Ellie had gotten off work on time for once, and decided she would make a Costco run. She liked their selection better than Large-Mart and grabbed Vickie's keys and headed out the door. It was much easier to shop with Vickie, given her spacious trunk and back seat. It made it easier for Ellie to load the bags and boxes.

She only had a few more miles to go before her turn off and thankfully the evening rush hour traffic on the 101 wasn't too bad and was moving along at a good enough clip. Just then, a large tractor-trailer cut her off as it merged into her lane. Before she could hit the brakes, the truck clipped her front bumper causing her to start spinning. She gripped the wheel and screamed as she felt a hard impact on the back of the car. Next, she found herself breaking through the guard rail and sailing off of the freeway down a steep gully. She screamed as the car hit the side of the hill and began to roll. She immediately felt the seat belt harness tighten and hold her in place as the car rolled and rolled down the steep hill. As she cried and gasped for breath, the last thing she felt before loosing consciousness was the force of the airbag as it exploded into her face, knocking her out.

--

"Johnnn, J-Johnn" she panicked and cried when it hurt to move. She heard someone speaking. The voice was faint but demanding. Someone was calling her husband. She concentrated and tried to twist her head around and see who was talking and then screamed in pain when she felt a throb in her leg. As she looked down, she realized she was strapped in John's car,and precariously perched with the car laying on it's side. The windows had been broken out and there was glass in her clothing and blood covered her right pant leg. Her eyes were burning and she realized she could smell gasoline. 'Oh God, Oh God, help me. Oh God.' The voice got louder and she realized it was the emergency navigation system in his car that was talking to her.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Casey, can you hear me, respond please." The voice urgently kept repeating and pleading for a response. "Lieutenant-Colonel Casey, respond please."

She sucked in a deep breath as it hurt to talk. "H-help please. Help me. I can't get out and I smell gas, Oh God the car is going to blow up, please help me. I can't move my leg!"

"Identify yourself" the voice commanded.

"I'm I-'m Doctor Ellie Casey, John's wife," she pleaded. "Who are you? God get me out of here, I'm so scared."

The voice immediately sounded calmer. "Yes Mrs. er Dr. Casey, we're sending help. Please try and be calm. Is the Lieutenant-Colonel with you Doctor?"

"No, I'm alone. Please don't leave, please stay with me."

"Yes, of course Ma'am we'll stay on the line with you. Help is on the way."

The voice suddenly changed. "Ellie, can you hear me Ellie?"

She faintly recognized the woman's voice. "Yes, who is this?"

"It's General Beckman Ellie, what's happened. Where is John?"

She immediately began crying when she recognized the voice of her husbands boss. "I'm alone and went shopping and a truck hit me. My head hurts and I can't move my leg it's trapped. Oh God, please help me. I'm so afraid. Where is John? I want John!," she panted as she started to hyper ventilate.

"It's okay Ellie the highway patrol has been notified and they're on their way. Can you move Ellie? I'd like you to try and move out of the car if you can Dear." It took all of the Generals training to keep her voice calm so Ellie wouldn't become more frightened. She liked John's wife and felt badly that she was hurt. She tried to soothe her and kept talking with her.

Ellie started to check the response for each of her limbs and cried out when she realized her right leg as trapped in the wreckage. "Oh God, it hurts, I can't move my right leg, it's trapped! I can't get out General..Oh God, I can't get out. What if the car explodes!"

"Ellie, try and relax. Help is on the way. I'll stay on the line with you okay? I don't want you to panic Dear. Just try and hang on."

"My head hurts," she cried "And I want John...."

"I know dear, I know, we're trying to reach him right now. I want you to tell me as soon as you hear sirens Ellie okay?"

"Yes, yes. I'm so sorry about the car. He loved this car and I know it's a special army car or we wouldn't be talking right now," she wailed.

"Now, now, the car is unimportant, he loves you much more than the silly car and thank heavens it is a special car or we wouldn't be able to help you Dear." She continued chatting with Ellie and trying to keep her alert and calm.

"Ellie, you're a Doctor, why don't you tell me what other symptoms you have?"

As Ellie talked with the General, her aid rushed to contact John.

--

John was tired and hungry and wanted to spend a quiet evening with Ellie. He was just leaving the building when his secretary called to him. At the business, no military titles were ever used unless they were in the secured area. In the general public areas, everyone went by professional business names. He immediately knew something was wrong when his secretary inadverdatnly addressed him by his rank.

"Lieutenant-Colonel, Lieutenant-Colonel, there is an emergency call on line two from Diane Beckman Sir," she blurted out with a serious look on her face.

Casey rushed to the other side of the counter and grabbed the phone. The moment he picked up, a junior Officer hurriedly spoke.

"Lieutenant-Colonel, Sir, your wife has been in an automobile accident. She apparently rolled down an embankment and is trapped in the wreckage Sir. Your emergency response computer system in the car alerted us Sir and General Beckman is on an open line with your wife."

