Temporary

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^*Harper’s POV*^
“Fuck!” I screamed as I repeatedly hit the emergency button, which apparently didn’t work. “GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!” I yelled up at the camera in the upper corner. I had been trapped with Matt in this god damned hell hole for five whole minutes, and we hadn’t heard a single word, or anything. It was all silent. Matt had sat down in the corner, avoiding all contact with me. Which was more than perfectly fine by me. The elevator still had power, obviously, because the lights were still on, luckily.

“Is there a problem?” A voice finally came through a loud speaker, and I let out a sigh.

“The elevator’s stalled!” I yelled, looking up at the camera. I didn’t receive a reply. Maybe he didn’t hear me. “The elevator,” I motioned to the shaft we were in. “Has stalled!”

“Ma’am, I’m sorry, I can’t hear you, we don’t have audio in the elevators.” The man said, and I slammed my fists against the wall, along with my head. “Is there a problem with the elevator?” I turned towards the camera, and I nodded, and gave a thumbs up. “Just hang tight, I’ll get the maintenance to check out the power.” I gave two thumbs up at this sentence. I sat back against the wall, as far away from Matt as possible. I didn’t want to be trapped in here, especially with fuck face, of all the people. I think I’d rather be stranded on a small island with sharks circling me with Johnny whining about not having any food than be in here.

“Harper, I’m going into this now because first, I really want you to see my side of things, and second, you can’t run away from me.” I groaned, smashing my head back against the wall.

“Please don’t start this now, Matt. Anytime, but not now. Now’s not a good time to be stuck with me in a small space, talking about how you made my life hell. Especially when I have,” I reached into my pocket, searching for the pen I was using earlier to draw, but I didn’t find it, instead I found some lint. “A small ball of lint.” I said, slightly disappointed I didn’t at least have my pen so I could stab him. “I can still hurt you with this.” I said, shaking the lint in his face.

“Oh sure, you can…tickle me to death. That’s…very terrifying.” He said and I sighed.

“Fuck you.”

“That’s what I’m getting to.” He said, and I closed my eyes temporarily, just hoping that maybe this was some kind of hallucination, and I was actually alone, but my head trauma was just trying to make me face the reality of my life.

“Alright,” The voice came back. “I’m going to have to ask you to just stay calm for just a little longer, we can’t seem to find anything wrong with the power, so we’re sending a man down to the elevator to check the cables, and hopefully get you guys out.” I wanted to find that man and kiss him. I just smiled at the camera and mouthed as clearly as possible, ‘Thank you’.

“We’ll get you two out in a minute.” The man said, and then the speaker cut off.

“Thank god.” Matt sighed.

“What were you dreading apologizing to me for the umpteenth, time?” I asked him curiously, and he shook his head.

“No, I was thinking about the cables snapping from the weight and sending us falling to the bottom, where all of the gravitational force would surely kill us.” He answered not so simply.

“Great, well, once we get out, I was serious.” I looked down, then back at him. “Just, stay away from me.” Strangely, it hurt me to say those words. Somewhere deep down, I knew he really was sorry, but I was still traumatized from what he did to me. The bruise on my arm, and another on my hip were just beginning to fade. They were black as night, now fading to a sewage green.

“I’m just sorry, Harper. I would never put you through anything like that. You should know that.” He got up, and came over, and sat down beside me. I scooted away, but he grabbed my arm. “Harper, I’m sorry.” He said, looking me in the eyes, and spacing out his words. “I know you hate me, but I am sorry.” I was about to say something, but there was a snap, we were smashed into darkness and I screamed, clinging onto Matt as he screamed too, his voice going high pitched as we basically stared death in the face as the elevator plunged. I swear, Matt was gay for three seconds. Those were the longest three seconds of my life. Everything swarmed to my ears, this rushing noise mixed in with Matt and I’s terrified screams, and the sudden dropping of my heart as I felt it stop beating for a second. Matt and I were holding each other, just silently praying through our extremely loud screams for the elevator to stop, and let us live another day, and I found myself in Matt’s lap, his arms wrapped around me and mine around him as I continued to scream, burying my face in his chest. The elevator bounced, a wire going taunt, sending us both jolting, my fingernails digging into Matt’s back as I held onto him tighter than I ever had before. The elevator was still again, and the lights flickered a few times before finally going back to normal, but Matt’s breathing wasn’t slowing down, his heart pounding through his chest into my ear, the fast beating pounding through my dying scream. “It’s-it’s okay, Harper, we’ve stopped.” Matt said, calming me down some. I swear, I saw my whole life flash in those seconds. I could’ve died, right then, right there. I would’ve been on horrible terms with Matt, and I never would have been able to marry Zacky, and live happily ever after like I had planned. It was like my worst nightmare, mixed in with a new fear I had never known until this moment. The type of fear that makes you question what you’re doing with life. Wasting it away, doing nothing every day, making new enemies, and holding grudges, all while turning your back on someone you used to have feelings for, while indulging yourself in your true love.

