The Los Angeles Train Crash

[andrea]

Continuing Chapter 28

In the triage area, Robin walked out of the tunnel with a police officer. The commissioner had just walked up to a medical person and looked over to see Robin. He walked over to her and asked about his daughter.

“Jen? Yeah I have” Robin said, “She was with me during the whole crash”

“Is she coming out?”

“No, not right now she went with the others to help them out”

The commissioner knew that his daughter didn’t want to see him. Then saw Robin’s arm, “What happen to your arm?”

“This guy, Hector, shot me” she turned around and saw the fire fighters carrying Hector out on a stretcher, “Him”

“Hold on, hold it. That’s Hector Ruiz. Cuff him as soon as you can, don’t let him out of your site. Get him out of here”

Once he said that to his other detective that was helping bring Hector out. They walked away. The commissioner turned to look at Robin, “We need a doctor over here” he called out.

“Commissioner I’m a doctor, ok? It’s a superficial injury”

“Ok, sorry, but you should still go to the hospital. What can you tell me about the crash?”

“Jen and I were on the train and she spotted Hector”

Over at Hector the doctor who check Jennifer and Linsey out was over near Hector, “You can put him in hand cuffs when I finish the exam” she said putting gloves on.

“He’s in police custody” the detective said.

“He’s barely alive. Why don’t you go get a cup of coffee while I stabilize him?” Hector slowly opened his eyes.

“I’m staying with him” the detective said. The doctor grabbed Hector’s jacket that was on the stretcher not knowing that the switch to all the bombs he scattered throughout the tunnel fell on to the floor.

“You’re interfering with medical treatment. Get out of the way” Hector open his eyes wide when he saw the switch.

******

​

“Ok, let me get this straight. You want me to forgive you and just wring my hands and say that I need you anyways?” Anna asked Mike.

“You don’t have to wring your hands”

“Fine. I do love you, I -- and I do need you and I do want you, but how am I suppose to forgive myself for everything I put us through?”

“I know you didn’t mean to push me away, but it did get tiresome. Just promise me that you won’t do it again”

“It’s a compulsion”

“I know”

“Every time I opened my mouth to say I love you something awful comes out instead. Because I love you and I want to be with you…..Now say something”

“I’m handling the truth just fine”

“Hmm, that’s my guy” she said and Mike moved closer to her, putting his hands on the side of her face and kissed her.

******

​

“Anna should be up here by now” Robin said to the commissioner, after she told about what she did to save Anna and Jennifer but the commissioner had already knew.

“Don’t worry, they’ll get her out”

“I can’t believe she’s still alive. You can’t imagine what’s she’s been through”

“Who else is down there?”

“Um -- Mike, Monica, a man with a gun wound, we don’t know his name, Talinda, Rob, Patrick, Chester and your daughter Jen”

“Did you see anyone else down there?”

Robin froze for a little bit, “No, I don’t think so”

*******

​

Sam was sitting on her bed writing in her note book when there was a knock on the door, “Yes?” she called out.

‘I will be the answer/ At the end of the line/ I will be there for you/ While you take the time/ In the burning of uncertainty/ I will be your solid ground/ I will hold the balance/ If you can't look down…’

“Are you still awake?” she heard someone ask.

Sam put her note book down and got up walking over to the door wondering who it could be. When she opened the door she was surprised to see her father, Draven, and Draven’s nanny Leticia.

“Mom!” he said and gave her a hug.

‘If it takes my whole life/ I won't break, I won't bend/ It will all be worth it/ Worth it in the end/ ‘Cause I can only tell you what I know/ That I need you in my life/ When the stars have all gone out/ You'll still be burning so bright…’

“Oh, Draven! Buddy!” she said hugging him back. She then looked up at her father knowing he brought Draven over to lift her spirt up and it was exactly what she need, “I’m going to be home soon, okay. Thank you” she said looking at her father again.

******

​

“The worst is over. Rescue team is going to get us out of here real soon”

“What about Sam?” Talinda asked Chester.

“Patrick is going to fine her”

“When you see her, will you give her a message for me? Will you tell her that I really hope she can forgive me? And tell her that she’s the luckiest woman in the world” she said almost crying.

‘Cast me gently/ Into morning/ For the night has been unkind/ Take me to a/ Place so holy/ That I can wash this from my mind/ The memory of choosing not to fight…’

Chester was about to say something back to her but the noise of something falling down made him turn his head. Behind him Talinda slowly closed her eyes.

‘If it takes my whole life/ I won't break, I won't bend/ It will all be worth it/ Worth it in the end/ 'Cause I can only tell you what I know/ That I need you in my life/ When the stars have all burned out/ You'll still be burning so bright…’

“Is everyone all right?” Brad called out as he came in, coming down the rocks. Monica got up off the ground as did Rob to welcome his band mate back.

“Brad!” Monica said throwing her arms around him.

“You ok?” Brad asked letting go of her. The rescue team came in behind him.

“Ok” Chester said and turned to look at Talinda and saw that her eyes were close, “The rescue teams here --” he said grabbing her hand, “There going to get us out. There going --” he stopped talking when he noticed something wrong, “Talinda?”

‘Cast me gently/ Into morning/ For the night has been unkind’

Brad, Monica, and Rob looked over to Chester and Talinda, not knowing what was going on, “Talinda?” Chester tried again and looked at Brad, Monica and Rob who were all in shock.

******

Lyrics - Sarah Mclachlan - Answers (Afterglow)

 

[Ravynlee]

omg - OMG - OMFG!

*gasps*

Is like... in shock... don't tell me... she didn't ... did she...?

*sniffles*



But Mike and Anna have all the one-liners in this. Gotta love that.

Whoa - like - what a rollercoaster of an update!!!

Excellent!

More...?

*hugs*

~Rav

 

[andrea]

Chapter 29

Sorry again for the wait, kind of had a small writers block. School is ending next week so I'll have more time to write. So here what I've written so far. Hope you enjoy.

******

“How’s my boy?” Sam asked Draven who was on her lap as she was sitting in her chair.

“Good” Draven said.

“Yeah?”

“Uh-huh” he said shaking his head.

“What have you learned in school?” she asked him

“We just learned about the Boston Tea Party”

“Really?”

“Grandma helped me with learning about it some more. She even let me drink some tea”

“Did you like it?”

“I didn’t get to try any cause I picked up grandma’s tea cup and by accident poured it on the ground”

“Oh, no!”

“I made a pretty big mess”

“Yeah, well, you didn’t mean to do it”

Sam turned to look near the door and saw Dr. Kim who just opened the door, “Sam, I think it's time for your son to be leaving. Don't you?”

******

​

“Sam?” Patrick called out walking into a tunnel, “its ok. Are you --” he stopped walking and Jen walked into him. What he saw in front of him was one of the bombs. He pointed to it and Jen saw it.

“Hector had a stack of explosives. He must have wired the place” Jen said.

Patrick walked up to it, taking a better look at the bomb, “It’s connected to a remote detonator”

Outside Hector moved his arm and slowly started trying to reach for the switch.

“And if the charges are linked?” Jen asked.

“If the charges are linked, there will be a chain reaction this whole mountain could cave-in. I have to disarm it and find the others”

“No, Patrick, it's impossible. Hector had a whole sack of explosives. There's no way you're going to find them all in time”

******

​

Back at Rose Lawn, Sam was saying good-bye Draven, “Ok, I want you to promise me that you’ll come back and visit really, really soon, ok?”

“Yeah”

“This has been great, buddy. It really has”

“You feeling better?” he asked his mom.

“I feel so much better, I do. Seeing you has given me the strength to get better and to come home sooner, I promise”

“That’s good”

“Make sure you don’t spill any more tea, ok?” she said laughing slightly.

“I'll try, I'll try”

“All right”

“You ready to go?” Sam’s father asked Draven.

“Yes” he said and got off of Sam’s lap.

“Thank you so much” she said to her father.

“I'll see you tomorrow, ok?” her father said and touched her shoulder lightly before turning around.

“Come on” Draven said to his grandpa as he took a hold of Leticia’s hand.

“Okay, come on” he said and walked to the door opening the door for Leticia then they walked out.

“I meant what I said. I'm going home soon” she said to Dr. Kim who was still in her room.

******

​

“How are you feeling, Robin?” the commissioner asked her.

“Not bad. My arm's not broken, so I guess the gunshot didn't break any bones” she said looking at the bandana around her arm.

“That sounds like a doctor's answer”

“Ok, I'll admit, it hurts really bad”

“The medevac will take you to the hospital in 20 minutes”

A paramedic walked up to the commissioner, “Commissioner? The chopper's ready”

“Ok” Robin said to the paramedic and walked off with him.

