Thanks for all the reads, comments and votes. It really means a lot to me.
It had only been two days ago when Alex had left that she received the call in the middle of the night, August 21stwould be a date to remember till the end of her days for certain, because it led to gaining an experience of a lifetime and not all good. Sure, it had been something that she had dreamt of doing, but it didn't mean that the outfall of it was a positive one. And she would remember it for her own experience and not the news coverage of that day, she'd remember it for the serious fight she had with Alex and the place she'd been sent to.
She remembered the call very well that would send her on her biggest adventure yet. She'd been fast asleep when her phone had started to buzz beside her on the nightstand. Considering the age of Alex's grandparents, she thought that something might had happened to them, so still half asleep she reached for her buzzing phone.
"Amelia talking." She answered the phone, not even bothered by turning on the night lamp beside her, she didn't see the point of it.
"Amelia Michaels?" an unknown voice called her name as she let out a sleepy hum.
"This is Jean speaking from B-fast, your being called on for a first medical response. You're one of twenty people being send to your location with a medical intervention unit." The person on the phone informed her as she sat up in bed in a quick manner, well that had certainly woken her up like nothing else before. Sure, she and Steven had applied the day they had graduated, having gone through the selection process going up to their graduation, they wouldn't be able to go on a mission till they had their degree though.
It had always been a dream of hers to join a B-fast expedition, to go to a place where the need of care was most needed, a place where a disaster had struck or someplace where they were simply in need of medical care. It was the one thing that she'd always said of wanting to do, well except of working at an A&E or an intensive care unit, but that seemed pretty unachievable at this point in her life. But it seemed that she at least would be able to fulfill this one though.
"Where am I going?" She asked the person the other end of the phone as she heard him let out a heavy sigh.
"We're sending two teams, one to Ecuador's Guayaquil but you'll be travelling to Lima though, it's the city that was hit the hardest by the earthquake and tsunami. Steven the person you applied with is on your team." He informed her as she let out a relieved sigh, whilst throwing the sheets off of her. Glad that she would have Steven with her to wherever they were going, well she knew what place she was leaving for, Peru, but what would they find there. This guy spoke of an earthquake and a tsunami, well that was pretty serious to say the least. And it was nice to know that she wouldn't be going there alone, that she'd have Steven to lean on as well.
"okay, when am I needed at the airport?" she asked him, he informed her to be ready to depart in six hours, the country had been hit with a 9.2 quake and to top it off had been hit by a tsunami on top of that, so help was definitely going to be needed over there and they would have to get there as quickly as possible in order to start helping as soon as they could.
It was currently just past 3:30 in the morning which meant they'd be leaving by 9:30, it would be hell to convince everyone of letting her go there. It had been one thing to state that she'd applied to do to this, none had been too happy with her because of it, but they all figured that Alex would have proposed to her by the time that she would ever be called on.
Deciding to start with the hardest one, her boyfriend. Dialing Alex's number, she headed for her laptop to see the damage for herself there, she wanted to see what place she was going to and what exactly had happened there. And she also needed to know what to prepare herself for, she noticed the mail she'd received with a list of what she would need to take with her. Looking at the images of Peru, she couldn't help but gasp at the first pictures of the damage done there, houses came down like they were card houses. The city being overpopulated and not prepared for such a large earthquake.
10 million people all cramped together in one city, that were as many people as possible who inhabited Belgium all together. She couldn't imagine or even begin to think about what they would find there, but she knew it would be hell and she knew it was where she needed to go.
"I'll pick you up at eight." She received the text from Steven, just when she was about to call Alex as she made her way to the living room as quietly as possible. "Okay need to tell everyone first thought." She whispered to herself.
"Hello." She heard Alex's sleep voice say on the other end of the line, it was incredibly early, and it would it was even earlier there with the time difference, depending on how you looked at it. She did feel bad about waking him at this time, but she needed to inform him, and she couldn't leave it to the last minute,
"Amelia is something wrong?" he asked her as she let out a sigh, preparing her for the arguments that would surely follow.
"I just got a call Alex, south America has been hit with a large earthquake, I've been called in by B-fast." She informed him, deciding to go for the quick approach like ripping off a band-aid.
When Amelia had informed him of applying to the organization, he'd figured that it would be really bad luck for her to be called on between her applying and them becoming engaged, he'd planned out the moment entirely and it was to happen at the end of September. But it seemed that he was really born for bad luck at the moment.
