Heartless • Evan Buckley

Without my leg?

"Ok, listen up. Here's how you make it to the end of the day. You dont worry about the things that you cant do anything about. Focus on one task at a time. I cant order you guys to go inside that building, and im not gonna judge you if you decide not to" Bobby explained

"Hen, you got a kid, so..." Chim looked at her "Yeah. And i'd hope if someone whose job it was to save him had the chance, they'd do it. No matter what"

"Where do you want us?" Eddie spoke up, a police officer quickly walked over, "Hey. You guys will want to see this"

"We can set up a bag street-side in case that window gives out" Hen offered, everyone was looking up at the building only to see some dude against one of the glass windows, "Nobody work's under that side of the building. Somebody's gonna have to get him from the inside"

"Buck, you say that's the 11th floor?" Eddie asked looking at the man, "I would. I bet we could take the ladder to that fourth floor. Cut the distance in half" Buck said before kissing Chanel and following him

"Ok, bye to you too" Chanel muttered

"Watch your step. L.A Fire and Rescue!" Bobby called out him, Hen, Chim and Chanel were in the building

"Hello? Is anybody down here?" he called out, "Bobby..." Hen spoke up catching his attention, he looked down only to see a pair of legs, Hen leaned down and checked her pulse before shaking her head

Chanel grabbed the spray paint from her bag and drew an X next to her, "All right. Let's keep looking"

"L.A Fire and Rescue!" Chim called out, "Anybody down here"

"Right here!" someone called out, "Right here! over here!"

"All right, we got a voice over here. Come on" Bobby nodded, "Do you need any help?" he asked a firefighter passing them, helping a worker

"All good. There's a kid maybe 50 feet back. Need's Emt's bad" he said making Chanel perk up, "Is it a girl?"

"No, a young African-American kid"

"Fire and Rescue!" Bobby called out as they walked further into the building, "Right here! Thank God, man, he's stuck!"

"All right, the floor is out" Bobby said before shaking a wood that had fallen, "It's stable" he said before crawling across it

"He's stuck right here"

"Ok, help is on the way" Bobby nodded helping Chanel of the wood, "What's your name?" Hen asked crouching next to him

"Jeff" he replied, "Jeff? Hold on. Hang tight. Jeff, we're right here"

"Listen, have you tried and move some debris, see if you can pull him free?" Bobby asked looking at another firefighter, "The second we touched the beam, the whole megillah above started shifting"

"That's what i was afraid of. All right, guys, this debris is holding up this section of ceiling. If we try and pull this out of the way, this whole area could cave in" Bobby said looking around, Jeff groaning in pain, Chanel carefully putting a neck brace around his neck

"You're gonna be ok. This is just gonna stabilize you a little"

"I-I cant move it, Coach. How bad is it?" Jeff asked, "Hey, bones heal. All right? You'll be all right. Just a little setback. You remember Paul George? Gordon Hayward? HuH?"

"Im starting to think different about this California school. Maybe it's not the place for me" Jeff said making his coach chuckle, "Yeah, Jeff has every division one college in the country recruiting him right now"

"Sir, this firefighter is gonna lead you out of here" Bobby looked at him, "No, screw that, im staying, all right? This kid is a son to me. All right? He's in my charge"

"Ok, we need to focus all of our attention on Jeff right now. We cant be worried about your safety, too. Now go"

"Im good, Coach. Heart of a champion" Jeff said making his Coach tear up, "I love you, kid" he said making Jeff cry a little

"He's coming home with us" his Coach said before allowing the firefighter escort him out, Jeff groaned as Hen slowly took his shoe off

"What do we got, Hen?"

"Tibia and fibula are crushed. Dont think the debris cut through any major arteries, though" Hen replied making Bobby turned to Jeff, "Ok, kid, im not gonna sugarcoat it. You're in a bad spot here. We have two choices. The first guarantees you get out of here, the second carries more risk"

"What's the guaranteed way?" Jeff asked making Bobby sighed, "Well, we get the right tools and Chanel here can cut you free"

"Free? You mean from my leg?"

"Jeff, if you chose this one i'd be the one to do it. We'd put you under anesthesia and you'll be out. You wont feel any pain, then you'll wake up in the hospital safe and sound" she explained, "Without my leg. No way. Id rather die here. What's the other option?"

"Well, we shore up this pocket we're in and then we get an air bag to lift up that beam that's pinning you down and we pull you free" Bobby explained shortly, "Yeah, yeah, do that. Air bags and all that" Jeff nodded

"All right, listen, i know that sounds simple, but it's not because this debris is holding up this ceiling and if it starts to give away, this whole side of the hotel could collapse. Me and my team, we're gonna be able to get out of here. I dont think you will. All right man, you got parents, a girlfriend. And they're gonna love you whether you play basketball or not"

Jeff cried a little, "I know. I know they do, but i worked so hard. This is my dream, my whole life. Look.... i maybe be able to live without my leg, but i dont know if i can live knowing i coul dhave saved it and didnt"

"All right. We're committed. We're gonna get him out of here. Let's shore this up. Get an air bag" Bobby nods

"Copy that"