Shaky Ground

Chapter Twenty-Two

Here we go again ... the plot bunny just couldn't stay away. Persistent little fucker. Originally, this began as a dream. When I woke up, I wrote down as much as I could, but it's morphed into something different.

Chapter Twenty-Two

"BELLA!" Jake yelled. Her eyes flew open and she felt the earth move again. "It's worse!"

"Get in the door, Jakey," Bella said, pushing him toward the exit of the lounge. The lockers swayed dangerously as she sat up, moving her sluggish body. She stumbled toward the doorway and she tripped when the ground jerked. She caught herself with her hands.

"Bella! The lockers!" Jake screamed. She turned around just as the locker came crashing down on her left leg. She screamed as the pain radiated up her leg, rattling her to her core. She whimpered, falling back and faded out of consciousness, the last coherent thought she had was of Jake and reuniting with Edward.

I love you, Edward ...

xx SG xx

Edward hiked throughout the night. He helped a few people along the way, providing medical care when he could, but his destination was still Harborview Medical Center. He was getting closer. He saw signs for it, but the hospital itself was missing from the skyline. The damage was overwhelming. Buildings were in ruins. He could only imagine the people trapped in them. He wanted to help, but he was being selfish. After pushing his needs to the side for four years, he was done waiting.

"Guys, be careful," he heard. He looked over, seeing a familiar face. "We don't want to cause a cave-in!" He walked, stumbling over rubble and saw Emmett and Jasper, working with their team.

"Emmett," Edward called.

"Masen!" he barked, hopping down and hugging his friend. "Dude, what happened to you. Your head is all bruised."

"During the initial quake, I had a bowl fall on my head. I'm okay," Edward said, waving his head. "I'm going to Harborview."

"It's gone, Ed," Jasper frowned.

"Bella's there," Edward said. "I got her text, but I was unconscious. I couldn't reply."

"I texted her, telling her to stay where she was at, but I didn't hear back from her," Emmett said.

"And what about the patients?" Edward asked. "I'm assuming that they tried to evacuate them. I've got to try."

"Harborview is our home base, Edward," Jasper said. "While it's gone, they set up an emergency room in the street. Everyone's on call and they're working."

"Well, I'm going to get her," Edward choked out. "Do ... do you have a radio? A spare coat?"

Emmett narrowed his eyes, nodding and leading Edward to the nearby fire truck. He handed Edward a radio and a spare firefighter's coat. He slipped it on. "We're going with you. Can you wait five minutes while I tell my lieutenant that we're going to work on the Harborview evac?"

"Yeah," Edward said, taking a slug from his water bottle. He watched as Emmett spoke to his boss, but he nodded, jerking his finger over his shoulder. Emmett walked toward them. "Well?"

"We're good to go. The hospital is higher priority than where we're at," Emmett replied. He picked up a bright red first-aid bag and some tools. "Ready, Jas?"

"Let's go," he nodded.

The three men walked through the rubble, shocked at the sheer amount of destruction this quake caused. It was clear this was probably the epicenter of the earthquake. Buildings were crumbling, cars were crushed and there were so many injured people. It slowed them down. A group of three men, wearing Seattle Fire Department gear, people flocked to them, begging for help. Edward did what he could for the injured, as did Jasper, but until more assistance came from the National Guard or FEMA, they couldn't help the people who were trapped in the debris. The people who were able to walk, they encouraged them to go to Harborview. As the sun was breaching the horizon, they arrived at the remnants of the hospital where Edward worked.