Chapter 247

Tegan stood next to the plane and opened her maps application. There was no map since she had not internet connection but the GPS co-ordinates did show. She took a quick screenshot and started heading towards the hill while buttoning up her denim jacket.

The plane was eerily quiet with Tegan gone. All Sara could hear was Kate's gasping, garling breaths and the birds outside.

She pressed the BP button again and choked back a sob when she saw the result. It was dangerously low. Sara pulled up the last of the dopamine and injected it into the IV.

"Stay with me baby… I love you, I love you… fight… stay with me" said Sara softly. She started humming softly until sobs completely overcame her.

Tegan forced herself not to run. She felt wobbly from lack of food, water and shock and her breathing wasn't great. Every few minutes she looked back to the area where the plane was. She could still see it in the distance. They had obviously landed at the edge of the forrest. The trees were thinning out more and more and Tegan could still clearly see the crash site as she made her way up the steep hill checking her cellphone for reception every few steps.

"Come on, come on" she mumbled. She was almost at the top of the hill now. Clouds were closing in on her. She was cold, wearing only a long sleeve t-shirt under her denim jacket. She was shivering but she pushed on. Movement and adrenaline heated her enough to keep going. She felt her chest tighten up and stopped to take a puff from her inhaler. She took a few deep breaths to normalise her breathing. It helped a bit and she continued to walk. She was fully aware that the inhaler in her pocket may not have that much left in it.

-0-

"Keep breathing baby… stay with me" Sara said desperately. Kate's eyes opened slowly, her eyelids still drooping.

"Hey" she whispered in pain.

"Hi… I've got you okay… you stay with me, help is coming. Tegan went to get help. Just stay with me" said Sara.

"What?" Kate drawled.

"The cloud lifted a bit and Tegan saw a hill in the distance. She went to see if she can get cellphone reception"

"Should've... stayed here" muttered Kate.

"Kate we didn't have a choice okay… we need to get help out here now"

"Aghhh" Kate moaned when she moved an inch.

"Stay still, just stay very still"

"Drugs left?'

"There's a bit of Epi left"

Kate looked up at the IV bag taped to the seat. It was empty. This was very bad news.

"Sar... I'm fading baby… seeing black spots" whispered Kate.

"No no baby hang on… Kate you hang on!" Sara cried desperately.

"God I love you… so much" whispered Kate.

"I love you too so fight okay… fight for us"

"I'm... still here… I'm not... giving up" whispered Kate.

-0-

Tegan already had a couple of bumps and bruises from stumbling on the uneven terrain to the top of the hill. She was about 30 meters from the top. She stopped to look at her phone and almost had a heart attack when she saw one bar.

"Yes! Fucking yes!" she yelled and fell down on her knees sobbing. She quickly crawled up some more. The signal varied but it was there.

Tegan's hands were shaking but she managed to dial 911.

"911, what is your emergency"

"Hello… we need help please… there's been a plane crash. There's badly injured passengers… just, help please, we need help" Tegan rambled.

"M'am just calm down for a minute"

"I am calm! Just get here!" Tegan shouted.

"Do you know where you are?"

"I'm… On top of a hill. I can't… see much it's cloudy. I don't see houses"

"M'am can you send me your location. I'll give you a cellphone number"

"Yeah, I've got the co-ordinates of the plane. Give it to me I have a pen" said Tegan and started writing on her hand.

"Hello…. Hello" said Tegan as the signal faded. She held the phone in the air.

"Come on…. Please" she cried.

She typed in the cellphone number and tried to send the GPS coordinates.

"Please, please go through" she sobbed as she pressed send. A minute later the text came back, the big red exclamation mark next to it felt like a dagger into Tegan's heart.

She forced herself up to move up higher. She was so tired and cold.

She tried again a few feet higher up and stared at the screen. No exclamation mark.

The phone rang in her hand and startled her.

"M'am – I lost you for a minute there. Did you send the co-ordinates"

"Yes…. I did"

"They're not here yet but I'm sure they're on the way. Tegan, there's a few teams looking for you guys already. Stay calm, they're on the way"

"Okay… you have to hurry. They're really badly injured"

"Are you with the injured passengers right now?"

"No! I told you I needed to hike up a hill to get signal" Tegan snapped.

"Hello… you're breaking up"

"Hello…. Don't go… hello… Dammit!" Tegan yelled.

The message hadn't come back undelivered yet and Tegan knew she needed to get back to Kate and Sara. It was getting darker by the minute. If she didn't hurry up she wouldn't get back in the light and she was afraid she might not find the plane again.

"It went through… it had to have gone through… It's okay, they'll find us" Tegan muttered to herself as she moved down the slope slowly. It took a while to negotiate a stable route. The ground was wet and slippery and her legs were cramping. She kept looking at the piece of plane sticking out of the forest in the distance hoping and praying that she was not too late.

-o-

Kate's eyes fluttered and then closed.

"Kate wake up… no no baby wake up. Come on you can do this" said Sara touching Kate's face. She looked at the pulse ox monitor on Kate's finger. Her pulse was suddenly down from 120 to 40.

Sara pulled up the last little bit of epi and injected it into Kate's IV. She squeezed the last bit of coconut water in the bag to flush the epi in.

Kate's breathing was weak, fast and shallow. Blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth into the oxygen mask.

"Come on… pick up speed" Sara whispered. Every movement sent stabs of pain through not only her leg but the rest of her body too. She was lightheaded and nauseous but she didn't give it a second of thought. Kate's pulse went up marginally to about 58.

Sara was sobbing, she had run out of options, she knew it. Kate was dying in her arms and there was nothing she could do about it.

A/N: Is Tegan too late? Review please, it makes me update faster.