Chapter 30 - Explosions

Sunday 16th June

Bo woke to a fourth morning of not having Lauren by her side. Instead she woke to the familiar sound of Lauren's ringtone of Ellie Golding's song 'Explosions'; "I've fallen from grace, took a blow to my face, I loved and I've lost, I loved and I've lost... Explosions..." She heard Lauren's voice as she finally answered it and then the sound of the front door being opened then closed. She closed her eyes and wondered why Lauren had chosen that song, was that how she was feeling or did she simply like the song? Opening her eyes, she immediately looked to her right, expecting to find a note. She jumped when instead she found a sleeping Kenzi. It took her only seconds to register that she was not in her room and jumped out of bed.

Kenzi stirred and opened her eyes, the immediate surprise hit her also when she saw Bo standing by her bed, "What the fuck? Bo, why are you in my room?"

Bo fidgeted, "I must have slept here. Doesn't matter, I just heard Lauren leave so are you ready to go in half an hour?"

Kenzi nodded.

Bo returned to her room and saw that Lauren had made the bed, left a box on top and left her another note on the bedside table. Bo picked up her pace and grabbed the note from the side, sitting down she opened it.

Hello Bo,

I missed you last night, it must have been a good one as your still not home. I've bought you a present. Please wear it tonight?

We have been invited out by Tamsin and Dyson. My parents will be there and maybe you can also invite Kenzi and Hale.

I Love You, Lo x

Bo sighed and let out the batted breath that she never knew she was holding in. She moved to the side of the room and took out her suitcase, picking up the box, she simply shook her head and tossed it into it.

Kenzi stood by the door, "So Bo, you really are going to do this?"

Bo turned, "I have to. You see when two people are together they're meant to bring out the best in each other. I'll only be bad for her. I need to leave. I need to give her the life she deserves."

"Maybe you are Bo," Kenzi replied, walking over to her best friend and placing her hand on her friend's arm, "Maybe you need each other?"

"No Kenz, she needs me to leave. She needs me to let her live the life she was meant for. She has no real future with me. I'll only let her down. She will be arrested for accessory simply for being with me and could get three years in a state prison. You both could. I need to go and face my life alone."

"But the statute of limitations for a serious felony is only six years, Bo you have passed that. You won't be arrested; you need to give yourself in, when the time is right and Lauren has figured out what happened." Kenzi argued.

"We were wrong, Lauren did look into it and that only runs while I'm physically in the state, and as I've been in Canada it's still valid. I can never go back to California, or visit my foster mum, or live a normal life. I can't ask Lauren to do the same." Bo said calmly, as she continued to pack.

"Bo-Bo I know I agreed to this last night, but it's real, like for sure real, and it's not sitting right with me, you need to talk to her. This feels wrong." Kenzi looked her best friend in the eyes, hoping that she would change her mind.

Bo shook her head. "No, this is the best for her. Her family is right, if she's with me I'll bring her trouble. I'll kill her career and she will waste her life waiting for me. This is the best for her. I must go now before we get in too deep."

"Bo, you both are already in too deep. This will just hurt her, and ultimately hurt you too." Kenzi said desperately trying to convenience her friend.

"I can't, I just can't. I'm just not good for her." Bo's voice began to crack.

"No Bo, one thing you are is good. You're kind, you're loyal, you're my hero Bo." Kenzi spoke with sincerity.

Bo shook her head. Unable to speak anymore, her voice giving way at the thought of never seeing Lauren again.

"You don't need to do this Bo, we can figure it out, together. Let me be your Robin. Please don't shut us out." Kenzi begged.

"I have to, I'm sorry it ended this way. But everything ends badly, or it wouldn't end." Bo replied, this time with more confidence. In her heart, she knew it was the right thing to do, even though that same heart was now breaking into a million pieces. Bo stood in front of her best friend and took hold of her upper arms, before pulling her in close. "I love you Kenzi, please trust me. I'm doing the right thing this time. Please leave this for Lauren." Bo handed her an envelope and her necklace. "She will understand once she reads it."

