I own none of the characters of Angel
Catherine's POV
"CORDELIA. CATHERINE." I heard my dad screaming when everything finally stopped falling. I opened my eyes and found myself on top of my mother and Ali and neither of them were moving. I lifted my head and looked around until I saw Aunt Fred lying on top of Ciara and neither of them were moving either.
"Mom." I said shaking her but she didn't respond. "Mom." I shouted, fighting back my tears.
"CATHERINE. CORDELIA." Dad shouted again
"Daddy." I yelled back.
"Is everyone okay?"
"No." I went over to Aunt Fred and Ciara and they still had pulses. "I'm the only one conscious. We need to get them out."
"I think that the hole is big enough for everyone to squeeze through. Can you lift them through the hole sweetheart?" Dad asked me.
"I can lift them up but the hole is above my head. I don't think that I can get them up there."
"Hang on." While I waited I began to pace around checking on my family, suddenly I heard a sound from the hole above my head and I watched as Chase pushed his way through.
"What the hell? I'm trying to get out." I muttered.
"I'm taller then you are. I can help you get everyone out of here. Where's Ali?" He asked worriedly. I pointed to her and Chase rushed over to her. "Ali…sweetheart." He murmured
"Chase we need to get them out of here."
"Yeah I know." He said never taking his eyes away from Ali.
"Ali and Ciara have been unconscious since the quake so I think we need to get them out first." I said.
"Let's get Ali out and then Ce." He agreed. We quickly formulated a plan. I would lift them up and Chase would lift me up to the hole.
I scooped Ali up in my arms and walked over to the wall. Chase gently kissed her head, "Okay daddy, I'm bringing up Ali."
"Whenever you're ready hon." I nodded to Chase he lifted us into the air. I easily placed her into the hole and Dad reached out and pulled her out.
Chase and I continued the process until we had Ciara and Aunt Fred out. Mom was a bit more worrisome because of her crushed leg. I didn't want to take the chance of causing anymore damage but I wasn't sure how to do it.
"How do we do this without hurting her more?" I asked.
"I don't think there is a way. We just need to be very careful. Thankfully she is unconscious so if we do hurt her anymore she won't feel it." Just as I nodded in agreement mom began to moan. So much for that idea.
"Mommy. Are you okay?" I asked her when she opened her eyes/
"Is that Chase?"
"Yeah mom. It's me."
"Has he been here the whole time?" She asked weakly.
"No. He is helping me get everyone out."
"Where are Ciara, Ali and Fred?"
"We got them out."
"Are they okay?"
"Yeah mom. They're fine." Chase said. "Now it's your turn. We need to get you out of here okay? Dad is waiting on the other side of this wall for you." She nodded and Chase looked at me. "Now be gentle Cat." I sent my brother a glare.
"I know that." As carefully as I could I started to lift my mother but she screamed out in agony. Tears filled my eyes and I stopped what I was doing. "Mommy I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"What's wrong?" Dad yelled. I knew it was driving him crazy being on the other side away from mom. "Dammit Chase, Catherine answer me."
"We're fine dad." Chase yelled as he bent over mom. "Look mom we have to get you out of here. I know it's going to hurt but we have to move you. Can we try again?" Mom nodded with tears streaming down her face. "Okay Cat. Give it a try."
With my own tears falling I tried again to lift her but yielded the same results; mom screaming in agony. "Chase I can't do this. I'm hurting her." I sobbed.
"Baby it's not your fault." Mom whispered placing her hand on my cheek. "I need you to do something for me." I suddenly got very nervous.
"What mom?"
"Hit me and knock me out." My mouth opened in shock. I shook my head.
"No. I can't do that."
"Sweetheart I want to get out of this hell hole and see your dad again but it hurts too much."
"I can't hit you." I whispered.
"Honey please." I looked at Chase and even though he looked sick at the thought he nodded.
"What is going on?" Dad shouted.
"Just wait a minute." I yelled back. "Mom please." She stared at me imploringly.
"Go ahead Cat. We need to get her out of here." Chase told me.
"I am so sorry mom." I told her tearfully.
