Convincing Amy (Amy, #1)

Chapter 14: Released

Chapter Fourteen 
RELEASED

An hour passed and the air became wild. A storm was brewing and the sky looked as though it would rain at any moment. The police security at JFK Airport had been stepped up several notches which greatly angered the outside civilians who desperately wanted to get to their loved ones. But there was also immense concern after a short burst of gunfire not half an hour ago. Screams had come from those inside as well as those outside, but still no one was allowed in because the police were supposedly negotiating with the suicide bombers, but nothing seemed to be happening. No one had yet been freed.

Matthew was a mess alongside hundreds of other people. He'd given up on trying to push through the police, figuring that it wasn't contributing to anything useful whatsoever. The elbowing and screaming didn't get him anywhere, and so he'd walked away sullenly and collapsed onto a cold and wet concrete gutter about two hundred metres from the main crowd. His knees were perched hish and he rested his arms atop them, leaning his head deep within the darkened confines made.

His eyes had dried of tears and were now red-raw. Sobs were still heaving from his heavy chest, but no tears ran. Other people around him were in similar situations. An Indian mother was clutching her baby, sobbing violently; what looked to be three sisters were waiting for someone, maybe their mother or father, to be freed; and there were many adults waiting for their partners to be back in their arms. Matthew decided that he could relate to these people the most.

Just then, a woman's desperate voice reached Matthew's ears. "They're coming out!"

All those who were sitting down, including Matthew, jumped up and joined all those who were already trying to get a view on the situation. What they saw was three policemen, standing halfway between the airport entrance and the rest of the police blockade, directing all the crying, screaming and shaken people back to safety. There were about fifty faces walking towards safety, each searching for someone in the crowd. Some people had cuts, others were nursing broken or sprained limbs, but most looked unscathed. Yet, not one of these faces belonged to Amy. Nonetheless, Matthew continued to frantically search.

"Amy?!" he called over the crowd, but it mixed with hundreds of other voices. "Francis?! Ellie?! Naomi?! Timmy?! Nadia?! Philippe?!" The calling of names was endless. "Sean?! Drew?! Sam?! Callum?! Toni?! Kyia?! Mohammed?! Jon?! Vanessa?!"

But not one of them turned out to be Amy Carter.

Matthew watched as distraught, freed hostages were embraced by their loved ones and peppered with kisses and touched with love. He envied each and every person reunited. But Amy wasn't there, so he went back to his sulking ways along with most of the people outside the airport.

Everyone who'd been released was checked immediately by a crew of about twenty paramedics. Their details were taken - probably for legal reasons, or maybe for possible police investigations where witness statements would need to be collected - and they were given medical advice and blankets to keep warm. Some of the unjured came out of the ambulances with stitches, and others in plasters or braces. These seemed to be the most serious the injuries were and Matthew prayed that this was the case for Amy and all the thousands of others still stuck in the airport.

Matthew began to stress. What if those who had just come out of the airport were the only survivors? The thought took him into a cold and nervous sweat. He swiped his fingers through his hair and made a false attempt to pull it out - he only yanked at it hard to prevent (or at least delay) himself from screaming. He did, however, let out a weak whimper of just one name: "Amy."

But he couldn't think like this. If he thought that Amy was dead, it wouldn't do him any good. It'd only make the situation far worse. Matthew continued fighting a battle within himself. To go in and get her or not? His heart was begging him to race into the airport, through gunfire that would surely start up, find Amy and then bring her out to safety. But, his head knew better. His head knew that those actions would only prompt the suicide bombers to kill themselves - and all those around them - sooner rather than later. And he knew Amy would be part of such mess so he stayed planted on the cold concrete, waiting for what wasn't coming.