Kenzi nodded, she knew Bo and she knew that no matter what she said Bo would not change her mind once it was decided. She slipped the envelope into the inside of her jacket pocket.

Lauren's Office

Lauren was sat in her office, unable to concentrate on any work today and thankful that she had no patients waiting to be seen. She missed Bo terribly and her gut was telling her that something was wrong. It was a feeling she could not shake. Picking up her tablet she stood, she needed to see Bo, opening the door and flipping the closed sign around, she walked out, locked it and headed towards the beach bar. The sun was shining as Lauren walked down, smiling a hello to a few of her colleagues and customers as she passed them by, hurriedly making her way down towards the beach. Lauren had an hour before her morning managers meeting was due to start. She knew it would be a quick meeting as she had had not been on her normal full-scale hotel check recently. Other matters had preoccupied her mind and time. Bo had been quiet lately, and she understood that the strain of her family visiting must be affecting her. Picking up her phone, she dialled Bo's number.

It rang out a few times before going to voicemail. "Hey Bo, it's me again. I guess you're busy today. I didn't get a chance to speak to you last night. I know you're worried about things, but please don't, there's nothing we can't do if we're together. Please call me. I love you."

She reached the bar, noticing straight away that Bo was not there, she spoke to Kim who confirmed that Bo had not shown up for work yet, her gut stirred again. Something was the matter. She dialled Bo's number again and again getting her voicemail. It had been an hour since she had left the apartment this morning and Bo had still not answered a single text message or phone call from her, and she was starting to worry. The familiar sound of Arabic then English telling her that the caller's phone was switched off.

She dialled another number and made a quick call to make sure that the phone lines were working, and they were. A quick chat to her caller, she sighed and placed her phone back in her pocket and walked up to the roof. She needed to be alone to think.

Savoy Hotel

"That was Lauren on the phone, she sounds different. I hope that everything is ok with her and Bo?" Kate placed her phone down and took her gin and tonic from the side table and sat beside Adam on the patio.

"Well, she may not be for a while, but she will be in the end," Adam replied with a smile on his face.

"What is it with your Irish riddles?" Kate huffed, "Why don't you just speak in plain English. Our daughter is upset and regardless of what we think of Bo, she's taken by her."

"Well, what if she wasn't?" Adam asked.

"Don't be foolish Adam, I've had this chat with her already and she basically threatened to leave us and be with her if we interfered with them." Kate took a sip from her drink and continued, "Besides, I like Bo's tenacity, reminds me a bit of a younger me."

Adam looked down, unable to keep eye contact, "Then in that case Kate, I've been more than foolish." Adam told a dumbstruck Kate the whole story that he and Donald had devised and executed the day before and how Bo was now in the procession of an open airline ticket and a banker check worth seventy thousand pounds.

Kate walked to the sideboard and poured herself another drink. "Well, Adam in that case you better get to the airport immediately and beg her for forgiveness and tell her you're a daft prick then." Kate smiled over and Adam nodded, kissing his wife he walked to the door.

"I love you, Adam," Kate shouted back over her shoulder, "If you don't get her to change her mind then we will fix it together."

"I love you too Kate, I'm sorry. I'll fix this." Adam smiled back over to his wife and left.

Security Desk

The phone rang out a few times before Tamsin answered it, she and Dyson had been fooling around on the floor and it had got rather heated. "Erm, front desk, erm security Tamsin speaking."

"Hey Tam, it's Lauren. How are you? Is this a good time to chat?", Laurens voice was crackly, and something told Tamsin that all was not ok.

"Yeah," Tamsin looked down at Dyson's erect dick and sighed, standing she indicated to Dyson to do the same and mouth the words 'Sorry, should take this', "What is it hun?"

"Have you or Dyson seen Bo today?" Lauren asked.

"No babes sorry, why you lost her?' She giggled, "Can be that hard to find, she's either with you, in the crackhouse, at work or with Kenzi."

"Yeah I know, I just have a bad feeling," Lauren answered.

"You have had that for days." Tamsin sat up onto the stood, "What do you think it means?"

"I don't know," Lauren replied. "I'm probably over-reacting, right?"

