door."
Blinking slowly at him as if she had to remember who he was, Olivia finally nodded.
"Good." He found the handle and pulled upwards. The door released with a click and the weight of it slammed into him. He dropped the door, slipping his hand around her back as she tumbled out into his arms.
She choked on her own scream of pain. Olivia's sobbing turned into a coughing fit as he pulled her back from the car. It hurt just to listen to her but he had to get her away. Pain was fleeting. If he could get her far enough away, she'd recover. She had to recover. He got one step, then another as he swung her up into his arms. Gregory had to wrap one arm tightly around her shoulders because she couldn't hold on. She couldn't move her hands away from her stomach.
"Gregory stop!" Agony crackled through her voice, as dangerous as the electricity trapped in the rubber coated lines. "Stop-"
He pushed her voice out of his mind. He had to concentrate on his feet and the complicated task of keeping his footing over the uneven ground.
"Stop- stop-"
He wasn't listening. The flash of light behind him was fire. The whoosh was gasoline igniting. Heat flared across his back. He dropped them both to the grassy back of the ditch. Olivia's face was pressed into his neck, his hand covered her head. She was safe. She was still sobbing but there was no way to
help her. The clinic was still eight torturous blocks away. When the heat faded from his back, Gregory pulled his weight from her body. Her eyes were closed. There was blood on her lips, bright red against the ghostly pink of her skin. He reached down and wiped it away.
"I'm sorry." Gregory found the cleanest part of his sleeve to wipe her eyes. "I'm so sorry."
Olivia brought her hand up, and he caught it to stop it from shaking. "It's okay." Sniffing back her tears, she forced her eyes to focus on him. "Wouldn't have wanted to be in the car anyway."
He looked back at the smoldering wreck that had been AJ's car. "It's AJ's." Gregory couldn't help laughing as he rolled back on the grass by her side. The ground was damp from the rain that morning. "What did you want me to promise you?"
Olivia could barely feel her body at all, but the hand he held was warm. "I want you to be good to Trey. To love him like he's your son." She still couldn't tell him. Death was reaching up from inside the pain in her stomach and she still couldn't tell him.
"Of course I love Trey." Gregory sat up and looked down the street. Eight blocks could have been eight miles. How long had it been since he'd carried her that far? He didn't doubt that he could. Would she make it? He caressed his neck, feeling for a pulse. Still too fast. How much time did she have?
Olivia faded back into consciousness. What had he said? Why did he sound so far away? Then it coalesced. He said he loved her. Hadn't he? "You love me? You're impossible, darling but I love you."
Gregory squeezed her hand as hard as he dared. "I am, aren't I?" He kissed her hand as he got to his feet. "I'm going to pick you up."
"Don't." She lifted her head slightly. "I'm okay-"
He slipped his hands underneath her back. "You're a bad liar Liv. You always have been."
"It hurts-" Olivia closed her eyes, wishing she could shut off her mind as easily. "It really, really hurts."
"I know. I'm going to pick you up on three. One-"
She bit her lip and his stomach became a cold knot of pity. Olivia moved her head just enough to pass for a nod.
Gregory lifted on two. Without the adrenaline of before her body was heavy, like lead in his hands. Muscles he hadn't used in years expressed their displeasure at being abused so.
"Liar." Olivia whispered into his neck as he shifted her into the best position.
"It's not a lie. It was a surprise." He teased without a trace of light left in his voice. "I thought you liked surprises."
Olivia's hand dug into his neck for a second before she regained control. "Pain is a lousy surprise."
Gregory crossed the intersection of Front Street and Third Avenue. The clinic was on Tenth. He was getting closer. Sweat broke out slowly across the back of his neck. "Next time I'll have to do better." A block passed in silence. Olivia hadn't passed out had she? As much of a relief as it would have been to know she wasn't in pain anymore, he had the nagging suspicion that he should keep her awake. The last time she'd been dying in his arms, the 911 dispatcher told him to keep her conscious. Keep her talking.
"What do you do when you have to talk to your ex-wife?" He asked softly.
Amused enough to risk the motion, Olivia's fingers sunk into his hair. "I'm sure you can think of something. If anyone can. You can."