"No, no, no." he started, sitting up in his bed as he got up to look at what exactly had happened whilst he was asleep.
"Alex, you knew I applied for it, you even encouraged me to do it." she told him as he let out a heavy sigh, running his hand over his head and she could imagine him running a hand through his hair.
"Because I never thought you would be sent out, I thought I would ask you to marry me before that happened." He informed her, letting that one out before he realized is, not that he had told her anything specifically either.
"Alex for crying out loud, I knew that when I applied that I could be called on at any time. That's what being a part of that team is. I've already given up so much in being with you and this is maybe the only thing I can do, the only dream I achieve as a nurse." She told him as she too was started to get frustrated by it, having heard his frustration in his voice in his previous answer.
"Still, god Amelia, I just looked it up, it's a dead zone. Earthquake and Tsunami." He informed her of the facts that she already knew, and she couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.
"I know." She admitted to him and at this point she really didn't want to tell him where exactly she was going; it would send him totally over the edge when he knew that. The earthquake having happened only 10 km's away from Lima, Peru underwater, the reason for there being a tsunami as well. The reason why lima had been hit far worse than any other place in South America and as a result of the earthquake a tsunami was now racing all over the Pacific Ocean as well, hopefully lessened in force than when it had hit Peru.
"I knew what I signed up for though Alex, I knew this could happen." She told him as she heard him let out a heavy and large breath.
"You can't go, Amelia, I forbid you to go." He told her as she let out an angry growl.
"Alexander Edward Louis Philip Wales, since when do you forbid me to do anything. I signed up for this and these people are counting on me." She said in a growling manner, pissed off that he would think that he could stop her from going on this trip. He had been informed of the risks when she applied to it and then he'd encouraged her to do it, and now that she was being called on, he was forbidding her to go, to hell he was.
"I can and I will Amelia. You're going to be my wife, I can't lose you, Amelia, I forbid you to go." He repeated and ordered her, which angered her even more than it had done before.
"I'm going to say this once Alex, I'm going and no one or anything is going to stop me from it. This is the one thing I have to do for myself. The one thing I get to do before I bind my life to yours, let me do this one thing." She told him and she wasn't going to back down from this, in a couple of hours she would be on that plane and he wouldn't be able to do a thing about it.
"No Amelia, I'll stop you." He told her as she let out a chuckle.
"then you'll have to hurry, because I'm leaving in three hours for Lima." She told him and she cursed herself for letting it slip out that she was going to lima as she heard him let out a heavy and large breath and she knew why, it had been the worst hit place, the images slowly coming in were enough to send chills down her spine.
"No, not Lima." He told her, realizing and having read that it was indeed the worst place of this entire earthquake disaster and he didn't want to lose her to it either. He wasn't a specialist in earthquakes and such, but he knew it was bad.
"Alex why can't you understand this?" Amelia asked him as she started to pace in her living room. He knew that she had this dream, to go to a place where the need for aid was most dire and at the moment it was Lima. She'd already given up so damned much to be with him and she wouldn't budge on this with him.
The time had stopped, and hell had come down for these people and she wanted to go and help them in any way that she could. She wanted to be useful for once in her life and two months after graduating and applying at B-fast, she was called on.
"I do understand that it is one of your dreams, but you can't go." He told her as she shook her head.
"And I'm telling you that I'm going Alex, I know you don't agree with me now, but If you stop me from doing this, I'll never forgive you. This is something that I have to do, something that I need to do. It's the last thing I'll be able to do when it comes to me having worked my ass of for the last three years to become a nurse. I didn't finish top of my class to be a trophy wife at your side." She told him, pissed off that he would really think that he could stop her, and it wasn't beyond him to show up and stop her from getting on the plane either.
"I promise to be careful but don't let me leave when we're fighting, who knows how long it'll be till I can reach you." She told him, she needed him to realize that no matter what he said, she was getting on that plane and leaving for Peru. He couldn't say anything that would convince her to stay or change her mind.
"Please Amelia, I don't want to lose you." He told her; it was his biggest fear. He had the ring; he had the holiday planned for late September to ask her to marry him. He was so very close to having her as his wife and now she was going to the world's most dangerous place at the current moment. He couldn't lose her now.
