Chapter 4

"How far did you fall?" Captain Stanley asked in a calm voice, he had been glancing at his engineer regularly and could tell he was on the edge but things had to be better than they were because in the last few hours he had learned that his father hadn't been in the rubble for days before his death only hours.

"I'm not sure, not too far," Laura answered thoughtfully, "No more than eight feet. The problem arose when the temporary framing supports came with us and brought two reinforced concrete walls over on top of us along with a small mountain of loose rubble." Laura used her hand to demonstrate how the two walls layered down on top of them and then sat quietly looking at Mike.

"How long before they were able to dig you out?" John asked and it was easy to see that the whole crew was listening in and interested in the story.

"We were there for nearly eight hours," Laura revealed.

"That must have been real scary," Chet commented and then wished he hadn't when he saw the look on Mike's face.

"It really wasn't that bad," Laura began to calm. "We could hear them working to get to us almost as soon as the dust settled. Mike's Dad was able to look over the way the supports fell and told us very quickly that we were safe. We had about a three to four foot head room and even though I was separated from the others by a slab of concrete Randy and I were able to move around some. Mike's dad had a support beam across his legs that we had to pry up but we were able to get the weight off enough to maintain a good blood flow to his lower legs fairly quickly." Laura shifted in her chair and rubbed at her shoulder for a moment, "We talked a lot and Mike's Dad pulled all of his family photo's out of his wallet and passed them around. Told us about his family and how proud he was of his kids. Randy talked about his girl friend and we gave him advice on how to propose to her."

"You must have had a flashlight of some kind down there with you." Captain Stanley figured out.

"Yeah, we did, two of them actually and one of the hard hats had a light on it too. The batteries died before they got us out but by then they had established communications with us and we spent the rest of the time telling jokes with some guy top side."

"So it wasn't too bad down there." Mike asked his face showing some relief. "Was my Dad in a lot of pain?"

"No I wouldn't say it was too bad, we all had to come to grips with some claustrophobia, and before they drilled the hole we worried about having enough air but after that we were able to keep each other calm, I know I managed to get a good nap. As far as the pain, I had given your Dad the Demerol before we fell and once that wore off I was able to start an IV in his leg with a little valium but as long as he wasn't moving around he was alright. His legs got numb at one point but I was able to rub his feet and get the circulation going a little better and he said that helped."

"Did either of you other two get hurt," Marco asked?

"Randy broke his arm in the fall. Mike's Dad used a catalog out of my bag and some tape to splint it and then tucked it in his shirt for a sling. I just banged my head a little. All in all we were pretty lucky but I must have missed something on your father." Laura turned to Mike. "I'm real sorry I didn't get him home to you. I really thought everything was going to be just fine."

Tears were starting to flow in Laura's eyes and she struggled with her emotions before she could continue. "Because of the concrete slab that separated us the only part of his body I could really check out were his legs below the support beam. He was talking to us the whole time and his petal pulse was good." She then turned to Mike and in frustrations asked. "Did they tell you what the cause of death was?"

"They are supposed to be sending my Mom a copy of the Autopsy report," Mike answered his mental alertness growing stronger but his emotional and physical exhaustion still showed. "The last I talked with her though she hadn't received it yet."

"Unfortunately that's not uncommon. I might be able to help you out there a little," Laura offered, "But we'll need a copy of the death certificate."

"I can get that." Mike offered there was a strange sense of hope in his voice that betrayed the loss of his father but his friends and co-workers knew how much he needed to know the things this stranger was telling him.

There was a moment of non communications as lunch was finished then Laura looked at Mike, "I know that it's none of my business but how is your Mom doing, your Dad was telling me about her Cancer treatment while we were waiting to get dug out."

"She's doing pretty well, the doctors think they got it all and she finished her Chemo about a month after dad died." Mike reported not at all worried about sharing personal information with this girl. "So far the testing has shone her cancer free but they'll have to watch her for a couple more years."

"That's good so far. Has your sister had her baby yet?"

"NO," Mike smiled, "Any day now though, my brother-in-law made me sit down with him and study the emergency child birth section of the first aid manual," Mike Giggled a little, "He still calls me twice a week to see if he remembers what we've talked about."

"If I remember right this is the first grandchild for both families," Laura shared his smile.

"Yeah, it is, My Mom is really excited to be a grandmother." Mike's mental state had jumped but then plummeted again. "Dad was really looking forward to the new baby too."

"I remember," Laura acknowledged, "He talked a lot about the baby, almost as much as he talked about his Fire fighter son. He was really looking forward to talking to you about his experience; He told us several times how proud of you he was."

Hank Stanley reached up and placed his hand on his engineer's shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze as Mike fought to keep his tears in his ducts and let out a deep breath.

"So do you work as a Paramedic or a nurse in New Mexico when you're not chasing around the world working at big disasters?" John Gage asked. He was curious but mostly he wanted to pull some of the attention off on his friend who looked like he couldn't take any more.

"Sometimes," Laura answered, "sometimes I just need to veg out and regroup, get my head together again before I can be of any good to any one. That's when I've done most of my writing."

"So you write what kind of books," John asked, "Stories about the work you do? Fiction?"

"Informational books actually," Laura answered, "Most dealing with the emotional impact on the rescue and medical workers from the work that they do."

"Keep the Rescuers rescuing!" Captain Stanley spoke excitedly while pointing his finger at his guest. "I thought you looked familiar. The department sent me to one of your seminars last fall."

"Last Fall, you must have gotten me just after the back to back earthquakes." Laura commented, "In Vegas right?"

"That's right, you were very informative and the stories and photo's you showed had us all on the edge of our seats. You really had your hands full over there."

"We had out moments," Laura smirked slightly embarrassed as Hank Stanley turned to the rest of his men.

"She told a story about how the aid stations only doctor had a lacerated femoral artery and she had to surgically repair it while he was awake and telling her what to do and then he talked her through the surgery on four other patients."

"And I'm still trying to get my hands to stop shaking," Laura added.

"I can only imagine," Roy Desoto's eyes were wide.

"Did they make it?" John Gage asked in excitement. "I mean did everything come out alright? Did the Doctor keep his leg?"

"They all survived for the first twenty-four hours, then they were transferred to a hospital out of the quake zone and I have no idea what happened after that."

"Excuse me just a minute please," Captain Stanley pushed away from the table and hurried from the room only to return just a moment later with a book in his hand. "Could I please get your autograph?"

Laura took the well read paperback book from the Captain's hands and peeled open the front cover. "Where would you like it autographed?" she asked as she started reading all the notes he had jotted down inside the cover. "The last time I saw a book in this condition it had been used as first base," she added as she turned a few more pages to see sections highlighted and more notes scribbled in the margins. "Then left out when the sprinklers were turned on."

"It's a really good book," Captain Stanley offered as an explanation, "I refer to it often."

"Wow," Laura started to blush, "Gage pg, 16, Desoto page 20?" Laura read the notes inside the front cover. "Lopez chapter 10," Laura continued as she looked up into the puzzled faces of most of the men but a growing blush and a stubborn silence on the face of the captain. "Kelly chapter 23? I see." Laura gave the mustached fireman a look that caused him to squirm.

"What's chapter 23 about?" Kelly asked but Laura just gave him a mischievous grin as a response.

Still looking for a blank space to write on Laura turned to the back cover, "I don't look half bad with a mustache," she commented and Hank Stanley turned bright red, "I'll have to look into growing one."

"I tend to doodle," Captain Stanley squirmed and his men stifled giggles at his expense.

Station 51, engine 38, smoke alarm at 2893 Wilmington, 2893 Wilmington time out 13:17

Saved by the bell.