The Nurse's Rescue

And maybe not that stuck. Joe could move his foot inside the heavy boot. If he could reach the zipper and open it, he might be able to free his foot. The task was awkward. Well over six feet in height and solidly built, Joe’s body was not designed for contortionist activities. He was breathing heavily and aware of something sharp prodding the region of his left kidney by the time his fingers managed to make meaningful contact with the boot zipper. He pulled it down, opening the thick leather boot as far as he could. The steel cap had been squashed; by some miracle his toes appeared to have missed being crushed, but even with the zipper opened to ankle level it was no easy task to free his foot. By the time he wrenched it clear he was also minus his sock, but it felt great to wiggle his toes. They were free. He was free.

Joe pushed himself backwards until he found enough space to ease himself onto his knees. It was pitch black around him, the dust was suffocating and the only sounds he could hear were muffled and too distant to be any kind of threat. Joe remained still for a moment, taking stock of his situation. He had survived the collapse but he was now isolated from any assistance. Or was he? Joe fumbled at the belt holding his bum bag in place. The belt that his radio clipped onto. He felt along its length and then checked again with the sinking realisation that the radio was no longer there. At some point during his mad dash for safety it had fallen off his belt. The likelihood of finding it under the new layer of dust and debris surrounding him was almost nil and even if he could find it he would have no way of telling anyone precisely where he was. He had no idea what direction his flight for life had taken.

Recall of the various briefings they had been given and the maps that were always on display were not much help. The basement car park extended beneath most of Westgate Mall. He knew that one of the pedestrian tunnels was blocked because that was where Jessica’s mother had been found amongst the fatalities. And that might explain how Jessica’s son had survived. Perhaps he’d run back into the car park when a panicked group of people had desperately tried to flee in the opposite direction.

Ricky. For a moment, Joe had forgotten the reason he was now in this situation. Ricky had survived, at least up until the secondary collapse. Had he also managed to dodge the perilous rain of debris that had propelled Joe further into the car park? He’d certainly been running fast enough when Joe had spotted him through the gap in the floor. Joe pulled himself upright, using the bumper of the four-wheel-drive vehicle beside him.

‘Ricky!’ His voice sounded odd. An isolated sound in a dark and alien environment. He tried again. ‘Ricky! Can you hear me? Where are you?’

The silence was thick. The huge space was filled with dust and precious little else. Joe would have expected any sounds from rescue activities overhead to carry enough to be heard. It was only to be expected that the secondary collapse would have resulted in a widespread evacuation of the building. How long would it take to reassess the situation? For people to get close enough for him to try and find some way to communicate his position?

‘Ricky!’ The call was a little half-hearted this time. Even a normal child would probably be too terrified to respond to the call of a stranger and Jessica’s kid wasn’t normal, was he? It might help if Joe knew more about what his problem was. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so careful to avoid any personal kind of conversation with Jessica during the weeks of the course. But, then, if he hadn’t, he might have regretted his decision not to follow up on the attraction he’d felt for her and that would have been a big mistake.

It might also help if he could see something. Joe could barely make out the outline of the vehicle he still had his hand resting on. His headlamp had cut out the moment he’d dived for cover. Or had it fallen off and been lost, like his radio? Joe pulled his leather glove from his right hand and reached up to his helmet. Yes, the small lamp was still there but clicking the switch didn’t make any difference. Taking off his other glove, Joe draped them over the roof rack beside him, then unclipped his helmet and removed it. No wonder the light wasn’t working—the whole assembly was loose.

Working by touch as much as sight, Joe checked the fitting and screwed everything back into place. He held his breath as he clicked the switch and then breathed a sigh of relief as a bright beam lit up a circle of the floor. A steel girder could be seen, with a boot trapped under its end and a forlornly empty sock trailing over the zipper. Joe put his helmet back on. He felt far more confident now. He could start moving and find a way out of this predicament. Maybe he could even find the kid and make this ill-advised solo mission worthwhile.

‘Ricky!’ Joe turned his head from side to side, letting the beam of light arc though more than one hundred and eighty degrees. ‘Where are you, buddy? Let’s find a way out of here, shall we?’

The knowledge that there was someone else trapped down here was comforting in a way. And the sound of his own voice was a lot better than the eerie dust-laden silence so Joe kept calling as he began to move. He headed down the line of parked cars, keeping to one direction. Eventually he would find a wall and then he could move around with the hope of finding an exit. There must have been exits that hadn’t been blocked or there would be a lot of people trapped down here. And an unblocked exit should reveal itself by allowing daylight to enter the space. His headlamp was powerful enough to override any shafts of daylight penetrating the dust but there was no way Joe wanted to risk losing his source of light by switching it off temporarily. The connections still weren’t great and the light flickered frequently enough to be a worry.