"Don't be." I stared at her. "Go ahead Catherine." Fighting back the urge to vomit I raised my hand and balled it into a fist. She nodded at me and closed her eyes and then I did something that I never thought I would ever do. I hit my mother so hard that I knocked her unconscious. As soon as she blacked out I let out a sob and ran to the corner and puked.
"Cat its okay." Chase said softly.
"No it's not. I hit our mother." I cried.
"You did what you had to do. It's for the better. She won't hurt when we move her. Now pull yourself together and let's get the hell out of here before she wakes up." Sniffing I nodded and went back to my mom, gently running my hand over the bruise I had just put there.
"I'm sorry mommy." I whispered.
"Come on Catherine." Chase said and I lifted her into my arms. "Dad we're bringing mom out. Her leg is crushed so you need to be careful." Chase yelled.
"I'm ready." Dad shouted back. Chase lifted us and I put mom in the hole. "I got her." He yelled and he gently pulled her through.
"All right Cat. You're turn." Chase told me. "I'll boost you up."
"What about you?"
"Once you're through I'm tall enough to boost myself through."
"Okay."
"Ready?"
"Ready." Chase hoisted me up and I crawled through the tiny hole, feeling claustrophobic to the point where I couldn't move.
"Catherine?" Dad asked as he poked his head in.
"I…I…can't move." I whispered. I had never been in such a small cramped space before and I felt myself having trouble breathing,
"It's just a few more feet honey." Dad encouraged. I tried to move but I couldn't.
"I can't." I began to cry.
"Reach for my hand Catherine." Dad said sternly. I slowly reached out and clasped his hand. "I'm going to pull you out okay." I felt myself growing lightheaded and breaking out into a cold sweat. "Catherine talk to me."
"Daddy."
"That's my girl. Here we go." Dad began to pull and within a few seconds I was out and in my dad's arms.
"I…can't…breathe…" I cried.
"It's okay. You're out now." Dad soothed. I felt a hand on my back and I looked up and saw David. I pulled away from my dad and into David's arms.
"Catherine you need to relax." David whispered trying to soothe my sobs.
"I…can't…breathe…" I repeated.
"You're having a panic attack. Sit down, put your head in between your legs and take slow deep breaths." David started to lead me over to a piece of the crumbled mall.
"Chase?" I asked through my sobs.
"I'm out." He shouted. As soon as I heard Chase's voice my head started spinning and everything started going dark.
"David." I whispered before darkness overcame me.
Angel's POV
"Chase grab your sister and let's get the hell out of here." I shouted as I picked up Cordy. Thankfully David understood that Chase was stronger and it would be easier and quicker for Chase to get her out of there.
As soon as we got outside multiple paramedics rushed over to us and began treating my girls. They were quickly loaded into the ambulances and rushed to the local hospital. Luckily they let me sit next to Cordy and hold her hand while they frantically worked on her while shouting words like "BP falling; Pulse weak and thready; massive blood loss; Pulse Ox 80"; words I didn't understand and words that scared the shit out of me. "Come on Cor. Hang in there sweetheart." I whispered clutching her hand with tears streaming down my face. I was terrified that I was going to lose her. "I love you so much and I need you. Your kids need you so you can't leave us."
When we arrived at the hospital Cordelia was rushed in to a room and I forced to wait outside watching helplessly. Fifteen minutes later I was informed that she was stabilized and was being taken to surgery. As she was being wheeled past me I noticed that her eyes were opened.
"Wait." I demanded. "Hey Cordy."
"Angel." She mumbled.
"Hi sweetheart." I leaned down and kissed her.
"Catherine?"
"She's fine." I lied. I hadn't seen Catherine since she was put into the ambulance but I didn't want Cordy to worry before her surgery.
"Good." She visibly relaxed.
"Sir we have to go." The nurse said.
"I love you Cordelia."
"I love you." The orderlies wheeled her away and I held her hand until I couldn't no longer.
"How long will the surgery take?" I asked the doctor who was signing her chart.
"It depends on how much damage we find when we get in there. Probably a few hours maybe more. We'll page you overhead when we're done."