“Are you two okay?!” I heard a different man over the speakers ask loudly, but I kept clinging to Matt, too scared to let go of him. He was like my rock for the moment. I felt Matt shake his head ‘no’ while still holding me, his hands running up and down my back as tears trailed down my face. His heart was still going ninety to nothing in his chest. “That’s an old elevator, the cables are over ten years at least, it’s not safe to send anyone down there, but we’re working to get you out. Until then don’t move around much, you’re only being held up by two cables, one’s already unraveling, but we’re working fast to help you.” The speakers cut off.

“They’ll get us out, don’t worry.” Matt whispered, and I wanted to scoot away from him, but I couldn’t pry my arms off of him, and I couldn’t get my fingernails out of his skin, I knew I was hurting him, but I didn’t mean to.

“M-Matt, don’t let me die.” I muttered, and he sighed.

“We’ll be okay, Harper, they’re going to get us out, just don’t worry, we’ll be fine.” Matt whispered. I wanted to think that he was right, but I wasn’t sure if I could trust him. If he did establish anything with me over the last few months, it was trust issues.

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^*Security’s POV*^
I watched the monitor of the man and woman trapped in the elevator. We had sent a guy to go down and open the emergency door on the roof of the lift, but just as he was setting up equipment to go down, a cable snapped, and sent them into a three second fall. We had to come up with another way to get them out; and fast before another wire snapped. I had suggested cutting through the wall, but first, we didn’t have the tools, or the time, and second, it would leave a hole in the wall that our hospital’s funds would most probably not be able to fix.

“So what do you suggest?” I asked the hospital’s director Drake, and he just sighed, sitting down in the chair next to me. “Look at them!” I pointed at the screen. “They’re terrified out of their minds, and if we don’t do anything now that next cable could snap any minute, and we could possibly have the deaths of two people on our hands.” I said, and he looked at the screen.

“We can’t cut through the wall, besides, the elevator shaft is lined with a five inch think wall of pure steel, it would take hours to break through everything, then possibly days to get through the metal, and inches of concrete. It would take too long, and they’d be dead by then. Plus, we’d have to get the fire department down here, along with the volunteers, and that would make it public.” He was always such a stubborn ass man. “We don’t even know their names for crying out loud!”

“I do, I screened then when they came into the ER the first time.” I pointed to the girl. “That’s Harper O’Klimin, and that’s,” I pointed to the guy. “Matthew Sanders. They’ve been here for the past two days with a James Sullivan, and Zachary Baker, along with Brian Haner, her sister Parker O’Klimin, and Jonathan Seward.”

“Visiting?” He asked.

“Parker O’Klimin was admitted a couple days ago, along with Harper, Zachary was admitted a little over two months ago with Mathew Sanders, and they discovered Zachary had that virus, and four days ago he was admitted again with a gunshot wound, and James was the young man that got shipped off with the virus two months ago, and just returned not too long ago. Trust me, I’ve been suspicious about their whole little tattooed and pierced sunglass wearing suspicious gang.” I said, remembering looking into the files of all of those strange people. The only reason I was suspicious about them was that well…they look like they came straight out of some ghetto movie filled with violence and murder.

“So Zachary’s still here, along with Sullivan and O’Klimin?” Drake asked, and I nodded.

“O’Klimin got released sometime yesterday, or today, but Baker’s still here, and so is James. I had to help escort Harper to her room the other day. She hangs around Zachary a lot. I think they may be a couple.” I said, and he nodded. We both looked back at the screen at some sudden movement, and Harper was laying on the floor, her breathing seeming to be unsteady.

“Hey, is everything okay in there?” I asked into the mic. Matt looked up at the camera and shook his head. He hesitated for a second, but then suddenly jumped up from Harper’s side, and dug something out of his pocket, and got down on his knees. He then held up a sheet of paper with something written on it. Asthma attack.

