The Unexpected Journey-A Prince Harry Fan Fic

Chapter 56

The room, once lively with celebration, sobered instantly. Maddie felt her stomach turn as she met Harry's eyes; her hand flying to her throat.

"Oh my God," Ella whispered as Matt moved to her side.

"Khenda? Collins?" Maddie's face drained of all color as she said the two words that everyone was thinking. Harry's eyes were heavy as he blinked; his hand flexing on her knee.

"I don't know."

"Oh my God..." Ella repeated, her eyes welled with tears.

"I'm trying to..." Harry swallowed the lump in his throat. "Destruction is pretty expansive and I can't get through to a cell phone and..."

"I'm sure the towers are down," Matt offered, his hand resting on Ella's shoulder.

"Harry..." Maddie's eyes searched his; looking for answers she knew she wouldn't be able to find there.

"My father is making phone calls right now—trying to reach them through back channels and I'm going to try a few others, but..." He fought back the tears that threatened to rise to his eyes; knowing that if he went over the edge, they were all going with him. "But, I know nothing right now. Okay?"

"Okay," Maddie nodded; taking a deep breath and trying to pull it together.

"Okay?" Harry turned to look at Ella who nodded her understanding.

And then, as if on cue, the three of them forced their minds to switch to a different mode; crisis management. Though every single one of them was right at the line of panic, they were professional enough, experienced enough to back it off—at least for the moment, at least until they knew for sure.

"Maybe..." Ella cleared her throat. "Maybe I can get through to another doctor or nurse? I've kept in touch with a lot of people over the years..." She moved then, searching for her purse to find her phone.

"I can try the main office. I met with somebody there not too long ago..." Maddie squeezed Harry's hands in her lap and moved to stand up.

Harry rose to his feet and, watching Maddie move, watching Ella move, he pulled his phone from his pocket, took a moment to collect his thoughts and dialed. Matt watched, feeling helpless as they mobilized. Ella sat next to him at the table, tapping her pen as she flipped through her planner, dialing. Maddie pulled her laptop out and powered it up while scrolling through her phone logs to call Marquita, the agent she had met with when she was coming off her furlough.

It was ten agonizingly long minutes, ten minutes filled with the worst kind of anticipation. If Maddie had been able to step back and look at the moment, she would have found it incredibly interesting, the way they all flew into action; working together but separate from each other. She would have also been able to see the way Harry bit at his fingernails nervously as he leaned against the back of her couch. She would have noticed the way Ella tapped incessantly with her pen; clicking and clicking against the table. And she would have been able to stop herself from nearly biting a hole in her own bottom lip.

It was ten, terribly slow minutes before Harry stood up straight and shouted out, "I got it!"

Abandoning the computer, dropping the pen, Maddie and Ella rushed to his side. He held his phone tight to his ear, covering the other with his other hand; answering only in nods and uh-huhs. His hand moved to cover the receiver as he caught them up,

"As per protocol, Khenda is to call and check in with a systems Administrator; reporting not only known casualties but known survivors. The Administrator knows they have some casualties, some doctors and...and some community members for sure, but he's checking to see if she's called in..." Harry trailed off, avoiding both of their eyes until the man on the other end returned. "Yes. I'm still here. I..." Harry's words stopped, his breathing halted; tears springing to his eyes. "She did? Khenda checked in..." His eyes flew to Maddie's and she saw it, the tiny crack in his interior that, had he lost her, just may have shattered. Next to her Ella let out a breath of relief as Maddie's hand moved to take Harry's free hand.