The commissioner looked over to Hector and saw that it look like he was reaching for something. Seeing that anger filled the commissioner as he knew that Hector hurt his daughter Jennifer, who was still in the tunnel. The commissioner slowly walked up to him as everyone else was busy around them. As he slowly kept walking the commissioner reached into the hostel and pulled his gun out, “Trying to escape? Go ahead. Give me a reason to shoot you” he said holding the gun out.

******

​

“Hector kept saying that no one would get out of here alive, and this is obviously what he meant. I think that you and I have to go back and tell Chester and the others”

“This looks like it's triggered by a radio signal. A walkie-talkie or a cell phone could set these off” Patrick said still looking at the bomb that was planted to the wall of the cave and then he turned to look at Jen, “We have to retrace Hector’s steps. We've got to disarm these bombs. This whole place could cave in”

 

[andrea]

Continuing Chapter 29

Chester looked away for a few seconds from Talinda, up to Rob, Monica, and Brad, and then turned to look back at Talinda, “Talinda?” he tried for a third time. He then turned back looking over his shoulder, “She’s not breathing!” he yelled out when he noticed.

As soon as saying that a couple paramedics came down the rock pile near the tracks and rush over to Chester and Talinda. Chester got up and stepped back over to Rob, Monica, and Brad as they all watched the two paramedic take Talinda and lay her flat on the ground. Chester then looked at Rob knowing his wife was dead and felt sorry for him as they never really had been married that long, “I don't know what the **** happened. She just stopped breathing. Rob I’m --”

“No, don’t say it Chester, she's not dead” Rob said not taking his eyes off the paramedic.

The paramedic started administering CPR to Talinda once they got her flat on the ground, “Come on” one of the paramedics murmured squeezing oxygen through an oxygen pump as the other paramedic did chest compression. What seem like hours’ trying to revive Talinda was only technically four minutes. Rob couldn’t move as his feet wouldn’t let him, “No…no…NO!” he yelled when he saw the paramedics were giving up.

“I’m sorry. She's gone” the other paramedic said looking at Rob.

“Noooooo! Talinda! She’s not dead! Talinda wake up **** it” Rob shouted as Brad held him back so he wouldn’t run up to Talinda. Rob tried fighting him off, but he just didn’t have the strength left in him. He cried out for his dead wife and sink to the floor as his legs gave out still crying out for Talinda to wake up.

“Rob, Rob, Rob you got to let her go” he said feeling sorry for his band mate, “Listen, we brought a stretcher. We can --” Brad said to him kneeling next to him. Rob didn’t say anything but just kept cry for Talinda to wake up. Brad turned to look at Monica and saw that she was upset too. Chester kneeled next to Rob as Brad got up and walked up to her, “Monica, honey, what’s wrong?”

“It’s all my fault, Brad” she said moving her hand to her mouth and cry. Brad brought her into a hug letting her cry on his shoulder. Monica then moved out of his arm and moved her hand away from her mouth, “I killed her. I killed Talinda, Brad”

******

​

At Community and Mission’s hospital, Linsey was holding baby Jennifer after Phoenix went to go find out how she was doing, “Look at this, Phoenix. Look, she follows my finger with her eyes” she said moving her finger slowly back and forth.

“You're kidding. Really?” he said looking at Linsey who was still doing it.

“You're so cute” Linsey said down to Jennifer.

“No way. Let me have a go. No, put your finger down so she doesn't go cross-eyed” he said to Linsey making her put her hand down, “Hey, Jennifer”

“You're making her fall asleep” she said when she saw Jennifer slowly closing her eyes.

“That's all right, newborns are supposed to sleep a lot, aren't they? I didn't see you getting her to sleep” he said joking with her.

“Oh, all right, I admit it. You've got the magic touch”

There was a knock on the door and Phoenix looked away from Linsey and saw Ravyn, the nurse who took Jennifer to the neonatal team, “Jennifer wouldn't eat before. Would you like to try to feed her?” she asked holding the bottle of milk. After getting a bill of clean health from the neonatal team, Dr. Bergstrom had assigned Ravyn as baby Jennifer, Anna, and Linsey’s nurse.

“No, I think she's just falling asleep” Linsey said looking up to Ravyn.

“Well, she may rest better on a full stomach” Ravyn said walking further into the room.

“Ok”

“Here's the bottle” Rav handed the bottle to Phoenix and then turned around and walked out of the room.

“Hey, hey. How about some milk, Jennifer, huh?” Linsey said when Phoenix gave her the bottle, trying to get Jennifer to take some milk. Jennifer gracefully took the nipple of the bottle and started sucking on it, “Oh, I know you must be hungry” she said

“You're going to make a wonderful mother, you know that?”

******

​

“Sam, I know you want to encourage your son by telling him you'll be home soon, but that just isn't the case” Dr. Kim said to her.

“But I'm feeling better. And I don't feel helpless and I'm not scared” Sam said looking at the doctor from her seat.

“You still need to make considerable progress toward recovery before we can consider even temporary leaves” the doctor said.

The door open to Sam’s room and her father walked in, “Sam? Draven had went back to your mother’s home with Leticia”

“Thank you. Thank you. Seeing my son has made me feel better than I have in weeks, it has, and I'm going to continue to see my son whenever I want. You did the right thing by bringing him here. You knew exactly what I needed. Thank you” she said. Dr. Kim and Sam’s father then walked out of her room and into the hallway to talk in privacy.

“I must ask you not to bring guests without my permission”

“You heard Sam. She said she felt better after seeing her son”

“I don't doubt that Sam loves her son. Unfortunately, she has fixated on him when she was deeper in her breakdown"

“Oh, I think that's an overstatement. She's a devoted mother”

“Who's obsessed with protecting her family, including her fiancée Chester. She went as far to wanting to kill someone who wasn’t doing any harm to her family at all. We have to build up Sam's perception of herself as an individual before we can reintroduce her to the rest of her family and her friends”

“So in order for Sam to make a full recovery, she needs to figure out what she’s done?”

 

[Ravynlee]

Cool - as always! about the bomb... *** damnit! *wants to scream at the computer screen*

But... bummer about the writer's block. Glad you're over it (at least you will be after school's over huh?) but if I can help in anyway let me know. Love it. Want more. Always want more... insatiable, huh?

XD

*hugs*

~Rav

 

[andrea]

Chapter 30

“We made a lot of promises in this tunnel, you know” Anna said.

“Mm-hmm” Mike tightened the safety belt on the stretcher that Anna was on, “Now with are rescue imminent, we can make good on those promises and honor them” he said grabbing her hand.

“Maybe we should free are selves from this godforsaken mountain before we plan our future”

“That isn't the sound of backpedaling as fast as we can, is it?” Mike asked.

“**** no”

“Oh, ok.”

“Where are those firemen?” Anna asked looking at the doorway trying not to look Mike in the eye.

“Oh, I see” Mike said talking over Anna, who was still talking.

“I mean, my ***, they come and they bring you the stretcher and then they just leave me here”

“So basically you admitted that we would have a future together because you thought that we wouldn't?”

“Ok, stop talking now” Anna said slightly closing her eyes and then opened them back up, “I've just had a C-section and I'm sutured together by a fishing line. I can't have any more deep conversations”

“No, I just wanted to make sure that when you said that you loved, I think, and needed me that you actually did mean it”

“I said I loved, needed, and wanted you”

“Oh”

“And I meant all three of those things” she said looking at him.

“Ok. Not afraid of being rejected?”

“Uh-uh” she shook her head from side to side.

“You'll try and stay open?”

“Mm-hmm” she then shook her up and down.

“You're not going to jump back in a defensive position?”

“Uh-uh” and then side to side.

“Good. Because we need each other, Anna, and Jennifer needs us, too” Anna just smiled at him. Then a medical person walked onto the train.

“How's Jennifer?” Mike asked looking at the medical person.

“Has she been to the hospital?” Anna asked

“Yes, one of the doctors has checked Jennifer out at the rescue site and said she was doing fine. Your daughter's waiting for you at the hospital and so Priority One's to get you out of here as soon as possible” the medical person said. Mike and Anna smiled at the news.

“Yeah” Mike said and looked at Anna.

“Thank you” Anna said.

“Let's get a move on” the medical person said and walked around to the front of the stretcher.

“All right” Mike said getting up and bent down at the end of the stretcher.

“Here we go” Anna said.

“Ready? One, two, three” Mike counted and then the both of them lifted up the stretcher.

******

​

Where Jen and Patrick were at in the tunnel, Patrick had carefully taking the bomb of the wall and was holding it in his hand, “Hey, are you getting another headache?” she asked.

“No, no, I'm fine, I'm fine” he said closely looking at the wire to see which one he should pull.

“Maybe Robin's medicine is working”

“It's not going to matter if I don't get these bombs defused. You ran into Hector a few times. Do you remember where?” he looked at her.

