Mountain Man's Secret Baby

by Lauren Wood

  The place opened and it was just like old times. Not much had changed. There were a few new faces, but most of the workers that were from other places were already down at the harbor working, so I figured that I would see them later in the day. Now I was thinking about seeing Ethan and the day was really going by quickly. It was already almost noon and I put an order in for Ethan.

  Molly was waitressing this morning too because it was that busy. I was walking around like a chicken with my head cut off and when Ethan’s food was up and he wasn’t there, I wondered where he was. Most of the new workers weren’t here and I hoped that it wasn’t something bad holding them back. Maybe they weren’t going to feel welcome and had decided to go elsewhere. I can’t say that I blamed them, but I’d counted on seeing Ethan and it felt like I’d already been waiting far too long for him.

  I wasn’t given much time to think about it though because about the time I was looking towards the harbor through the window, I heard a loud bang that shook the restaurant and rocked the very ground that we were standing on. The bright flash was from the harbor and then it was clear to me what had happened. The harbor, the new addition being built had been blown up and my heart dropped in my chest.

  The first thing I thought to do was take the apron off after I dug the phone out of my pocket. I had to talk to Ethan and make sure that he was okay. He should be at lunch, but I still hadn’t seen anyone make it to the restaurant from the harbor yet and I was worried that Ethan was there in the blast. I was worried about the others, but Ethan was all I could think of. I was already going towards the heat and the blast sight in search of him. Ethan wasn’t answering. Something was wrong and I was already getting this mild panic that was taking over me.

  Chapter 18

  Ethan

  My phone was ringing, but I couldn’t get to it. It had flown out of my pocket during the detonation and I couldn’t reach it where I currently was. My leg was stuck underneath something heavy and I couldn’t seem to move it. I didn’t want to look down and see how bad it was because it felt pretty damn bad.

  When I finally did it was just pinned without too much damage, but that meant I couldn’t move. I was underneath the new structure we were building up. Everyone on the crew had decided to take lunch an hour later because we wanted time for the locals to clear out from lunch. The tension in the town was palpable and I wanted to avoid trouble.

  It wasn’t something that we had been doing. We’d been taking off at noon and going to one of the other two locations, but after what happened at Molly’s specifically, it felt like the thing to do. Now I wish that we wouldn’t have changed it because if it was any other day, there would have been no one there when it went off. I had to believe that they didn’t mean to let it off now, but they had and we were all still here. Who had done this was in my mind.

  When sound started to come back to my ears, I could hear loud yelling and screams around me of the people that I was working with moments before. There were people walking around with wounds and they looked bewildered. I wanted to help, but I was stuck where I was with nowhere to go. I wanted to get up and help, but I was the one that needed help as well.

  I tried to see if there was anyone coming, but the rubble around me wouldn’t let me see far around in most directions. I had to hope that the town that didn’t want us here would help. Someone had to help. Right?

  There was rumbling underneath me and I wasn’t even sure what I was on. I saw someone coming up to me. It was Charlie and he asked me if I needed help. His voice sounded like it was coming from such a distance away, but I nodded my head because I had heard enough. I needed help.

  Charlie had a little blood on his forehead, but he seemed to be in pretty good shape. I was glad to see him and not just because he was trying to figure out how to free me. He was a good friend since I’d arrived and I was glad to see that he was okay just as much.

  “What the hell happened?”

  “An explosion. It looks like they rigged up the building to go down when we were at lunch.”

  I nodded my head like I understood. “When we were supposed to be gone.”

  He had a grave look on his face as well. He had already seen a couple of dead bodies of fellow co-workers. I wished that I could get up and do something.

  I felt immense relief when the large piece of wood was moved off of my leg and I was able to get up from the broken harbor scattered about that I was laying in that was digging into my back. It was then, limping on the bad leg that I was able to get a better look and Charlie was right. There were several people that were pinned underneath wood beams that had fallen and were not going to be getting up with some help. Some weren’t moving at all and I had to move on to the next one to see if there was anyone else that needed help.

  The further I got into the building that was now half down, I saw several more men stuck and Charlie helped me get them out as well. There was going to be a lot of injuries, but at least there were only a few people that weren’t getting up. There wasn’t much I could do for them.

  It was winding down; the search was as most of the men were accounted for. There was two missing and as the scene started to empty, I heard someone yelling, but it sounded faint like it was far away. There was only one place where the rubble was that high and I moved over to that place to see if there was someone else stuck under the weight of the harbor.

  I looked up above me and the roof looked very unstable, but I heard the voice again and I knew that I had to try and save them. What if it was me that was down there?