"Thank you."
As soon as the doctor disappeared down the hall with my wife I went on a search for my daughter, daughter in law, Ali and Fred. The hospital was packed with victims from the earthquake. I didn't even know if they were brought here or to another hospital. I went to the information desk but the line was out the door and I didn't have the patience to wait so I conducted my own search. I started on the first floor and looked in every room until I started to find my friends and family.
Fred was the first one I found. She was awake and diagnosed with a concussion. Besides a headache she was feeling fine. Fred told me of the ordeal that they went through while being trapped and how incredibly brave my daughter was. She told me that if had not been for Catherine, Cordy probably would have died. Wesley and her kids were with her so I left them alone and promised to return with information on everyone else.
Next I found Gunn and Chase. Ali had just come out of surgery and she would be fine. She had a concussion, a few cracked ribs, one of which punctured on of her lungs. A few minutes later I found Connor in the surgical waiting room with his kids, Patrick, Angela, Allan and Liam. According to Connor Ciara also had a concussion and a ruptured spleen that had to be removed. She should be out of surgery soon, Liam promised to come and find me when Ciara was awake.
I was just about to give up and start calling other hospitals for Catherine when I found her on the top floor of the hospital. I stood outside the room for a minute watching David talk to her sleeping form, gently running his hand over her face. I realized today when Catherine broke away from me at the mall to run to David that I was no longer the most important man in my daughter's life and I was surprisingly okay with it. David was a really good man and I knew, without a doubt that he loved my daughter. I knocked softly and walked in the room.
"How is she?" I asked walking over to the other side of the bed and taking her hand.
"She's been sleeping. She's dehydrated and the doctors have her on oxygen because she breathed in a lot of the dust from the collapse. Her chest x-ray was normal but there is a lot of wheezing. The doctor said that she should be fine after a few breathing treatments." I nodded. "How is Mrs. Angel?"
"How many times has she told you to call her Cordy?" David grinned sheepishly. "I honestly don't know. She's in surgery now."
"I really need a cup of coffee." He was asking me to stay with her without really coming out and asking me.
"I'll stay with her while you go."
"Can I bring you anything?"
"A cup of coffee would be great." I really wanted blood but that was out of the question right now.
"I'll be right back." As David walked out of the room I pulled a chair next to my daughter's bed and took her hand.
"You did real good today chipmunk. I'm so proud of you. Ciara, Ali, Fred and your mom are alive because of how brave you were." Just as I leaned forward to kiss her she began to thrash around in her bed, mumbling and crying. I jumped up and pulled her into my arms to wake her. "Catherine wake up." Her eyes fluttered opened and she ripped the oxygen mask off of her face.
"Daddy." She burst into sobs and wrapped her arms tightly around me. "The…building…shaking…I couldn't…save them…I was…all alone." She sobbed into my shoulder. "It was so dark and the screams…everyone was screaming."
"Catherine it was a nightmare." I whispered rubbing her back.
"Mom kept yelling at me to save her but…but…I couldn't reach her and the building collapsed around her." Catherine was hysterical and I couldn't calm her down.
"Sweetie it was just a dream. You got everyone out and they will all be fine."
"It was dark…so dark." She was clinging to me digging her nails in my back from fear. A nurse came in and injected Catherine's IV and within a few seconds she had calmed down to soft sobs. "I hit her. She made me hit her." She mumbled as I laid her back on the bed.
"Shhh. It's okay honey." I told her replacing her oxygen mask. "Just sleep now my sweet girl. Just sleep." Catherine is one of the bravest people I know and seeing her like this, so scared and hysterical scared me to death. When David returned a few minutes later I told him what had happened.
"She's probably suffering from post traumatic stress." He told me.
"From what Fred told me she held it together the whole time that they were trapped. She basically saved all of their lives. I've never seen her lose it like she did just know or when she was on her way out. She really scared me." I told him softly. "It's like she had to be so strong and brave for everyone else that she is just now experiencing the fear."
"That's exactly it. She was pumped on so much adrenaline that she has finally come down from it." David explained.
