Luke shifted miserably as he tried to find a new position that wasn't painful in which to lie. The spasms that raced through his muscles made it difficult to stay on his back for any length of time, but he didn't feel much better on his side. He wanted out of the Triage Unit - he wanted to go home.
But home isn't there, he thought morosely. Dang, where are we supposed to go from here? What are the guys going to do? They can't stay on the surface forever. Thinking about all the answers he didn't have was making his head hurt worse, and he closed his eyes with a grimace.
"Do you need something else for pain?" Katherine asked.
He turned his head to see the woman. "No. I need to get out of here."
"Luke, I know you haven't had any more of those symptoms from a couple days ago, but be honest with yourself. If you were your own doctor, would you release you?"
The blond man smiled. "Are you trying to confuse me?" Luke exhaled deeply before continuing. "It's not a life threatening matter, Kat; it's all about my comfort level. I'm not certain how far I could walk with my back in this condition. At the same time, I really want to catch up with the others."
"You know they're all right, don't you?" she asked. "None of the guys were injured in that quake. They're probably feeling extremely exposed up in Marc and April's apartment, but it's better than being out in broad daylight where they started."
Luke nodded, and wished he hadn't. He'd refused to take more than small doses of the particular pain killer they were prescribing, because it had the effect of making him too drowsy. "I can't explain it, Kat. I just need to be with them."
The woman smiled. "It's not possible you're experiencing your normal brand of overprotectiveness, is it?"
Luke rested one hand behind his head, fingering the bandage that was covering his stitches. "I'm unsettled, Kat. I don't feel like the danger is truly past." The aftershock that had occurred close to noon had disturbed his peace, but Luke had been concerned long before the tremor. "We need to figure out what we're going to do with the guys."
"Do with them?"
"Yeah, Kat. They can't go back underground for now - it isn't safe. It probably won't be for...well, I don't know how long. In the meantime, they can't just hang out in someone's apartment. You said it yourself; they're exposed. And what are they supposed to do about Olivia? She's only a baby. She doesn't understand how dangerous it is to be seen or heard by outsiders."
"Should we be looking into finding a house?"
Luke resisted the urge to shake his head. "Shelter isn't the only issue we're facing. We have to consider their medical needs, and the fact that we have no equipment left, and very little medicine. Building something like Donny's Lab from scratch could take months alone, and we never even finished what we were doing with Mike."
"What were you doing with him?"
"We're still trying to locate the root of his chronic breathing issues. There's a possibility that it's related to a recurring infection because of his white blood cell count being so low, but there are other things we need to look into as well."
Katherine stared at him probingly for a couple of seconds. "Didn't you mention something about a biopsy?"
"Just as a precaution, to rule out something else." Luke was quick to try and soothe her.
Katherine had been uncomfortable ever since he'd first mentioned the procedure to her, and he'd been careful not to bring it up again.
Her Mom died from cancer. Of course she's a little sensitive to the issue.
"Do you think you can get up?" Katherine asked.
"I won't know unless I try, will I? Can you stand by if I need help please?" Luke slowly eased his legs over the side of the bed, and inched up into a sitting position.
"You okay?" Katherine hovered beside him, prepared to pounce at a second's notice.
"So far. This is a good start, I think. Let me sit here for a minute, and make sure I have my balance."
"Are you in pain?"
"Some, yeah," he acknowledged. "But it isn't that bad."
"Are you sure moving isn't going to make it a lot worse?"
"No," he said honestly. "But the doctor I talked to thinks I only tore some tendons in my lower back. I haven't had an MRI, so it's hard to say for sure."
"I don't want you to do this," she insisted. "Not until we have some assurance that you aren't going to permanently injure yourself in the process. We have to wait for you to get transferred to a hospital where they can do the scan...or Marcus could check, right?"
Luke smiled hopefully. "The technology on Donny's scanner would be sufficient for Marc to see the damage."
"Then I'll try to reach him again, but you need to lie back down."
