| Where Rainbows End! By Sharon Holtz Chapter Fifteen |
And because of Jamie's concerned demeanor, Vincent urgently asked, "Is Mouse missing?"
Nervously, Jamie hesitated for a moment, before she told him, "I think Mouse may be doing something stupid. When I saw him at Lisa's celebration, he told me he would have a surprise for me later. So I went to his chamber to find out what my surprise was, and well..."
With concern, Vincent waiting to hear more, had to coax Jamie to continue! Anxiously, he probed, "Just tell me Jamie!"
Swallowing hard, she nervously continued, "...when I went to his chamber...he was gone! And so was his miners helmet, and some other stuff he was gonna take for our expedition into the closed passageway."
In a stunned manner Vincent asked, "Do you believe Mouse would have gone there, despite our concerns of a cave-in, and even after Father told him not to?"
Fearfully, Jamie honestly answered, "I wouldn't put it past him Vincent! You know Mouse! He says he can go anywhere!"
Just then, Kipper and Eric came bursting into Vincent's chamber! Both boys began yelling at once, saying, "Vincent, Mouse needs your help! We went with him on a hike to help carry some stuff, and the wall in the 42nd street tunnel caved in. You gotta help 'em Vincent!"
Anxiously, Vincent asked the boys, "Is Mouse trapped in the tunnel alone? Eric? Kipper? Is anyone else with Mouse?!"
The two boys looked blankly at each other, frightened and scared knowing this is serious stuff! Finally, Kipper tearfully answered, "Just Mouse. He wouldn't let us go in. He made us stay behind, and then, we heard an explosion and the wall fell in!"
To which Jamie shrieked, "Oh no! Mouse may be dead!"
Turning to a visibly shaken Jamie, Vincent grasped her by the shoulders, and intently instructed her, "Now listen carefully Jamie, go tell Father, I am going to the N. Eastern Branch of the 42nd street tunnel. Tell him we know there was a cave-in, but don't know if Mouse is hurt. Then you must contact Peter to help Father, in case Mouse is injured. When you talk to Peter, tell him he must contact Catherine for me, informing her of the events here, in turn, explaining my delay in coming to her. Jamie do this! And you must hurry."
Although Jamie was frightened, and worried, she shakily promised, "I will hurry!"
And so she did! Jamie ran faster then she ever had! So after Jamie informed Jacob, she went above to contact Peter. Anxiously she told him, "Peter we need you to come below and help us! There is a cave in and Father may need your help! Vincent wants you to tell Catherine about it too! I am so scared! You must hurry!"
Assuredly, Peter replied, "Calm down Jamie, calm down...now I need your help. Gather my medical bag there, while I contact Catherine."
So Peter then called Catherine, and as he heard the beeping of Catherine's answering machine, he left the message, "Cathy, I don't want to alarm you, but there has been a cave-in below in the tunnels. It is now 7:30 p.m. I don't know any details yet, but I am going below immediately. I would advise you do the same Kiddo, we may need your help!"
Meanwhile, everyone gathered at the cave-in site to help Vincent move out the rubble. Working at it for nearly an hour, they were all over-heating and decided they had better divide up and start working in shifts.
Vincent was the only constant, not wanting to stop until he rescued his dear friend. As he worked tirelessly, he prayed it would not be too late for Mouse!
Meantime, Jacob and Peter were on stand-by, watching and praying that Vincent could get to Mouse in time. As the second hour came to a close, they were all pretty exhausted from the non-stop rescue efforts.
Meanwhile, Mouse had been working from his end, and luckily found a small opening, and was able to
find his own way out.
As he came around to the main 42nd street tunnel, he saw all the activity. Not realizing the rescue efforts were for HIM, he inched Pascal out of the way, who was in line next to Vincent, and waited for the next hand-off!
Without looking up, Vincent handed the next rock on to Mouse, and he in turn, passed it on to Pascal.
Everyone stood in shock for a moment, not believing their eyes. Mouse was there, and was safe!
As Vincent passed on the next rock, he again handed it to Mouse! Finally looking up, he did a double take, bellowing, "Mouse?!"
Because Vincent was distracted, and looking the other way, he did not move in time when a loosened sharp rock, dislodged, and fell on his arm! Unfortunately, as it struck Vincent's arm, it caused a huge gash in his flesh!
As blood readily bled from his wound, both Jacob and Peter rushed up to him, and placed a tourniquet on his arm, to stop the bleeding! Since a blood transfusion was not an option for Vincent, a cut truly was life threatening for him! Then the two doctors began issuing instructions to everyone around them, needing the hardier men to help Vincent to his chamber.
