28

 

Jason closed the phone and shut his eyes. Lord, please give me the strength to go back down and dig Freddie out. I don’t know how long the rescue crews will be, and I don’t know how much longer she has. I’m leaving her in Your hands and I trust You to work this situation the way You want it to go. But I need to get down there. Help me.

He took a deep breath and pushed to his feet. Ignoring Edwin’s pleas for help, Jason limped past him and back to the elevator. Keep Edwin, Archie and Nick here until the police arrive. He repeated the same prayer over and over again.

Freddie had to be all right, she had to be. He loved her. Surely that was enough. He’d wasted so many years when they could have been together. The past week had shown him that he needed her, that he wasn’t complete without her. She was the missing link in the life that God had given him. The soul mate he needed, that God had set aside for him. And he wasn’t going to lose her again.

The rock fall loomed and he started to move the rocks. Jason called her name over and over, but there was no answer. His chest heaved with effort and sweat mixed with his tears.

“Someone called cave rescue?”

Jason turned, happy to see someone who could help. “My partner’s buried behind this. She’s asthmatic and bleeding badly. I have to get to her.”

Strong arms gripped and pulled him away. “Leave it to us, now.”

Jason tugged free. “You don’t understand…I have to get to her. She’s dying. She’s pinned down about ten yards beyond this fall. I’m not leaving until we get her out.”

“You look like you’re in pain.”

“It’s nothing.” Jason found himself moved firmly to one side. “You have to let me help.”

“The best way for you to help is to let us do our job. Someone will take you back up top and get you checked out. You can wait there.”

“But…”

“Are you Jason Bryant?” Someone asked.

“Yes, but I don’t see what that has to do with—”

“The police are looking for you. Let’s get you to the surface. We’ll get the lady out, I promise.”

Jason let the man lead him back to the surface and put him in the elevator. Freddie…please, God.

 

****

 

Freddie struggled to open her eyes. Pain assailed her, but she could breathe. She looked at the ceiling and closed her eyes again. It wasn’t heaven, as her vision was still blurred. She always imagined having a perfect body in heaven, and that meant being able to see. Someone took her hand and she opened her eyes, seeing a blur next to her.

She squinted up, trying to work out who it was. The blur pressed her glasses into her other hand and she put them on, the face next to her coming into sharp focus.

He made it. Thank you, Lord. “Jason.”

“Hey.”

“Am I dreaming?”

“No, you’re not. You’re back in hospital, with me sitting here waiting for you to wake up. This is getting to be a habit.” He smiled at her. “Though I think I prefer the scenario where you open your door to find me standing there with my hand raised ready to knock.”

“I guess I do, too.” She tried to sit up. Her face creased in pain and she gritted her teeth. “Why can’t I move?”

“Keep still. They’ve got your legs in traction until you’re stable enough for surgery.”

Freddie leaned back against the pillows. Traction? Surgery? How much damage have I done?

“How long have I been here?”

“A week. You’ve been in and out of consciousness. This is the first time you’ve actually made any sense. By the way, chocolate sandwiches melt.”

“Huh? What do chocolate sandwiches have to do with anything?”

“You kept asking if you should go and make them now, or wait until morning. I told you not to bother as they melt, but you didn’t listen.”

“I see. What about you? How badly hurt are you?”

“I’ve been here when not confined to my own bed. I busted a couple of ribs. Doc said to take it easy for a while.”

“Jason.”

“Don’t look so worried. I’m fine.”

“What happened after you left?”

“The short story is I sorted out the bad guys, called the police and cave rescue and made a pain of myself until they got you out.”

“And the long story?”

“Much the same as the short story, only it’s longer.” He winked at her. “Once I got through on the phone, I went back down and started digging you out. I refused to leave, so they had to drag me back to the surface to let the paramedics check me over. I would have gone back down afterwards, but they wouldn’t let me. So I sat up top, and waited for you.”

“My hero,” she whispered.

“You were barely breathing when they found you. You lost a lot of blood.”

“I couldn’t breathe. The torch went out, left me alone in the dark.” Freddie gripped his hand tightly and closed her eyes, groaning as the pain peaked.

Jason reached over and rang for the nurse. “I’ll go when she comes in.”