"My poor girl." I mumbled.
"She's a brave woman. Just like you sir." I took my eyes off my daughter and looked at the man she loved even though she hadn't come right out and told me that herself.
"And you." I said and a look of pride filtered over his face. "Thank you so much for your help today. We wouldn't have been able to save all of those people without you." I stuck out my hand and he took it. "You are a hero in my book David."
"I…I…thank you sir." He mumbled.
"Can I trust you to keep an eye on our girl here? The nurse who gave her the sedative said that she would be out for awhile and I need to go check on Ciara and Ali and Cordy should be out of surgery soon."
"Absolutely."
"Chase or Connor may pop up here to check on her and I'm going to see if I can talk the doctor into putting Cordy in here with her. I think that it would be good for both of them to wake up together."
"I think that will really help Catherine when she wakes up."
"I'll see what I can do." I told him as I walked out of the room.
--
Two hours later Cordy had been moved to Catherine's room and everyone had come out of their surgery's successfully. Cordy's surgeon was able to save her leg but they had to put a few pins on her leg and she was going to need some physical therapy, actually a lot of physical therapy if she ever wanted to walk normally again.
"Hey dad, David." Chase said walking in the room. He had gone home to change and bring me a fresh change of clothes. "How are they?"
"Sleeping. Their doctor's said that they will probably be out for awhile." I answered. "How's Ali?"
"Same thing. Uncle Charles is with her now and I'm heading down to be with her." Chase tossed me a duffel bag. "Here are some clean clothes for you and I grabbed some of mine for you David. I think that we are about the same size so they should work for today until you can get home."
"Thanks Chase. I really appreciate it."
"No problem. Oh Dad, I threw in some dinner for you." He grinned.
"You are the best. I'm starved." I dug in the bag and pulled out the thermos and guzzled the blood. Since we were in the mall and I smelled and saw the human blood I have had such a craving for it. I hoped like hell my pig's blood would help ease my craving.
"I'm going to Ali's room. Call me if there are any problems and I'll be back in the in a little while. Tell them I love them." Chase said.
"I will. Thanks for dinner."
After Chase left I glanced over at David and found him staring at me as I drank my dinner. I quickly realized that I must have looked a little odd and maybe scary. I swallowed the last of the blood and smiled sheepishly at David.
"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." I told him.
"I'm not uncomfortable. I just think that it's weird." I smiled at that comment. "What does it taste like?"
"Kind of like a copper penny."
"Can you eat normal food?"
"Sure but it doesn't keep me alive."
"Does it taste normal to you?"
"It actually has no taste which according to my kids is a blessing because Cordelia isn't really the best cook." I glanced lovingly at the woman who was lying in the bed. I reached out and took her hand. " Don't get me wrong if something can be microwaved or toasted Cordy is the perfect woman for the job but if something needs to be baked or multiple things are required to be mixed together, not so much but hell, what can I say? I love that woman more than anything."
"Sir I want you to know that I am in love with your daughter and I have every intention of spending the rest of my life loving her and I hope that we can come close to what you and your wife have." I was shocked yet extremely happy.
"David I never apologized to you for sending Chase to spy on you. That was rude and immature and I'm very sorry."
"No need for apologies. Catherine is a very special woman who should be protected. I never want to hurt her."
"I believe that." I stuck out my hand and we shook. "David you are a good man and I'm glad that Catherine found you."
"Thank you sir."
"But just so we are clear, if you do hurt her I will hurt you."
"Perfectly clear."
"Oh and I would appreciate it if you wouldn't mention that little threat to Catherine."
"No need because I'll give you no reason to follow through on it." That boy was not scared of me in the least and he shouldn't be because he truly loved my daughter.
After we changed our clothes we stretched out on the very uncomfortable chairs that the hospital provided for us so we could try to get some sleep. We have been up all night and we were both exhausted, mentally and physically. It was a very emotional day but as we always did we pulled together as a family and saved the day or in this case we saved a bunch of stranger's lives and the lives of our family members- not from something evil but from Mother Nature and dammit I felt pretty good about it.
Thanks for reading. Please review.