  No one else was around that wasn’t doing something else, so I started to shift rocks and wood as best as I could. I was okay besides a little pain in the leg where it had been pinched by a beam. It was going to be fine because I was already walking on it, so I was lucky. I wanted to make sure that if there was another else that needed some luck, I would be there good luck and get them out of there. These were my men that were hurt and walking around in a daze. How had this happened? I knew who had done it in general, but I wanted to know the names of every single person that had something to do with this or knew about it. I wasn’t going to let this go.

  The anger seemed to steer me on and I felt more strength than I knew I had. It came to be a benefit because the beams felt heavier than I remember. Charlie spotted me and was starting to walk over when I heard a crack above me. I caught him waving his arms towards me like I was in trouble and when I looked up, I knew that I was. The beams above me were coming down. I must have moved the wrong piece.

  I felt weight on my head and then blackness. I wasn’t going to be helping anyone else today.

  Chapter 19

  Denise

  It felt like the harbor kept getting further and further away. I’d been running for what felt like an hour, but it didn’t seem like I was that much closer. Time had a way of changing and not just standing still, but slowing down almost completely and I was left running in place.

  There was a part of me that knew something had happened to Ethan. A fire truck and the only police car in the town were already on the way to the still burning flames that licked towards the cold sky. Everyone was coming out of their houses that felt the blast and finally an ambulance, the only ambulance was whizzing past on its way to help whoever they could. It was all just more than I could take in at one time and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it all. I knew that it was going to be bad, but I hadn’t thought it would be this bad.

  The fact that there was a man I loved in the burning and smoking rubble in front of me, made it so much worse to take in. My eyes scanned all of the people that were walking around. I could tell who was in the explosion because they were covered in soot and they had a bewildered look in their eyes. They were confused at what all had happened and I can’t say that I wasn’t either. It was a lot to take in all at once and when I didn’t find Ethan walking around right away, I searched a little more as I went where others were telling me not to go. I didn’t care if it was stable or not. I was going to
find Ethan single handedly if I had to.

  The task was daunting before me and it seemed like as soon as I moved towards the pile of debris, there were more people around me to help and I didn’t feel so alone. It felt like there was hope and I was still clinging to the idea that everything was going to be okay. I knew that it just had to be.

  When I still didn’t see Ethan as I was there longer, I tried so hard not to panic but it was creeping up into my stomach with a vengeance and I didn’t know how I was going to be able to keep it down. I didn’t want this to be the end, but the sinking feeling in my heart told me that something was very wrong.

  “Are you looking for Ethan?”

  I turned around to Charlie’s voice and I nodded that I was. “Have you seen him?”

  He was dusty and had dried blood on him and his shirt. He was here for it, but he seemed to have his wits about him and not be too hurt. I hugged him as I walked up closer because I was glad that he was okay. I was friends with him and his wife so I was relieved more than anything to know that one more person I knew was okay.

  “Yeah, I saw him. He is underneath that.”

  He pointed towards the rubble pile that was bigger than all of the rest. I was about to step onto it, but instead I moved around it and we started to pull things off one piece at a time. It wasn’t long before more people were pitching in after they realized there was someone under there. It didn’t matter at the moment who was underneath it all. It didn’t matter if they were an outsider or not. Everyone was helping and this was the Nome that I remembered. If only I didn’t have someone I loved down there to make it all so damn terrifying.

  The pile was sorted out quickly and I saw the jacket sleeve that Ethan had been wearing this morning. It felt like it was so long ago now when I was in his arms, but it was only a few hours ago. It was amazing how much everything changed so quickly.

  I stopped when I saw it because I knew that the moment of truth was coming. He was either going to be alive or he wasn’t. I didn’t know if I could handle the latter and Charlie moved me to the side and told me to wait.

  “I will tell you what is going on Denise.”

  I wanted to tell him that I was fine and I was going to help, but I wasn’t fine. It was the last thing in the world that I was. I was devastated. I didn’t know how it was all going to turn out, but I knew deep down that there had to be something that I could do once he was freed. Then I could help him and tell him that everything was going to be okay.

  The next few minutes were the longest of my life. Charlie turned back to me and I could tell from some of the shouts going up that he was alive. But I wasn’t prepared for what state he was going to be in. He was not awake or conscious at all and he had a large mark on his head where he had been hit with something as it fell. There was a pulse though and that meant that there was hope.

  I was going from really low-lows, to really high-highs and it was wearing on me quickly. I moved to Ethan and touched his face, calling his name, desperately trying to get him to wake up and look at me. I wanted to see his eyes and hear his voice to know that he was okay. He had to be okay. I didn’t know what I would do if he wasn’t.

  A few of the men picked him up and took him to the waiting ambulance. They’d already made a couple of trips and since Ethan was the worst off that was found so far, it was his turn to take the ride. There was another man that was going to ride in the back as well that had several injuries and I wasn’t allowed to ride with Ethan.