‘Hey, Ricky!’ Joe was getting used to talking to his unseen and silent companion. ‘I’m getting near the wall here now. I’ll bet if I keep walking this way I’ll find the ramp where the cars drive out and then we’ll be able to get out, too. Don’t know about you, buddy, but I’m starving!’

The kid had to be hungry by now. And very thirsty. It was well over twelve hours since the disaster had occurred. The thought that Ricky might have been in the car park for that length of time and still not found an escape route was disturbing. Joe stopped walking for a second, using his headlamp to try and penetrate the murky air further away and hopefully spot a potential exit. The silence fell again as the rustle of Joe’s movements ceased. And then Joe heard it. A small sound admittedly, but it had been unmistakable.

Someone had coughed.

A small someone. Joe had encountered enough children with respiratory problems to recognise that this cough came from a youngster. And it wasn’t far away.

‘Ricky!’ Joe found himself grinning beneath his mask. ‘Where are you, mate? I can’t see you. Are you OK?’

There was no response and Joe sighed. He’d have to find this kid now, and if Ricky was keen not to be found it might not be easy. The new cough Joe heard was cut off by the sound of something falling. A single lump of concrete maybe. Far enough away not to be a danger but quite close enough to remind Joe of the situation he was in. They were in. Ricky didn’t even have the dubious protection of a hard helmet. He had to find him. And quickly.

‘Your mum sent me to find you, Ricky. How ‘bout we get out of here and I take you back to Mum?’

Still no response. Hell, maybe the kid was backward enough not to be able to speak. Or to understand what he was saying. He had to be very close, judging by the proximity of that coughing, but the surroundings provided a rich source of places for a small boy to hide effectively. There were any number of vehicles to shelter behind…or beneath. Joe squatted on his haunches at the sudden inspiration.

Bingo!

A small face peered at him from beneath the axle of a furniture van, looking like a rabbit caught by headlights. Huge brown eyes stared at Joe. The kid was petrified!

‘It’s OK, Ricky. My name’s Joe. I’m a friend of your mum’s.’

His reassurance didn’t produce any flicker of relief. As he always did, subconsciously, Joe looked at things from the child’s perspective. Alone, terrified and possibly in pain, faced with a huge stranger wearing odd clothes and with his face obscured by goggles and dust mask. Joe pulled the mask down and smiled at Ricky.

‘I’m not really scary,’ he told the child quietly. ‘See?’

Unblinking brown eyes stared back from a disconcertingly unresponsive face.

‘We need to get out of here, Ricky,’ Joe continued. ‘Did you hear that?’ Another shower of debris had fallen somewhere in the car park. ‘It’s a bit dangerous with things falling off the ceiling and I’m too big to hide under that truck. Good hiding place, though. You’re clever, aren’t you?’ Joe was trying to assess his chances of grabbing the kid and pulling him clear. If Ricky decided to avoid him by wriggling further under the truck Joe would have no chance of extricating him. He wouldn’t be able to abandon him either. Joe edged forward very, very slowly, as though he were approaching a wild animal. He didn’t want to frighten Ricky any further but he was quite certain the boy wasn’t going to come out voluntarily.

It almost didn’t work. If Joe hadn’t hooked his hand under Ricky’s armpit he would have escaped and the planned route had clearly been further under the truck.

‘Sorry, kid.’ Joe hauled him clear. ‘But I have to get you out of here.’

Oddly, Ricky didn’t struggle once he knew the game was up. He didn’t shout or cry either. Joe found himself firmly holding a very small and rather limp child. Maybe he was injured. In normal circumstances it was always the really quiet children that Joe would be most concerned about. This was no place to try and assess Ricky’s condition, however, and time could be running out for both of them. Joe could hear a sound suspiciously like the horrible moan of an unstable building’s infrastructure.

He had no idea of a potential escape route. Maybe it would be better to try and find shelter. Or at least somewhere safe for Ricky while he went searching. The car beside them was locked. So was the next. Joe considered smashing a window and looked back for something suitable, like a piece of concrete rubble. His headlamp’s beam flashed over the truck Ricky had been hiding beneath, a furniture delivery vehicle presumably belonging to one of the shops the mall housed. Joe hoisted Ricky more securely onto his hip and moved swiftly as the ominous creaking sound came again.