“Yeah, the first place was back at the commuter train” she pointed behind her.

“Ok, we're going to retrace your steps as soon as I'm done” he said looking back at the bomb debating whether to pull the red or the green wire.

“I don't know, Patrick, I kind of feel like we're playing Russian roulette or something. Hector’s got the detonator and he can set it off at any time, which means --”

“If we're lucky, he didn't survive the trip out and that *******'s lying dead somewhere”

******

​

Hector turned his head a little and saw the commissioner holding the gun out, “You're threatening an injured man. That's police brutality” he said.

“You shot an innocent person and hurt my daughter”

“That's what your daughter and she get for being so cozy with Chester”

“You are a psycho freak and you're going to pay for what you did to my daughter --” he said. The doctor who was taking care of Hector walked up to them and saw what was going on.

“Take it easy, commissioner. This man needs immediate surgery” she said putting her hand on the commissioner arm to make him lower the gun down.

“He shot an unarmed woman. It could have easily been my daughter!”

“He's still my patient and he still needs medical care. I'm sorry, but your personal feelings have no place here” the doctor said.

 

[andrea]

Continuing Chapter 30

Back at the antique train, Monica was still in disbelief over Talinda’s death. Rob was still on the ground but had stopped crying out for Talinda to wake up, all he was now was just in shock. Monica shook her head and looked at Brad.

“I don't understand. I thought Talinda had a cracked rib. I told her to stay still, but --” Monica started to say but stopped talking.

“It's ok, listen, listen, Anna is here. We need to get her and Richard out of here, ok? Come on” Brad said and turned around with Monica. He saw Mike slowly walking out of the train still carrying the stretcher. One of the rescue crew workers walked up to Mike and took his spot, “Thanks” he said and walked down the pile of rocks seeing Brad and Monica.

“Okay, let’s get a move on and get Anna and Richard out of here” Brad said. Richard was the name of the man that had the gun wound.

Mike saw Rob, who was still sitting on the ground and then looked at Chester who was standing next to him. He looked to he’s left and saw Talinda lying on the ground, “Brad, what about Talinda?” he asked remembering that she was hurt.

“It's too late. She's dead” Chester said answering for Brad.

A couple firemen had helped Richard up and had his injured arm in a sling. The one rescue crew person and two paramedics carried Anna on the stretcher down the pile of rocks and stopped. Brad turned to look at Richard, “You'll be all right. They'll get you airlifted out of here, ok?” he said.

“Thank you” Richard said.

Mike walked to the side of the stretcher and looked at Talinda as he was holding Anna’s hand. The rescue person started to walk but stopped when Anna spoke up, “I'm so sorry” she said putting her hand on his chest.

“Yeah, me too. It's ok, go ahead. I'll catch up” he said wanting to say behind to talk to Rob.

Mike slightly walked with Anna and let go of her hand as Brad walked up to the stretcher to take Mike spot. Mike stopped walking when Brad got up to the stretcher and took Anna’s hand, “Hey. How are you doing there?”

“I just want to see my girl” Anna said to him. The rescue and paramedic continued to carry the stretcher.

“I know, I know. Jennifer's a good name”

“It suits her” she responded back.

“Yes, it does. I'm going to come see you and Jennifer at the hospital”

“I can't wait” she said as she was halfway out of the room where everyone was at.

“Ok, ok”

When he couldn’t see Anna anymore, Mike sat down next to Rob, “Hey Rob, I’m sorry about your lost”

Rob didn't say anything for a few seconds and then looked down at the ground, “Why?”

“Huh?”

“Why -- why did she have to die? Why didn’t she say something at the beginning?”

“I don’t know Rob, I don’t know”

“You want to spend a moment alone with her? They want to move her out” Chester said to Rob.

“Yeah, thanks” he said and then got up and walked over to his dead wife and sat next to her. He then took a hold of her cold hand, “It's going to take a while for me to really believe that you're gone. You deserved so much better, Talinda, from life, from everybody around you” he said and then sat there for a few more second in silences, “You take care, baby” he said.

Mike got up and stood next to Monica, “I thought she was going to be all right”

“I thought she was” she said running her hand through her hair.

“What happened?”

“I don't know”

Chester then walked up to were Mike and Monica were at, “Mike, Mike, you need to go to the hospital to see your baby” he said and Mike shook his head and walked off. Chester then looked at Monica and saw that she was about to cry, “You did the best you could”

“I -- I don't know what went wrong. I must have, you know, missed something when I examined her. Maybe if I would have just watched her a little bit more closely --”

“Listen to me, Monica, Monica. You did the best you could. You saved lifes down here, you helped people”

“I should have asked Robin to examine her. Maybe she would have seen something that I missed” she said.

“Ok, we're going to talk about this later. Right now you need to get out of here” he said.

“Ok” she agreed wanting to get away from this tunnel as soon as she could.

“Ok?”

“What about you?” she asked knowing that he wanted to say down here to look for Sam.

******

​

“I don't see any bombs. Maybe he didn't set as many as we thought” Jen said as they walked back to the commuter train.

“No, no, no, Hector wouldn't just set one. This guy's a psycho, but he's not stupid. He had me and Chester trapped down here. He wanted to make sure that we did not survive this”

“All right, well, I know they carried him out by now, so he's either dead or he lost the detonator. Which one is it?” she asked looking at him.

“That gives us a little more time” he said and then walked off with Jen behind him.

10 minutes later Jen and Patrick walked into a narrow tunnel, “Sam! If you're hiding, it's safe to come out. Hector can't hurt you!” Patrick called out.

“Patrick, either she's not here or she doesn't believe you”

“Well, she's got to trust me on some level. She pulled me out of the water, right?”

“Ok, well, we either look for Sam or the bombs, ok, one or the other” she said giving him a choice.

“Both, both. Sam's scared, she's not thinking clearly. We just need to keep looking --” he said rambling off.

Jen looked down at the ground and something caught her eyes, “Patrick” she said softly getting him to stop talking.

“What?” he asked looking at her.

 

[Ravynlee]

OMG! What! What did they find?!? ***... you always leave me hanging! *snuffle*

Poor Talinda/Rob/Monica... ****, everyone at this point really. Except maybe those already at the hospital, they seem to be doing fine now so that's good. Counter-balances all the heavy drama of earlier I guess. But *tears up* about Talinda. That's awful, especially on their honeymoon... poor Robbie...

Brilliant, beautiful, deep, meaningful - I love this story. Anna and Mike always manage to steal the scenes with their one-liners, gotta love that *wink*

As always look forward to the next update. Want to see what happens. Indeed, this story could go on forever! Yay for me if that were the case!

Thanks again :thumbsup:

*hugs*

~Rav

 

[andrea]

Chapter 31

Thank Rav, but this story to go on forever, haha, I wish that could happen but I don't want it to be to long of a story you'll get bored of. But like that I'll happen as you've said you love this story. Plus I got other story to share. So with out further ado, here is what I've work on today, well for me yesterday. It's 12:22 am for me as I'm posting this. Hope you enjoy, but I know you well, hehe.

******

In the triage area, two teens were standing where Hector was at after he was moved away. They were waiting to see who was coming out of the tunnel in hope of any sign of Monica. The boy teen walked back to his girlfriend, Michelle, Monica’s sister after he went to see if he could help, “The commissioner wouldn't let me near the tunnel, gave me the whole "for your own safety" speech”

“This is frustrating just having to wait around, but I know she's going to be ok” Michelle said. She then looked down at the ground and spotted something. Kneeling down she picked it up. When she got back up she looked down at what was in her hand. What she had in her hand was a remote.

“What is that?” her boyfriend asked.

“I don't know, I just found it”

“Weird”

******

​

“I tell you Sam's down here somewhere” Chester said to Monica.

“Patrick and Jen are looking for her”

“I'm not going to leave here until I find her” he said wanting to make sure that he found Sam.

“I'll go with the others, then”

“Can you make sure that they treat Talinda with respect?” he said that because when she had came into the picture she didn’t get a lot of respect, especially from Sam.

“Chester, I'm so sorry. This wasn't supposed to happen. Talinda wasn't supposed to die” she said, upset by what happen still.

“I know, I know” he said reassuring her that she did everything she could.

“Ok”

******

​

The first thing Mike did when he got out of the tunnel was walk over to Anna. She was already moved from the carry out stretcher onto a stretcher bed with the same doctor who checked out their daughter by her side, “Hey, you're set to go?” Mike said touching her shoulder.

Anna looked at him and smiled, “Yeah, the doctor just said that Phoenix and Linsey have Jennifer, they're watching out for her, and that she's had her first bottle”

Mike looked at the doctor and then back at Anna, “Great. How's mommy?” he asked her.

“I want to go home” she said looking at him.

