She heard Helen talking to someone.
Rescuers.
“Go to Deputy Chief McBride first,” Helen said. “She’s almost nine months pregnant and pinned under something.”
Jeannie wanted to tell them to go to Joe first, but before she could say anything, they were in the room with her, officers she recognized but couldn’t immediately name.
“The desk is on top of her,” one of them said.
“Make sure we won’t be risking further injury by moving it.”
They did a full assessment of the situation and began removing items in the way—visitor chairs, the file cabinet that had stood in the far corner, items from her bookshelf, the shelf itself and finally the desk that had somehow landed on top of her legs.
“Easy now. Nice and easy.”
The relief of the desk being removed was immediate.
“Let’s get EMTs in here! Hurry.”
Things happened quickly. She was assessed, carefully moved onto a gurney and carried out of the building to a waiting ambulance.
“My husband… I need to call him.”
“Cell service isn’t working, probably because everyone is trying to get through to us, so we’ll call him for you when we get you to the ER,” one of the EMTs said.
Jeannie closed her eyes and thought of Michael and hoped that wherever he was, he somehow knew she was okay.
“What about Helen and Joe?”
“Helen is with EMTs, and they’re working on getting into the chief’s office.”
“Jeannie!”
She opened her eyes to see Sam hovering over her.
“Talk to me.”
“I’m all right. I think.”
“Thank goodness. We’ve been so worried. And the baby?”
“Moving around.”
“Oh, good. That’s good. What about Helen and Joe?”
“Helen’s okay, but we’re not sure about Joe.”
“We’ve got to get her to the hospital,” an EMT said.
“I’ll come check on you later.”
“If you see Michael…”
“I’ll send him to you.”
“Thanks.”
Jeannie wanted to ask Sam what she knew about what had just happened, but her energy was flagging. She needed to save her strength for the baby. Everything else would have to wait until she was certain her little one was safe.