Yes! The back of the truck was unlocked. Joe pulled the door open and deposited Ricky on the floor. As he hauled himself up and pulled the heavy door closed behind them, Ricky scuttled sideways like a crab until he reached the far corner of the truck. He curled his knees up and started rocking himself gently as he stared back at Joe. The stare was coming from quite a distance. The truck was huge and felt comfortingly solid. It probably wouldn’t offer total protection and the air pocket might not last long if the roof fell in and buried them, but it was a damned sight better than being as exposed as they had been. And Ricky was secure. Even if Joe went out searching, the small child would be unable to reach or manipulate the heavy internal door fastenings. For the moment, at least, they were safe.

The restraining hand of the law wasn’t necessary this time but Jessica couldn’t blame the scene command officials for deeming that more than one police officer would be prudent to ensure she stayed put. Maybe they should have followed up their threat of arresting her in the first place. The fact that she had been allowed back in had endangered lives. Joe would never have gone back in if she hadn’t been with him. She had sensed the instant that reckless decision had been made during the eye contact they had shared at the point of reaching safety. Something had connected him to Ricky through what he had seen in her eyes, and it had been strong enough for him to risk his own life to attempt the rescue of her child. Maybe, thanks to her, this disaster had just claimed another victim.

Not that anyone knew anything. The whole scene was being evacuated until the impact on stability of the secondary collapse could be assessed. Crowds of people were now milling about in the car park near where Jessica had been positioned or were walking purposefully towards their own bases or the church hall that had been commissioned to provide hot food and drinks, washing and resting facilities.

Jessica knew the stationary groups of rescue workers were all talking about what had just happened and she also knew that an effective information grapevine had established itself in the time this major incident had been in progress. More than one stare was being directed at her as people filtered the scraps of information gathered and then selected the more interesting items to discuss in detail. The relief of hearing a friendly voice was enough to make Jessica lose the edge of her control.

Reaching out as her friend Kelly greeted her, Jessica found herself pulled into a comfortingly tight hug.

‘I heard about your mother,’ Kelly said against her ear. ‘About Ricky. God, Jess! Someone said they saw you run into the car park—that you were trapped.’ The hug tightened into an almost painful squeeze. ‘I’m so glad it’s not true.’

‘But it is.’ Jessica felt her control slipping another notch. Her fear for both Ricky and Joe surfaced enough for the release of tears. A racking sob interrupted her words. ‘Ricky’s in there,’ she managed. ‘In the car park.’ Uncontrollable sobs prevented Jessica adding the news about Joe but her squad leader was still nearby and his calm words only served to increase the intensity of Jessica’s tearful release of pent-up emotions.

‘Joe stopped Jessica going in after him,’ Tony told Kelly. ‘He knew how dangerous it was.’

‘He went in himself instead.’ Jessica could feel another hand on her back, rubbing beneath where Kelly’s arms held her. June was also trying to impart some comfort as she spoke to Kelly. ‘Nobody thought to try stopping him.’

‘And then it was too late.’ Tony sounded grim. He was probably blaming Jessica despite everything he’d said to the contrary—like that Joe was an adult and an experienced paramedic and quite capable of making his own decisions. ‘The explosion happened and the ceiling came down right beside us. We had to run for our lives.’

Jessica was desperately trying to regain control. She managed to stifle her sobs but the effort was enough to make her tremble all over. Kelly’s embrace was giving her strength, however, and as the strength returned, so did her ability to think more clearly. The secondary collapse was over now. It was time the situation was reassessed. Time for someone to find out whether things were as hopeless as many feared. She pulled free of Kelly’s arms.

‘We have to go back in,’ she told her colleagues. ‘We have to find them.’

‘We’ll go back as soon as it’s cleared for safety,’ Tony agreed. ‘But not you this time, Jessica. You’ll have to leave this search to us.’

Jessica shook her head miserably. ‘It’s my fault Joe’s in trouble. I have to help.’

‘The best help you can give is to look after yourself right now. You need to be away from here for a while. Kelly or June can take you over to the church hall and look after you.’

‘No. I want to stay here.’ Jessica had to try one last time. ‘My son is in there, Tony. He…’ The new strength Jessica had summoned was more fragile than it felt. She had to choke back a new sob. ‘He might still be alive,’ she added brokenly.

‘You can stay close,’ Tony told her. ‘But you can’t come back inside.’

‘But…’ Jessica swallowed any more words. Tony was just doing precisely what needed to be done. She would do exactly the same in his position of responsibility. And if her squad leader didn’t do it, someone from Scene Command certainly would.