"I have to do this Alex, I'll be careful, Steven is going as well, we'll have each other's back." She promised him and he realized that no matter what he did, what he said, she would be on that plane and there wasn't a thing that he could do to stop her. That woman was the most stubborn woman he'd ever met, the only thing he could do was to support her and be there for her and pray that she would return to him. Cause if she didn't return to him, he didn't know what he would do. But if he did stop her, she would hold it against him for the rest of her life and he couldn't live with that either, so he'd have to life with the fear of losing her for the time that she was there.
"How long will you be gone for?" he asked her as she let out another sigh.
"Four weeks;" she told him as he let out another sigh.
"Alright, I know I can't stop you love, but please be careful if there is another quake don't be a hero either." He asked her as she let out a hum.
"I won't love I love you." She told him before ending the call and going to pack her room. It seemed the noise had woken her gran, gramps, Maksim and Laure as they came down and stood at the door of the living room and she couldn't help but let out a groan, before running her hand over her face.
When they saw her picking up a small red bag, they didn't know what to think of it at first. They hadn't seen that bag and the first thought they had was that something had happened in Scotland with Alex or one of his family members. But when she moved away from the bag and they read the letters on the side of it, they felt a sense of foreboding go through them.
"B-Fast." They felt the chill through them, that bag had been packed for the most part, she hadn't taken it with her to London, because she hadn't thought that she would ever need it. how wrong she had been? The necessities had already been inside of it, but she needed a couple more things though.
"What are you doing?" her gran finally found her voice and Amelia had noticed them standing there.
"they called me about an hour ago, I'm leaving for Peru." She informed them, continuing to pack what little she hadn't packed yet and that she would definitely need over there.
"And you were just going to leave like that?" her gran demanded of her as Amelia shook her head whilst turning around to face them again.
"No, I didn't want to wake you guys up because of it either, I would have told you when you were awake." She told them as she noticed her sister on the phone, and she had no doubt about the fact that she was checking about what had happened in Peru.
"Where are you going in Peru?" she asked her as Amelia let out yet another heavy sigh.
"Lima." She told her as Laure went to cover her mouth with her hand as Maksim took her phone from her.
"but that's the worst hit, the epicenter lies 10 km away from it, and it's where a tsunami hit the worst as well." he informed them as she turned to him with a none to impressed look on her face.
"thanks Maksim." She quipped it was the very last thing that her grandparents needed to hear at this moment.
"If you want to stop me, I've already heard it from Alex when I called to inform him about it, he doesn't little me going either, but you're not going to stop me either." She warned them, having heard all the arguments from Alex already and she wasn't ready to have yet another fight about it.
"What are you thinking? You have a boyfriend to think about?" her gran stated as she looked over at her grandfather, he was always the quiet one, she could see the fear and worry in his eyes, but she also knew that he would never stop her from going to the place where she wanted to go, or for her to follow her dreams, even if it worried him.
"I'll be careful, I promise, Steven is going with me as well." she told them as if that would be enough to keep them both safe, it wasn't she knew, but still it was all that she could give them at this point.
They argued some more, but in the end just like Alex had done, they realized that they weren't going to stop her from going. They called the family, hoping that at least one of them would be able to change her mind, by the time that Steven came to pick her up. But they had to make peace with it when Steven arrived, and they weren't able to stop her, and they realized they could only be there for her and support her. So, with a tearful goodbye, she got into Steven's car and drove to the military airport.
****
Once they arrived there, they met up with a group of 60 people, all of them heading for Lima, not all of them medical personnel, some were military, others were search and rescue with dogs, others were fireman to do the heavy lifting along with the military personnel. The other 60 of them were going to leave for Ecuador. Both would travel with 20 medical personnel, including a field hospital and camps for them to set up camp in. the two final people making up the team were technicians of a water pump going with them in order to enable them to operate and have clean water.
When they'd seen her arrive at Steven's side, they all gave her a doubtful look, but she knew that would happen. She was after all not the person they would have hoped for, on the team going to Lima, she was only one of two women going there; the other being a soldier, all the rest were men leaving for Peru.
If she didn't belong there, they wouldn't have let her get through the psych eval and all 12 tests they'd gone through to get to this stage, starting at the beginning of June with a psychological evaluation. Then they made a personality test to see what position and sort of person they were. Not everyone could carry a leading function and she'd come out of the tests as an ENTP, a natural leader category.
