He looked at the staff who had automatically collected around him—the emergency phone was almost like a homing beacon to ER staff. ‘We’re expecting between fifteen and twenty casualties, mainly broken bones and lacerations. There have been a number of wall collapses around us.’ He replaced the receiver and glanced at Katsuko, muttering under his breath, ‘Where on earth can he be? We could use him right now.’
The deep voice came from behind her. ‘Who could you use?’
Katsuko jumped and spun around. She hadn’t expected to see Don here. She thought he’d be coordinating everything from the control centre.
Blake gave him a nod. ‘General Williams. We’re missing Dr Flynn from the staff muster. Can’t raise him at all. We don’t know where he is.’
‘I know where he is.’ He touched Katsuko’s elbow and pulled her to the side.
‘What? How do you know where Avery is?’
She didn’t understand. Don and Avery hadn’t even had an official introduction yet. She hadn’t meant to keep him away from Don, it had just worked out that way.
Don spoke in a low voice. ‘Avery came to see me earlier.’
‘What? Why would he do that?’ Now she was totally confused. Why on earth would he go to see Don?
Don sighed. ‘He wanted to meet me. He wanted to tell me that he might have upset my daughter by not telling her how he felt about her. He also told me that he didn’t want to stand in the way of your career plans.’
‘Why on earth would he tell you any of that?’ She didn’t get it. She really didn’t get it. Last night all she’d wanted him to do was tell her how he felt about her—to be honest with her. He hadn’t seemed able to do it, but he could tell Don instead?
Don laid a hand on her arm. ‘He went to see Hiroko.’
‘What? Why?’ This was just getting crazier by the minute.
‘He felt as if she might try and ruin your plans. He didn’t want her to do that. He told me he was going to see her and tell her how great a nurse you were, how great your career prospects could be, and...’ he paused ‘...how proud she should be of you.’
Katsuko gulped. That didn’t sound like the actions of a man who didn’t care about her. ‘Why would he do that?’ she whispered.
Don looked at her with the patient eyes of a father. ‘He also wanted to tell her that at some point he intended to propose to you. And that as your husband he wouldn’t allow his wife—or your future children—to be treated as if they weren’t good enough.’ Don gave a little smile. ‘It seems he’s got the size of your grandmother.’
Katsuko looked around. ‘Then where is he?’
Don took a deep breath. ‘That’s why I’m here. I can’t raise Hiroko on the phone. I’ve heard reports that some of the houses in the area have collapsed.’
‘What?’ She stepped backwards, reaching out for the wall behind her to steady herself.
Don nodded. ‘There’s a military car and driver outside.’ He glanced over at Blake, who was hovering around, pretending he wasn’t listening. ‘We’ve called in all the extra staff. I’m sure you can be spared.’
Blake walked over to a nearby cupboard and pulled out an emergency pack and hard hat. ‘Here. Take these with you. And bring Avery back. I need him. I need you both.’
Katsuko flung her hands around Don’s neck. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered.
‘Stay safe,’ he replied as he handed her a radio. ‘Let me know how you are.’
* * *
It took more than an hour to reach her grandmother’s street. Some roads had wide fractures in them, meaning traffic couldn’t go the normal routes. Potholes had opened in some places, with a whole variety of police cordons around trees or buildings affected by the earthquake.
Her grandmother lived in a more rural part of Tokyo. The houses were older single-storey wooden constructions with thatched roofs.
At least they used to be.
Two out of the four houses on the street were still standing.
The other two had collapsed completely, leaving their thatched roofs on what resembled piles of firewood.
‘That one!’ said Katsuko, and the driver ground to a halt.
She jumped from the car and ran towards the rubble. A few people were at the other collapsed house in the street, picking up strewn belongings.
Katsuko felt a wave of panic wash over her. Where did she even start? Was her grandmother in there? Was Avery?
She tried to be logical, tried to think with her head instead of her heart.
She crouched down and looked at the pile in front of her. The driver appeared at her side, bent down and unwound her tightly gripped fingers from the radio.
The radio. Of course. So much for thinking with her head. She heard him talking rapidly. All she could think right now was whether anyone could be alive in there.
‘Avery! Avery,’ she started shouting. Apart from the noise of distant sirens, the street was strangely quiet.
‘Sobo! Sobo!’ The Japanese word for grandmother was usually an affectionate term. It had never really fitted her grandmother—even now it felt strange to use it.
She shuddered. The house looked so alien to her—as if a giant had walked along the street and flattened it with his foot. It was odd, though, parts of the thatched roof looked strangely intact—as if a crane could come along and lift it back up on top of a newly constructed house.
She started to pull at some of the shattered wood, throwing it behind her as she tried to see anything she recognised amongst the debris.
The driver joined her. ‘What did they say?’ she asked.
His face was serious. ‘I’ve got to radio back if there are any sign of survivors. Emergency services are only reacting to reports of trapped survivors right now.’
Of course they were. What he wasn’t saying out loud was that the emergency services didn’t have the resources right now to recover bodies. That would come later.