Everyone's concern was now for Vincent, their warrior, their hero! They all somberly followed him back to his chamber, and as they walked, Jacob sternly asked Mouse, "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Shamefully, Mouse shrugged his shoulders, and said, "Guess Mouse was wrong and right!"
To which Jamie questioned him, "What in the heck does that mean Mouse?"
Sheepishly, he answered, "Mouse wrong about the tunnel, but right about being able to escape from anywhere!"
Upon hearing Mouse's explanation, Jacob harshly bellowed, "We will talk about this later Mouse."
After arriving at Vincent's chamber, the men helped Vincent to his bed, and Peter and Jacob worked continually to stop the bleeding.
As Peter stitched up his forearm, Vincent told him, "Please hurry Peter, I am supposed to meet Catherine!"
Sternly, Jacob told him, "You must stay put my boy, now please relax, you have lost a lot of blood!"
Efficiently, Mary fluffed up Vincent's pillows, and got him all settled in, and then in an anxious manner, asked, "Rebecca? Hasn't William brought that tray down yet?"
Arguably, Vincent stated, "Mary I am fine, there is no time to eat! Catherine must be waiting for me."
Sternly, she informed him, "Now Vincent you know when you don't eat, your metabolism gets off kilter! After nearly 2 hours of such physical work, YOU are eating something and that is final!"
Jacob and Peter, listened as Mary shouted orders at Vincent! Causing them both to chuckle. Peter then commented, "I do believe if I were Vincent, I would be afraid NOT to eat!"
Jacob looked up over his glasses, and as he smiled at Mary, he said, "Yes Indeed Peter, indeed!"
Casting a disapproving look toward them, Mary curtly said, "All right now, you two are not helping."
Just then, William rushed in, carrying a hot bowl of lentil soup, along with some warm crusted bread. In a nurturing tone, he offered, "Here you go Vincent! Eat while it's warm."
Worriedly, Rebecca looked at Vincent, and insistently told William, "He won't be able to eat by himself with that arm! I will feed him."
To which William said, "Suit yourself Rebecca..."
And then with a chuckle, William told Vincent, "I'll be seeing ya later, I think its getting crowded in here, and you don't need a skinny minny like me hanging around."
But because he was so thankful for the tray, Vincent said, "Thank you William...for the soup..."
With heart, William nodded as he said, "Anythime...heal fast man."
Meantime, Mary stepped back, shook her head in disbelief as she looked at Vincent! She couldn't believe this senseless accident happened! And so she lamented, "Why do these things happen to people when all they are trying to do is help?!"
She then noted Vincent was still all sweaty, and dusty, from the cave-in debris, and so she turned to Jacob, and said, “Since Vincent won't be able to make it to the springs, we need to bring water here for him."
After Jacob agreed with her, Mary asked, "Zach, Kipper, please fill Vincent's pitcher with water, and Samantha, would you bring some fresh wash clothes for Vincent's bath?"
As Rebecca fed Vincent another spoonful, Pascal approached to ask, "Is there anything I can get for you? Is there anything you need?"
With an appreciative sigh, Vincent shook his head no, when suddenly, Mary re-appeared, and began measuring the circumference around his neck, and down his arm!
When Vincent asked what she was doing, she confidently said, "I believe a sling is in order for you to support your injured arm! Now lie still, I am just measuring to see how long the material should be. It seems to me that..."
With Mary getting in Rebecca's way, she cautioned her, "Mary, be careful, I am feeding Vincent here!He doesn't need hot lentil soup all over him, on top of everything else!"
To which Mary curtly said, "This will only take me a moment Rebecca!"
As she continued on with her agenda, Mary then pondered, "Vincent? Will you be wearing the sling over, or under your hair?"
Jacob then inched in as well, wanting to take his temperature again, when suddenly, Vincent had all he
could take, and he surprised everyone when he said, "Stop, please stop! None of you seem to understand that I must go to Catherine. I must!"
As Vincent motioned toward Mouse, he asked, "Please hand me a shirt from my wardrobe."
To which a surprised Rebecca said, "But Vincent, you haven't finished your soup!"
And then Mary added, "And I still need that measurement!"
In response, a determined Vincent said, "Mouse please..."
And because Mouse was feeling so guilty for the trouble he had caused, he was happy to do something, ANYTHING for Vincent, and so he found a shirt for Vincent to put on.
So as he handed Vincent a shirt, he asked sheepishly, "Vincent not mad at Mouse?"
Assuring his friend, Vincent said, "No Mouse, I am just so grateful you are all right!"
