I honestly didn't mean to wait this long between posting. Once again, I am a total slacker and I'm sorry. I think there'll be one more chapter after this, unless I have a major change of heart. We'll see. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!


Chapter 3

"…at 5…Thursda…7.0 magni…quake…Los Angeles…center…and rescue…survivors…repeat…"

"Will you please turn that off?"

Lilly looked up from the pocket-sized radio she'd found in her backpack. They hadn't spoken again in what seemed like hours and Lilly had set out to explore the contents of the backpack that was currently doing a half decent job of keeping them alive. She'd found the radio and had hoped to get a station in, but it was mostly static. Lilly flipped the off switch and dipped the space back into silence. She'd tried to keep an eye on Miley, who'd returned to rebuffing Lilly's attempts at civility, though with much less hostility.

"Are you cold?" asked Lilly, noticing Miley's teeth were chattering.

Miley looked at her, for probably the first time in hours. She looked like she might make a snide comment, but then merely gave a half shrug, "I…don't know."

Lilly frowned and slid closer, ignoring the near look of protest Miley threw her way. She grabbed one of her wife's hands. It was freezing cold. Even though it was nighttime, it wasn't too horribly cold inside the garage as a lot of heat seemed to be trapped inside. Lilly suddenly felt a renewed sense of worry, beyond the question of whether they'd ever get rescued. She turned to her backpack, remembering the emergency blanket she had seen earlier. Lilly pulled out the small packet and spread the foil type blanket out. Miley gave her another odd look.

"Why do you have a space blanket?"

"Because I'm an astronaut. Can you sit up?" Lilly said, helping pull Miley up so she could wrap the blanket around her tightly. Almost as soon as Lilly had wrapped her in the blanket, Miley's eyes seemed to roll back and she went slack in Lilly's arms.

"Miles? Miley!" Lilly was in a full state of panic now and she carefully laid Miley back, kneeling over her terrified. She'd known all along Miley was more hurt than she'd let on, but she had just let it go, because she didn't want to think about it, but now what was she supposed to do? Lilly bit her lip and shook Miley as gently as possible, not wanting to hurt her further, but wanting to wake her up. When Miley opened her eyes to look at her, a sob escaped Lilly's lips.

"Lilly? Are you crying?" asked Miley, looking utterly confused.

Lilly hadn't realized it, but she was and she frowned as she swiped at her eyes, "Shit Miles, what the hell?"

"What?"

"You passed out. I thought you were gonna die or something."

Miley was silent, sure Lilly wasn't lying about it, but unable to recall what had happened. She looked at her wife kneeling above her, looking shook up. "You're crying because you thought I was gonna die?"

"Well…just…because I hadn't gotten a chance to have you write me back into your will," said Lilly, diverting the uncomfortable emotional talk.

Miley looked at her, silently, and when she spoke it wasn't snide like Lilly had expected, "I never took you out, you know. You get everything when I…"

Lilly clenched her jaw and shook her head forcefully, "No Miles, not today. Are you warm now?"

Miley nodded. She hadn't even realized how cold she was until the beautiful warmth of the blanket surrounded her. Lilly nodded as well and sat back in her spot, though she couldn't shake the panic now gripping her heart at the thought Miley was in serious trouble.

xxx

"If we ever get out of here, I am burning this damn whistle!" yelled Lilly, though not loud enough to wake Miley sleeping at the other end. She'd kept up her vigil of checking the hole and trying to call for help almost all night, unable to sleep with the worry over Miley and uncomfortable accommodations. The sun was nearly coming up again and Lilly had nearly lost all hope that someone would find them. She slid off her pile of rubble, thinking about the food bar that awaited her in the backpack.

"Hey! Is someone down there?"

Lilly stopped. Was she hallucinating now or had she really just heard a voice? She turned and saw a beam of light swiping past the hole at the top of the pile. She nearly jumped to get back on top of her pile, kicking up the rocks and debris she'd carefully avoided before.

"Hey! Help! We're down here!" yelled Lilly, her frantic climb getting her nowhere. She grabbed her whistle again and blew until her ears rang, while haphazardly making her way back to the top of the pile. She stretched out across the top, but the light was gone. Tears of frustration pooled in her eyes and she seriously considered punching her way through the debris.

"Hello?" A face suddenly appeared on the other side of the debris, wearing a helmet with a bright light that blinded her. Lilly gaped at the sight, so unexpected, and sat up, banging her head on the top of the ceiling. Her hands shook as she clutched the dirt underneath her.

