Every Second Counts

Before I knew it, I was in the passenger’s seat of Kris’s car, and we were on our way to the warehouse. Kris had told his mother that we’d have dinner another night, and she seemed okay with that, as he ushered me out of the house and to his car. I had tried to tell him that he should stay and that I could drive myself to the warehouse, but he refused, telling me I wasn’t in a state to drive at the moment.

I stared out the window, thinking about Davis, Reed, and Fiona. They shouldn’t be in this situation right now. It should have been me. Montenegro had asked specifically for me, and instead, the three of them were caught in a bomb.

As if Kris could read my mind, he reached over, putting his hand over mine. “Stop blaming yourself,” he told me, and I bit down on my lip to keep from crying. “Mara,” Kris began, but I shook my head, letting him know I didn’t want to talk right now. All I wanted was to know that Fiona, Reed, and Davis were alright.

About ten minutes later, Kris pulled over to the side of the road, about a block away from where the warehouse was. I was about to ask him why he had stopped so far away when I looked out the front window to see tons of cop cars all around. “Stay here,” I ordered him, opening my door up.

“Mara!” Kris yelled, and I stuck my head back in the door.

“They won’t let you anywhere near there anyways. It’s a crime scene and you’re not a cop,” I explained. “I have my police badge if they have any questions about me. I’ll be back whenever I know something,” I told him, practically running down the street towards the warehouse. I could see the bomb squad personnel all around, and I was suddenly stopped by a large police officer who I didn’t recognize.

“You can’t go in there,” he told me, and I silently pulled out my police badge and showed it to him. “Go ahead,” he told me, stepping aside, and I crawled through the crowd of people, trying to find someone that I knew.

I finally found Logan, and I made my way to his side. “Any word?” I asked desperately, and I knew the answer as soon as he looked over at me. He shook his head, and I bit my bottom lip once again, trying to figure out what to do. “But, they were in there? For sure?” I questioned. “There’s no way they could have stayed back for some reason or another?”

“They were in there,” I heard Parker say from behind me, and I spun around, engulfing him in a hug. As terrified and worried I was about the three of them, Parker had to be a million times worse, having his fiancée in there.

“Parker,” I began, but then I stopped, not knowing what to say to him. No matter what words came out of my mouth, nothing was going to make him feel better. The only thing that could do that was to see Fiona walking out of the building unscathed.

I saw members of the bomb squad helping someone walk out of the warehouse, and I tried to see who it was, my breath catching in my chest when I realized it was Davis. “Davis!” I yelled out, and he lifted his head weakly to look over at me. Logan, Parker, and I ran over to him, and I could see that he was injured. He wasn’t putting any weight on his left leg, and I didn’t know what exactly was wrong with him.

“We’ve got to get him to the hospital,” a paramedic said, rushing up to him.

“Wait just a minute!” I ordered, and the paramedic gave me a rude look but did as I asked. “Davis, what happened?” I questioned.

“I’ll ask the questions,” Detective Steen said, walking up to him, his notepad in hand. “Davis, why don’t you tell me what happened.”

“I don’t really know exactly. We went inside, and we could hear Montenegro talking. He was furious that we were all there, and he kept saying he asked only for Mara,” he began, glancing at me. “And, then he said we’d all pay for it. The next thing I know, the bomb is going off.”

“Did you see if Montenegro made it?” Steen asked. “Or if he’s in there.”

“I never saw him at all,” Davis said, and I looked over at him curiously, wondering what he meant by that. “I didn’t even see him when he was talking. We could hear his voice, but we couldn’t see him,” he explained.

“We need to get him to the hospital,” the paramedic repeated, and Steen nodded his head.

“Thanks, Davis. I’ll come and talk to you some more when you’re up to it,” Steen said, and they began guiding Davis to the ambulance.

“Davis!” I called out, running up to him. The paramedic continued to try to drag Davis, but he stopped, standing firmly in place, waiting to hear what I had to say. “Reed and Fiona?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I don’t know,” he told me, and my spirits declined even further. “They were right behind me when we went in, but after the bomb went off, I have no idea where they went. I yelled out for them and tried to search for them, but I couldn’t find either of them,” he told me dejectedly. “But, as soon as they’re found, I want you to call me immediately,” he told me.

