Buried (Bailey Roberts Trilogy #1) Editing

25: Unconditionally [3rd Draft]

AN: Anyone interested in reading the fourth draft e-mail me gossamersilverglow at yahoo dot com

Chapter Twenty-Five: Unconditionally

"Bailey!"

The scream startled her out of her daze. They'd been waiting so long she'd gotten lost holding Damien's hand and being stuck inside a box of metal with broken chunks of glass clinging to her skin. Bailey blinked rapidly, shifting as much as she could. Damien's grip tightened instantly at the movement and she knew his hand had to be asleep as that squeeze reminded her, with pins and needles, that the tingling light feeling had started on hers half an hour ago.

"Why is she still in there? Where's the ambulance?" Gale's voice was broken and frantic as she asked the questions.

"Mom?" Bailey's whisper was hoarse with disbelief, but when she tried it again she spoke louder because her mother was here and she would save Bailey. "Mom? Mom! Mommy?" Bailey tightened her grip on Damien's and winced when the pins and needles danced across her palms.

She saw Gale's scuffed white Sketchers when she kneeled down next to Damien. "I'm here, baby," Gale said, sniffling before shaking her head in disbelief, and covering her mouth to keep herself from sobbing any louder. "Oh, Wes, can't you make them come faster?"

Sheriff Lambert knelt down to stare at Bailey, his eyebrows drawn together, as he examined her with his deep blue eyes. "This is another county Gale, but I can try and make a few calls," he said, pausing to smile at Bailey. He placed a hand on the window. "Hey gorgeous, I need to ask you some questions okay?" He spoke smoothly, calmly, and Bailey instantly felt relief flood her as she realized she was closer to getting out of here.

Bailey sniffed and nodded slightly. "Okay."

"Can you wiggle your toes?" he asked, his eyes cool and calculating as he examined her face.

She frowned, confused by the question, but tried with successful results. "Yes."

"Good, that's good. Do you feel short of breath?"

She inhaled sharply and cringed as the burning pain followed.

"Okay, so you're feeling pain with deep breaths. Keep your breaths shallow as long as you can. How 'bout your arms, can you move them?"

"Not my right arm. I think it's broken."

He raised a charcoal eyebrow. "Considering your head is on the floor board where your feet should've been I'd say that's not surprising. Why weren't you wearing your seatbelt?"

She bit her lower lip. "I forgot."

He pursed his lips and gave her a disapproving look. "Well, you're very lucky. Alright baby, we're gonna get you out of there. Let me make some calls." He glanced over at Damien, who was still spread out across the street, damaged hand clutching Baileys. "Damien, could you..."

"No!" Bailey shouted, and then paused to reassess her tone of voice. "Please, can't he stay?"

"It's okay. I'll stay," Damien mumbled, sounding tired, but he gave her a reassuring glance. Bailey's eyebrows furrowed together in a frown as she watched the Sheriff Lambert's eyes shift between them before giving a tight lipped smile and stood up.

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When the firefighters finally came, in yellow and black gear toting a large chainsaw, she still refused to let go of Damien's hand, and they did what they could to work around him. When he had to let go so the firefighters could use that massive chainsaw, she focused on his feet in particular as he stood by.