"Help us please, we're trapped," said Lilly, her voice sounding rough to her own ears.

"I'm Rick Santos with the LA Fire Department. How many of you are in there?" asked the man and pulled back some to assess the debris blocking his way.

Lilly glanced over to where Miley still lay trapped and back to the man, "Just two. Please, you have to get us out of here."

He held up a hand and turned around to shout to someone she couldn't see. Suddenly there were two more lights in the waning darkness behind the hole. Rick turned back to Lilly, "It looks like it shouldn't be a problem to move some of this debris aside so we can get you out. We're just waiting on some of the equipment, okay? We'll have you out in no time. What's your name?"

"Lilly, look, my wife, she's trapped…under some concrete and I…I can't get her out and…I think…I think she's dying." Lilly's voice broke at the end and she swallowed hard.

Rick gave her a sympathetic look and waved someone else over, "Alright, Lilly, this is Caleb, he's a paramedic; he's gonna see if there's anything he can do for your wife, okay? We're gonna need to clear this debris first before we can get your wife out."

Rick moved away and Lilly was surprised at how much his mere presence seemed to have calmed her, because as soon as he was out of sight, the ball of anxiety in her stomach returned. She looked at Caleb, hoping he could provide some help.

"Okay, can you tell me what's going on? Are you hurt?" asked Caleb and it actually took Lilly a few moments to remember she had hurt her ankle.

"Just my ankle, but I'm fine. My wife…she's trapped and she's really cold and she's passed out and I think she's…" Lilly swallowed the end, feeling the all too familiar barrage of tears.

"Is she passed out now?"

Lilly shook her head, though she wasn't too sure. Miley had been asleep when she had come over to blow her whistle, but she hadn't woken up from all the commotion, yet. "I-I don't know, but she's been awake since."

Lilly tried to explain everything as best as she could as he asked her questions and she noticed Caleb making notes on something as he kept looking down. "Okay, it looks like her blood pressure may be low and that's why she passed out. I want you to keep her warm and awake, okay? As soon as these guys clear a bigger hole, I'll come in there."

Lilly nodded, but the panic flooded her again as soon as Caleb disappeared from her view. Rick came back and pushed something through the hole that seemed like a heavy tarp, "I need you to get to the other side of this and use that to cover up in case some more debris gets shaken loose. We're gonna try to punch through."

She took the tarp and reluctantly made her way back down the pile. Lilly was loathe to leave the only hope she'd had in days and move back into the darkness. She knelt next to Miley, who remained wrapped in the space blanket, seemingly asleep. Lilly brushed her fingertips across Miley's cheek lightly, overcome with a feeling of love. Right here, in this place, at this time, she couldn't fathom why she had ever desired someone else, why she had ever risked everything she'd ever wanted. She bit her lip.

"Miley?"

Miley opened her eyes and gave Lilly a weak smile, as if all the bitterness and hurt had disappeared. Lilly scooted as close as possible to get a better look at Miley in the weak light. She was going to keep her alive until those firefighters could get her out.

"Hey Miles, look, help is here, they're gonna get you out soon," said Lilly softly, motioning at the far rubble pile. Miley hardly acknowledged her words, licking her lips as if she were thirsty.

"Lilly…let's just go home," said Miley weakly, her voice almost swallowed up by the noise now coming from the rubble pile. She reached out a hand and Lilly took it. Her hope from just minutes before had been replaced with sheer terror once again. She pulled the heavy tarp across them to protect from the potential rubble spraying across as the firefighters were attacking the barrier with jackhammers.

"I'll take you wherever you wanna go, Miley."

The noise was getting louder, but as it spelled rescue Lilly welcomed it. She held tightly onto Miley's hand, willing her to stay awake and alive. Why had she needed something like this to remind her of what was important in her life?

"Mikayla was like my enemy."

Lilly turned her head to look at Miley, but could see nothing under the tarp. She'd thought they'd made some headway with this, but Miley's words made her heart clench painfully with the fear she might never be able to repair the damage. Lilly sighed.

"I know, Miley. What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know. I love you, Lilly…but…" Miley trailed off and Lilly's heart gave another painful jolt.

"But?"

"You hurt me…so much…how can I…forgive you?"

Tears pooled in Lilly's eyes and she tried to blink them away. "I love you Miley, I always have and I always will. I was stupid…so fucking stupid."

"I'd never expected you to leave me," said Miley, sounding almost resolved to whatever fate she thought awaited her.

Lilly gritted her teeth, "I'm never leaving you, Miley."

Her words were followed by a loud crash and shouting.

to be continued...