“I will,” I promised, letting the paramedics take him to the ambulance, while I went back over with Parker and Logan. I told them what Davis had just told me, and I swear I could see tears in Parker’s eyes. “This is my fault,” I mumbled, feeling extremely guilty for what had happened.

“No, it’s not,” Parker stated. “This is Montenegro’s fault. Don’t blame yourself. If you would have gone tonight, we would all be here scared and worried about you. Either way, some of our people would be in there right now. I just hope that son of a bitch is lying in there dead right now,” he said through gritted teeth.

I put my hand on Parker’s shoulder, trying to calm him down, though I knew it was no use. “Parker,” I began but was cut off when he started running towards the direction behind me. I spun around, trying to figure out where he was going, when I saw Fiona being carried out of the building. I took off right after him, with Logan following, and in an instant, I was at her side. “Fi,” I began as Parker took her hand and gave her a kiss.

She began coughing, and the paramedics ran up to her, trying to check her out to see how badly injured she was. They attempted to get her towards an ambulance, but she refused, wanting to talk to us first. “Reed,” she choked out, and I knew it was hard for her to breathe right now. I figured she must have breathed in a lot of dirt and debris when the bomb went off, and all of it was getting caught in her lungs.

“Reed,” I said urgently, hoping she knew something about him. “Where is he? Is he alright? Is he alive?” I fired questions at her.

“Let her talk,” Logan told me, and I took a deep breath, waiting to hear what she had to say.

“Reed, he was right next to me when the bomb went off,” she said through her coughs. “But, then the roof collapsed on us. He was right there. I think he’s buried under there. I tried to move the stuff, but there was just too much,” she continued coughing. “He…he wasn’t saying anything when I kept calling his name. I don’t know if he’s alive or not,” she said, finally breaking down in tears.

I shut my eyes, not wanting to believe what she was telling me. “Miss, we need to get you to the ambulance and get you some oxygen,” the paramedic told Fiona. I looked at Parker, and we nodded at one another, as I knew he was going to go with her.

“I’ll call you,” he promised me as he followed Fiona to the ambulance, hopping in the back with her when they put her inside.

I turned back around towards Logan. “We’ve got to find him,” I told him, and he nodded his head in agreement, making his way through the crowd. I tried talking to the bomb squad, asking them if they had any evidence that Reed was still alive, but they just told me I needed to let them do their job and if they found Reed, I would be the first to know.

The longer Logan and I stood there, the more depressed I became. I quickly texted Kris, letting him know that we were still waiting on word from Reed, and he told me to stay there as long as necessary and that he would still be waiting for me whenever I was ready.

“Logan,” I said, looking up at him, and I knew I didn’t need to say anything else to him; he already knew exactly how I was feeling.

We stood there for I don’t know how much longer, praying that Reed was alright. I was about to give up hope for the night when I saw the bomb squad members carrying four people out. I ran over to them, trying to see who they were. Two of the bodies had been completely burned, and there was no way to determine who they were. Though, I could tell from their body types that they were not Reed, and I scolded myself for letting out a sigh of relief. I moved on to the third person, whose body was covered in blood, and I couldn’t tell if he was alive or not. “Oh my God!” I yelled out when I saw the person’s face and realized it was Reed. “Is he alive?” I questioned, but I was pushed back away from him by the paramedics. “Is he alive?” I screamed, just wanting a yes or no answer. “Goddamn it!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, causing the paramedics and police officers around me to jump in surprise. “Just tell me if he’s fucking alive or not!” I continued screaming.

The head paramedic turned around towards me. “He’s alive, but I don’t know for how much longer. He’s in critical condition, and I can’t guarantee he’s even going to make the trip to the hospital,” he told me bluntly, and I just watched, frozen to my spot with my jaw wide open, as they transported him to the ambulance to take him to the hospital.