Chapter 249

Sax stood in the office of the Chief of Surgery at Denver General Hospital.

"I appreciate this Sir. I really do. Thank you" she nodded. It took a lot of convincing by both Sax and Richard to get Sax privileges at the hospital.

"Now let's hope they bring them here. It's the only major level one trauma centre so they should, if it's close enough and they're... well... alive and badly injured"

"I'll be very happy to step down if they're not injured" said Sax.

"So far we don't know anything except a very large general area where the plane may have gone down" said the man just as his phone rang.

"Uh huh… yes… yes… okay, we'll be on standby" he said and hung up.

"You're in luck. They found them and they're bringing them here" he said and smiled.

"Are they?... Do we know anything about injuries?" asked Sax, her pulse racing.

"Three DOAs, two alive, one missing, they're still searching. They're trying to stabilise one, she's critical. Other one is serious but stable. We'll know more once they're in the air"

"Do they know who? Which one is critical? Who didn't make it?"

"I don't know Dr Sinclair. Does it make a difference?"

"No… no, it doesn't" said Sax and took a deep, shuddering breath.

"ETA?" she asked.

"Once they're in the air it should be around 25 or 30 minutes" said the doctor.

"I'll go get into some scrubs and wait by the radio for updates. Thanks again" said Sax looking pale. She had no idea if any of her friends were among the three deceased.

-0-

Tegan felt the small stones under her cheek. She still heard the helicopter rotors but they didn't seem to be moving. Tegan convinced herself that they had to be at the crash site. "Please let them be okay… please" she whispered. Lindsey and the twins suddenly popped into her mind. She saw their laughing faces vividly. She closed her eyes tight and tried to think. She grunted and tried again to move. "Ahhhh" she cried out and plonked back down on her face.

-0-

"I got a central line in. Squeeze in a bag of O neg" said somebody that seemed to be the doctor in charge.

"Pressure's holding but barely. Pulse down to 38. Push point 5 of Epi"

"Hardly any lung sounds on the left, we need a chest tube. This lung is completely collapsing. The needle isn't going to do the trick much longer"

Sara watched in horror as somebody cut into Kate's chest and push a tube in. Blood immediately squirted into the pleur evac attached to it. Somebody else was securing a cervical collar around her neck.

The flurry of activity around Kate distracted Sara from her own pain a little bit.

She felt somebody try and put a c-collar around her neck.

"My neck is fine… it's fine. I need to see her!" Sara yelled.

"Sara its precaution, you could have a spinal injury you don't know about" said a medic.

"Pressure's 90 over 60" somebody in Sara's team said.

"Get her ready to travel, we're doing our best to stabilise this one enough to get her on the chopper. We'll do the rest in there" said the doctor next to Kate.

Sara started wheezing again and seeing spots. A medic injected something into her IV, she felt more lightheaded for a second before taking a shuddering breath and coming to again.

She now had the collar around her neck and couldn't turn to see Kate.

"Kate! Is Kate okay?" Sara tried yelling and ripping at the Velcro on the collar.

"They're working on her Sara, just stay still" said the medic pulling her arm down. They carefully rolled Sara to get her onto the backboard. For a second Sara could see Kate again. The sight broke her heart.

"Pressure's coming up slightly with volume. Lung sounds are back" Sara heard a man working on Kate yell.

"We're ready to travel, we're going to go ahead and get her to the chopper" said the girl tending to Sara.

"No! I'm not leaving her… I'm not leaving her!" Sara screamed weakly sending the monitor between her legs into a beeping frenzy.

"Sara we won't go without her I promise. They're just getting her stable to travel okay, we need to get out of their way now"

"Where's Tegan. I can't go without Tegan. Just take Kate I'll wait for Tegan"

"Sara, you're seriously injured, you need to get to a hospital right now"

The team leader of the search party whose team was setting up base outside knelt next to Sara.

"I promise you I will not leave without your sister. I swear. We'll find her okay" he said and squeezed Sara's hand.

"Something's wrong with her I can feel it. I feel it" Sara sobbed.

"You're going through something really traumatic, that's why you're anxious. I'm sure she'll show up any minute"

"It's not that… I feel when she's in trouble. Just go, go find her" Sara cried.

