Chapter 16
1885words
The day of departure for the medical team had arrived, and the Navy SEAL team members came to see them off, with the atmosphere swinging between light-hearted jokes and undisguised sadness.
"When you're back in New York, don't forget about us brothers eating sand in the desert." A SEAL team member laughed as he punched the shoulder of a male doctor from the medical team.
"Don't worry, I might forget others but never you guys," the doctor retorted, "after all, who could forget being dragged out of bed every morning for training by you devils?"
Amidst the friendly laughter, Leo and I stood at a slight distance, enjoying our final moments alone. I didn't speak, just quietly gazed at Leo, trying to etch his current appearance deeply into my memory.
He was wearing his combat uniform, standing as straight and tall as a pine tree. The sunlight outlined his handsome profile, and those blue eyes that were always filled with laughter now brimmed with tenderness and reluctance to part.
"Don't look at me like that, Dr. Stirling," Leo reached out, gently caressing my cheek with his fingertips, "When you look at me this way, I can't help but want to take you back to the base and never let you leave."
I was amused by him, though the sadness in my eyes didn't diminish in the slightest. "I'm just wondering when we'll see each other again."
"Soon," Leo's tone was unquestionable. He lowered his head, pressing his forehead against mine, his voice dropping to a whisper, like a sacred vow, "After the rotation of assignments, I'll come back to New York to find you. By then, there won't be any more of these damn goodbyes. We agreed, we'll meet in New York."
"Yes, see you in New York." I softly repeated, rising on my tiptoes to press a gentle kiss on his lips.
The boarding announcement at the gate began urging passengers, interrupting this moment of tenderness. I walked toward the gate with the queue, looking back every few steps, each step feeling like I was walking on cotton, floating and unreal.
Leo remained standing in place, his gaze following me closely until my figure disappeared around the bend in the corridor. He stood there for a long time, only turning to lead his team back to base after the white airplane began to taxi on the runway.
The sadness of parting feels like thin oxygen, making one's chest tight, but the anticipation of reunion is the only force supporting it all.
However, the script of fate never plays by the rules.
The plane had just entered the main runway, its engines beginning to roar loudly, preparing to accelerate for takeoff. At this critical moment, the ground beneath our feet violently and without warning began to shake. It wasn't an ordinary tremor, but a terrifying force from deep within the earth that seemed intent on tearing the entire world apart.
"Earthquake!" Someone let out a terrified scream.
The entire airport instantly plunged into hellish chaos. The ground beneath our feet seemed to transform into turbulent ocean waves, violently heaving and shaking, making it impossible for anyone to stand steady.
Light fixtures and glass windows on the ceiling shattered in an instant, with fragments spraying in all directions like hailstones. People's screams and cries mingled with the piercing roar of twisting and breaking building structures, creating a symphony of doomsday.
Chloe was violently thrown to the ground amid intense shaking. She instinctively protected her head as the world spun chaotically around her. Through the window, she watched in horror as the runway—which had been flat and solid just moments ago—now split open like a fragile cookie, creating a terrifying gash down the middle. Their plane, due to the severe turbulence, veered off the runway, and one wing crashed heavily into a nearby building. With a deafening sound of twisting metal, the entire fuselage tilted to one side.
At the base, Leo, who had just gotten into a military Humvee, was also knocked to the ground by the sudden upheaval. He reacted with lightning speed, immediately shouting: "Everyone! Find cover! Now!"
The earth was roaring, and the entire world was shaking. A few seconds later, when the first most violent tremors slightly subsided, Leo awkwardly got up from the ground, and his first reaction was to rush towards the direction of the airport.
He ran back like a madman, his heart gripped tightly by an invisible hand, almost stopping. Chloe was still on that plane!
Just then, a roar more terrifying than all the previous sounds combined came from the direction of the city.
Leo jerked his head around to see the largest refinery in Hadram, the city's landmark building, collapse like a toy block amid towering flames and thick smoke.
The massive shock wave generated by the explosion swept through, leveling everything in its path.
Immediately after, the entire city's electrical power was cut off in an instant. Communications also completely failed. Hadram, this city built in the desert, in just a few dozen seconds, turned into ruins shrouded in darkness and death.
Shock and panic spread like a plague in the hearts of every survivor.
When the violent tremors finally subsided, those who survived the catastrophe dared to peek out from their various shelters, and the apocalyptic scene before them left everyone speechless. Half of the airport terminal had collapsed, and everywhere was filled with broken walls, fallen pillars, and the groans of the injured.