As Vincent tried to stand up, the loss of blood, caused him to be a bit dizzy! He swayed so much so, it caused him to sit back down!
Holding his head, he told his Father, "I stood up too fast that is all, I am fine. I will be fine."
Upon seeing the dizziness, with concern, Peter looked at Jacob, and asked, "May I see you for a moment Jacob?"
Stepping to the side, Peter noted, "Jacob, the cut was quite severe, Vincent should NOT move for several hours! We have to make sure the bleeding has been positively stopped."
To which Jacob replied, "I quite agree, but he is so determined to see Catherine!"
With a nod, Peter shared, "I DID leave a message for Cathy to come below! I really can't understand why she hasn't come yet!"
Meanwhile, Vincent tried to dress again, and after having trouble getting his arm through his sleeve, he asked, "Mouse assist me with my shirt won't you?"
After hearing Vincent's request of Mouse, Jacob, and Peter couldn't believe he was attempting to get up again! And so a very frazzled Jacob bellowed, "Vincent, you must adhere to what we tell you!"
Reiterating, Peter added, "You gotta let the clotting process do its job, you really gotta stay still for several hours."
And then a discussion erupted between Jacob and Peter that it was clear one of them must stay for the night shift, making sure Vincent didn't try to leave! And because Peter remembered he had to go to a Medical Conference tomorrow, he volunteered to stay tonight, as this would be his only chance to do a shift.
Realizing the two doctors were going to watch over him all night long, Vincent argued, "No one needs to stay with me..."
Upon hearing his declaration, Jacob asked, "Are you saying you will not leave?"
But because Vincent didn't answer right away, both Jacob and Peter knew he could not be trusted to stay put, and so Peter decided to give Vincent a proposition, offering, "Listen Vincent, I know you are determined to see Cathy, I DID leave her a message, but if she doesn't come soon, then we will ask a helper to get her, but for now, you gotta rest. I know you know this could be life threatening if you get a bleed! So rest now, and later, one way or another, you will see Cathy...is that a deal?"
Wearily, Vincent gave in, and laid back down, and with a resigned sigh, he agreed, "Very well Peter, I will rest."
Realizing his strength has for the moment, left him, Vincent suddenly felt very tired.
But with the renewed hope of seeing his Catherine later, he was able to relax, and so he closed his eyes, and sleep surprisingly, washed over him.
To be continued
Chapter Sixteen
Nervously, Jamie hesitated for a moment, before she told him, "I think Mouse may be doing something stupid. When I saw him at Lisa's celebration, he told me he would have a surprise for me later. So I went to his chamber to find out what my surprise was, and well..."
With concern, Vincent waiting to hear more, had to coax Jamie to continue! Anxiously, he probed, "Just tell me Jamie!"
Swallowing hard, she nervously continued, "...when I went to his chamber...he was gone! And so was his miners helmet, and some other stuff he was gonna take for our expedition into the closed passageway."
In a stunned manner Vincent asked, "Do you believe Mouse would have gone there, despite our concerns of a cave-in, and even after Father told him not to?"
Fearfully, Jamie honestly answered, "I wouldn't put it past him Vincent! You know Mouse! He says he can go anywhere!"
Just then, Kipper and Eric came bursting into Vincent's chamber! Both boys began yelling at once, saying, "Vincent, Mouse needs your help! We went with him on a hike to help carry some stuff, and the wall in the 42nd street tunnel caved in. You gotta help 'em Vincent!"
Anxiously, Vincent asked the boys, "Is Mouse trapped in the tunnel alone? Eric? Kipper? Is anyone else with Mouse?!"
The two boys looked blankly at each other, frightened and scared knowing this is serious stuff! Finally, Kipper tearfully answered, "Just Mouse. He wouldn't let us go in. He made us stay behind, and then, we heard an explosion and the wall fell in!"
To which Jamie shrieked, "Oh no! Mouse may be dead!"
Turning to a visibly shaken Jamie, Vincent grasped her by the shoulders, and intently instructed her, "Now listen carefully Jamie, go tell Father, I am going to the N. Eastern Branch of the 42nd street tunnel. Tell him we know there was a cave-in, but don't know if Mouse is hurt. Then you must contact Peter to help Father, in case Mouse is injured. When you talk to Peter, tell him he must contact Catherine for me, informing her of the events here, in turn, explaining my delay in coming to her. Jamie do this! And you must hurry."
Although Jamie was frightened, and worried, she shakily promised, "I will hurry!"