  I made it back to the restaurant and back to my car to drive across town to the hospital. I wanted to be there when he got there, but he was already inside when I pulled up. It was chaos in the small hospital that had never seen so much action. All I had to do was find Ethan and make sure that he was okay. I just couldn’t think of any other alternative than that.

  Chapter 20

  Denise

  I couldn’t find him for several minutes because I couldn’t get the attention

  of one of the two nurses that was running around. Instead of stopping what they were doing because I figured it was rather important, I just started walking into the rooms. There were only ten in all and I was halfway down the line before I saw more frantic people going into room 6. I don’t know why, but I was drawn to the room and it was Ethan. There were several people in the room with him and it felt crowded. A doctor was barking orders and people were scrambling to do as he said. I hoped that they moved a little faster because Ethan had to be okay.

  He looked pale and his face had a greyish pall to it. It didn’t look good to me and I had a feeling that he wasn’t doing as well as I would have hoped he was doing. Instead he was just lying there and when I tried to go in, I realized that I was just in the way. I didn’t want to be the reason that he didn’t get the help that he needed. I didn’t think I would be able to live with myself if that was the case.

  It wasn’t long before people were moving faster and everything was like a daze to me. The nurses and staff seemed to be multiplying and then they were moving Ethan.

  “Where are you taking him?”

  The nurse that I flagged down stopped and told me that he was going to have to be air lifted to Juneau. I was afraid that something was going to happen. I couldn’t go with him because I wasn’t family. His real family was going to be called. I was just his girlfriend? Hell, I don’t even know what I am because we’d never put a name on it before.

  Now I was just the girl that was left waiting at the hospital, dirty and confused and trying to figure out how my world had just crumbled so quickly. It was a question that I had no answer to and more than anything I just felt numb as I walked back to my car. Juneau was far away and I wasn’t sure when I was going to be able to get there.

  I pointed the car towards home and figured that I would pack a few things and make my way over there to see what happens next. I hadn’t prayed more than I had in the last hour, but it didn’t seem to be helping all that much. It was all I could do to make things better.

  When I got dressed after taking a shower, I knew that it was going to be a long day. It had started with so much promise, but now everything was in limbo. I called Molly when I got in the car and was headed for the small airport. It was the only way I was going to get to Juneau anytime soon and I hoped that I had enough for a flight there. I had to make sure he was okay, so I was going to make it work one way or another.

  ***

  I got to Juneau not too long after I found a flight. That took almost all day and I was now landing at night. I didn’t know the city at all really and I had to grab a cab. When I asked him to take me to the hospital, it was then that I found out there were three. It was one of those things that left me considering what to do next and finally I just had him take me to the biggest one because I figured that was where they would take Ethan. I wasn’t sure if I was wrong, but I really hoped that I wasn’t. If not, I was prepared to go to all three. It was impossible to get through and talk to someone that could tell me, so I was just going to have to go to each one if need be.

  I didn’t have to though. The first hospital was where he was and I was told that he was there and where he was, but no other information could be given to me. That worried me for some reason. I wanted to know what was going on and again that sinking feeling in my stomach was back and I didn’t know what to do about it.

  Making my way to the third floor, I passed so many people that were hurt and so many rooms that I was wearing out from the day before I even got there. It had been a long time since I’d been to the city and for some reason; I had forgotten how big it was. It was a bit intimidating, even when I was trying to not let it bother me. This wasn’t the time for my anxiety to act up.

  Finally I found the room that I’d been given downstairs and the door was shut. I opened it slowly and when I saw that there wasn’t anyone in there but Ethan, I moved closer to the man in the bed and took a big sigh of relief. He didn’t look good and he still wasn’t awake. But he was alive and that was enough for me.
It was going to have to be.

  “Hey, who are you? What are you doing here?”

  I turned to the harsh voices and was confronted with an older woman and man, as well as a woman that was a little older than me. I didn’t recognize any of them.

  Chapter 21

  Denise

  It wasn’t the sort of way that I wanted to meet his family, but apparently this is how it was going to be. I’d heard about his parents many times. He was fond of them, but I didn’t know he had a sister.

  “Hi, my name is Denise. I’ve been dating your son since he came to Nome. It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you and your husband. Your son always spoke highly of you.”

  The older woman smiled at the last bit, but she had a strange look on her face when I told her that I was dating her son. I don’t know why that was such a shock, but as I was introduced to the rest of the trio, I started to understand.

  The woman standing next to the mother was his fiancée. She didn’t say his ex-fiancée or anything like that, but at the same time, the woman wasn’t upset to meet the woman he was dating. Whatever this was, I had walked into a hell of a mess and I wanted to turn around and walk the other way. I was the odd one out and it didn’t look like I was going to get to stay or that I was needed anyways.

  “So how is he? They wouldn’t tell me anything downstairs. We pulled him from the rubble and he hasn’t been awake since. Has he woken up at all?”