The team lifted Sara's stretcher and started moving out. Kate's team was still busy trying to stabilize her.

"Kate… baby I'm right here… they're going to take care of you" said Sara sounding drowsy suddenly.

"Pressure's loopy here" somebody yelled next to Sara and things went black.

-0-

Tegan slowly and painfully reached down to her jeans pocket. She groaned in pain as she pulled a cell phone out. "No service"

She tried to roll over onto her good shoulder and screamed in pain as she did so.

"Oh God it hurts…. Hurts" she mumbled. She lay back trying to catch her breath. She grabbed her left arm that lay limply beside her. The mere action caused so much pain it made her see spots. She cradled her arm and tried to sit up. Her chest screamed in pain. Eventually she worked her back up against a rock and was in a seated position. It took forever to get there.

She tried to get up but shards of pain shot through her right ankle and leg and she fell down again breathing heavily. She was lying on her side, tears clouding her vision. She could feel it coming, like she always did. Her airways were closing slowly. She felt lightheaded and nauseous. She pulled out her inhaler from her right pocket with great difficulty and took a puff. It didn't help much. She shook the inhaler a few times and tried again, holding it upright. Very little came out.

"No no… please no…." Tegan cried and tried again.

-0-

They strapped Sara to the stretcher and carried her out of the plane with some difficulty. Sara woke up in the chopper a few minutes later.

"Where's Kate? Is Kate okay?" she mumbled under the oxygen mask.

"They're still working on her in the plane they'll be out soon" said a medic adjusting Sara's IV.

"Tegan… did they find Tegan?"

"Not yet Sara but they've got a very large team looking for her. They'll find her. Just try and relax now and breathe normally"

Sara was everything but relaxed. Tears rolled down her face but she was strapped down on the narrow stretcher in the chopper.

"Her temp's 94 let's get a space blanket on her" said somebody. Sara's head was taped to the backboard so she couldn't move. It scared her.

-0-

"Okay guys she's as stable as she's going to get. We need to get her on the backboard. We'll roll her very slowly on three. Very, very carefully. If this thing moves quarter of an inch it could cause a catastrophic bleed and she's barely hanging on as it is. Everybody ready?"

The team all nodded in agreement. The team leader directed each member to a part of Kate's body to support.

"One, two, three. Careful! Careful! Easy does it" said the team leader as they rolled Kate. Somebody put the back board under Kate.

"Okay and back… slowly, slowly…. That's it"

"Pressure's holding… good job"

"We need to strap her VERY securely. It's going to be a challenge getting down those stairs"

-0-

Tegan was wheezing a lot but she was still conscious. It was getting darker by the minute. She was freezing. Her body shivering uncontrollably.

"They're never going to find me in here… this is it… I've been cheating death for too long. This is it" Tegan thought. She turned on the phone with her good hand and opened the video app. She rolled on her back and held the phone in front of her face. She was shaking so badly she had to drop her hand. Tegan painfully rolled onto her side and positioned the phone against a rock. She took a few breaths and pressed record. She started talking with great effort. She was wheezing and out of breath.

"Hi Linds… and Casey… and Ryan…. It's mommy… I just want to… let you know that… I love you so, so much. Mommy's hurt right now and… I may not be around… to… watch you grow up" Tegan let out a massive sob.

She took a few seconds and continued. "But I want you to know… that I'll always… be with you. I love you… Linds, my angel… my everything. I love you… take good care of them. I love you" said Tegan weakly before turning the video off. She shook the inhaler again slowly and tried yet again to get something out. Just enough to keep her breathing.

-o-

Kate was slowly and carefully lifted out of the plane. Somebody was still breathing for her and it took a great co-ordinated effort to get the stretcher, IVs, Chest tubes and oxygen tank out of the plane without moving the piece of metal in Kate's body.

They carefully moved her into the chopper.

"Kate! Is she okay? Kate!" Sara exclaimed. Still strapped tight.

"She's here and she's alive Sara. Let's get you guys to the hospital"

The trauma doc treating Kate still looked extremely concerned. "Fast as possible Gus but I need a smooth ride. I know it's going to be challenging in this weather but do your best please. This metal cannot move!" he said.

"I'll do my best" said the pilot.

A/N: Come on guys... Review please!