And so she did! Jamie ran faster then she ever had! So after Jamie informed Jacob, she went above to contact Peter. Anxiously she told him, "Peter we need you to come below and help us! There is a cave in and Father may need your help! Vincent wants you to tell Catherine about it too! I am so scared! You must hurry!"
Assuredly, Peter replied, "Calm down Jamie, calm down...now I need your help. Gather my medical bag there, while I contact Catherine."
So Peter then called Catherine, and as he heard the beeping of Catherine's answering machine, he left the message, "Cathy, I don't want to alarm you, but there has been a cave-in below in the tunnels. It is now 7:30 p.m. I don't know any details yet, but I am going below immediately. I would advise you do the same Kiddo, we may need your help!"
Meanwhile, everyone gathered at the cave-in site to help Vincent move out the rubble. Working at it for nearly an hour, they were all over-heating and decided they had better divide up and start working in shifts.
Vincent was the only constant, not wanting to stop until he rescued his dear friend. As he worked tirelessly, he prayed it would not be too late for Mouse!
Meantime, Jacob and Peter were on stand-by, watching and praying that Vincent could get to Mouse in time. As the second hour came to a close, they were all pretty exhausted from the non-stop rescue efforts.
Meanwhile, Mouse had been working from his end, and luckily found a small opening, and was able to
find his own way out.
As he came around to the main 42nd street tunnel, he saw all the activity. Not realizing the rescue efforts were for HIM, he inched Pascal out of the way, who was in line next to Vincent, and waited for the next hand-off!
Without looking up, Vincent handed the next rock on to Mouse, and he in turn, passed it on to Pascal.
Everyone stood in shock for a moment, not believing their eyes. Mouse was there, and was safe!
As Vincent passed on the next rock, he again handed it to Mouse! Finally looking up, he did a double take, bellowing, "Mouse?!"
Because Vincent was distracted, and looking the other way, he did not move in time when a loosened sharp rock, dislodged, and fell on his arm! Unfortunately, as it struck Vincent's arm, it caused a huge gash in his flesh!
As blood readily bled from his wound, both Jacob and Peter rushed up to him, and placed a tourniquet on his arm, to stop the bleeding! Since a blood transfusion was not an option for Vincent, a cut truly was life threatening for him! Then the two doctors began issuing instructions to everyone around them, needing the hardier men to help Vincent to his chamber.
Everyone's concern was now for Vincent, their warrior, their hero! They all somberly followed him back to his chamber, and as they walked, Jacob sternly asked Mouse, "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Shamefully, Mouse shrugged his shoulders, and said, "Guess Mouse was wrong and right!"
To which Jamie questioned him, "What in the heck does that mean Mouse?"
Sheepishly, he answered, "Mouse wrong about the tunnel, but right about being able to escape from anywhere!"
Upon hearing Mouse's explanation, Jacob harshly bellowed, "We will talk about this later Mouse."
After arriving at Vincent's chamber, the men helped Vincent to his bed, and Peter and Jacob worked continually to stop the bleeding.
As Peter stitched up his forearm, Vincent told him, "Please hurry Peter, I am supposed to meet Catherine!"
Sternly, Jacob told him, "You must stay put my boy, now please relax, you have lost a lot of blood!"
Efficiently, Mary fluffed up Vincent's pillows, and got him all settled in, and then in an anxious manner, asked, "Rebecca? Hasn't William brought that tray down yet?"
Arguably, Vincent stated, "Mary I am fine, there is no time to eat! Catherine must be waiting for me."
Sternly, she informed him, "Now Vincent you know when you don't eat, your metabolism gets off kilter! After nearly 2 hours of such physical work, YOU are eating something and that is final!"
Jacob and Peter, listened as Mary shouted orders at Vincent! Causing them both to chuckle. Peter then commented, "I do believe if I were Vincent, I would be afraid NOT to eat!"
Jacob looked up over his glasses, and as he smiled at Mary, he said, "Yes Indeed Peter, indeed!"
Casting a disapproving look toward them, Mary curtly said, "All right now, you two are not helping."
Just then, William rushed in, carrying a hot bowl of lentil soup, along with some warm crusted bread. In a nurturing tone, he offered, "Here you go Vincent! Eat while it's warm."
Worriedly, Rebecca looked at Vincent, and insistently told William, "He won't be able to eat by himself with that arm! I will feed him."
To which William said, "Suit yourself Rebecca..."
And then with a chuckle, William told Vincent, "I'll be seeing ya later, I think its getting crowded in here, and you don't need a skinny minny like me hanging around."
But because he was so thankful for the tray, Vincent said, "Thank you William...for the soup..."
With heart, William nodded as he said, "Anythime...heal fast man."