“No. Don’t leave me.”

Freddie answered the nurse’s questions in a haze of pain, barely noticing the morphine flooding her system. After a moment, she opened her eyes.

“Better?” The nurse smiled at her.

“Yeah. Am I going to be able to walk?”

“Of course. Once you’re stable, they’ll operate and make you as good as new.”

“Is it just my legs?”

The nurse listed her other injuries and Freddie listened without comment. The spleen she could do without, and only having one ovary didn’t make a difference. After the nurse left, she closed her eyes. “Are you still there?”

“Yes.”

“You said you got them.”

“Hannah died. The rest are in custody.”

“So it’s over.”

“Yeah, it’s over.”

Freddie shut her eyes. Shock stabbed through her, pinning her to the bed. “I...I see.”

“Freddie?” His thumb ran over the back of her hand.

She didn’t look at him, keeping her face averted.

Jason cradled her face with his other hand, gently turning it towards him. “What’s wrong? Isn’t it a good thing?”

“I guess so. What about the company?”

“It’s been closed. I figured I’d start up on my own, with people I could trust. Although there’s a mission society who needs a pilot and I’m more than qualified for the job.”

So much for that idea, Lord. He’s picking You over me again. I really thought...I wanted... Tears ran down her face. “Then you’d better go.”

“Go where? Freddie, what’s wrong?”

I survived once, I can do so again. “I don’t want it to be over.”

“Surely you don’t want them back on the streets, trading guns for drugs?”

“No. I mean us. You said you loved me and here you are...talking about leaving again.”

“I’m not leaving you, hon.”

“Oh…I was lying there in the mine, thinking what a fool I was to let you go fifteen years ago and not fight for you. I was so alone in the dark after the torch went out, but He was right there with me.”

“I told you. Once God is with you, you’re never alone, no matter how dark it gets.”

“Yeah.”

He kissed her fingers. “I would hug you, but I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t. I’m more likely to hurt you and your broken ribs.” His arms enfolded her and she hugged him back as tightly as she could.

“Jace, can we start over? I don’t want to go back to being without you. I love you and want to be with you. I know I can’t have kids and understand if that’s a problem and you don’t want to get involved with a—”

“Hey, whoa, slow down. First off, I believe I told you that having children wasn’t on my agenda. I don’t look at a woman or decide to marry her on her ability to give me a child.”

“What do you look for, then?”

“Red hair, green eyes, glasses that keep sliding down her nose and the cute way they get pushed back up again. Most importantly, I want someone who loves me for me, not what I can give her.”

“I do love you.”

“I’m glad you do. I love you back. I won’t ever leave you again.” Jason said.

“I know. You promised you’d come back for me and you did.”

“Of course. He reached into his pocket. “I think this is yours. And you are now one wealthy woman.”

“I am. Why?”

“That, my dear, is pure firestone. It’s worth six million on the open market.”

Her eyes widened. “Wow.”

He smiled. “Yeah, wow.”

Her fingers rose to her throat and her breath caught as grief and disappointment flooded her. She’d lost the necklace he’d bought her earlier in the week. “It’s gone.”

“No, hon, it’s here.” Jason pulled the necklace from his other pocket, pressing it into her hand. “Want me to put it on for a while? They won’t let you keep it while you’re hooked up to all this equipment.”

She nodded and Jason fastened the chain around her neck.

“This one means more to me because a very special guy gave it to me.” Freddie fingered the chain.

“Should I be jealous? Do I need to go beat someone up?” His tone was light and teasing, and she knew he remembered as well as she did.

“It will always remind me of this week and finding you again. I don’t intend to take it off, ever—once I’m out of here. I want to be with you forever.”

“I want to be with you, forever, too. It doesn’t matter that you can’t have kids or are way richer than I am. I want to serve God on the mission field again, but this time with you as my wife.”

“I’d like that, very much. Maybe we start up our own mission society. I know where I can get my hands on a few million quid to set it up with. How does that sound?”

“That, my love, sounds like a great plan.” Jason kissed her gently.

Freddie kissed him back. They’d come full circle, only this time the ending was different. Instead of being left alone, the fire of love had consumed them both. They’d both fly off into the sunset to serve the God they loved. Together.