"Yeah," Tamsin replied, inconvenienced herself. "You still coming tonight, right?"

"If I can find my fiancée, sure," Lauren said back in reply.

"I'll call around and see if anyone has seen them, ok? Relax Lauren, it will be fine." Tamsin heard Lauren muffle a sniffled reply, and knew that she was most probably crying. She told her she loved her and heard the phone go dead.

"What is it?" Dyson asked.

"Bo." Tamsin stood up and redressed herself. "It's always Bo and will always be Bo. She does nothing but fucking hurt her. Well not anymore, I'll find her and give her an ultimatum, she either is in or she's out. This unaligned shit is pissing me off!"

Dyson stood and nodded, "Can I help?"

Tamsin kissed him on the side of the cheek, "Pass me the phone"

Several calls later and Tamsin had established that Bo and Kenzi had just left the hotel and had borrowed the jeep. The boy in the car park said that there was a suitcase that appeared to belong to Bo.

"What is it?" Dyson finally asked when Tamsin had got off the phone.

"Trouble," Tamsin replied, "a shit load of trouble."

"What are you going to do?" Dyson asked.

Tamsin took the keys for one of the cars parked up and replied. "What I should have done in the beginning."

Rooftop above Lauren's office

Lauren wiped away the tears and decided that she was not going to cry anymore, she needed to take charge of the situation. She had logically worked it out in her head and had come up with a hypothesis. All lines, all solutions, all led back to a simple word, COMMUNICATION. She needed to talk face to face with Bo and they needed to be honest with their feelings if they were to get over this current bad place that they were in, a rut if you'd like? She scribbled what she wanted to say all down on the notes page of her tablet and turned it off. All she needed now was to find her, and she felt confident that they could be happy. As right now, Lauren was not happy, and the thought of asking Bo for a break tore her apart. Before they got there, she needed to try and fix them.

Lauren sat on the edge of the hotel rooftop, and to any passer-by, she may have looked like a suicide risk. Her legs dangled down the side of the building, and her hands rested on her knees. She looked over the waters, it was a calm day, very calm, maybe a bit too calm. It was quiet too, which started to worry Lauren, her stomach lurched as she felt anxiety. Moving off the ledge, she stood to make her way back downstairs and then it hit her. Lauren felt the earth vibrate first then the noise of the explosions that shook her from her feet as she looked back and just saw the black that filled the sky. Jumping back, she could see in the distance the mushroom shaped smoke in the air. Another explosion roared behind her, followed by more black smoke in the sky. Lauren ran frantically towards her office.

Today was election day and from the sound of explosions the reaction was not good, President Morsi was out.

Lauren followed emergency protocol and assembled herself into the rendezvous point where she was meet by Dr Maged. He briefed the medical team that explosions had happened at several places around Sharm el-Sheik. He advised there was mass panic in Sharm with severe casualties and fatalities having been already confirmed by other medical teams in the area. Worst hit was the International Terminal, so Lauren was deployed there due to her experience and expertise.

She was in the car being escorted through the streets to the scene. She already knew it hit departures and there were many casualties already. Bile burnt her throat as she tried again Bo's mobile, but all phone signals were reported down as the second explosion had reportedly struck the communications building. Before getting out the car Lauren tightened the velcro on her bulletproof vest. The vest was only used in suspected terror situations and displayed the word MEDIC on it in English and Arabic. Her bag was between her legs and someone was in the front briefing the junior medics.

Once at the airport Lauren immediately put a team of nurses together and armed only with a stretcher and her medic bag she ran inside the terminal building.

Despite being a previous Army medic, nothing could have prepared her for what followed. The noise of people screaming for medics. Men, women and children. Bodies filled the entrance to the terminal building. The horrific sight of a massacre. Once inside the building, there was a sea of bodies. Passports, documents and clothing covering the area from cases that were struck in the blast.

Lauren worked tirelessly to treat as many people she could save, tourists and airport personnel. She prioritised by ignoring the screaming treating the silent victims as these, she decided, were more critical. Those screaming indicated to her that their injuries were less serious therefore Lauren could leave them to be treated by a less experienced medics.