When Jean announced that she'd be in charge of the field hospital beside the trauma doctor Frank, they started to argue about it, she told Jean to simply to share the tests they asked after, ensuring them that she had indeed gone through the same process of it all. Not many arguments had followed after it and they had to make peace with the fact that she would join them to Peru, she was put in the spot that was best suited for her after going through all the tests they had all gone through.
And then they were off, the press would either come after or were already on their way there. She didn't really look forward to sharing a camp with them, but it was part of the deal and she accepted it as such. Even the pictures that had been taken of them before the take off. Everyone had been stunned to see her there, but she pointed out that she was going there to save as many lives just as everyone else on the team.
"You, okay?" Steven asked her once they were strapped in the back of the cargo plane. There were countless supplies going with them, a second plane was scheduled to leave in the next 48 hours to give them more supplies, now only the most important things were with them, the things that would get them through the set up till the rest of the supplies came.
"Yea." She told him as they took each other's hand, looking up she felt the plane vibrating as the rotors started and then she felt them take off, rather than seeing it. She couldn't look outside, and she hated not being able to see where they were, well they knew where they were going, but she loved looking outside of the window, it would definitely be able to calm her nerves somewhat.
They'd been in the air for barely an hour when Frank called her over, the three groups of the team got together on how to plan their arrival. Since Amelia was in charge of the field hospital along with Frank, she needed to decide on matters as well. Sure, Frank was a doctor in charge and an experienced one at that, but she was going to be the one who made sure everything ran smoothly as he told her.
"Let's start with a rotation schedule, the sooner we have all of that figured out, the sooner we'll be able to inform the rest and they'll know their role." She said, slipping in the role the test had put her here for and they soon realized that no matter who she was, who she was dating. Amelia was more than just a pretty face and there was more to her than met the eye. She may be young, only 25, but she knew what was expected of her and she was more mature than most 30-year-olds. She saw they before they even thought of it and she knew how to plan for things ahead.
They knew the spot they were going to be stationed at, it was at one of the largest parks in Lima, it was flat and there weren't any tall buildings around that could fall on top of them in case of an afterquake. They'd been given the information that the British and Dutch response teams were going to be setting up camp in the same spot and it had been decided over sat phone that they were going to create one large camp because of it, it would enable better safety for everyone, knowing gangs would take advantage of the damage that was done, and it would increase their capacity as well. They'd been put in touch with the one's in charge of their field hospital's Jaak and Derrick. For the first time, she saw her team defending her when they doubted her and it was decided on to take a rotation schedule, so Amelia would be given the chance to go out into the field as well as the rest of them.
So, with all the preparations made, the planes landed within 15 minutes of each other, all the plans, all the images all the reports that came through on their way over, it could never have prepared them for what they saw for themselves there.
The first thing that Amelia noticed was the stench of death and blood and destruction and the filthy water. The water had already retreated, but some was still left behind. They got onto the trucks and headed for the park.
Sat in the back of the open vehicle nothing could have prepared her for this.
"You okay?" Steven asked her again as they sat and looked around them.
"I will be." She assured him as she decided to turn the button in her head, the button that her teacher had always told her to turn when she couldn't be allowed to feel anything, not yet at least. And she could definitely use that at the moment as she looked around at the already rotting corpses, covered with flies and maggots in some cases, it was nearly 24 hours ago when the quake and tsunami had hit them. And not much had been done since it seemed, and it couldn't be expected from such an underdeveloped country and city, certainly in comparison to other places. The country was dealing with it as best as they could, everything had been destroyed, medical staff that hadn't been injured did what they could with the structures still standing, and a part of the Peruvian medical staff was to join them as well at the camps, increasing their personnel.
Once they reached the park, an hour after their arrival by plane, they immediately when to work, large spots were set up since it would be dark soon and they would need to be able to work even in darkness at the field hospital, day and night. Amelia and Steven helped in setting up the field hospital, the Dutch and British combining theirs with their own one, making it much larger than what it would have been separately.
It took them two hours to set up the tent with everyone's help, the field hospital was the main priority at the moment and everyone's attention had gone to that. Once that was finished, the injured could start coming, everyone had gotten their orders, where they were to start and what they were supposed to do. And whilst they started to get to work at the hospital, the army went to put up the rest of the tents for sleeping and such as the first wave of those in need started to come in. It wasn't long before people had found their way there, Peruvian military bringing the injured to them as well.
