"Hurry," Kayla urged, as the noise from outside the locked room stopped. With it, she thought her heart stopped as well.
The screams had been Steve's. And now they had stopped.
Please let him be okay, she prayed silently. I can't lose him again.
She knew she could never survive losing Steve again. Losing him the first time had nearly been the end of her. There was no way she could go through it again.
Kayla closed her eyes. Whatever was happening, she had to stay calm. She had to keep her wits about her. Steve was alive, she told herself. If he was hurt, he would need her to keep her wits about her.
It seemed like an eternity since the screams had stopped.
Why haven't we heard Shane? she wondered. He must have a gun. Wasn't he a great shot? By now he should have found Cal.
"What's taking so long?" Kayla hissed at Kim.
"I'm trying," Kim snapped back. "Damn." Something fell from her hands. The lockpick. Kim reached down, picked it up, and studied it.
"What's wrong?" Kayla asked. Then she saw how Kim's hands were shaking and understood. Kayla took Kim's hands in hers. "Take a deep breath, Kimmie. We need to get out of here, so you need to focus and get this door open." The very back of her mind registered the absurdity that she was urging Kim to stay calm, when Kayla was going crazy inside. She wanted to rip the lockpick from Kim's hands. Sheer will would force the lock open. But Kayla knew she was wrong; Kim was their best hope. "Kim, it's okay. Just calm down and do what Shane taught you."
Kim gave a sharp nod, and she refocused on the lock . Her hands were no longer shaking visibly, but Kayla suspected that Kim's insides were in as much turmoil as Kayla's were. Trying to force the worst possible thoughts from her mind, Kayla tried to force herself to think positively. There were no shots. That was good, right?
But what caused him to scream like that? Kayla had never heard Steve in so much pain. Even in his nightmares from his captivity, he never sounded so much in pain.
God, please let him be okay. The fear and worry were drowning out her hope.
Kayla started to tell Kim to hurry, but remained quiet. Kim was concentrating hard on the lock, but nothing seemed to be happening. Kayla wanted to grab the lockpick again, but she contained herself and crossed her arms, almost as if she did not trust herself to hold still.
Please, Kim. Please. I need to know if Steve's all right. If Steve's alive.
She stepped away from the door, needing to move. Her body was shaking. The only sound she heard was the soft scraping of metal against metal as Kim worked on the lock.
Where's Shane? Kayla asked herself again. Why don't we hear anything?
Anxiously, Kayla turned back to Kim. Unable to stop herself, she asked, "What's taking so long?"