Many needed to be treated inside the terminal before being stretchered out once they were stabilised. Others were tapped up carried to the waiting ambulances. Half an hour had already passed when she was tapped on the shoulder by one of the junior doctors.

"Dr Lewis?" he asked.

"Yes," Lauren replied, not looking up and tending to the patient she was with. She tied the last bandage and indicated to the nurse that the young man was ready to be stretchered outside.

"Sorry, but we have a patient who's seriously hurt and calling for you." the young boy said to a now standing Lauren.

Panic engrossed Lauren of who it could be, "Where?"

"Please follow me." he answered.

Lauren rushed to the side of the patient and immediately brought her hand up to her mouth, "What are you doing here?"

Outside the Airport

Dyson was moving from medic to medic collecting all reports he could, looking for Tamsin's name, but did not find. He could not find anyone's name which pleased and frustrated him at the same time! Where were they? As he needed to know, one way or another, he volunteered to help carry the deceased to another area to be identified. He had been working for an hour when he was told that more medics had arrived half an hour ago and were treating the rest, so hopefully more would survive. He stood exhausted looking toward the sky and let out a heavy breath, he felt guilt as he thanked God that all the victims he had seen were unknown to him. Just then he spotted Hale just behind the barricaded police line and walked over.

"Hey Hale, are you ok?" he asked, sensing already the answer was no, after all, who could be ok on a day like today?

"Dyson, have you seen Kenzi? she was coming here with Bo," Hale asked, gripping onto Dyson's waistcoat.

"No, and Tamsin came looking for her, and I've not seen her either," Dyson replied.

"Erm, Tamsin was here, I saw her, she was being treated when I arrived." Hale replied, "I saw her arguing with the doctor."

"Really, what doctor?" Dyson asked, feeling relieved.

"Dr Maged," Hale replied.

Dyson saw Dr Maged and ran toward him, turning him around once he had got there to face him. "Where's Tamsin?", he panted.

"Hello Dyson, she has cuts to her arms and legs from the shattered glass. Thankfully she was not inside when the explosion happened but was nearby when the glass front exploded outwards and she, unfortunately, was hit. No permanent damage, but I sent her to be cleaned up at the state hospital."

Dyson nodded relieved.

"Hey Dyson'"

Dyson turned to see Kenzi standing behind him, her already small frame looking smaller.

"Kenzi, Hale is looking for you." Dyson took her by the arm and walked her to where he was last with Hale, searching for him.

Hale ran over the minute he saw them and flung his arms around her. "Baby, I did not know where you were."

"I've been looking for Bo. You see she never came out, she went in but did not come out. I stayed in case she changed her mind, but she didn't. She didn't come out." Kenzi spoke nervously.

Dyson walked off and reappeared a few minutes later with a piece of paper in his hands. "This is the most updated list of all people that have been treated and either taken to the hospital or gone back home. There's Tamsin's name on it, but no Bo. She has not been seen by a medic, and I've not seen her where I've just been. So, she's either still inside or she's home."

"She's not at home; I would have seen her come back out. She's inside." Kenzi started to scream.

"Look I'll check the hotel, just in case and come straight back, as the phone lines are down, we have no way of knowing. She may be looking for you, or Lauren." Dyson smiled, trying his best to reassure her. "I'll be back as soon as I know."

Dyson turned and left. Leaving behind a shrieking Kenzi and Hale trying his best to comfort her.

Inside the Airport

Lauren desperately worked hard on her father for fifteen minutes. His blood pressure was dropping every minute, and she knew that she was losing him. With all the people she had already saved today, it would be her own father that she could not. Tears started to form as she quickly wiped them away, she needed to concentrate.

"Lauren," Adam gargled blood, "Lauren, please, we both know this is futile." He held onto her hand. "Darling Lauren, I'm cold and I will be gone soon, please let me tell you something."

Lauren ignored him and carried on CPR on his heart, the blood was spilling from everywhere, no matter what she bandaged up, another pool of blood followed. "Sshhh daddy, it will be alright. Just some blood loss, we can get you some more at the hospital, just need to patch you up so that you're ready for the ambulance ride."