“Yeah”

“All right, Anna, we're going to get you to the hospital right now, ok?” the doctor said to Anna.

“Thank you” Anna said to her.

Coming out of the tunnel, a paramedic wheel Talinda‘s body out on a stretcher. Her body was cover with a yellow tarp blanket so no one could really see her body. Her body was also tagged with her name so it could be identified by Rob later at the morgue, that is if Rob could bring himself to do it, “Doctor?” the paramedic asked the doctor that was with Mike and Anna not knowing where to put Talinda’s body at.

“Over there” she said pointing to the section in the triage area.

The paramedic then wheeled Talinda’s body to the section as Mike and Anna watched.

“It's some kind of remote” The teen boy said to Michelle looking at the remote that was in his hand now.

“A car alarm, maybe?” she said thinking of what it could be.

“No, it's not a car alarm. It's too high-tech for that”

“Maybe it's something that the rescue workers are using” she suggested.

“I could just press the button, then when something activates, I'll know what it goes with” he said close to pushing the button but he stopped when the doctor came up to them.

“Some people who were trapped with Monica just made it out” the doctor said and then turned around, walking away.

“Really?” Michelle said.

“Maybe they’ll know where she's at” he said to his girlfriend and dropped the remote on the ground. Both teens then walked away.

******

​

At the hospital, Robin was already checked out and had her right arm re-bandage and put in a sling. She was now sitting in the waiting area, with Monica’s mother and sister who had found out that she had gotten out of the tunnel, “You must be thirsty. You want me to get you some water?” Monica’s mom asked her.

“I'm ok, thank you” Robin said.

“Have you taken your HIV Meds?” she asked seeing that she looked worried. The whole Vane family including Monica’s family was accepting of her HIV.

“Yes. It's Patrick that I'm worried about. His condition is still serious. We need to get him back here so we can continue his treatment”

“Wait, who’s Patrick? Is he still in the tunnel?” Monica’s sister, Maddie asked.

“Okay let me see if I can get this right, Patrick is Monica’s husband’s band mate’s wife’s brother. And yeah he‘s in the tunnel, I just don't know where. You know, we should contact the rescue workers and make sure they know he needs to get back here as soon as possible” Robin said.

Ravyn walked from the nurses station to were they were sitting, “Dr. Vane?”

“Mm-hmm?” she shook her head and looked behind her to see Rav.

“You need to fill out some paperwork” she said and turned around, walking back to the nurses station.

Monica’s mom got up, “I'll do that. I'll do that for you. You just sit over there and rest, ok?”

“Ok. Thank you” Robin said and Monica’s mom walked off to the nurses station.

“I'm really glad that you're home. I've missed you a lot” Maddie said.

“Oh, so uncle Mark can fuss over me and he won't bother you so much?”

“Oh, that's a nice fantasy, but I don't think that's going to happen. You're all grown-up now and a brilliant doctor. To my dad, you're like the ultimate role model. You know, it would help me out if you were to get with this Patrick guy. My dad would stop getting in my business and worry about you, cause of, you know, the HIV”

“Where did that come from?” shock at how good Maddie could tell she like Patrick.

“Well, I'm dating someone that my dad doesn't exactly approve of. I mean, nobody's ever going to be safe enough or responsible enough for you, me, or Michelle, except Monica, lucky for her, she found someone dad approves of. But, you know, if you were to get with Patrick, then that might --”

Robin cut off Maddie, “Maddie, I hate to break it to you, but that's not going to happen”

“Wait, ok, just hear me out for one second. I can tell you like Patrick, Robin. I mean, your going to say to treat the guy. So if while you were treating him you guys just happened to fall in love with each other, not only would that be incredibly romantic, but it would be a huge favor for Michelle and me. I mean, my dad would be so busy disapproving of Patrick that mine and Michelle’s boyfriend will look good by comparison.

“Well, even though that is a brilliant plan, there's only one small problem. Patrick is in love with Jennifer”

******

​

What Jen and Patrick were seeing, back at the tunnel, was another one of the bombs Hector planted in the tunnel. Patrick carefully picked it up and defused the bomb as he had the other one they found not to long ago. Jen and Patrick were now walking further down the narrow tunnel looking for more bombs, “Hector has to be dead, don't you think? I mean, how could he survive the thing that you shoved in his back?” Jen asked him.

“I'm not going to believe it until I have proof” Patrick said and then they saw Chester walking up to them.

“The rescue team came” Chester said.

“Is everyone out?” Patrick asked.

“Everybody -- Talinda died before they got there” he said

“Chester, I'm sorry” Jen said. She could tell that Chester was sadden by Talinda’s dead.

“I'm going to help you find Sam. Any sign of her?” he said to Patrick.

“Ok. No, not yet. We haven't been able to cover much ground. Hector wired this place to explode. Wherever he is, he's got the detonator”

“You and Jen need to go. I'm going to look for Sam” Chester said.

“No, that's not going to work” Patrick said.

 

[andrea]

Continuing Chapter 31

Mike walked off the elevator, of the hospital, and walked into the waiting area to wait until Anna got out of surgery. When he got there he saw Robin who was still sitting in the chair, “Robin, hey”

“Hey” she said looking up at him. Monica’s mom and sister were already gone, they probably were at the tunnel awaiting Monica to come out.

“Anna is in surgery. The doctors tell me that there's really nothing to worry about” he said as he sat down.

“I'm sure. They just have to be checking the incision and resuture it”

“Yeah. I can't thank you enough for everything you did in the tunnel”

“It was a crude job”

Mike looked down for a second and then looked back up, “No, Robin, you helped saved the lives of Anna and our baby girl. I'm not going to forget that”

“You're giving me far too much credit” she smiled, “But I'll tell you, I'll -- I'll never forget it either” she said.

“Excuse me” Mike said and then got up.

“Mm-hmm” Robin shook her head.

Mike walked up to the nurses station, “Excuse me” he said getting one of the nurses attention.

“Yes” Ravyn said.

“I was wondering where I go to about filling out the information for the birth certificate for my daughter”

“The hospital obtains the information, like the weight and height. The only thing you have to give us is the parents name and the child‘s full name. Then you send away for an official copy once your daughters released” Rav said.

“Thanks” he said already having in mind the middle name for Jennifer but was going to see if Anna approved of it first before he did anything, “Can you then tell me what room Linsey Farrell is in?” he asked.

******

​

Monica came out of the tunnel next and went over to Brad who was waiting for her, “Brad” she said when she came up to him.

“Thank ***” he said and pulled her into a hug.

“How are Anna and the baby?” she asked pulling away from him.

“They're fine, they're fine. Thanks to everything you did for them, they're ok”

“No, I'm -- I'm not a doctor. Robin's the one who did the c-section” she said not wanting to take all the credit for the c-section.

“I know, I know”

“And I tried to save Talinda --” she said blaming herself for Talinda’s death.

“It's ok, it's ok, it's not your fault” he said putting his hand on her shoulder.

“I just don't understand what could have happened”

Monica’s sister Michelle and her boyfriend walked up to Monica, “Hey, there you are” Michelle and gave Monica a hug, “The family's going to be ecstatic when they find out you're ok” she said.

“I hope they haven't been bothering you with constant news updates”

“Me? No, no, I came down here cause I was worried about you Monica. Mom and Maddie are -- were with Robin at the hospital, but they want home. That's what Maddie told me when she called me. But she said something about this Patrick guy and about making sure he got out of the tunnel so Robin could, as she said ‘hook up’ with him”

“Patrick? Oh *** he still in the tunnel. I’m not sure when he’s going to find his way out” Monica said and turned to look back at the tunnel.

 

[andrea]

Chapter 32

6:40 a.m.

The only ones that were now left in the tunnel were Patrick, Jen and Chester, “Ok, I got to defuse the rest of these bombs” Patrick said.

“What if you collapse or have another seizure?” Chester asked him, not wanting Patrick to kill himself trying to find Sam.

“Robin's medicine's working. We don't know where Sam is, we don't know if she's going to make it out, ok? Draven needs at least one of his parents. You cannot orphan him. So you need to go”

“All right, take care of yourself”

“I will. Jen, you go with him” he said looking at her.

“No” she said not wanting to leave him in the tunnel by himself.

“I want you to go with him” he insisted.

“No, Patrick, I am not leaving you. No!” she yelled out when Chester touched her shoulder.

“Jen it’s not safe for you anymore to be here. Do you trust me?” he asked her.

“Yes”

“Then you need to go”

“Jen --” Chester started to say

“No”

“Come on” Chester said

“No”

“Come on” he said and then Chester put his arm around her waist and lifted her up to move her as Jen was being stubborn.

“Patrick, no! Patrick -- stop it! No!” Jen yelled out as Chester continued to carry her out of the tunnel.

