CH 4

"Do you see anything?" Mac yelled at Patrick 30 feet away.

"No" Patrick yelled back.

"EMMA…..! SABRINA…..!" Patrick, Mac and Anna were all calling out their names as loudly as they could. The only response they got was their own echoes. Patrick made his way through the thick brush flashlight in hand looking for anything he could find.

"Anna, are u sure this is the area?" He asked with frustration in his voice.

"I'm positive" Anna replied. "Maybe we should split up. We might cover more ground that way."

"Where the hell is the rescue team? Back up. Something?!" Patrick screamed

"We're in a neighboring town, Patrick. The PCPD doesn't have any jurisdiction out here. I radioed the chief in this town, but we have no solid proof Emma and Sabrina are even out here. The most they can do is send a deputy. They said even that could take an hour."

"Dammit, Anna. An hour?!" Patrick was losing all sense of thought and reasoning. He couldn't see anything past the fear in his mind. In his heart.

"Patrick, I know you're worried" Mac interjected "But we need to keep calm. We are going to find them. We just need to devise a plan. Maybe we should split…."

"SSHHHH!" Patrick interrupted. "Did you hear that?"

Mac and Anna looked at each other confused. "No" They both said in unison.

"Listen…" Patrick whispered. All three of them became mute. After what seemed like forever they finally heard it. The distant sound of a tiny voice screaming for help.

"EMMA!" Patrick screamed. Without hesitation they all started running in the direction they thought the sound was coming from. "EMMA, BABY WHERE ARE YOU?!" Patrick was running so fast that he dropped his flashlight. It didn't matter. Emma's voice was getting closer. He would find her in the dark if he had to.

"KEEP SCREAMING, BABY. LET DADDY KNOW WHERE YOU ARE!"

"Patrick over here! There's a path!" Anna yelled ahead. They all shifted direction to the dirt path on the other side of the waist high shrubs. The minute they hit the dirt, they saw the tiny shadow running straight towards them. Patrick's eyes became as big as saucers. He's little girl. He's Princess. He's everything.

Patrick lifted Emma in his arms with a force so strong, he was sure that he must have hurt her. "Are you ok?" He tried to ask through the knot in his throat.

"Yes, I'm ok" Emma replied, relived to be in her father's arms.

"Let me look at you." Patrick said setting her down and inspecting her from head to toe. Other than a few scratches on her arms, she seemed to be ok.

"We are so happy to see you," Anna said with tears of joy filling her eyes

"Very happy" Mac added.

"Emma… what is this?" Patrick asked grabbing the wet cloth from Emma's grip.

"Sabrina did it. She ripped her dress and poured the water over it. She told me to put it over my mouth and breathe but she didn't tell me why" Emma said. Patrick, Mac and Anna all locked eyes. All thinking the same thing. They knew exactly why someone would do that. To keep from inhaling smoke, or worse, gas.

"Emma, honey, where is Sabrina now?" Patrick pleaded with his little girl.

"She's back in that house" Emma said turning around to point in the same direction she had just run from. "She broke a window and told me to crawl out and run. I didn't want to leave her, Daddy. We have to help her" she cried.

"It's ok sweetie. I'll find her." He wrapped his arms around her once again. "But right now I need for you to go with Grandma Anna, ok?" Patrick redirected his attention to Anna before Emma could respond "Take her to GH as fast as you can. Have them run tests on her lungs."

Patrick didn't have to explain why. Anna already knew. She took Emma in her arms. "I'll send every unit I can reach." She exclaimed before turning around to run towards their cars that were parked half a mile down the road.

Without saying a word, Patrick and Mac began running in the opposite direction. "Sabrina?!" Patrick screamed when they finally reached the small wood shack. There was no response. Mac went around the side surveying the building.

"There's a broken window over here" He yelled back at Patrick. " But I can't see anything."

"Sabrina?!" Patrick yelled again. This time in full blown panic. He began beating on the door that was bolted shut. "Mac, help me! We have to break this door down."

Mac pulled Patrick about 5 feet away from the door, they locked eyes. "On three" Mac said.

In unison they counted. "One... Two…. Three!" On three they barged forward with all the strength they had in their bodies. They door flew open and damn near off the hinge. Patrick, rubbing his shoulder tried to make out the contents of the room. He saw nothing other than her. The woman he loved. Crumpled on the floor in the corner of the dimly lit structure. Motionless.

"NO!" Patrick screamed, running to her side. He fell to his knees and lifted her into his lap. "Sabrina? Baby, I'm here now. Talk to me. Please." He pleaded, brushing the hair away from her face. That beautiful face that he loved so much was pale. Barely recognizable. "Don't you dare do this to me!" He screamed, franticly searching for a pulse. He couldn't find one.

"Sabrina, please…." His tears streaming down like waterfalls. "Please don't leave me. I won't be able to survive this. Not again."

"Patrick…" Mac whispered. Patrick hadn't even noticed that Mac was standing over him. He reached down to Sabrina and Patrick pulled away.

"No! Don't touch her! She's ok. She going to be just fine" He said rocking back and forth.

"I just want to check for a pulse." Mac said quietly. He reached for Sabrina's wrist.

"Yeah, you're going to be ok. I know you are." Patrick was still rocking back and forth with Sabrina's lifeless body clenched to his chest "You're going to come back to me. We still have so much to do, you and I. You can't leave me now. You can't leave Emma. We need you. We love you. I love you. With every single fiber of my being, I love you. Mi corazón." He whispered in her hear. "See, I'm even learning Spanish for you. I know it's not very good. I'll get better, I promise. But I need you to teach me. I need you more than you know…"

"Patrick!" Mac yelled trying to break him out of his daze "I'm going to need you to snap the hell out of it ok? She has a pulse but it's very weak. We have to get the hell out of here. There's no telling home much carbon monoxide she's inhaled. Or even us, for that matter. Let's go!" Mac demanded pulling at Patrick's sleeve

Patrick climbed to his feet with Sabrina secured in his arms and ran outside.

"You stay here. I'll run ahead and bring the car down." Mac said, already in stride.

Patrick carried Sabrina about 20 yards away from the building and laid her flat on the ground. He was now alert enough to do what he was trained to do. Heal the sick. He searched for the pulse that Mac said he found. He was right. It was faint, but it was definitely there. He lowered his ear to her nose to see if she was breathing. He felt nothing. He tilted her head back, pinched her nose and placed his mouth over hers. Two long breaths. He watched her chest rise and fall. Rise and fall.

"Come on Sabrina. Breathe for me, sweetheart." Two more long breaths. Rise and fall. Rise and fall. Still nothing. Patrick didn't stop. He couldn't stop. If he had to breathe life into her, he would. He would do anything for her. He would BE anything for her. He would be her savior. Her knight. Her air. Two more long breaths. Rise and fall. Rise and fall.

Patrick saw the headlights coming his way but didn't stop his rhythm. He wasn't going to let her go without a fight. Not now. Not after everything they've been through to be together. Not now that their main obstacle was out of the way. Not after she had risked her life to save that of his little girl. Of their little girl. No. He refused. This woman was his future. His destiny. At the very moment Patrick heard the car door open, he felt Sabrina's breath on his face. He watched her chest rise and fall. Rise and fall.