“Just keep her calm, and taking slow deep breaths.” Drake spoke into the mic, and Matthew nodded, and bent back down to Harper, talking to her and she nodded, and I watched as she started taking deep breaths.

“Shit, get Baker up here, along with her sister, do we know if Sanders has a…friend or, possible girlfriend or boyfriend, or any kind of friend in this building?” Drake asked.

“Not sure, he’s been around with Sullivan and Baker, along with Haner and Seward.” I said, and he sighed.

“What about her sister, Parker, do we know how we can get in touch with her? Maybe talk to Baker or James?”

“She sticks pretty close with Sullivan, and I’ve seen them with a kid before.” I said, and he nodded, looking back at the monitor.

“They’re probably married-”

“Security check requires you to take off all metal objects, I’ve never seen her with a ring.” I corrected.

“Well, talk to him and see if he has a number at which we can contact her, and get her up here. Bring Zachary when you come back, I’ll keep an eye on them.” Drake gave me a small smile, and I nodded.

“Alright, if anything happens,” I took a walkie off of the charger, and turned it on, handing it to him. “Contact me immediately.”

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^*Zacky’s POV*^
I was getting an early release because I was doing a lot better. I was so happy about that, until a security guard rushed up to me just as the nurse was unhooking me from the IV.

“Mr. Zachary Baker?” The guard asked, and I nodded.

“Yea, that’s me.” I said, suddenly concerned as the nurse put a piece of tape over a guaze, and I stood up, slightly shaky on my bad leg, but roughing it.

“I’m Pete Moss, with security. Elevator four has stalled and we believe you may know one or possibly both of the people who are on it.” My head snapped from my leg and up to him.

“What?”

“There is a Harper O’Klimin and Matthew Sanders trapped in an elevator-” I cut him off.

“Harper?!” My voice cracked.

“So you do know her?” He asked, and I nodded.

“I know both, Matt’s one of my friends, and Harper’s my girlfriend. Is she alright?” I couldn’t even think of what I would do without her.

“She’s fine, we’ve had a cable snap, and she’s had an asthma attack, but they’re both okay, for now. I came to find you because the hospital’s director Drake Perkins thought it would be good if you were up there, maybe calm Ms. O’Klimin down some.” He said, and I nodded.

“Lead the way.” I said seriously, and the nurse handed me a clipboard and pen. I signed my name and initials, nearly accidentally signing my stage name before I darted off behind Pete. Harper was trapped in an elevator. With the same guy that raped her a little over two months ago. Why does everything in my life always seem to be counter balanced with something bad?

“Are you up for going to a few flights of stairs? We can’t use either of the working elevators, or we might risk jarring the other and snapping one of the last two remaining cords. We’ve had to shut them down, anyways.” He said as we walked out of the ICU, and towards the staircase. Like I said, it’s always something bad.

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^*Harper’s POV*^
“Are you okay now?” Matt asked concerningly. I had started sobbing and I couldn’t get my breath, and sent myself into an asthma attack. I had problems with asthma as a kid, and just got really rid of it a few years ago. But apparently it’s just been lurking in the shadows in my body, waiting for an opportune moment to attack, and make a horrible situation even worse.

“I’m fine.” I whispered after finally getting myself calmed back down. I let my head rest back against his chest as he leaned back against the wall with a sigh.

“God, I thought I was about to lose you. I’ve never seen someone breathe that harsh before.” He said, and I sighed.

“Matt,” I started, not really sure if I wanted to do this. But I saw it through his concern he showed for me, and his affection towards me. He really would never hurt me, and he was drunk the night that little…incident went down, and he’s a whole other person when he’s drunk.

“Yea?” He asked looking down at me, and I hugged him, burying my face in his shoulder.

“I forgive you.” If I didn’t do it now, I’d take this grudge and fear of him to my grave, and if another cable snaps, that won’t be very far away. I leaned up and kissed his cheek. “I know you didn’t mean to hurt me, but I still have to live with what you did to me.” I said, staring into his eyes, and I could see a film of tears over his eyes.

“I never will hurt you again, Harper, I promise. If I ever do, I swear I won’t live over a day after.” He hugged me tightly, and I hugged him, actually enjoying being back in his arms. “I still love you Harper.”