Shifting back onto the mattress proved to be more difficult than rising had been. Luke clenched his teeth in pain as he fought to straighten out his back, and Kat moved to help him. He sighed softly as she stroked his cheek.
"You're going to have to take it slower," she said.
"I guess."
Katherine drew the thin blanket back over him before she sat down herself. The woman cast a glance at Reina asleep on the small air mattress, before she looked at him. "You never told me what happened with the earthquake. You started to, but we got sidetracked."
"There are things I don't remember, Kat," he replied. "I know where Reina and I were, and I remember why. As far as the quake goes, I don't recall even feeling the tremor, though I'm sure I must have. I have this vague picture in my head of people running around on the streets, and being caught up in the middle of it. I remember smelling the strongest scent of natural gas that I've ever encountered, and being physically lifted off my feet by an explosion.
"I know I held on to Reina initially, but everything gets fuzzy after that. I know that there was smoke and there were sirens. I heard people screaming and crying, and I thought I could hear Reina among them. I tried to move, and I couldn't. I couldn't see Reina, or anyone else. I felt like I was on the verge of panicking.
"That was when someone started talking to me. They wanted me to respond to them, but I couldn't. It was like being caught in this dream-like state where I was partially aware of everything going on, but I couldn't do anything about it. I don't remember anyone saving me, or passing out. But when I woke up, I was here in Triage, and I didn't even realize there had been an earthquake."
Katherine's hand lightly gripped his arm. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."
Luke gave her a wry smile. "You're here now. Just promise me you're not going to abandon me to these people. They already tried to kill me off once."
Brandon was worn out; it had been a long day of moving debris and sifting through rubble. The hard work of the last 72 hours was finally beginning to take a physical toll on him. He was relieved to see night falling, and immediately considered calling Greg to come and get him.
It would be nice to meet up with the others. I think I've played the lone wolf for long enough.
He'd returned to the Civic Center to pick up his things, and it only made sense to get something to eat while he was there. While waiting in a long line, Brandon was irritated to discover the difficulty he was having in getting a signal on his cell. The woman in front of him noticed his battle with the phone, and she shook her head sympathetically.
"That aftershock earlier today damaged a couple of the closest towers," she explained. "They're working on them."
Brandon barely contained an eye-roll. Great. Just what I needed. I guess if I hike far enough out of this neighborhood, I'll be able to pick up a signal again. That or I need to figure out how to turn the booster back on.
After the original quake he'd taken to experimenting with the phone to see if he could switch it to the satellite feed, and only succeeded in messing up the normal settings. After the towers had been restored he'd been able to place a couple of calls without the help of Donny's booster, but his current predicament was leaving him high and dry.
I suppose I can take a walk after I get some food down. I need a break first.
As he was grabbing his tray, Brandon noticed a familiar face that made him stop in his tracks. The Director of the FBI was standing up near the counter, simultaneously chatting with someone and scanning the room. Matthew Kelley had always struck Brandon as a rather imposing individual. Kelley was easily one of the tallest men he'd ever seen, and he had a booming voice that made it seem like he was yelling, even during an everyday conversation.
He's been nothing but friendly to me ever since I started training their field operatives, but he still makes me really nervous. I never know how much he honestly sees. Kelley was so suspicious after we came back from that mission with the Akiudo in Okinawa. I like the job, and I know Greg doesn't want to quit…but I feel like I'm constantly walking on eggshells around that man.
Brandon swallowed as Kelley made eye contact, and the man headed directly for him. "Director. I didn't expect to see you here."
Kelley grinned and thumped him heartily on the back. Brandon resisted the urge to wince from the pain that lit through his shoulders under his boss's heavy arm. The toll of the physical labor felt like it was hitting his arms the worst.
"How are you doing, Brandon? Getting something to eat? You've been working hard, I wager."
Brandon nodded. "It's been a long day...a long three days. I'm ready to get out of here."
"You and me both, James." Kelley shook his head. "You mind some company while you eat?"
"No, feel free to join me." Brandon forced a relaxed smile. "Have you been in contact with your family?"
