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She was out cold.
“Goddamnit!” I choked back a sob, glancing around at the wreckage pressing closer against me.
No…
“Oh fuck.” I gulped, fighting to still my racing heart. The light went off, and I clenched my eyes shut, counting on inhales. Counting out exhales. Slow and steady, talking myself out of a panic attack. I had to keep my sanity.
SOS—I tapped overhead, gulping for air, hunger and thirst adding a desperate measure of need to my instinct to live.
I’d promised Christine I would get us out of there. Free us, give us a chance to pursue what both of us had been too scared to explore.
I wanted to love her, goddamnit! Wanted to hold her while she slept every night. Wanted to kiss her awake every morning.
Tears slid down my face, and I leaned over her in the darkness, needing to feel the softness of her lips, her exhale mingling with mine. The cushion of her mouth gave way beneath mine, unmoving yet warm. I lingered there, soaking in the knowledge her heart still pumped, and her lungs still worked to give oxygen to her broken body.
“We will escape this hell hole,” I whispered as more tears dripped from my face. “And I’m going to love you so damn hard. No holding back. No regrets allowed for either of us.”
A muffled holler sounded in the distance—or perhaps mere feet away.
“Hey!” I screamed back. “We’re here!”
Silence followed for a few of my frantic-paced heartbeats.
“Hello!” the voice came again.
“We’re here!” I yelled as loud as I could, wincing at the echo of my shriek. I fumbled with the cell, lighting the screen and shining it upward, flashing it overhead on the roof right above me. “Down here!”
Dust rained over on my head, and I shied away, glancing quickly over at Christine.
She still lay unmoved, unfazed by my hollering.
Blinking in the motes of particles in the air, I called a few times, and someone replied almost immediately.
They heard me. Had to have—I just couldn’t make out clearly what they said.
I flashed the light around until the battery died, leaving us in darkness once more. Maybe they’d caught a glimpse of it through the cracks of our prison.
“They’re coming for us,” I told Christine, gently touching her face, not sure if she could hear or even understand me. She hadn’t even flinched at the ruckus. “Hang in there.” I kissed her lips again, allowing myself to fully hope we would have a future. Together.
God knew we would both probably end up with a bad case of PTSD, and I would definitely have even worse claustrophobic issues than I did as a kid, but at least I would get to experience it. Remember I’d survived. Have the chance to love when I never thought a relationship would be in my cards.
I wanted that. Phobias and all. Would gladly welcome them if it mean loving on Christine for the rest of our lives.
The muffled voice grew louder—another joined in. Soon, I could hear the sounds of movement, shifting weight toward our left. One loud thump and grit wafted into my eyes. I closed them for a time, yelling on occasion when the guys checked in with me.
It seemed hours, but I could clearly hear voices—they asked our names. I gave them, the state of Christine, and they promised to get us out soon. EMTs were on hand to take care of my woman.
She would be just fine.
Cool air slid over my face, and I squinted in the dust.
Light flickered through some of the debris.
“I can see you!” I hollered, my voice breaking on a sob. “I see you!”
“We got them!” A guy yelled, a stab of light flashing directly on my face through bent metal and splintered wood.
Tears coursed down my cheeks, and I hovered over Christine, gently wrapping her in my arms and shielding her in case anything fell atop us in the rescuers’ attempts to dig us free. They’d actually found us…more tears poured even though I felt dehydrated as hell. While I wasn’t fond of needles, I couldn’t wait to be hooked up to an IV—