When she saw a child being carried it, she really had to apply the technique of turning the button. She couldn't allow herself to see George, Louis, Charlotte, Milan or any other child she knew in it. If she did that, well she'd break on the first day and she couldn't have that at all.
On their first real break, she wasn't really aware of how much time had passed since they began working or how many people they'd already seen. Steven was able to inform her that they'd been working for ten hours already without any real break. Triaging the worst cases, they'd lost so many patients already and there were certainly be more to come. But they'd saved some as well, performing trauma surgery in a place where an earthquake had hit, was not ideal but it was all they had at this time.
"You okay with everything?" Frank asked her as they were having a drink, before going back into the trauma bay. He had to admit that he had been wrong about her. He hadn't expected to be impressed by her, dating a prince they'd all figured that she was there for god knew whatever the reason was. But she'd already proven her worth in the short hours they had been there.
She was a very quick thinker, quick on her feet. Here in a place where the rules didn't apply in the same manner as they did back home, or to what they would be in a hospital. Nurses were allowed to make decisions on their own as if they were doctors. Certainly, when they needed to help so many. So far, he'd only seen her make quick and yet thought through and good decisions. She was quick, agile and sharp of mind and a natural leader. She'd only taken over the lead on their surgeries already calling out orders from him or in his best interest and he respected her because of it.
He was officially impressed and if she weren't dating Alex, he'd have offered her a spot at the ER that he worked at in a heartbeat.
"Do you think we'll get service out here?" she asked him, toying around with her phone.
"We've got several satellite phones if you want to call someone, but I wouldn't get my hopes up of getting any reception on your phone, unless you get friendly with the press, they have transceivers." He told her knowing from previous experience that they had the best service near their tents. Their own receivers would arrive with the next provision run.
"I'd rather not go there." She admitted to him as he let out a chuckle.
"I understand." he told her as he gave her a small smile, since the press had also decided to team up out of Britain, Netherlands and Belgium in the safety of their encampment and she wouldn't go there even if she was forced to, she'd keep out of their vicinity.
"I'll try and get you a satellite phone for our next break. I'm sure your family is concerned." He admitted to her as she nodded her head at him, but she didn't want to get special treatment either because of who she was dating. She'd nearly gone for thirty hours and she hadn't been able to let anyone know that she was fine.
By the time that they had their next break, she was dead on her feet, she'd worked 20 hours straight with very little rest in between and her body was exhausted. She'd taken a quick shower not really thinking about calling home anymore, a bed was much more appealing to her and all she wanted to do was to be able to sleep for a couple of hours, six hours of sleep and then it was back to work.
****
The next two days went by in equal speed, she slept, she treated people, helped to operate on them and so forth. She worked at the trauma bay where the worst cases came in, most ending up in surgery with her and Frank or the other nations would take over, each taking a turn, but most of the time several surgeries went on at the same time and in front of other patients. There was no luxury of an OR here, and she'd lost count of how many they'd lost, she was sure that there was someone keeping track of it, but she honestly didn't want to know either.
On the fourth day, they finally received their new supply run, including a transceiver, which meant that she could finally call home and reassure everyone that she was tired but fine. Sat on her own field bed, Steven was already asleep beside her since he'd come out of the shower when she'd gone into them, and it seemed he missed the memo about the transceiver getting here as well and she didn't want to wake him up either now that he was getting some rest as well.
All of them had thrown the time schedule out of the window and all of them were working for as long as they could and catching some sleep in between them, trying to save as many people as possible. She'd worked nearly 24 hours that day, you couldn't really get tired when there were so many people in need of help and care.
But for now, Frank had sent her to bed, he was going to join them in an hour, overseeing the arrival of the new stuff. In the meantime, she could make some call, it had been five days since anyone had seen or heard from her.
The first person to call was Alex, she didn't really know what time it was, and she certainly didn't bother to think what time it could be in Scotland. If he was asleep so, be it, she would call him when she woke up, but they were only now able to make a call.
***
Alex had been beyond himself ever since Amelia had sent him the text that they were off, their plane had left five days ago, and he had yet to hear from his girlfriend. Was she okay? Had she gotten herself injured? What happened to her during those four aftershocks that came. He'd tried calling her and calling her repeatedly, but it had always gone to voicemail. No one had heard from her since they'd left. Everyone was worried about her and Steven, the images of the Lima and the daily reports from the news reports certainly didn't help. And to then find out that they were in the same camp as Amelia, protected by the combined forced of the Dutch, Belgian and British army.