******

​

At the hospital, the Los Angeles district attorney Steve Cooley walked towards Hector Ruiz room. When he reached the door there was a doctor just coming out, “I'm sorry, you can't go in right now”

“I need to question Ruiz”

“Well, it's too soon. He barely made it through surgery. He's not able to talk yet”

“The man may have caused the Glencoe tunnel crash. I'll find a way to get my answers. Excuse me” he said and push his way pass the doctor and into Hector’s room.

A reason why the district attorney may have known why Hector could have caused the crash was because Hector Ruiz had been in police custody but he got away by escaping. This led Hector to sneak to Rose Lawn and then getting onto the train. Why he was in jail was because Hector worked at Warner Bros. replacing Tom who had retired two years ago. While working there, Linkin Park threatened to leave Warner Bros. again as they were filling that the recording company was short dealing them. Linkin Park had sued Warner. It was then found out later that Hector was taking money from the company. Hector was arrested once it was found out, but a trial date had not been set. Why Hector went after the guys was because if they never sued Warner, it would never been found out that was he taking money.

******

​

“Hey” Phoenix said. Jennifer had fallen asleep after having half her bottle, but Phoenix talking woke her and she started fussing.

“Shhh, shhh, shhh” Linsey said gently moving her arms to calm Jennifer down.

“Ok” Phoenix said quietly.

“Can you believe it? I'm actually teary eyed” Linsey softly said amazed that Jennifer calmed down quickly. She was going to be one easy child for Mike and Anna.

“Jennifer brought your maternal instincts”

“Yeah, well, it seems like everything does now. Looking through baby magazines -- gosh, you should have seen me looking through one a couple days ago"

“You know, in a few months, you'll be holding our baby. You can pour all your love and affection into him -- or her”

“I can't wait” Linsey said and smiled at Phoenix. They sat in silents for a few seconds when the door opened and Mike walked in. Linsey and Phoenix looked towards the door and smiled when they saw that it was Mike.

“Hey” Phoenix said softly.

Mike walked up to the bed and put his hand on Phoenix’s shoulder. He then let go and leaned down to take Jennifer. Jennifer fussed a little as Linsey moved her arm a little, “Your okay, shhh, shhh, shhh” she softly said as she sat up a little placing Jennifer in Mike’s arms.

Jennifer fussed again as Mike moved his hands placing her head on his arm. He then looked at Linsey and Phoenix. Phoenix then gave Mike Jennifer’s half drank bottle. He then turned around softly talking to Jennifer as he walked out of the room.

Mike walked across the hall to Anna’s room, who had gotten out of surgery not too long ago. He moved his left arm and opened the door, “Hey, I brought a visitor to see you”

“Hi!” she said as Mike walked further into the room towards her bed.

“Here you go. Watch, watch.” he said and slowly passed Jennifer to Anna.

“Hi, Jennifer” she said as Jennifer cooed in her arms, “Oh, sweetie”

“That's it. Easy, Anna, you're still healing. Ok?” he said when Jennifer was safely in her arms.

“I'm fine. Hi, sweet pea” she said looking down at Jennifer.

“You know, Anna, we have to choose a middle name for her” he said and then he lightly put his hand on top of Jennifer’s head and kissed her forehead.

“Yeah we do. What do you have in mind?”

“I want her to have your middle name”

“Alexis? Why the same as me?” she asked looking up at him.

“Because of everything you’ve been through to bring her into this world, Anna. It’s kind of like honoring you”

“Were you going to name her that if I had died?” she asked.

“Yeah, but you didn’t. And pulse I like the name”

“You only like it because it’s part of my name”

“Okay, yeah that’s the only reason why”

“It’s perfect for her. Jennifer Alexis Shinoda” she looked back down at Jennifer who was resting in her arms and kissed her forehead.

“Yeah it is”

Anna looked back up at him, “I love you. I’m sorry for pushing you away”

“I love you, too” he said and leaned in, giving Anna a kiss.

 

[andrea]

Continuing Chapter 32

Back at the triage area, Brad walked back to Monica who was pacing around, “Hey. Your sister's boyfriend is waiting to take us to the hospital”

“Yeah. Talinda told me that she had a pain in her side and shortness of breath, and I assumed it was a cracked rib, but it must have been a punctured lung” she said wanting to get to the bottom of Talinda’s death.

“Listen, it's not your fault, ok?” he said wanting her to stop blaming herself.

“I could have saved her, Brad. All I had to do was get something sharp like a ballpoint pen even and just stick it in her side and relieve the pressure, but I -- I couldn't figure it out. I -- I --” Monica didn’t even finish what she was saying as she collapsed in Brad’s arms that had caught her before she fell.

“Chester! Chester. Who else is down in the tunnel?” the commissioner asked him when he saw him in the triage area.

“Just my brother-in-law, Patrick. Hector wired the tunnels to explode. You got to get your people out of there now, commissioner!”

“Barry! Evacuate the crews out of the tunnel, ASAP!”

“What happened to Hector?” Chester asked.

“He's been medevaced to the hospital”

“He must have brought up the detonator”

“Well, if he's got the detonator, it's out of range, Chester” he said as he started to walk away.

Near the ventilation shaft's Jen walked up to one and looked down to see if it was clear. It seem cleared to her and she put one leg over the side of the ventilation shaft.

Where Chester was not too far in front of him was the switch. Chester saw it, “No, commissioner, wait, wait -- wait!” he yelled out. But it was too late to do anything; one of the paramedics was getting ready to transfer Talinda’s body to the morgue and wheeled the stretcher over the switch making it beep. Within five seconds the tunnel exploded and Jen was thrown from the ventilation shaft. She landed on the ground unconscious.

******

​

1: 40 p.m.

Later in the day at Rose Lawn, Sam was writing in her notebook reflecting on everything from the start of her breakdown up until now. A knock on the door made her stopped. She looked up at the door, “Come in” she called out.

The door open and her therapist Theresa Winter’s came in, “Hey” Theresa said closing the door behind her.

“Hey” Sam responded.

“How are you doing?”

“I need to see Chester” Sam said.

******

​

At the hospital, Jen was slowly waking up after being knocked out for awhile. Her vision was a little dazed as she was not fully awake. She could make out that someone was in her room, “Patrick --”

It was Chester who was in Jen’s room. He stopped her from getting up, “Take it easy. Jen, the explosion knocked you out”

“Where's Patrick?” she asked when she didn’t see him in her room.

******

​

Instead of going to the hospital after passing out, Brad took Monica home. But Brad then left to go to the hospital to see Mike, Anna, their daughter, Phoenix, Linsey, and Rob if he was still there waiting for the autopsy report on Talinda. Monica sunk out and went back to the triage area.

When Monica got to the triage area, she saw the commissioner and walked up to him, “Have any of the workers seen any sign of Patrick?”

The commissioner turned around and saw that it was Monica, “Give yourself a break, Monica. You haven't stopped since they pulled you out of the wreckage yourself”

“I guess that means they haven't found anything”

“Look, the crews have been digging for hours. They say the explosion turned the tunnel into a solid wall” he said as Robin walked up to them.

“Well, then, commissioner, we need to get more workers”

“It's not that simple”

“I don't expect it to be simple, but we have to find Patrick”

“I'm going to see how I can -- help” Monica said and started to turn around. Robin grabbed her arm with her good hand and stopped her.

“No. Monica you can’t”

******

​

When Brad got to the hospital he found Rob in one of the waiting rooms. Brad made him come to see the others to get his mind off of Talinda’s death. After seeing Mike and Anna, Brad and Rob walked a crossed the hall to Phoenix and Linsey’s. He knocked on the door to let them know that they were there. Linsey and Phoenix looked toward the door.

“Hey” Linsey said when she saw them.

“Well, if you feel half as good as you look, then it's cause to celebrate” Brad said as he walked further into the room. Rob just stood by the door.

“Oh yeah, there's lots to celebrate” Phoenix said and smiled.

“Oh really?” Brad asked. Linsey and Phoenix then looked at each other for a second and then back to Brad, “Is there something I’m missing?”

“I’m pregnant” she said and Brad was shock for a little. Neither of them knew the Rob had left.

“That’s good. Is the baby fine cause of, you know, what happen back at the triage”

“I'm fine, the baby's fine. You have no idea how lucky I am”

“Well that’s good that nothing’s wrong with the baby. I was afraid that it was something else, cause of the crash” Brad said.

“Yeah, it was pretty scary there, huh? But I think that everything turned out the way it was meant to”

******

​

Rob had walked to the roof top that was on the floor he was on. He went there to think mostly about Talinda. He also was jealous of Mike and Phoenix and how they now have a family. He never got that with Talinda or never will have his own child with her. Sure he has Matthew to raise now, but Matthew isn’t his own blood. As a matter of fact, he was jealous of all the guys as they still had their other halves. Rob stayed on the roof top for a little bit more, but he knew he had to go back in and find out what caused Talinda’s death. He then turned around and headed to the door. When he reached the door, he turned the handled but found that it wouldn’t budge.