Meantime, Mary stepped back, shook her head in disbelief as she looked at Vincent! She couldn't believe this senseless accident happened! And so she lamented, "Why do these things happen to people when all they are trying to do is help?!"
She then noted Vincent was still all sweaty, and dusty, from the cave-in debris, and so she turned to Jacob, and said, “Since Vincent won't be able to make it to the springs, we need to bring water here for him."
After Jacob agreed with her, Mary asked, "Zach, Kipper, please fill Vincent's pitcher with water, and Samantha, would you bring some fresh wash clothes for Vincent's bath?"
As Rebecca fed Vincent another spoonful, Pascal approached to ask, "Is there anything I can get for you? Is there anything you need?"
With an appreciative sigh, Vincent shook his head no, when suddenly, Mary re-appeared, and began measuring the circumference around his neck, and down his arm!
When Vincent asked what she was doing, she confidently said, "I believe a sling is in order for you to support your injured arm! Now lie still, I am just measuring to see how long the material should be. It seems to me that..."
With Mary getting in Rebecca's way, she cautioned her, "Mary, be careful, I am feeding Vincent here!He doesn't need hot lentil soup all over him, on top of everything else!"
To which Mary curtly said, "This will only take me a moment Rebecca!"
As she continued on with her agenda, Mary then pondered, "Vincent? Will you be wearing the sling over, or under your hair?"
Jacob then inched in as well, wanting to take his temperature again, when suddenly, Vincent had all he
could take, and he surprised everyone when he said, "Stop, please stop! None of you seem to understand that I must go to Catherine. I must!"
As Vincent motioned toward Mouse, he asked, "Please hand me a shirt from my wardrobe."
To which a surprised Rebecca said, "But Vincent, you haven't finished your soup!"
And then Mary added, "And I still need that measurement!"
In response, a determined Vincent said, "Mouse please..."
And because Mouse was feeling so guilty for the trouble he had caused, he was happy to do something, ANYTHING for Vincent, and so he found a shirt for Vincent to put on.
So as he handed Vincent a shirt, he asked sheepishly, "Vincent not mad at Mouse?"
Assuring his friend, Vincent said, "No Mouse, I am just so grateful you are all right!"
As Vincent tried to stand up, the loss of blood, caused him to be a bit dizzy! He swayed so much so, it caused him to sit back down!
Holding his head, he told his Father, "I stood up too fast that is all, I am fine. I will be fine."
Upon seeing the dizziness, with concern, Peter looked at Jacob, and asked, "May I see you for a moment Jacob?"
Stepping to the side, Peter noted, "Jacob, the cut was quite severe, Vincent should NOT move for several hours! We have to make sure the bleeding has been positively stopped."
To which Jacob replied, "I quite agree, but he is so determined to see Catherine!"
With a nod, Peter shared, "I DID leave a message for Cathy to come below! I really can't understand why she hasn't come yet!"
Meanwhile, Vincent tried to dress again, and after having trouble getting his arm through his sleeve, he asked, "Mouse assist me with my shirt won't you?"
After hearing Vincent's request of Mouse, Jacob, and Peter couldn't believe he was attempting to get up again! And so a very frazzled Jacob bellowed, "Vincent, you must adhere to what we tell you!"
Reiterating, Peter added, "You gotta let the clotting process do its job, you really gotta stay still for several hours."
And then a discussion erupted between Jacob and Peter that it was clear one of them must stay for the night shift, making sure Vincent didn't try to leave! And because Peter remembered he had to go to a Medical Conference tomorrow, he volunteered to stay tonight, as this would be his only chance to do a shift.
Realizing the two doctors were going to watch over him all night long, Vincent argued, "No one needs to stay with me..."
Upon hearing his declaration, Jacob asked, "Are you saying you will not leave?"
But because Vincent didn't answer right away, both Jacob and Peter knew he could not be trusted to stay put, and so Peter decided to give Vincent a proposition, offering, "Listen Vincent, I know you are determined to see Cathy, I DID leave her a message, but if she doesn't come soon, then we will ask a helper to get her, but for now, you gotta rest. I know you know this could be life threatening if you get a bleed! So rest now, and later, one way or another, you will see Cathy...is that a deal?"
Wearily, Vincent gave in, and laid back down, and with a resigned sigh, he agreed, "Very well Peter, I will rest."
Realizing his strength has for the moment, left him, Vincent suddenly felt very tired.
But with the renewed hope of seeing his Catherine later, he was able to relax, and so he closed his eyes, and sleep surprisingly, washed over him.
To be continued
Chapter Sixteen