‘It’s OK, Jess.’ Kelly’s voice was reassuringly confident. ‘You can rely on us.’

Any desire to protest further faded completely as Jessica listened to her classmates decide what they were going to do next. Kelly was right. She could rely on them. All of them. The USAR course had been largely attended by people that Jessica both liked and admired. Paramedic Kelly and another nurse, Wendy, were both close friends now and June was great. Fletch and Ross were both doctors and the guys from the fire service were all strong and caring men. They would all be far more use than Jessica on scene and they wouldn’t stupidly endanger themselves or other members of their team. Jessica kept her head down as she allowed Kelly to lead her away from the scene command headquarters towards the church hall in Sutherland Street where the USAR personnel had decided to take a break.

Kelly had noticed how quiet Jessica now was. ‘Joe will have found Ricky,’ she said confidently. ‘I’m sure of it. And if there’s any way he can keep them both safe, he’ll do it. He’s not a helicopter paramedic for nothing. Joe’s coped with some pretty dodgy situations in his time—even a chopper crash once.’

‘I can’t lose them both.’ Jessica realised as she spoke that Kelly might misconstrue her meaning and think that her feelings for Joe were far stronger than she had admitted. This was not the time to explore just how close to the truth that might be. ‘Not Mum and Ricky,’ she added quickly. ‘Especially not Ricky.’ There could be no misunderstanding the depth of feeling in the last whispered words. ‘He’s my whole life.’

‘I know.’ Kelly’s arm tightened around her friend’s waist.

‘Is there anyone we can contact for you, Jess?’ Fletch sounded as keen as Kelly to provide comfort. ‘Any family or friends from home?’

‘No.’ Jessica shook her head sadly. She had known how small her world was. Why had she never realised how vulnerable it made her? ‘The only people that matter are here. Mum…and Ricky.’

And Joe. Despite the fact that she knew the attraction wasn’t mutual, Jessica would never forget meeting Joe Barrington. Any new fantasies of finding a meaningful relationship and future happiness would have a role model she knew it would be impossible to improve on. Yes, Joe mattered. Rather a lot. Even more so now that she had lost her mother.

The protection of the numbing shock her mother’s death had produced was wearing off. Jessica could feel a nasty prickle reminiscent of waking from a nightmare. Perhaps the feeling had stirred because her group was now walking near the large tent that contained the temporary morgue catering for the incident’s fatalities. Her mother would be in there and Jessica decided she’d better at least start dealing with her grief now. If she didn’t, what sort of shape might she be in when they found Ricky and she needed to focus on being a mother rather than a daughter?

‘I want to go in there,’ she said quietly. ‘I want to see Mum again.’

‘Are you sure?’ Kelly sounded doubtful.

Jessica nodded and tried to hold back a new outbreak of tears. She cleared her throat. ‘Would you come with me, please, Kelly?’

Fletch offered to accompany her instead but Jessica didn’t want male company. Kelly had a close relationship with her own mother. She would understand at least part of what Jessica had to go through.

The rows of covered bodies in the closely guarded tent was horrific. Officials in charge of this grim area were now sadly used to coping with distraught relatives coming in to identify and mourn the loss of loved ones. The process of removing those already identified and seen by the medical forensic officer had begun and a hearse was parked discreetly at the back of the tent. Jessica and Kelly were given as much privacy as possible with portable screens, and someone had done a wonderful job of cleaning up her mother and covering the injuries as best they could.

Jessica had no idea how long she spent in there or how Kelly coped so well with her raw grief, but when she emerged she knew she had done the right thing. She had overcome the barrier of acknowledging her loss and had begun the process of grieving. And she could be quite certain now that she was going to survive all this. Again, she was tapping into the well of strength she hadn’t known she possessed and a tiny part of her felt proud she had discovered it and determined that she would never lose sight of such a valuable attribute.

Her friendship with Kelly Drummond was also valuable. ‘Thank you,’ Jessica said to her simply as they headed once more towards the church hall. ‘I don’t think I could have done that without you.’

‘That’s what friends are for.’ Kelly smiled. ‘I’m here for you, Jess. So are Wendy and Ross and Fletch and June. And Joe.’ The afterthought was almost guilty—as though Kelly had forgotten her confidence that Joe had survived and would be found.

Jessica nodded solemnly and managed to return a faint replica of Kelly’s smile. She was going to need all her friends in the near future, that was certain. What was painfully uncertain was whether she had any basis on which to pin her hopes that Joe would be amongst them.

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