 

[Ravynlee]

*gasp* There's so much happening in all these updates I don't even know where to start! First and foremost I guess though, what sticks in my mind, is that things are starting to find resolution. That's pretty cool. The explosion - I almost expected Patrick to die for a minute, then Jen, but at least Hector the ******* can't hurt anyone else... yet. *** knows with that SOB! *grr* XD The good news about Lindsay's baby is a sweet relief, but just as the mood was starting to lighten... haha, there you go again and leave me hanging! Poor Rob - guy just can't cut a break can he? Being all alone up there on the roof you can really empathise with what he's going through. Of course in my alarmist manner I almost panicked at the vision of him taking an unenergetic swan-dive off the roof to go be with his lost wife, poor ******... I'm just hoping being stuck up there doesn't mean the end for him too! *gasp! Double gasp!!*

Great - as always. Sorry I didn't review the other day - I did read it, but in my lazy state after work I just read it and logged off, sorry. But I'm responding now cause I want you to know I genuinely like this story, dramatic, soppy, intense, it doesn't matter - it's all good I say! I always want more... look forward to the next update.

I wanna know what happens to my poor lost Robbie *snuffle*

~Rav

 

[andrea]

Chapter 33

After checking another one of the patients assigned to her, Ravyn walked up to the nurses’ station and set down the binder she was carrying letting out a sigh. She looked up seeing that there was another nurse at the station, “Patricia, I’m going to take a break”

“Ok, ranter” the nurse said calling her by the nickname that she's had for a long time.

Rav just rolled her eyes as she walked away from the nurses’ station. She walked down a hall that was used to access the roof top. She reached the door and opened it, walking out of it.

Rob quickly got up off the ground when he heard the door open, “No! Don’t let the door --”

Rav turned around and saw that the door was close, “Close” Rob finished saying, “The doors jammed”

Rav tried turning the handle but found that it really was jammed, “****” she said under her breath not wanting to turn around. She knew who she was trapped on the roof top with. Rob Bourdon, the man she idolized for years and still does.

“Looks like where trapped up here” he said behind her.

“Yeah” she softly said closing her eyes as her back was still facing towards Rob. Opening her eyes back up she slowly turned around to face him.

“Hi. I’m Rob” he said extending his hand out.

Rav hesitated for a second before responding, “Ravyn, but you can call me Rav” she said shaking his hand. The instant their hands touched Rav felt a weird sensation run through her body. Almost like an electricity shock.

“That’s a nice name” Rob said letting go of her hand. He moved and sat down leaning against the balcony wall.

She followed him by sitting down next to him, “What brought you out here?”

“I came out here to think about my wife"

******

​

At Rose Lawn, Sam’s therapist set down her notebook with the newspaper under it. She grabbed the chair from Sam’s desk and moved it out closer to the bed. She then sat down, “Do you ever worry that if you jump back into your old life too quickly, you'll just end up repeating the same patterns and the same mistakes?” she asked Sam.

“I was never happier in my life than when I was with Chester. Yeah, we've had some bad times, but we've also had some good times, too”

“As long as you stay honest with yourself”

“And do you think I'd lie about that?” Sam asked.

“Not intentionally. But I do know that time has a way of making the past a little hazy. That in bad times, we long for better times. We romanticize the good of our past, Sam, to help us deal with the pain of the present. Is it possible that you're not allowing yourself to remember the unhappiness of what brought you here?”

******

​

In Jen’s room, at the hospital, Jen looked at Chester after she asked him where Patrick was at and saw the look on his face, “Are you telling me that nobody found Patrick?”

Chester shook his head, “There are people looking for him”

“I was out of that tunnel, and that explosion knocked me flat on my back. I can't imagine what it did --” Jen started saying but stopped horrified at the thought of Patrick dead.

“At the very least, Patrick could find an air pocket, a way to survive”

“Just please tell me that that pig is down the hall bleeding to death. Please, just tell me that” she said discussed about Hector being in the same hospital as her.

“He's gone. He's gone” he said softly.

“Gone? What do you mean, gone, Chester? Gone where?” she asked.

“Ahem” he let out shrugging.

“He left? Who could survive something like that?”

“Hector did. Police are out there looking for him. You know, he's way too hurt to be a threat”

“Where's Sam?”

“I called Rose Lawn. She's there”

“She's there?” she question in disbelief.

“Yes” he said feeling ashamed that he had everyone looking for her in the first place and she wasn’t in the tunnel at all.

“So Patrick stayed behind to look for Sam for nothing? Is that what you're telling me?” she asked outraged about this.

“I will do everything that I can --” he started saying but stopped.

“Yeah?”

“To find Patrick”

“Ok. Well, so will I. I'm leaving here, and you can't stop me” she said grabbing the wires connected to her and pulled them out. She then started to get out of bed.

“Jen --” he said wanting to stop her as she was sitting at the edge of the bed.

“Chester, no” she said when he came up closer to her. He backed away and let her continued.

 

[andrea]

Continuing Chapter 33

“Is your wife sick?” Rav asked Rob.

“Um --” Rob was about to say something but stopped and looked down at the ground. He then let out a heavy sigh, “No…uh…she -- she died --” he wanted to tell Rav how Talinda had dead, but his mind wouldn’t let him.

Rav was in shock, cause first of all she didn’t know the man she idolized was even married. But now his wife was dead! This was all too much to take, “What -- what did she died of?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know” he said looking at her.

Rav was about to ask him why he didn’t know, but he must of knew she was going to ask him that, “We were on the train that crashed. She died as the rescue team arrived”

“I’m sorry about your lost”

“I don’t want anyone’s sympathy!” he snapped at her. Rav just looked at him in shock.

******

​

“Monica, you are exhausted and dehydrated. You're not doing anyone any good” Robin said to her.

“Patrick's way sicker than I am, and he stayed down there to look for Sam”

“It is obviously that Patrick doesn't play by the rules”

“We can't abandon him. He needs the treatment that you can get for him”

“I know. Listen, I will make sure that they keep looking for him, ok? But you need to do what Brad would want you to, if he found out you were here. Go to the hospital and take care of yourself, please. Detective, can you please make sure that Monica gets to community and mission hospital right away?” Robin said getting the detective's attention.

The detective walked up to the two ladies, “Sure. And it's ‘Andrew’”

“Hi, nice to meet you” Robin said as the commissioner walked up to them.

“Come on”

“Ok” and then the detective walked off with Monica.

“You know what? Why don't -- maybe you should go with them”

“I've already been treated, ok? And I need to be here when they find Patrick”

“We've got plenty of people”

Out of nowhere a man walked up to where the commissioner was at, “Good girls, they fall for bad guys all the time. That's just the way of the world, my friend”

“Oh no, not you Luke. What do you want?”

“I’m here to lend a helping hand” he said cracking a smile.

******

​

Back at the hospital, Dr. Bergstrom got the rest of Linsey's test result back. She walked to her room and knocked on the door. She then opened the door and walked in, “Hello, Linsey, Phoenix. How are you?” the doctor said as she walked further into the room.

“Dr. Bergstrom” Phoenix said.

“Good” was what Linsey said.

“Hey” Brad was still in the room.

“Well, I've got some good news for you. The sonogram shows no trauma to the baby, and the test results are excellent”

“Well, that's great news” Phoenix said happy that nothing was wrong with the baby.

“Thank you” Linsey relieved.

“Listen, I'm -- I'm going to go ahead and go” Brad said and walked out of the room. He wanted to get home and check on Monica. But he had no idea that she was being admitted to the hospital right now.

“You know, Linsey, I would highly recommend that you take it easy for the rest of your pregnancy”

“Ok, I will. I promise” she said.

“Even if I have to tie her down” Phoenix said to himself but Linsey heard him.

“And I might be convinced to let you go home today if you promise to rest” the doctor said.

“Oh. Thank you, Dr. Bergstrom”

“Ok. I'll go prepare the release papers” she said

“Thanks” Linsey and Phoenix said and the doctor turned around, walking out of the room.

“Hey, I promise I will not jeopardize this pregnancy. I -- I won't take any chances, not after this close call” Linsey said when she that saw the Phoenix looked worried.

“I know you will. Let's go home”

******

​

Amber was in Monica’s room hooking her up to the I.V. fluids, to keep her hydrated.

“I had a dizzy spell. I didn't need to be hospitalized” Monica said not really wanting to be here.

“I know you want to help search for Patrick, but --” Amber said, knowing about Patrick as Monica already told her about him.