John felt his knees buckle and he fell into the empty chair next to his secretary and slammed his fist onto his desk. "Is she, is she okay?"

"She is conscious Sir and we've already dispatched the CHP Sir, they are currently en-route, I don't know any more at this time Sir. The General wants to stay on the line with your wife as she is very frightened."

"Where is she?"

"Westbound 101 at Plumeri...."

"What are the coordinates," he boomed.

"Latitude: 34.19 N, Longitude: 118.88 W. Sir"

He slammed down the phone, grabbed his briefcase and ran. As he rounded the corner in the hallway he ran smack into Chuck, knocking him to the ground.

"Jesus, where's the fire Casey!" Chuck irritatedly demanded as he pulled himself up from the ground. Taking one look at Casey told him something was very, very wrong. The agent was pale and was already running towards the door.

"Ellie's been in a car accident, I'm going to the scene," he yelled back to Chuck.

Chuck processed what he just heard and broke into a sprint to catch up to his brother-in-law who was ripping open the door of the black Suburban that was now only used for emergencies. He tossed the keys to Chuck.

"Get in, Drive. Here are the coordinates to enter into the GPS."

Chuck felt hot tears building in his eyes as he hopped into the behemoth SUV and quickly started the engine and entered the coordinates.

"GO BARTOWSKI, GO!"

Chuck hit the accelerator and peeled the SUV out of the parking lot. He looked into the rear view mirror and saw Casey tearing off his clothing and changing into the black gear he only wore when the shit got thick. He pulled on cargo pants, a cargo vest, the black ball cap with the lights in the bill and changed into his army boots. Casey was now frantically pulling out nylon bags and backpacks from the rear stowage hatch of the car and recklessly tossing guns and rifles aside. He strapped rappelling lines and clips around his shoulders and pulled on heavy gloves with wrist illumination.

"W-what happened..is she..is she alive?"

"Yes, she rolled down an embankment and is trapped in the wrecka...." He stopped talking and Chuck could hear him take several deep breaths and then he continued. "She's trapped in the car. The CHP is en-route and fire and rescue is on the way. Put on the siren and hit the lights!"

Chuck did as he was told. He'd never driven so fast in his life. He whipped the SUV around slow cars and carefully sped through red lights as the siren and lights cleared his path. Chuck could tell Casey was on edge and decided, at that moment, that he had to be strong for his brother-in-law like he always was for him when they were in a situation. Chuck forced back tears and breathed evenly before he clearly and loudly spoke.

"She'll be fine. She's tough, she's a fighter, she'll be fine once you get to her."

"God Damn right she'll be fine," he yelled from the back of the car.

Casey was now moving his very large frame into the front passenger seat and giving Chuck orders as they got into the heavy, stopped traffic on the freeway.

"Stay hard right or hard left, which ever side gets you through fastest. If anyone gets in the way, push them the fuck out of the way with the car. Get me as close as you can."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, stay with the car and call Walker. It's her night off but try anyways."

Just as he was about to continue, the computer screen in the car beeped indicating someone was on the other end. John punched the controls to switch on the view screen.

"Chuck, where is Lieutenant-Colonel Casey?"

It was Beckman and she looked upset.

"I'm here Ma'am" Casey called out as he leaned closer towards Chuck so he would be seen by the computer's camera.

"John, I've been on the open line with Ellie, she is conscious and alert but very frightened. Where are you?"

"We're just arriving on scene Ma'am. ETA three minutes."

"Good, she can't move her right leg and is complaining that her head hurts and she can smell gasoline. I assume you'll be on the scene with her?"

"Yes Ma'am. I'm geared up and ready."

"Good, get to her John, she's been crying for you the last few minutes. You should also know she's very upset about wrecking your car."

"Fuck the car," Chuck mumbled.

"Yes, I agree Chuck, it's not important," she easily replied.

Chuck didn't realize the General had heard his comment but didn't feel like apologizing and she didn't seem the least bit offended with him.

Casey didn't even comment about the car. He grabbed the large nylon first aid kit and strapped it to his back and prepared to exit the car.

"John, use channel 15 and we'll be secure, and John, my thoughts are with you and with Ellie," the General added.

"Yes Ma'am, thank you."

He tossed a pair of ear buds to Chuck. "Put these on and we'll be secure three-way with Beckman. Do you have your ID and badge in case you're approached?"

"Yes."

"Good. Stay in the car and wait for further orders. There's a 9 mm in the glove box. Use it if you need it." Casey opened the door to leave.

"Casey, Wait!" Chuck grabbed Casey's wrist and didn't care if it looked or sounded corny. "She's going to be fine. You'll get to her and she'll be fine!"

John stared into Chuck's eyes for a millisecond and absorbed the calm, reassuring message Chuck was trying so hard to convey to him. At that moment, he uncharacteristically squeezed his hand back and was thankful for his brother-in-law, then, he was gone.

Chuck helplessly watched as he ran towards the team of rescue personnel, flashed his badge and hopped over the guard rail and vanished into the black.