I was pulled out of the tilted cabin, and ignoring my own scrapes, I immediately rushed to help passengers and crew members who were more seriously injured. As a doctor, professional instinct overwhelmed all fear and confusion in an instant.
"Need a tourniquet! We have arterial bleeding here!"
"Quick! Clear the foreign object from his airway! He's suffocating!"
My voice was calm and decisive, like a stabilizing anchor in the chaotic scene. The other members of the medical team also reacted quickly, spontaneously forming the core rescue force.
We used everything available at hand—bandages, clothes, even belts—to provide emergency treatment for the injured.
An airport official came stumbling over, his face covered in despair and dust. "It's over... all over... it must be worse in the city... what should we do..."
I looked up toward the direction of the city, where thick smoke was billowing and flames were shooting into the sky, like scars imprinted on the heavens.
I knew that countless lives were buried beneath, and numerous survivors were suffering under the rubble, waiting for rescue. Going home? New York? Those distant and happy words seemed so pale and inappropriate at this moment.
I took a deep breath, the last hint of hesitation in my eyes replaced by unwavering determination. "We're not leaving," I said to my medical team colleagues beside me, my voice not loud but every word clear, "This place needs doctors. We're staying."
No one raised any objections. In the face of this massive disaster, their sense of mission as medical professionals had been completely awakened.
At the same time, Leo's base also received the highest directive from the Pentagon. All American military forces in Hadram and its surrounding areas were to immediately halt all previously scheduled missions and fully commit to this unprecedented rescue operation.
"Hardess Squad! Fall in!" Leo's voice was hoarse but filled with power, "Our mission has changed! Target, city center! Search and rescue survivors! Move! Move! Move!"
The SEAL team members assembled with maximum speed, the usual relaxed expressions on their faces replaced by the grim professionalism that comes with facing a brutal challenge.
The convoy, carrying fully armed soldiers and rescue equipment, rushed out of the base, heading unhesitatingly toward the city that had become ruins.
When Leo led his team to the outskirts of the collapsed refinery, the scene before him deeply shocked even this warrior who was accustomed to warfare and death.
This place had completely transformed into a graveyard of twisted steel bars and shattered concrete, with the air permeated by the pungent smell of chemicals and burnt materials.
Faint cries for help came from every corner of the ruins, tugging at the heart of every rescue worker.
Amidst these broken walls and remnants, Leo immediately spotted that familiar figure. I was kneeling on a pile of rubble, providing emergency treatment to a local worker trapped under a concrete slab.
My lab coat had become dirty and tattered, and my face was covered with dust and blood stains, but my focused expression and skilled movements made me radiate a unique light amidst all the chaos.
Leo's heart felt as if it had been struck hard by something. He walked over quickly, without saying any unnecessary words, and just joined the team members in clearing the cement slabs crushing the worker as fast as possible.
I sensed someone helping and instinctively looked up. When I saw Leo's face, covered in dust yet so familiar, all my strength and composure nearly crumbled.
Our eyes met in the air, a thousand words melting into that single gaze. There was worry, fear in retrospect, relief, but more than anything, there was the comfort of reuniting during a life-and-death test and an unspoken understanding between us.
We were no longer just lovers in the heat of romance; in this moment, we were a doctor and a soldier, comrades fighting side by side who could entrust their lives to each other.
"Watch your step." Leo's voice was deep and hoarse, breaking the silence.
The rescue operation was in full swing, with every minute and second incredibly precious.
Leo directed team members to use professional equipment to cut through steel bars and move massive rocks, while I led medical personnel shuttling between various rescue points, providing the most timely medical assistance to every survivor rescued.
One of us was responsible for saving lives, the other for sustaining them, working tensely yet efficiently at our respective posts, coordinating flawlessly.
During a brief pause in the rescue, Leo saw me preparing to crawl into a narrow space that had just been cleared to check the vital signs of someone trapped inside.
He noticed that the laces on my sneakers had come loose, which could cause me to trip over rebar or stones in the rubble at any moment.
He quickly walked over, ignoring the crowds of people coming and going and the noisy environment, and knelt down on one knee in front of me. I froze, looking at him in confusion.
Leo didn't look up, but extended his hands covered with calluses and scars, focusing intently on tying my shoelaces tightly, then securing them with a firm knot.
After finishing this, he stood up, wiped a streak of blood from my cheek, and gazed deeply at me with those blue eyes dimmed by gunpowder and dust.
"Be careful," he said in a commanding tone, though his voice revealed undisguisable concern, "don't get hurt."
I looked at him and nodded firmly. Amid these scattered ruins, there were no flowers, no vows, only this awkward yet profoundly sincere gesture, becoming the best testament to the deepening of our love.