“Amber, he could be hurt. He's going to need medical attention”

“Did you see how many medics were left there? And Robin stayed behind, as well”

“I know. She actually graduated from medical school, unlike me”

“Ok, Monica, seriously, Brad would go crazy knowing that you were searching for Patrick and not taking care of yourself”

“Well, that's something that her husband and I could agree on” the chief of staff said as he walked into Monica’s room. With him, he was carrying a report.

“This was your idea, wasn't it?”

“No, it's orders from your attending physician”

“Stacy?” she asked.

“If you want to try and leave, you'll never get past Stacy. I heard you wanted to know the reason for Talinda Bourdon's death” he said getting to the main reason he was here.

“Do you have the autopsy results?” Monica asked.

“Yes” he said and opened the folder up, “You were correct. It was a cracked rib that punctured her lung. She suffocated”

“Yeah, I knew about the rib, but I missed the puncture. Her lung collapsed. Chief, I just stood there and I watched her struggle to breathe, and I did nothing” she said taking the news of how Talinda really died.

“Monica, what could you have done?” Amber asked.

“Think. Be a doctor”

“You're a med student. You are still learning” she said not wanting her to keep blaming herself.

“If I had thought it through, I could have saved her life. Talinda didn't have to die”

 

[Ravynlee]

Omg - that last sentence there made me tear up! Poor Monica taking all that guilt and responsibility on board like that over Talinda's passing *snuffle* Not right...

The part about Rob and Rav stuck up there on that roof cracked me up - classic soapie style! XD Loved it... actually, couldn't wipe the idiot grin off my face about that whole 'nice name/hands touching' thing *gushes* but it was overall sweet. I even admit Rob snapping about not wanting her sympathy was very approriate - he seems like he'd react just like that - and it's a very basic human response I think. Well written.

A lot of closure here - and with the ending of some painful chapters new ones blossom. That is a sweet representation of life I think. And again, very appropriate for the drama that unfolded in that tunnel...

*snuffle*

Just awesome. As always - you're writing has touched me. I want this to go on forever and ever! I wanna see Jennifer grow up, I wanna see Lindsay and Phoenix's baby be born and grow, I wanna see Sam get better and return to Chas if not Draven and not in the least if Rob and Rav ever get down from their lofty perch up there on that hospital roof! XD

:thumbsup:

~Rav

 

[andrea]

Chapter 34

Thank Rav as always for all the review. I won't go all the way in the story of Jennifer growing up, Linsey and Phoenix having their baby and she/he, whatever *** I desiced the baby to be, growing up either. But Sam getting better and you and Rob getting down from that roof top, you'll just have to read on. I may, and this is a big maybe, desicied to do a epilogue on the kids, some odd years later after the crash. But I just have to see if I do want to write it. So here today's update...

******

Theresa crossed her legs, to get more comfortable, “Sam why don’t we talk about your rape” Sam looked down, “Sam, were going to have to talk about it. It's the main reason why you’re here”

Sam let out a sigh and then looked up, “Okay, fine we can talk about it”

“Well first, why don’t you tell me why you felt like it happen?”

“It happen because Sandra’s father wanted me to pay for what happened to his daughter”

“Why is that?”

“Sandra and I got into argument over something so stupid. She left my house in tears, getting behind the wheel of her car. She crashed her car pretty bad. I found her after she called me before the crash. But I fainted when I saw the amount of blood all over inside the car”

“When did her father rape you?”

“Two months after her crash. He wanted to give me some pictures. I can’t believe I fell for that lie. There were no pictures. I was going to ask Robert were he put them at, but he was already in Sandra’s room where he originally said they were at. And that was, where I was raped”

“How did you feel about it after?”

“Disgusted. Mostly with myself, I felt like I didn’t fight back hard enough. He did it to me even though Sandra was alive, recovering in the hospital. But I never knew that she survived until twelve years later when I was going through my divorce from Chester. His lawyer Talinda Bentley who he was dating turned out to be Sandra. I found out all this from a stupid reunion invitation that was sticking out of her purse. I wanted to go after her because her father rape me all for nothing”

“Do you think you can forgive her?” Teresa asked.

“Um, no, not right now, but in the future sort of. It’s going to take a long time to be what we were like in high school”

“Well Sam I’m glad that we got to talk about the rape and I’m glad that you realized that Talinda's not the one at fault and that Robert is”

“How will I know when I'm well enough to leave?”

“When you can walk out of here your own person” Theresa said as she got up and walked up to Sam’s desk. She grabbed her notebook and then walked out of the room. Not knowing that the newspaper she had under it fell to the floor.

******

​

“We tried to go around the wall, instead of through it, but short of setting off new charges, it's just too unstable” Andrew said walking up to the commissioner, after he had checked to see what was going on in the tunnel.

“Well, then we'll put a halt to it until we come up with another plan”

“You wouldn’t say that if it was me stuck down there, dad” Jen said walking into the triage area and up to her father with Chester following behind her.

“That's out of line, Jen. We put all our energies into this rescue”

“Well, give more. A psycho like Hector Ruiz gets enough medical attention to escape from the hospital, but the man who did more than anybody to stop him is trapped down there. You can't take a break, commissioner!” Chester said.

“I'm going to go look for him” Jen said.

“Do it Jen and I'll arrest you for interfering with a police investigation” her father said.

“Hey, if you don't mind an outsider butting in -- I've got an idea that might work for everybody” Luke said walking up to them.

******

​

Back at the hospital, the chief checked Monica before continuing to talk to her, “Well, your color's better, everything is stable. Nice job, Amber”

“Thank you, chief”

“Be straight with me, chief. I blew it and a woman died, right?” Monica said. What she wanted was to get punished for her mistake.

“Monica, don't beat yourself up over this” Amber said to her.

“You want the truth? Here it is. You're going to lose patients. That isn't something that they teach you in the text books. You're going to have to live through that and then learn how to handle it. Saving lives is the greatest rush in the world. Losing lifes is inevitable” the chief said.

“You're avoiding the question, chief. If I'd just looked at the symptoms more carefully then I would have --” she started saying but the chief cut her off.

“Listen to me, listen to me. You were stuck in a hole in the ground. Everyone was fighting to survive. You're not trained in triage or emergency medicine. You did exactly what was expected of you”

“I don't want to be just good enough, ever”

“Well, if you want dispensation, you're going to have to go to a higher power than I can provide. And then you're going to have to figure out if you can handle this”

“What if I can't? If this is the best I can do, I don't have any business being a doctor” Monica said.

******

​

At Rose Lawn, as soon as Theresa walked out of Sam's room she came face to face with Sam’s father who had came back to see his daughter.

“Your daughter's starting to make good progress. She's gaining perspective”

“Good”

“She acknowledges her rape from Robert Grace”

“That’s good”

Inside her room, Sam walked up to her desk and was about to put away her journal when something on the floor caught her eyes. She set the journal down and kneeled down picked it up. It was the newspaper that Theresa dropped. Sam looked at the page that was open and saw an article on the train crash. There was a list of survivors, people who didn't survivor or possibly still in the tunnel. She scanned the list in hope to see Chester’s name but his name wasn’t on there. In fact nobody in the band was even on the list, not even their wives. But another name caught her eyes, her brother, Patrick Cardossa, was on the list of still being in the tunnel, “Oh, my ***” she said and set the newspaper down on her desk, getting up off the floor and walked to her window opening it up.

 

[andrea]

Continuing Chapter 34

“The only way into those tunnels is from the inside. We got to crack the mountain open from the inside. Then you just walk through a crack” Luke said.

“It's insane. The whole thing will come crashing down” the commissioner said opposing the ideal.

“Yeah, on Patrick” Robin said.

“Any other amateur geologists want to chime in here? It's how I got your father out of a similar situation. Roger was stuck. I couldn't dig him out because it would have caved in and killed him. So I used physics and a crate load of dynamite. And he lived to annoy another day” Luke said talking about Robin’s father, who he had known longer then Robin's been born.

“With all due respect, do you really know what you're doing?” Chester asked Luke.

“You're barely sober, Luke” the commissioner said.

“Well, then let's all do a 12-step cha-cha while Patrick breathes his last gasp. The key is in putting the right amount of charges and knowing where to detonate. That's where I come in. I've done it before. I'm living proof that it'll work. You don't have to risk another man”

“Except Patrick” Jen said crossing her arms.

“So what chances has he got with no food, no water, and maybe no air?” Luke asked.

“Let's do it. I don't know how Welch’s does it” Chester said. He would do whatever it took to get Sam’s brother out.

“You cannot let Luke do this, Chester”

“Patrick needs help” he said to Jen.

“Well, what about your speech at the hospital about him being a survivor, huh?” Jen questioned him.