Her new friends who he was in contact with through the WhatsApp group were worried beyond words as they were still in South Africa, he had been the one to inform them about her going there as well. his friends who'd become her friends just as much weren't much better when it came to worrying about Amelia and Steven as well.
"Still haven't heard from her?" William wondered as he was about to have dinner with his family at Balmoral. His uncle Edward, Sophie, Camilla, William, Kate, Anne, Zara, Peter, Mike, Bea, Edo, Eugenie and Jack and more were all there. His gran having invited all of them over and she arrived not much later as he turned to William.
"No still haven't heard anything about it, I called a buddy of mine, he says that she may not have any connection and that the sat phones are only for emergencies and I don't see her going to the press corps inside of that camp either." Alex explained as they all nodded with him, no Amelia would definitely not go to them as they watched him look down at his phone that rested on the table. Normally there was a no phone rule at dinner, especially when the Queen was there.
But right now, everyone saw past that as they were all eager to hear about Amelia and how she was doing.
They were in their main course when his phone rung out.
"It's her." He announced, picking up his phone and answering her Facetime call. The image was blurry at best, but he could see her and that was all he needed.
"hey love, I'm so happy to finally see and hear you." He admitted, looking her over, she looked exhausted, her hair was at all angles, but she was safe and sounds and that was the most important thing.
"hey." She greeted him tiredly as everyone let out a sigh of relief from hearing her voice.
"How are things over there?" he asked her, he'd attempted to get up and go outside, but his family told him to stay put, so they would be able to hear from her how bad it really was over there.
"Worse than we could have ever anticipated and prepared ourselves for. I've lost count of how many we've lost." She admitted with a defeated sigh as he looked at her and he could see that it was taking its toll on her.
"You can't have lost them all?" he asked her as she gave him a sad smile.
"No but for every life we save, it seems we're losing five, it's a never-ending line." She explained to him as she rested her head in her hand.
"You look tired love. Are you even sleeping?" he asked her in a concerned manner for her well-being.
"I just came from a 24-hour shift, we can't really take much rest. Like I said, it's a never-ending stream of people coming in. We put in a schedule before we arrived, but that's already forgotten" she explained to him and everyone else that could hear her.
"What teams are you with?" William asked her as she gave him a small smile, as he looked at her over his brother's shoulders.
"The Dutch and the British." She informed them, they already knew that from the news coverage, but it was nice to hear it from her. "we're combining forces, we can do more when we do." She explained as a yawn erupted from her mouth, one she couldn't stop any longer.
"Get some sleep love." Alex told her as she nodded her head at him.
"Will you call gran and gramps? Reassure them that we're okay. I'll call them when I wake up." She told him as he promised her that he would inform her family that she was fine and doing okay. Just when the call ended, he felt relief course through him, he received a picture of her and Steven lying on their field beds so that he could send it to their friends and those worrying about them.
****
Their second week there, September had already begun, not that Amelia would be able to tell you that, what day it was. She barely knew what date or time it was. Since most trauma cases had now been dealt with and there were so far little emergency surgeries and they'd decided to venture out.
Her and Frank who'd become a great team, they were the trauma team as everyone called them. They knew how the other worked and thought. Frank refused to work with anyone else but her, they took their sleep breaks together to ensure that they would be working together the next shift, and everyone respected and agreed with that because of the work they did.
Amelia had not only proved herself to every member of the Belgium team, but also the Dutch and British. She was a valuable team member and leader. Once the emergency cases had finished and they'd had some time to put things in perspective the emotions had started to come.
Amelia was always there, listening, comforting them. Don't get any of them wrong, she was like a lioness protecting all of them, not only the Belgians, but the Dutch and Brits as well.
Just two days ago, it things had gotten rather heated between a Peruvian cop and a Brit and she'd come in between them. Needless to say, the cop had yet to be seen at their camp and Amelia had gained even more respect from them. She was a competent leader something she'd proven countless times already
And with that Frank and Amelia had left the field hospital for a couple of hours, they went to a local set up hospital, to check out their patients and check on the injured, they hadn't been able to save and help everyone at their camp, beds were few and they needed those for the one's in most need of help.
Taking care of little scrapes and bruises, it was a nice relief of the serious injuries they'd already taken care off so far.