“Matt, if we…” I didn’t want to think about it, but I needed to face the fact that the last cable could snap, and we could die. “If we don’t make it out of this, I need you to know that I-”

“Harper, are you okay?” I heard Zacky’s voice, and I stopped my sentence as I got off of Matt, and wiped my eyes, and looked at the camera. “Harper, everything’s going to be okay.” He’s there, wherever that guy that was talking earlier was, Zacky’s there too.

“Ms. O’Klimin, we’re working as hard as we can to get you two out.” I heard that man’s voice again, and I nodded. I walked over and picked up the piece of paper Matt had written on in small letters, to save space. I picked up the pen and wrote ‘Thank you’ in little letters but I realized they weren’t exactly going to be able to see them right, so I dug my phone out of my pocket and turned it on, holding the screen behind the letters so they could be legible. I held it up to the camera.

“No problem, at all.” The man said.

“I’m going to be right here, Harp, and they’ve called Parker and she’s on her way too.” I smiled at Zacky’s voice. “Matt, I swear to fucking god, you better keep her safe, but if you make one wrong move I’ll be down there on your ass faster than fuck.” Zacky growled, and I looked over at Matt, and he sighed and looked down. I wrote, ‘He’s okay, if it weren’t for him I’d probably be dead from not being able to breathe.’ I held it up to the camera. “Matt, my world is in your hands, if she gets hurt then you’re gonna go missing.” I couldn’t help but smile at Zacky’s threat. Matt gave him a thumbs up. I walked over and sat down next to Matt, and he let his hand fall down between us, and looked up at me. I smiled lightly and wound my fingers in with his.

“I hope I didn’t hurt your back with my nails.” I said, and he shook his head.

“I’d go through all of the pain in the world to keep you safe.” He whispered, and I couldn’t hold back a yawn, though I wasn’t about to fall asleep. I gently leaned my head on Matt’s shoulder, and started to get drowsy at the feeling of his thumb grazing over the top of my hand. I was nearly asleep until something happened, and there was a snap. I looked up at Matt.

“Oh no.” I muttered, feeling tears in my eyes, this was it. I could already hear the other cord squeaking under pressure.

“Harper, I love you.” Matt whispered, and I nodded.

“I love you too Matt.” I said, and he grabbed my face in his hands, our lips smashing together, and there was a snap, like a whip lashing out, and the elevator plunged again, this time the lights just flickered, and I pulled away from Matt’s lips, hearing people screaming from the loud speaker, asking us to hold on, that the cable snapped, and that we need to brace for impact, and Zacky’s tear strained voice telling me he loved me. It was a surreal moment, the gravitational force making me seem weightless as we plummeted, voices screaming that we’d be okay, hearts pounding to almost the same rhythm, and breaths as slow as winter’s cool air as Matt and I fell towards death’s grasp. I heard a screeching noise above us, but I ignored it as I didn’t scream this time, and neither did Matt as we both fell with the death trap, and I clung to him for life, my heart aching for Zacky to be here, but he’ll have to move on. As long as he knows I love him. I held onto Matt, praying we’d somehow make it through. I heard Parker’s voice now, screaming through the speakers, but as soon as the elevator crumpled slightly with the impact of the hard concrete ground, Matt and I were both knocked out from our bodies being slammed down against the ground.

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^*Zacky’s POV*^
I watched the screen in horror as in less than ten seconds, Matt and Harper fell out of my view as the elevator raced down the shaft. Through all of the screaming of ‘You’ll be okay.’, ‘Brace yourselves.’, and ‘We’ll get you out.’, I barely got in an ‘I love you, Harper.’. I hardly even noticed as Parker rushed in, Brian close behind. She ran up, her face inches away from mine as people scrambled behind us to get people down to the ground floor to check on them, and Parker and I watched the screen as the elevator hit rock bottom. The walls crumpled slightly, and I watched at Matt and Harper were slung like rag dolls one more time before falling limp, and then the camera fell, right next to Harper’s face. I felt my heart break as I looked at her, her cheeks cut here and there, but the small wounds not distracting from her delicate features. I could only hope she was okay, but life wasn’t exactly promised. I heard my heart shatter, and people rushed out the door, including Parker and Brian, but I just sat there, staring at Harper’s face for a few more seconds through the slight static until the camera finally sputtered and died, having stayed on for as long as possible. I just hoped and prayed that she was okay.