“Ok, we could help it along. Jason needs more than food and water to survive. He needs his medication. Am I right, Robin, or not?” Chester asked looking at Robin.

“Yeah -- I'm not even sure it's going to work” Robin said. At the entrants of the triage area the district attorney was standing there listing to what they were saying.

“It's working! It is working! He told me it was working. The injection helped him” Jen said getting hysterical.

“Will it keep working?” Chester asked turning to face Robin.

“Yes, if it's measured in regular, monitored doses. I mean, the dose that he has right now -- it could wear off. There's no guarantee” she said.

“Ok, if there was a way out down there, Patrick would've found -- I'm not waiting. I'll cover the cost, Luke, go ahead -- get what you got to do” Chester said.

“I can't risk my people's lives on this” the commissioner said.

“You know, people, I think it's a genius idea. Think about it -- worst-case scenario, you don’t have to worry if he lives from that medication, right?” the district attorney said walking up to them.

“What kind of D.A. are you? You have no right saying that. Patrick had plenty of chances to get out of there!” Jen said upset by what he had said.

“Chances to what, go rescue everybody?”

“Yeah, rescue --” Jen said but was cut off by the D.A.

“Great, we'll give him a purple heart. Meanwhile, get off the topic of Patrick's heroics. I need some answers, people. I need to know how this whole thing started, and I'm waiting. I'm open to suggestions” Steve said.

“I got a suggestion for you, but time's a-wasting” Luke said.

“I don't like this, guys. I'm voting no” Robin said not wanting to risk Patrick’s life.

“Go, go, go, go! Go, Luke. Do it” Chester said and Luke walked off to the tunnel.

******

​

In Monica’s room, back at the hospital, the chief's pager started to beep. He took it off his coat pocket and looked at the numbers, “I have to see to this” he said.

“Ok” Monica said.

“Get better”

“I will”

“Thank you” Amber said to the chief as he turned around. Brad had then walked up to Monica’s door seeing the chief as he walked out.

“Sir” he said.

“Hey” Amber said to Brad as he walked further into the room.

“What's the word on Joe?” Monica asked remembering way back in their conversation that she was Joe’s nurse.

“He's doing much better, thanks to you guys” she said

“That’s good” Brad said.

“Speaking of him now, I have to go check on him. I’ll come back later ok, Monica” Amber said.

“Ok” she said and Amber then walked out of the room.

“Hi” Brad said walking up closer to Monica’s bed.

“Hi. Is there any news on Patrick?” she asked hoping there was.

“I've -- I've been at the hospital since I took you home. I thought you stayed home?” he asked.

“No. When I woke up I left and went back to the triage center in hopes to see if Patrick made it out. But Robin was there and wanted me to be checked out”

“I’m glad she did, listen Monica, don't give up on Patrick. It's not like you. And neither was what you said earlier about becoming a doctor”

“Talinda would be alive if I knew what I was doing” she said.

“Monica, Monica, you always take everything on yourself, don't you? All the -- all the grief, all the pain, all the guilt, and where does it ever get you?”

“I need to be realistic”

“Fine. You're a med student, not a surgeon. That's realistic, ok? You made a mistake -- even you are allowed one of those every year” Brad said.

“No, a mistake is when you can say "oops" and, you know, move on. I mean, this was a flesh-and-blood woman, Brad, with a life and a future”

“I know, but all you did was what you thought, was right at the time. Do you have a better answer for me?” he asked.

“Maybe something inside me knew what was wrong and I was too afraid to say it”

“Too afraid of what?”

“That I might be right and then I'd have to act on it, and afraid that if I did, I'd make it worse” she said almost wanting to cry.

“And where does that come from?”

“I'm a med student, not a surgeon”

“Exactly. Hey, you're one of the most intuitive, caring person I know, but the one thing that you can't accept is that you're human. And humans make mistakes. Believe me, I know”

 

[Ravynlee]

Very sweet - very heartfelt. I like the human touch, the fact that they all struggled so greatly but didn't necessarily overcome all obsticles just by merely surviving... that's clever. You know how much I love the drama, the angst, sheer brilliance.

As for an epilogue later regarding kids??? That'd be so sweet! But only if you feel the story calls for it I reckon... Don't force it.

Love it, as always. Can't wait for more - you know I'm a huge fan!

*hugs*

~Rav

 

[andrea]

Chapter 35

Sorry about the wait, but I'm really sure you'll love this update. Did it to make up for the wait. Enjoy...

******

In Joe’s room, at the hospital, Karen lifted Joe’s head up slightly. She put another pillow behind his head, “Here you go. Sit back” she said softly.

“Such dedication, such care” Joe said.

“Are you kidding me? I treat my fiancé like this all the time. I just hope he doesn’t find out about this” Karen said acting as if Joe wasn’t her fiancé.

“You know what? You should know that I am engaged. In fact, my beautiful fiancée hasn't left my side since I got here” he said playing along with her.

“And I'm not going to, either”

“Do you know if everyone made it out?”

“Yeah, they did”

“What about Anna? Did she have her baby?”

“Yeah. It’s a girl. They named her Jennifer from what I heard” she said and then there was a knock on the door. Amber opened the door and came in to check on Joe.

“Hi Joe, Karen. Are you feeling alright?” Amber asked Joe walking up to his monitors and checked them.

“Hi. Yeah, I feel a lot better now” Joe said

“That’s good” Amber said after she looked at his monitors. She then turned to face the both of them.

“Amber do you know anything about the rest of the group I was on the train with?” Joe asked.

“Yeah. Everyone’s doing fine. I know that Linsey and Anna are in the maternity ward. But I don’t really know how they’re doing, cause I’m not a nurse on that floor. I know Monica was checked in for dehydration, so she should recover finely. As for the guys none of them had to be checked in”

“That’s good to know”

******

​

Back at the tunnel, Luke opened one of the crate loads of explosives that he had with him, “That's just about going to do it” he said taking a pack of them out.

“C-4?” A friend of Luke’s who had been volunteering during the crash asked.

“The man knows his explosives” Luke said cracking a smile as he looked at the explosives.

“I take it you didn't buy that at your local hardware store. You know, you showed up here very ready and extremely confident in yourself”

“Admirable quality, confidence, don't you think?”

“What's in it for you, Luke?”

“Justus, go on. I'm doing this for the pure satisfaction of knowing I helped my fellow man. You know, like they taught you in monk school?”

“Correction -- monastery. They also taught us a healthy suspicion of our brothers' darker sides” Justus said.

“Well, it's true. You and I do share a certain brotherhood. Among other things, we've both been touched by angels. Mary Mae Ward had the light of heaven in her eyes” Luke said talking about Justus’ grandmother as he put the bomb in a hole he made on the caves wall.

“My grandmother loved Laura very much. She also had a soft spot for you, *** knows why”

“Well, we've all got our dirty little secrets, don't we? For example, what do you think that pretty little girlfriend of yours would think of how familiar you are with what a baseball bat does to the back of a man's head? Or, how quickly you gave up your heart, soul, and professional reputation for the love of a certain blond psycho *****?” Luke asked.

“How fast do you think you can get out of here, old man? How does two minutes sound?” Justus said ignoring Luke's questions as he set the time on the bomb.

“You're on. You're a **** of a lot more interesting than you let on, Counselor Ward”

******

​

On the roof top of the hospital, Rav got up off the ground after Rob had snapped at her and walked a little further towards the door so her back was facing Rob.

“Sorry…I didn’t mean to snap at you like that” Rob said quietly to her as he was looking down.

“No…It’s okay…I’ve should of known that you’re going through a hard time” she said as she moved her hand up to her face wiping a small tear that fell down the side of her face. She then reached into her pocket on her nurses uniform and pulled out her cell.

Rob looked up and saw that she had taking out her cell, “I already tried mine. There’s no signal up here”

“I thought so” Rav said as she put her cell back into her pocket. She then turned and faced him, “Funny thing is that I come up here all the time and after being locked out here once, you think I would remember to prop the door open” she lightly laughed and continued, “But nope this time I didn’t. Tells me that I should probably find a different roof top”

“We need to get off this roof” Rob said getting up off the ground.

“Yeah”

Rav and Rob then walked up to the door where they started pounding and shouting out in hopes that someone would hear them, “Hello!”

“Help!”

******

​

Back at Rose Lawn, Theresa and Sam’s father were still talking out in the hallway, “Dr. Kim tells me Sam left the property here, that you found her wandering in the woods, but you don't want anyone to know?” Theresa asked him.

“Well, other than embarrassing the facility and making Sam feel bad, what's the point? I'm responsible for my daughter. I intend to look out for her best interests” he said.

“Even if she doesn't want help from you?”

“If Sam could walk out of here well and whole tomorrow, I won’t care if she wants my help or not. I don't intend to stand in her way”