"We both know that is not true Lauren. We both know that I'm about to go into a hypovolemic shock, my organs will shortly shut down and I'll die." Adam answered, his words making Lauren stop what she was doing. "I need to tell you something. I did a bad thing Lauren and I need you to forgive me."

Lauren choked back her tears. "Daddy, I love you. Please hold on and tell me when you're better. Please, dad, hold on."

"I made Bo go away," he gargled more blood from his mouth, "I paid her to go and leave you alone. I thought it was for the best. I was wrong Lauren, and I'm sorry. I love you, Lauren, always have since the day you were placed in my arms."

"I love you too daddy. I love you so much, please stay with me. Please." Lauren begged, tears falling freely from her eyes.

"I'm so proud of you. And I'll be proud always. You have completed me, you, your brothers and your mother. Please tell them." Adam struggled to speak, and became more and more of a whisper. "And Bo is innocent, Laur- check- the- flowers-."

Lauren held her father and whispered that he was forgiven and that she loved him as he slowly slipped away. Despite everything she had tried, he was right, it was futile. There were too many wounds and too much blood loss. She held his hand as he took his final breath.

Closing his eyes, she rested him back on the floor. The junior medic signalled for the stretcher and with discretion pulled out a body bag from his bag. Lauren stood up and walked toward the exit, she was done for the day, and she needed to be with her mother. The building was empty and her father would be the last to leave.

The army arrived instructing everyone to evacuate the surrounding areas. They were joined by soldiers from Britain and America who were deployed from their Consulate's to assist as another bomb was reported inside.

Walking outside the sun seemed brighter to her, sirens were deafening the airport entrance, police and military personnel guarding barriers in the distance as hundreds of civilians were battling to attempt to get near the airport to search for loved ones. She watched as her father was taken to an ambulance and it drove away. She wanted to scream, shout, punch something or fall to her knees and cry. Instead, she stood in silence, unable to do anything. She knew she needed to be with her mother, but her feet felt cemented to the floor.

Adjusting back to reality, she heard her name being called. She looked around to see that Kenzi was being held back by police and shrieking hysterically for her.

Lauren rushed to Kenzi's side and flashed her badge, explaining that Kenzi was her assistant and the rope being lifted for her to enter.

"Kenzi, what is it?" Lauren asked still covered in her father's blood.

"It's Bo! Bo is inside! Help Lauren please HELP!" Kenzi choked back her tears. "She didn't come out."

Lauren thought back to the last thing her dad had said to her, he had paid off Bo. Bo was leaving and her father had gone to the airport to try and stop her, and he had died doing so. "What was she doing in there?" Lauren shook Kenzi, who fell to the floor sobbing.

"The airline called said your bag was found, she was collecting it" Kenzi lied, panting.

Lauren knew that she was lying, but could not face losing someone else she loved that day. She turned to face the bomb hit building. "We cleared the building Kenzi, are you sure she did not come out?"

"I'm positive, Dyson has already checked the dead and injured, he's checking the hotel, but I know she's inside. I just know it. Help me, please." Kenzi begged.

Lauren nodded and faced the entrance, "OK, Bo I'm coming for you!"

Lauren swiped a medic's rucksack, who was being treated for lacerations to his leg, and turned back toward the building.

"You can't go back in, the Army is stopping people, see." Kenzi pointed over to the row of Soldiers lined up by each door.

Spotting the British uniform Lauren walked up to the young man. "My name is Lieutenant Lewis from the 254th Medical Regiment. I've a case vac inside. " Lauren stood straight.

"I'm sorry Lieutenant but my orders are to not allow anyone inside as we have confirmed reports of an IED." the solider replied.

"Yes but I'm a higher-ranking OC and I order the door open." This time Lauren was firmer and the door was opened.

Kenzi looked at them both and said, "Yeah, what she said, I'm with her." as she followed Lauren in.

