Chapter 72

"Go home, all of you." Boden and Voight ordered.

"None of us are going anywhere until every last survivor is pulled from that rubble." Matt said.

Everyone else took a firm stand behind him.

"At least get the people we pulled out to the hospital. They need to be checked out."

"We got that covered." Sylvie and Gabby said in unison.

"Dawson, you aren't going anywhere unless you're strapped onto a stretcher." Boden said.

"I'm fine."

"You have a hole in your head and can't move your left arm. Go to the hospital."

"I'll be fine."

"Remember when I got that gash in my stomach? The one when the car bomb went off at the hospital?"

"Yes, Shay. I remember."

"Don't be stupid like I was then. Don't pretend like it isn't there. It could get infected and you could die."

"Put a bandage on it and I'll be like new."

"Gabby, we're not telling you again." Antonio looked less than pleased with her.

"I don't need you breathing down my throat, Antonio."

"You're the only little sister I have and the only one I'll ever have. If you won't do it for us, do it for mom and dad. They love you."

"Dad hasn't spoken to me since I married Matt."

"Who cares what your father thinks of Matt? He still loves you." Kim told her.

"Fine, I'll go."

"You need stitches."

"Kim, quit acting like my mother."

"I'm your friend and I can tell you're hurt."

"You shouldn't have gone in there pregnant."

"I'm not arguing with you anymore."

Gabby was lifted into the ambulance and it left for the hospital.

"She's right, you know."

"Adam, I'm not in the mood to be scolded like a child."

"You went in there four months pregnant. Do you know how stupid that was?"

"I know it was stupid, I know it was wrong and I know I'm an idiot."

"How can I calm myself when my pregnant wife was in there?!"

"Adam..."

"You scared me. I'm worried about you both."

"We love you too. But you're-"

"I'll lose it if you say I'm overreacting."

"I didn't say that, but you are."

"You're having an ultrasound, and you're getting looked at. I'm not taking no for an answer."

"I'm-"

"Get in the car."

She let out an angry huff as she got into the car.

"Where you going?" Hank asked him.

"The hospital. She needs to get an ultrasound."

"You two go home after that. We got this."

"Are you sure?"

"Get outta here."

Throughout the rest of the night, five more people were pulled from the rubble. Out of the five hundred people who were inside the tower, only two hundred and sixty were accounted for. There were twelve confirmed deaths, Amber and Jessica included. Kim stayed up all night, pushing herself to keep awake. Nadia stayed into the night to help start clean up.

"Your effort today, that's the kind of effort that will get you into my unit."

"You'd have to do something outrageous like bust a drug ring."

"You saved the lives of an entire classroom full of children. That's the kind of effort I was talking about."

"Your unit is full, though."

"Not for long."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I'll tell you at the start of next shift. Go get some rest. You did good today, you did good."

"Next shift starts in like three hours."

"You need sleep, we all do."

Kim climbed in the bathtub for a soak, cradling her belly. The kids were just getting up for school. She could hear the sound of their footsteps. Brayden knocked on the door and she told him to come in.

"Are you okay, mommy?"

"I just had a very very long day yesterday."

"Was it that building collapse?"

"I'll tell you later, go get ready for school. Okay buddy?"

"Okay mommy."

When the kids and Adam were out of the house, Leslie stopped by. She hadn't slept at all.

"I didn't sleep, I can't stop thinking, I was up all night with Ember, just sitting there, waiting and waiting. I was waiting for Amber to come home, and she didn't. I keep thinking this is all just a dream and that she'll walk in at any moment. Why does everything bad have to happen to me?!"

"Take deep breaths and calm down."

"My fiancée was killed in a building collapse. I'm not fine, nothing will be alright."

"I tried, really I did."

"I would never blame you. You did your job, you did what you could. That should've been me in there when it fell. That should've been me in her place!" Leslie said as she was crying.

"Do you want to spend a few days here? You're more than welcome to."

"I have something that I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"You know the cryobank that I got the sperm from?"

"Yeah."

"After I disappeared from the scene yesterday, I went there."

"Why there?"

"I know it would look bad if I brought a man into the picture."

"And?"

"One of these days I know she'll ask me about him. I think it's better if she grows up knowing him, instead of not knowing who he is."

"I thought you didn't want to know who he was?"

"I didn't want some man fighting me for custody rights. This is my child and regardless of what DNA says, that's how it is."

"Then why do you want to bring her donor into the picture?"

"She deserves two parents."

"Who's the donor?"

"Kelly."