She started to work more frantically, her muscles burning as she tossed pieces of wood behind her.
After ten minutes the driver touched her elbow, almost earning himself a piece of wood in the face. ‘Listen.’
She froze, her ears pricking up instantly.
There it was. A kind of moan.
She dropped to her knees. ‘Avery! Sobo! Hiroko!’ she shouted at the pile of rubble.
There it was again. A faint noise in the debris.
The driver knelt beside her. They practically had their ears to the ground.
‘Avery!’ she shouted again.
‘Kat.’ It wasn’t a shout. It was more like a hoarse whisper.
She started pulling at the wood again, trying to get closer to the source of his voice. After a few minutes she realised it was useless. The edge of the roof stopped her going any further.
She leaned in, pressing her face right up against the thatch of the roof. She didn’t care about the fact it was scratching her face. She didn’t care about anything other than finding out that the people she loved were actually in there.
‘Avery, are you there? Are you okay?’
There was a bit of a groan. Then a quip, ‘Oh, so you’re talking to me now.’
A tear slid down her cheek. He was alive. He was definitely alive.
She tried to find some words. ‘Are you okay?’ she repeated. ‘What about my grandmother?’
It took a few seconds to get a reply. Was he going in and out of consciousness? Could he have a head injury?
‘Give me a minute.’
The driver pressed on her shoulder. He was back on the phone, obviously trying to get them some assistance in the midst of chaos.
It was too quiet. She could hardly bear it. ‘Avery?’
She adjusted her position, trying to figure out exactly where he was. It wa
sn’t easy and she ended up crawling over part of the roof. ‘Avery?’
‘I’ve got her.’
‘You have?’ A second wave of relief washed over her. ‘Is she okay?’
‘I think so.’ He made another strange noise. ‘I’m trapped next to her. Give me a second.’
The waiting game. The thing she really wasn’t good at.
‘She’s breathing. I’m just trying to wake her up.’
Katsuko was conscious of the driver talking next to her in rapid Japanese. He took off down the road towards some of the bewildered-looking neighbours who were standing in the middle of the street, staring at the road.
‘Oh, now she’s awake. She’s glaring at me again.’
Katsuko started babbling in Japanese, telling her grandmother that she was here and she would get her out. Telling her to be strong.
She heard a rapid string of Japanese but it was so quietly spoken she couldn’t make out a word.
‘Avery, what’s she saying?’
* * *
Avery could hardly move. His legs and chest were pinned. The only thing he could really move was his head and one of his arms.
One minute he’d been standing in the doorway, having an almost argument with Katsuko’s grandmother, the next minute the ground had rumbled all around them and the house had started to shake. His brain had screamed at them to get out of there.
But Hiroko had been in her wheelchair and the handles hadn’t been facing him. As he’d tried to jump inside to get her out something had crashed into his back and knocked them both to the ground. He didn’t remember much after that.
He tried to take a deep breath. Impossible. Breathing was a struggle. He was guessing that one of his lungs might have collapsed. He only hoped it was a pneumothorax and not a haemothorax. It wouldn’t do it have a medical emergency right now. He didn’t want to think where he could be bleeding from.
Katsuko kept talking. Nervous energy. He could only imagine how frustrated she was right now.
Hiroko started another tirade and he aimed the pen torch at her. One of his legs was pinned under her wheelchair, the other caught between part of the roof and the floor. She had a large wound on her head, but her temperament and voice remained unchanged. It was amazing. It was almost as if he could understand every word she was spitting at him. Hatred was a pretty universal language.
‘Avery, what’s she saying? I can’t hear her.’
‘I think she’s telling me she doesn’t like me much.’
Silence for a second. It was clear Katsuko was trying to make sense of what was going on. ‘Why on earth were you visiting my grandmother?’
He let his head rest back on the floor. This was so not how he wanted to do this.
He’d spoken to the General. Or, he should say, he’d been interrogated by the General. Don Williams was an impressive man. It was clear that for him, without any question, Katsuko was his daughter. Genes didn’t matter. Blood didn’t matter.
By the time Avery had told him how he felt about his daughter and what he intended to do, he’d felt lucky to finally leave with the General’s blessing.
He reached over and touched Hiroko’s shoulder. It was all he could do. His pen torch was the only light they had—thank goodness he’d had it in his back pocket. ‘Hiroko, I don’t know how long we will be here. Katsuko’s outside, she knows we’re trapped, she’ll get help.’ He tried to wriggle a little bit to ease the pressure on his right hip.
In theory, Hiroko shouldn’t be able to understand a word he was saying. But he saw something flash across her eyes—just like he had the first time he’d met her—and just like he had when he’d arrived today and told her how much he loved her granddaughter. He turned the pen torch to look at the time on his watch. Really? How long had he been unconscious?
Then something else occurred to him. How long had Hiroko lain trapped in the dark, wondering if anyone would come to rescue her? She must have been terrified.
He wriggled some more and lifted his hand from Hiroko’s shoulder and moved it down, taking her gnarled hand in his.
She made a little noise of displeasure but she didn’t let go.
