"I got you," he murmured as he pulled the little girl from the rubble.
"You're going to be okay. We're going to be okay," he said more confidently as
he set to work freeing her mother.
"Will my mommy be okay?" the little girl asked tearfully.
"She's going to be fine," he answered as he tossed off a few more pieces of
metal. He gasped as blood squirted up at him. "Damnit," he muttered as he
hurriedly ripped the sleeve from his shirt and tightly wrapped the bleeder.
"What's wrong?!" the little girl screamed. "Mommy!"
"Shhh," he said as he took her hand in his. "Your mommy is going to be okay. I
promise you that. I'm a doctor."
The little girl smiled at him thankfully. "My name is Ally."
"Nice to meet you Ally. Now let's get your momma free."
The two went back to work and soon had freed the little girl's mother. He picked
her up in his arms, cradling her to his chest, and began making his way towards
the exit he had made earlier. "Stay close behind me," he ordered Ally.
"I will," she promised.
Soon the three of them were outside in the fresh air. He laid the mother down on
the charred grass and took several deep fulfilling breaths. "Thank you..." Ally
said as she flung her arms around him.
"Your welcome," he murmured as he hugged her back.
The rescue workers had immediately made their way over to the small trio when
they exited the wreckage. The mother was loaded onto a backboard and whisked
away, with Ally in tow.
"Let's get you on some oxygen sir," one of the paramedics suggested to him.
"You've been in that smoke way too long....come on," the medic insisted.
"No...no...I'm fine," he insisted as he pushed the medic away. "I'm a doctor...I
can help."
The medic smiled. "Glad to have you...we certainly need the help."
"The name's Benton," he said extending a hand. "Peter Benton...I work at
County."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abby had spent the last hour helping to free the passengers who were trapped and
trying to comfort the ones who were dying. She kept looking for signs of Carter,
but found none. Her willpower was weakening; she wasn't sure how much longer she
could do this....without him.
"I'm coming," she called to a man yelling at her.
She closed her eyes momentarily trying to regain her strength. "Carter...where
are you?" she murmured as she kicked a piece of the rubble with her foot. The
wreckage shifted and let out a loud groan; people started screaming; sparks
started flying; smoke swirled furiously.
"Oh God," Abby whispered as the small enclosure became deathly dark once again.