Buried

Bret steps forward, kneeling in front of Jamie with compassion not often seen in him. "It's going to be okay, Jamie," he tries to comfort. He reaches out with his uninjured arm to touch her hand. "If anybody could survive that, it would be Tank..."

Looking up at Scott, he rises to his feet again, resuming holding his injury. "You better get these women out of here... They're going to start clearing us out soon, and they got a special crew coming in to try and clear some rubble."

Scott nods, though still isn't quite sure how to get Jamie to leave. "How did it happen?"

Bret shakes his head. "It was sudden...we were all there, the three guys were at the end of the site moving some dirt and the ground just started to shake. Next thing we saw was them going down with the bulldozer like the earth was just swallowing them up. It spread then and a bunch of us other guys wound up several feet lower at least, though I guess we weren't right on top of the sink hole like the others." He pauses a moment, replaying the shock in his mind. "They're not letting people closer, but if you go up to the edge it looks like a crater. You can already see some of the caves they're talking about, but..."

He glances down to Jamie again and lowers his voice just a bit. "The three guys didn't even have time to get anywhere...there's rubble everywhere, and even the bulldozer is half-buried. I..." He was going to say how he didn't know how someone could survive, but holds his tongue. "They got to be real careful with removing the debris because if there is a pocket under there, if they shift anything too much, it will collapse and...well....yeah."

"Bret! Get over here!"

Bret looks up to see one of his buddies waving from near one of the ambulances. "Looks like they can see me now...I gotta go." He looks to Scott again. "Get Jamie out of here...if they do find Con and he's in bad shape or worse, it's not going to do her any good."

After Bret leaves, Scott takes his cell phone and dials Jason. Finished updating him, he goes and crouches next to Katie and Jamie. "There's nothing we can do here," he prompts gently. "The best thing we can do is get out of these people's way so they can work."


Jason shuts his phone, his stomach giving a lurch that almost makes him sick. This couldn't be happening. Everything lately had just been one thing after another. Closing his eyes for a moment, he tries to regroup before heading for Nate and Laura.


Laura's eyes widen at Nate's news. She felt almost numb for a moment, unsure how to take it. There was too much question...too many unknowns. Was Con really one of the three? She blinks, not knowing how to respond. "I...that..." She swallows hard, her emotions beginning to rise as fear creeps up on her.

Before she can say more though, she looks up to see Jason. Her eyes fill with hope that he has good news.

But Jason's face says it all. He looks to Nate grimly, then to Laura and gives a slight shake to his head. "I'm sorry...Con's one of the men missing...they're.....they're looking for them now...they've been buried under the rubble."

A gasp sticks in Laura's throat. She wants to cry, but no tears come. She wants to scream, but her voice seems lost.

Jason knows that she has plenty of comfort with Nate around, so he backs away slowly.

Laura sits, stunned, glued to her chair, her eyes distant as she stares at the floor. Con was one of the most precious people in her life...if he was taken away...like this....she didn't know what she would do. To think he may very well be dead...having died in such an accident...the thought made her sick.

Without even realizing it, her hands ball into fists so tight that her knuckles turn white. The blood drains from her face and she sways just a little as the room begins to spin.


Carson ambles to the infirmary and leans on the doorframe for a moment, just watching Misty at her desk. Finally entering, he approaches her desk. He'd hardly seen her at all today with as busy as it had been.

Crossing his arms, he casually sits on the corner of her desk, throwing her a grin. "Hey Sassy." Looking at her, he searches her eyes. Ever since yesterday, this had been eating at him... He didn't like it that he hadn't been honest with her, and the more he'd thought about Frankie, the less he liked the thought of Misty going to see him again, alone, not knowing everything.

"Look, um...I guess I wasn't totally honest with you, yesterday... It was probably me who started the argument with your brother...but I didn't like the way he'd been talking about you, or the way he was trying to bait me..." Carson pauses, his eyes shifting around the room, then back to Misty. "It was me who started to walk away first. He, um...brought up Ashlyn and I couldn't handle it. I shouldn't have let it get to me, but...it did. He ended up leaving instead of me though, and that's when you came back."

Pausing again, he looks Misty in the eye. "I know he's your brother, and I can tell that you love him...but...I just want you to be careful around him. There's...I mean...he got angry, Misty...real angry...and I'm not sure I like the idea of you being alone with him any time."