‘Avery?’ Katsuko’s voice was just to his right. It didn’t seem so far away now. There was only this roof separating them. How long before he could look into those dark brown eyes again?
He took a deep breath. ‘I came to tell your grandmother how special I thought you were. I came to tell her that you might have to move base. You’re in the air force, it’s expected of you.’
There was a sniff beside him. And he knew instantly what it was. A silent tear slid down Hiroko’s face and he gently squeezed her gnarled hand.
Katsuko hadn’t answered. She’d realised that he hadn’t told her grandmother that she was choosing to go away, choosing to find a new life. He’d made it sound like it was part of her air force medical corps service.
He heard some discussion through the thatch, but it was all in Japanese, he couldn’t understand a word.
‘Avery? I’ve got an axe.’
‘What?’ He couldn’t help but shout his reply.
‘I have to do something. It will be hours before we can get help. There’s been a few older buildings that have collapsed across the city. But most of the damage is to the streets. We’re going to try and get through the thatch. We need to get some air to you. Even if we can’t get you out, we can maybe get some water to you both.’
Air. He hadn’t really thought about air. Wouldn’t some just come through the densely packed thatch? In truth, he had no idea. ‘I’m not sure about this. I don’t really want an axe in the head.’
‘We’ll do it to the side. I can’t stand here and do nothing. We have to try and reach you.’
‘Have you any idea how thick this thatch is?’
* * *
‘I guess we’re about to find out.’
She shouted some more instructions, asking questions and trying to find out their positions under the thatch.
Eventually, after a lot more discussion outside, he heard the noise of the axe. It took a long, long time. At first the noise seemed far away. It took quite a time before the actual vibrations of the axe started to reach them. Their judgement was good. It sounded close enough but not so close as to do them any harm. The light started to filter through as some of the thatch was dragged away. Eventually, a metre away from his head they finally broke through.
For a few seconds all he could see were hands, pulling and pulling at the thatch to try and make a gap. It wasn’t large, certainly not big enough to get through, but the light and warm air that flooded in was welcome.
A few seconds later somebody shone a torch inside. Katsuko started shouting first in Japanese, then in English. ‘Avery! Avery! I can see you.’ Her hand reached in, her fingertips barely touching the top of his hair.
It didn’t matter. It was enough.
The torch light swung slightly past him and she spoke rapidly to her grandmother, obviously trying to reassure her. He waited for the venom, the disapproving answer, but it didn’t come. Her hand was still in his, and he gave it a little squeeze again. This time she squeezed back.
‘You have no idea how glad I am to see you. I was so scared. So worried about you both.’ Katsuko took a deep breath. ‘I’m so glad you were here with my grandmother.’
It didn’t matter how long they’d been here. It didn’t matter how uncomfortable they were. It didn’t matter that his breathing was awkward. All he cared about was the fact that she’d come. The fact that she was here.
She pushed in a bottle of water, it was tied to a stick this time and his hand could reach it. It took a minute to open the top with one hand, then hold it towards Hiroko to let her have a drink. Of course he spilled it half over her. But she didn’t complain. She just closed her ey
es in grateful silence.
Katsuko’s face pressed up to the space again. Her cheek was smeared with dust and her normally smooth hair was sticking up in all directions. He’d never seen anyone quite so beautiful.
‘When I get you out of here, you and I need to talk about you coming to see my grandmother.’ The fearful tone had left her voice. She was still anxious, but now she could actually see them both she obviously felt a bit more reassured.
‘Your grandmother and I have reached an understanding,’ he replied.
‘What? What do you mean?’
He smiled as he craned his neck to turn his face towards her. ‘I’ve been taking lessons.’
‘Lessons in what?’
He held her gaze. He’d been practising and practising over in his head. He wanted to get it just right. ‘This isn’t exactly how I wanted to say this. But it’s important. Probably the most important thing I’ll ever say.’ He concentrated hard. ‘Kokoro no sokokara aishiteru.’
There was a little gasp. ‘What did you just say?’
‘Kokoro no sokokara aishiteru.’ This time he had more confidence. This time he followed it with something new. ‘Aishiteru.’
She didn’t speak. She didn’t say anything.
‘Katsuko Williams, you have my heart. I love you. Last night I thought if I told you that, I’d be standing in your way. And I don’t ever want to stand in your way. I want to stand by your side. You’re unsettled. You think you don’t fit anywhere. But I know where you fit. You fit with me. You are my perfect fit.’ He stopped for a breath. The pain in his lung was constant but it wouldn’t stop him from saying what he needed to say. ‘I wanted to say this when I had my arms around you, not when we’ve been pushed apart. So get us out of here soon, so I can say it again. Aishiteru. I love you.’
Katsuko started sobbing. ‘You tell me now? You tell me like this?’
‘I’ve spent so much time wondering if I can be what you need. I’ve never been somewhere I don’t want to leave. I’ve never been with someone I don’t want to leave. But you’re perfect for me. I want to make this work. I want to do anything at all to make this work. I love you, Katsuko, and get used to hearing it because I can say it in two languages now.’
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