Lauren's heart was literally beating so fast. Her Bo was somewhere inside; she might be hurt or worse still dead. She knew that one team had already cleared the departure hall, and her team had cleared the check in area, there was only one place left, and that the glass walkway that joined the two parts of the airport together.

Lauren and Kenzi ran down towards the corridor which was empty except for a single person who lay motionless on the floor. Lauren stopped, she tried everything she could to try and hold down her rising panic, but she knew already it was her Bo.

Kenzi carried on running, and her fears were confirmed as Kenzi shouted back to her that it was indeed her. She was screaming that Bo was not moving and there was a lot of blood.

Lauren froze. She could not see her Bo dead. She had just lost her dad and her nerves were already shot.

Kenzi ran back to her and pulled her over.

Lauren looked down at her love, she was still. Blood surrounding her, a single laceration above her heart. Her eyes scanned her body. She looked like she was sleeping, and Lauren felt fear like she never had felt before.

Snapping herself back to what she needed to do, she quickly reached for Bo's wrist and breathed a sigh of relief when she found a pulse, a very faint one, but still, a pulse. Looking Bo over she assessed the situation, she moved Bo onto her side and saw an exit wound just above her shoulder. She determined that it would be shrapnel that had passed through her. Lauren had seen that more than a few times in Afghanistan. It was not always the blast that killed but what the bomb was packed with, which was usually nails and pieces of metal.

The wound was just above her heart between the second and third rib, she grabbed the tape and taped up the front and the back to stop the bleeding, Bo had already lost so much blood, she would have passed out.

Bo's breathing was laboured; she assessed she was suffocating from her lung collapsing from the pressure of the build-up of air. Lauren went back to inside her bag, this time for a flutter valve.

The pain shot through Lauren before the sound of the second explosion had time to register with her.

The metal beam that had fallen had landed on Lauren's left side, pinning her to the floor. Lauren screamed out in agony, her body willing itself to shut down with the pain and to pass out. Lauren not allowing it, knowing that is she did she would wake up to Bo also dead. She screamed out determined to stay awake. She tried to turn around, to grab the valve and put it in Bo, but she could not reach either.

Kenzi was by her side, she tried to lift the beam, but it was too heavy for her tiny frame.

"Doc, what can I do?" Kenzi pleaded.

"I need you to help Bo. You see that flutter valve, erm the metal pump shape object." Lauren pointed to the flutter valve, trying her best to make sure she kept her explanations simple, "It's sharp Kenzi and I need you to pierce Bo with it. She's suffocating Kenzi and without it she will die."

Kenzi nodded, she picked up the instrument and held it over Bo, "Where?"

"Place your finger on her chest, can you feel her ribs?" Lauren asked.

Kenzi nodded.

"Count down to four and put it between the fourth and fifth one, all the way down till the base is touching her skin," Lauren deeply inhaled, "then use the tape to secure it to her chest. Then slowly open the valve, slowly remember, to allow the build-up of air to be released from around her lung. Then leave it open. It will be ok until she gets to hospital. Then leave us, and get help." Lauren was fighting back her bodies need to be unconscious.

"Doc, Doc," Kenzi shook her, "I don't know if I can."

"You can Kenzi, I know you can. I'm here, just do as I said." Lauren wearily replied.

Kenzi walked back to Bo, flutter valve in her hand. She found the forth rib and positioned it between that and the fifth one. Bo gargled and blood left her mouth.

"Now Kenzi, she needs you, or she will die," Lauren whispered.

Needing no further encouragement, she did exactly as Lauren had instructed. Surprised at how easy it slid into her best friend's body. She tapped it to her chest and released the air. Slowly Bo's eyes flickered, her breathing returning to normal. She was alive.

"Lauren, Lauren I did it," Kenzi called over.

Lauren smiled, "I knew you could. And that is the first time you have ever called me by my name." Her eyes closed and her body went limp. A small trace of blood trickled from her mouth. As her body fought consciousness she thought of her dear dad, her mum, her best friend and whether Bo would be there if or when she woke. And somewhere in that darkness, Lauren found her calm, she had lost her dad, had almost lost Bo, and felt that there was now nothing left.