"Talked to the wife this morning, before that little mini-quake sent things out of whack again. I'm planning on hitting the road pretty soon myself. What about your sisters, have you heard from them?"
"I talked to Kat last night. She's staying in Triage with Luke until he can get transferred to a hospital."
"And their little girl?"
"Reina's doing okay. Kat experienced a bad scare with both of them, but she says Luke is stable, and she hasn't let the baby out of her sight."
"I wouldn't either. I can still remember when my girl was that small. I can't call her 'little' to her face anymore."
"Too grown-up?"
"She's a teenager. According to her, 'little girl' doesn't apply anymore."
"How old again?"
"Fifteen."
Brandon groaned. "All the best of luck to you, Sir."
Matthew chuckled as he thumped him on the back a second time. "I hear you saved some lives over the last couple of days, Brandon."
He shrugged. "I was in the right place to help, and it was one of those situations you don't walk away from. This stuff hasn't been easy, but someone has to do it, right?"
Kelley nodded gravely, a somber expression taking over his features. "You've been doing good work, James, but it's time you got out of here for a while."
"And it's time you saw your family," Brandon returned.
"Judging from my wife's tone on the phone this morning, its past time."
Brandon began concentrating more on eating, and let Kelley do the majority of the talking. He tried to nod occasionally and insert comments at the appropriate places, but he wasn't completely focused on his boss. The large man was intensely describing the latest of his son's college exploits in Michigan, and it was becoming more difficult to fake paying attention.
He stifled a yawn with effort. I'm not looking forward to walking a couple of miles, but it has to be done.
"Well...I think I ought to get moving, since I have a ways to go," Bran said dismissively.
"You don't have a vehicle out here, do you, James? You and Heffernan usually carpool."
"I'm going to call him to come get me; I just have to walk to find a signal first."
"Why don't you let me drop you, Brandon?"
"I don't want you to go out of your way for me, Sir, not with the conditions of the streets."
"Nonsense - you've been pouring yourself into this rescue effort. The least someone can do is give you a ride. How about it?"
Being trapped in a car with him doesn't sound appealing, but it would definitely get me there faster...I think the trade-off is worth it.
"If you insist..." Brandon faltered.
"I do. I just need to make another trip up into the Federal Building to get a couple of things from my office. You can wait down here if you like."
Brandon shook his head. "I need to pick up my stuff too."
"Are you finished eating?"
Brandon pushed back from the table and dropped the meager remnants of his food into the trash before following Kelley out of the crowded room. The number of people waiting for an elevator in the lobby was slightly disconcerting.
"Y'know, if we went up a couple of flights, we could probably avoid some of this mess," Kelley said in an uncharacteristically low tone. "What do you say, Brandon, are you up for it?"
He nodded. "Better than standing around for the next fifteen minutes."
The two men ducked through a nearby door into a cavernous stairwell. Brandon established a good grip on the railing, and began climbing at a steady pace. Kelley kept up with him easily, and Brandon caught himself grinning surreptitiously.
He goes on and on about getting old, but he's in better shape than a lot of these trainees who walk in off the street. Kelley's really not a bad guy, just a bit...overbearing.
"I appreciate your help," Brandon mentioned.
"It's nothing, James, don't mention it. Its times like this you gotta help other people. That's all you've been doing."
As Brandon turned his head to respond to his boss, he felt a distinct shudder under his feet that he instantly recognized.
"Director!" he called, as he threw his other arm over the banister to steady himself.
Kelley stopped behind him, latching onto the railing as the rumbling increased in volume. When it felt like the tremor was gathering strength, Brandon crouched down lower on the stairs to help center his balance. His heart rate sped up as he fought to keep both arms over the banister, and he gasped out loud when it felt like the solid surface under his feet was crumbling.
Brandon ducked his head closer to his chest protect himself from objects that were littering down from above. He heard a chunk of concrete strike nearby on his right side, just before sudden pain exploded in the side of his head. It hardly had a chance to register before the stairwell disappeared from his sight.