"oh, come on frank." She said in a teasing tone as a couple of kids had come up to her with a football, asking if she wanted to play with them.
"We've finished here for now anyway." She added when she saw that look in his eyes.
"Alright." He grinned as the children around them cheered and they could use the uplifting moment. They'd seen so much death and destruction already, so much heartache, it was nice to get away from that, even if it was for five minutes. It was nice to have light moment as well as they started playing football with them, which then turned into a game of tag, it certainly put a smile on her face when they left, returning to base.
For the next couple of days, things seemed to be slowing down and so the timetable had been put in use, enabling everyone to get some very desperate rest. Their critical patients were getting better day by day. The injuries were healing, physically at least. And then their end came so very near. They'd been there for three weeks already. She called in daily with Alex and her grandparents who would then pass on to everyone that she was fine, sometimes she talked to her mother or other friends and family if time allowed it that was. But even though the end was in sight and a new team was preparing itself in Belgium to replace them, lots of work still needed to be done.
"We'll be fine." She reassured frank that morning as they were going to check on a temporary housing for children. The children of tourists, of people that lived in Lima, but where the parents hadn't been found yet were kept there. They were either orphans or waiting for their parents to be found or get better in some cases. She'd been there earlier in the week already, she and Steven would be just fine, it was just handing out some water and food, checking on the injuries that some still had and then return back to camp.
Nothing to bad and nothing they couldn't handle either.
"alright be back before curfew." They were told, a curfew had been established for their safety. Things had gotten rather violent last week when gangs had tried to steal their food and clean water. A shooting had occurred during when she and Steven had been asleep. But now a curfew had been made, the gates would close at sunset and whoever wasn't inside had to fend for themselves, unless they were bringing in injured people.
"We'll be back," she told him as if a daughter would whine if a father put the rules in place. He'd become like a father to her, she'd been mentored by him in ways that she would never have been done at the hospital. She'd learned things that she thought wouldn't even have been possible.
****
"Excited to go home?" Steven asked Amelia, their plane leaving in five days' time and though she'd fulfilled a dream, it had been a nightmare as well. And still, she couldn't feel more fulfilled than she did at this moment. She'd done a great job, for the most part, she'd managed to stay out of the limelight. Sure, people knew she was there. Since it had been announced on the day they'd left. So, there wasn't a person who didn't know she was there.
The press had wanted a piece of it at first. On the sixth day, they'd come to an agreement. They'd get their pictures once in a while as long as they allowed her to do her job as if she was any other person there. It had worked and for the most part, she'd been able to work like any other person on the team
"Of course, Happy I did this, got the chance to do it. But I'm ready to go home as well," she admitted as Steven tilted his head in understanding.
"I'll miss Maddie though," he noted as she turned to him with a smirk on her face. "Even in the worst places one can find love." she teased him as he slapped her arm.
"Oh, come on, don't pretend that you don't. I've seen you looking at her. And I caught you guys making out in the showers last night as well." she told her as she noticed his cheeks getting a tint redder.
"Alright, alright," he said, holding his hands up. Maddie was an A&E doctor from London who'd come as part of the British response team and love had blossomed between Maddie and Steven. She was happy that her friend had found someone. And it was crazy as to how things came about, finding love in the place where the world had been turned upside down.
"ha, I knew it," she told him as she nudged his arm as the ground shook beneath their feet. "I didn't push you that hard," she told Steven as he'd fallen on the ground from the hit and the quake.
"Everyone out," she called out to the children that were still in the building, she didn't want to risk them being inside if the earth shook again. All of them were still terrified every time the earth shook.
"Come on little one." Amelia said, holding her hand out to a little girl who was hiding underneath a bed. "steven help me out here, there two." she told her friend, looking around a few children were still heading for the door as she told them to hurry.
But just as they reached the two little girls the ground shook again.
"Put the beds together," Amelia called out as she and Steven pushed the beds together, so they had a larger space to hide under as they took shelter under three beds that had been put together.
and afterwards, when all was said and done, she'd realize that it had been the thing that saved them.
"Steven," she called out, looking at the wall in front of her as it seems to rip apart as the ground only continued to shake.
"It's coming down," Steven called out over the rumbling, they tried to look for another way out. The doors and windows were too far away to still get out of there safely so they took cover under the beds, hoping that it would protect them as the building collapsed around them.So that was the chapter, I hope you liked it, please do let me know below and expect a small preview to be headed your way.