Page 33 of Everybody Needs a Hero

“We’ll see,” was all the woman had to say as Tess settled her into a lawn chair. Happy to be free of her, Tess looked for Drew. Her friend talked to a young man with his arm in a makeshift sling. Even though his face was pale and no doubt he was in pain, whatever Drew said to him made him smile.With relief it looks like,Tess thought, knowing for a fact something was calming about Drew’s presence.It’s all a part of her wonderful bedside manner.Watching the scene only made the injured woman’s comments bother Tess more.

Finishing with the young man, Drew turned, and Tess was pleased to see the woman’s eyes light up when they landed on her. Encouraged, Tess walked closer. “How’s it going?” she asked when she closed the gap.

“All things considered, I think we are lucky,” she said. “Although Bryce reported they have two people trapped in the rubble.”

Tess covered her mouth. “That’s horrible,” she said, then had another thought. “Have they found anyone…” She couldn’t finish.

Drew rubbed Tess’s arm. “No,” she said. “Thank God. Like I said. Very lucky.” She glanced around. “Did you bring someone in?”

Nodding in the direction of the woman with the injured ankle, Tess tried to hide her dislike. “Her,” she said. “She can’t walk on her ankle because she rolled it running away from the onramp.”

Clearly catching her tone, Drew raised an eyebrow. “Is there something more I should know?” she asked, and Tess sighed.

“She doesn’t want to see a nurse,” she said with a frown. “She insists on a doctor. I tried to tell her that was ridiculous, but…”

Drew nodded. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I’ve heard it often over the years.”

“What?” Tess asked. “Really?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Drew said, starting to move in the direction of the injured woman.

26

Turning when she heard her name called, Tess looked to see Bryce jogging toward her over the pile of broken concrete and other debris from the collapsed onramp. “What’s wrong?” Tess asked, feeling a flare of anxiety in her chest to see the Marine needing her attention.Where’s Ashley?she thought, but then remembered her daughter was headed to the school bus when they last spoke.But anything could have happened since then.

Bryce shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong necessarily,” she said. “I mean, considering everything that’s gone wrong. But I need your help with something.” The woman came to a stop in front of her. “There are two people trapped. A man and a woman. The guy appears to be worse off, so we are going to get him out first.” Tess nodded, following the line of thinking so far but unsure how she could help. Moving concrete would take more strength than she had.

Still, she would do whatever she could. “How can I help?”

“I need you to come to talk to the trapped woman,” Bryce explained. “Keep her calm and awake until we can get to her. I thought you would be perfect for that.”

Tess wasn’t sure if she agreed she would be perfect, but she would do her best. In a time like this, everyone needed to work together. “I was checking on people in cars for Drew, so let me tell her first,” she said. “And then show me where the woman is.”

Three minutes later, Tess stepped carefully over the broken concrete to follow Bryce to the spot where the woman was trapped. “Hi there,” Bryce said as she knelt on the muddy ground near an opening in the rubble. “Linda, I’ve brought someone with me, and she’s going to keep you company while you wait for us. Okay?”

“Okay,” Linda replied. To Tess, her voice sounded tired, but not necessarily like she was in pain.

Tess sank onto the ground beside Bryce and peeked under the hunk of concrete angled over the trapped woman. “Hi, Linda,” she said. “I’m Tess. Sorry to meet under these conditions, but I’m looking forward to getting to know you better.”

Bryce squeezed Tess’s shoulder. “Thank you,” she said. “Hopefully, we won’t need you long. The team is already setting up carjacks to lift the largest slab over the other victim.”

“We’ll be here,” Tess said, appreciating once again the resourcefulness of her daughter’s friend. “Be careful.” As Bryce left, Tess turned her attention back to Linda and paused.What do I say to start a conversation with someone trapped under a thousand pounds of broken rock?she wondered. It was not a normal situation, yet it didn’t have to be much different than sitting next to a stranger on a plane.I’m going to try and make it feel normal if I can.“Linda, can you hear me okay?”

Linda coughed. “Yes,” she said. “Sorry, there’s a lot of dust.”

Not sure if she should ask if they gave her water yet in case they couldn’t reach her or Linda was too trapped to move, Tess plowed ahead, putting a smile in her voice. “That’s okay,” she said. “I don’t think you need to apologize for anything considering your situation.”

Linda gave a little laugh. “No,” she said. “I suppose that’s true. May I ask you a question? It will sound a little crazy.”

“Of course, I don’t mind,” Tess said, willing to listen to anything Linda had to say, crazy-sounding or otherwise. Anything to keep the woman engaged. “Go ahead and ask.”

There was another slight cough. “You wouldn’t happen to be Tess as in Tess Landish, movie actress, would you?”

Surprised Linda could recognize her voice so easily, Tess raised her eyebrows. “Wow,” she said. “Yes, I am. How did you know?”

“Oh, come on,” Linda said. “I think most people would know it was you when they heard your voice and that your name was Tess.” Another cough. “I have seen all your movies. And your special New Year’s Eve appearance every year during the celebration in New York at Rockefeller Center.”

Tess was still surprised. “I suppose so,” she said, hearing another little cough and not liking the frequency of them, but she wasn’t sure what to do about it. “Well, thank you for being a fan and seeing all my movies.”

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