Heartbeats in Moonlight

Chapter 100 (Final)

"Gabriella?" David called but it was muffled. He stepped into the room, avoiding some of the broken bits of furniture and scrambled over other bits. "Gabriella." He sounded desperate even to his own ears. His pulse was already racing, but  when he couldn't find her, his blood pressure skyrocketed.

"Gabriella!" Then he saw her. He scrambled over what was left of the desk without think about the danger. When he reached her, he placed his hand against her nose and mouth and felt her breathe. He sighed. "Gaby" He reached forward to check her pulse. Pretty strong. He ran his hands down her frame, nothing seemed to be broken, and she didn't appear to be bleeding. Something knocked her out, a bit like Mike. David started to remove some of the debris strewn around Ella as he became more determined to release her from the clutch of the broken furniture , when another small blast shook the building. Instinctively he crouched over her, shielding her, as some of the debris and other bits of furniture hit them. When the dust had literally settled, he glanced around, trying to find the easiest way to drag her out without hurting. Then he saw Regan in the doorway.

"Regan? Go back out!" He yelled at her.

Regan ignored his command and she moved forward. He shook his head, and accepted that Regan, obviously another stubborn woman, was going to ignore his instruction. Given the stubborn woman was making her way to him, despite the debris in her way,  the best thing to do, is to use her skills. "She's unconscious." He told Regan. "I'll carry her out. But I need help to move that." David pointed at the furniture. 

"Ok." Regan, who probably weighed less than Ella, nodded and pushed some of the small obstacles out of her way as she made her way to them. "Are you ok?" Regan knelt beside David, and reached automatically for Ella's wrist. "We need the fire brigade.  I can't shift this."

"Yeah. I know. What are you doing here?"

Another blast and David leaned over Ella. The blast knocked Regan on to her backside and it was lucky that she didn't knocked her head against the broken desk.   

Still crouching over Ella, he looked over at Regan and asked, "You ok?" Regan nodded and got to her knees, ignoring the jabs of the broken glass. David said, "We need to move, right now." The blasts sounded like the rest of the oxygen cylinders were going off. "You go. I'll bring Ella." Though he hadn't figured out how he was going to dig her out. "Move, Regan!" They couldn't stay. He had to find a way to move Ella. And if he couldn't, he would stay. "Move Regan." He yelled again. And looked for an excuse to ensure that Regan would leave. "Regan go, tell them where we are."

"What's blowing up?" Regan asked in puzzlement and looked around at the chaos, while trying to see if she could help David to extract Ella from the debris.

"Must be near empty oxygen cylinders." David said, and then yelled, "Move Regan!"

"I'll stay." Regan told David when things stopped moving. "I'm the doctor. I can help Ella, you go and get the firemen."

David automatically checked on Ella. "No, Regan. You can't stay here! Ella will need your skill when we get her out. Move now!" But before Regan could move, David heard more voices.

"We're in here." Regan yelled, ignored her immediate cough. She got to her feet when she saw a fireman.  Another appeared. Thank goodness, she thought.

Between the three, the two firemen and David moved fragments of furniture and released Ella.

It was David who reached for Ella before the firemen.  David enfolded Ella into his arms, and got to his feet. They all moved towards the exit. The firemen cleared the debris in their way and that allowed David, Ella and Regan to move briskly towards the exit.

Once they were well away from the building, David put Ella on the sand and Regan started to check on Ella's condition. The paramedics raced towards them in seconds. Right on their heels were the police. And the firemen returned to their colleagues who were dealing with the fire.

David answered the paramedic's questions about his own status and he stepped back. David knew that his elevated pulse was not just because of this event, it was the fact that Ella was still unconscious. The paramedic accepted David's responses and went to help his colleague. 

The other paramedic was working  with Regan. David heard the conversation between the two paramedics and Regan, most of it was in medical terms. And he wasn't sure if that meant that Ella was in trouble or she was ok. His blood pressure skyrocketed: Maybe he was wrong. Just because she was breathing didn't mean she was ok. His heart shattered. Come on Gaby, come on Gaby, wake up, wake up. Come on Gaby. The sentences raced through his mind. When Ella surfaced, David sagged in relief. He sat down on the sand.

The police were busy keeping people away from the burning building. A small crowd had gathered around Ella, the paramedics and Regan . A few minutes later, Ella was transferred to the waiting ambulance, which departed for the hospital within seconds. David remained sitting on the sand. At least he wasn't dizzy. He ran a hand over his face, ignored the grey soot, and just sighed in relief. She was ok. She had to be ok.

Ella watching David telling her about the event, knew that he was being careful with the information, because he didn't want to worry her.

"So the paramedics didn't take you to the hospital." Ella asked quietly,

"Why would they?" David swallowed a lump in his throat as he remembered how he felt when he saw her, unconscious and covered in debris.

"Because you were in a burning building! Heard of smoke inhalation? You covered me when the cylinders went off, things must have landed on you. You could be injured."

"I wasn't."

"Really. I bet you didn't tell them if there was anything wrong with you."

"I wasn't hurt, Gaby. I had my shirt over my nose. Nothing fell on me. In any case, after the paramedics left with you, Regan came over to me, and she insisted on a quick check! God that woman is really stubborn!" He couldn't help the smile.

"Good! I am glad she insisted." Ella said bluntly. David's eyebrows rose. "You should have left when those cylinders went off!" Ella rolled her eyes, "Ok, that statement was stupid, of course you wouldn't leave, you are even more stubborn than Regan! And you are an idiot!"

"Thanks!" David grinned at her. "What about Regan and the firemen idiots, are they idiots?"

"That is different." She frowned. "Regan didn't tell me. I didn't know that she was involved. What is the problem with the heroes in this town! She, like you, went in. I am going to have words with her."

"It isn't in her nature to brag, she is very private about her life. She has a lot on her plate. Gaby, you know that. In any case, she probably thought the hospital told you. And it is not in her nature to blow her own trumpet."

"Yes. I guess so." She sighed. "I must thank her. " Ella looked over at David, and said, "And I haven't said thanks to you."

"Do you remember what Amelia said about holding on to Jack in that earthquake?"

"Yes." Ella frowned at the changed in topic. "Amelia said there was no way she was going to let go of him. Because she loved him."

David looked at Ella, rose his eyebrows, "I was not going to loose you in that fire. I was really scared.  I loved you."

"You put your life on the line for me. I owe you."

He rolled his eyes. "See, this is exactly why I hadn't told you! You don't owe me anything. I was not going to let you go. Period!"

 "I love you. I will always love you. Beyond infinity!"  Ella closed her eyes for a brief second, opened them and trained them on David, "But, I still owe you!"

"Stubborn." His lips twitched, despite the seriousness of the situation, "So, going to marry me?"

"I am going to spend the rest of my life with the man who saved me!" Ella smiled, "And I am going to marry you, because I know that you love me and I know I love you."

He smiled, "Now, about that debt..."

Ella chuckled just before he kissed her.