Page 43 of Disciplining Dana

Another lifetime of minutes went by until Derek put his hand on Kurt’s arm.

“How’s it feel now?” he asked Dana evenly.

“I’m… I’m pretty sure I can move both my legs.”

“Okay. I want to get the boards wedged in as tight as we can, and then I want you to try and gently slide forward. If everything looks good, we’re going to carefully pull you out, okay?”

“Got it,” she replied calmly.

“You feel any movement, any shifting of the rock, you tell us to stop.”

“Understood.”

Both he and Kurt began shoving on their boards, driving them in as far as they could. When both had gotten as far as possible, they stopped, looking at Dana.

“Okay, go ahead,” Derek said.

Reaching forward, Dana dug her fingers into the tunnel floor and pulled. At first it didn’t seem as if she was making any progress, then suddenly she was. One inch became two became six, and both Kurt and Mr. Hawkins grabbed her by the shoulders, easing her out gently.

Until she was free.

“Oh, God,” she choked out as she escaped the crush of loose stone, heaving herself up into a kneeling position. Kurt drew her to him, wrapping her tight to his chest.

“You’re okay, darlin’,” Mr. Hawkins said as he gripped her shoulder gently. “You’re going to be fine.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. As Kurt held her in his arms, he caught her stealing a glance at Jagger. He suspected why; he was the only man here she’d not met before, and he was standing a few feet back from them, his arms crossed over his chest, his gaze boring into her in a way that expressed his clear displeasure. After a moment she closed her eyes, leaning against Kurt with a tremble.

“We need to get out of here,” Derek said, standing up. “Are you okay to walk?” he asked Dana, his voice concerned.

“I think so,” she answered with a nod.

“You start feeling any pain, you let me know, and I’ll carry you,” Kurt commanded.

“I’ll be fine.” Her tone held less conviction than normal.

The four of them began to walk back through the tunnel, silence filling the space between them. Kurt felt the same sense of relief he’d had every other time this had happened with Dana before, along with the impending sense of doom it wouldn’t be the last.

Again, and again, and again.

And it was that fatalistic sense of doom which twisted the relief he felt at finding Dana safe into a simmering anger over what she’d done. Again. He didn’t want to feel resentment. He wanted to focus on the fact she was okay, basically unhurt, and alive. He wanted to concentrate on the presence of her at his side, the proximity they shared that would continue to be there for another day.

Except he couldn’t. His mind wouldn’t let him push away the sight of her lying trapped beneath the rubble. Wouldn’t allow him to center on the reality of her eyes looking up at him beseechingly as she had, but instead forced him to envision them as the dull, glazed, lifeless ones he’d seen in his nightmares. As they trudged on, Kurt was thankful they weren’t conversing right now, because if they had, he wasn’t sure what he might say to her in his growing state of fury.

It seemed it took a lot less time coming out than it had going in, but soon the dim light from the mine entrance filtered back into the tunnel, and only another few minutes went by until they were flicking off the flashlights and stepping into the exploration center. Roman gathered the hardhats and flashlights, along with the first aid kit they fortunately hadn’t needed to use, and began putting things away.

“I’d like to go to my room,” Dana said quietly.

“That isn’t going to happen, Ms. Aziz,” Mr. Hawkins said with authority.

“And why not?” Dana shot back, startled.

“Because you have some things you need to answer for before you do.” The Ranch owner stepped up to her, looking down with a gaze that said he wasn’t about to put up with an argument, even from Dana.

“But first you need to be looked at.”

Three heads turned simultaneously toward the new voice, and Kurt recognized who it was immediately as she stepped into the room.

“Erika, what are you doing here?” Derek said in a puzzled tone.

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