She could hear people’s screams and cries for help and Sebastian’s heavy breathing.
“Sebastian, are you hurt?” she asked urgently.
A faint smell of blood wafted in the air. Natalie had no idea if it was Sebastian’s or someone else’s. Having been hit just now, Et han had rolled down the stairs. Natalie’s voice trembled as she fumbled for Sebastian in the darkness.
“Sebastian?” She knew that he must’ve gotten hurt. She could hear his low, pained moans in the darkness.
However, after a few deep breaths, it became deathly silent. Natalie couldn’t hear anything from the direction where Sebastian was.
Natalie wanted to rush to his side, but a ceiling frame had inadvertently caged her. When she tried to stand up, her head hit the slate, causing a flurry of concrete powder to fall all over Natalie’s face.
“Ahem!” She inhaled the powder and couldn’t stop coughing.
It was pitch black and she could barely see her hand in front of her. As she tried to get a feel for her surroundings, Natalie concluded that the collapsed ceiling had fallen on top of the rows of seats, trapping them inside the aisle.
“Hello? Is anyone else there?” She shouted at the top of her lungs. Although there weren’t many other people watching this movie, she recalled at least a dozen other movie-goers in the cinema. But now, it was eerily quiet.
The cries for help just now had stopped. Perhaps the fallen ceiling had knocked them out. Without thinking too much, Natalie continued to crawl ahead.
“Ouch!” Pain shot up from her knees. Natalie winced and fumbled forward, trying to navigate with her palms. Finally, she touched something that felt like knitted fabric. It had to be the dark blue sweater that Sebastian wore today.
“Sebastian! Sebastian, can you hear me?” Natalie tapped him, but she received no response. He must have passed out.
The smell of blood in the air was more intense now that she was near Sebastian. When she reached out to touch his arm, her fingers sank into something sticky and warm. Her mind went blank. Suddenly, panic seized her. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. Then she placed her hand under Sebastian’s nose to see if he was still breathing.
After a few seconds, she sighed in relief. She could still feel a faint breath coming from his nose. Next, Natalie pressed her ear against Sebastian’s chest. She could hear his heart beating.
He was alive! Gritting her teeth, Natalie hastily wiped the blood on her knees with her hands. Then she retraced her steps back to her seat, hoping to find her phone and bag in the rubble.
When the ceiling collapsed just now, the chandelier had fallen along with it. Consequently, the floor was covered in broken glass.
Natalie tried her best to avoid them.
Now she only hoped her phone wasn’t smashed to bits. She had been texting Johanna throughout the movie, so her phone wasn’t inside her bag. Natalie managed to make it back to her seat.
She fumbled around in the darkness, searching for her phone. Finally, she found it under a pile of dust. The screen had been cracked, but the phone itself was still functioning. She immediately dialed 911.
“I’m in Sherwood Cinema and the ceiling has just collapsed. Please, we need your help.”
After giving the 911 operator all the details, she called the hospital. Then, all she could do was wait. Seconds felt like minutes, and minutes felt like hours. Suddenly, she heard the sound of falling stones.
“Help! Is there anyone here?” she shouted desperately. Although there was no response, soon she heard noises from outside. It sounded like somebody was trying to dig a hale into the fallen ceiling.
Finally! They were going to be saved! Natalie was optimistic. She never even considered that digging through the rubble would take a lot of time. Moreover, this was the biggest cinema in Seacisco. She waited anxiously.
Several hours passed. The sound of digging outside continued, but she could tell that it was still far away from where she was.
The air was thick with dust.
Natalie licked her chapped lips. It had been several hours since the ceiling collapsed. She had turned off her cellphone to save its battery. She only turned it on to check the time occasionally.
Last she checked, it was already eight o’clock in the evening. She and Sebastian had arrived at the cinema at around two o’clock.
Six hours had passed.
Her stomach kept grumbling, reminding her of how hungry she was. She was used to having meals on time, so naturally, she was quite hungry by now. The popcorn Sebastian had bought was now mixed with dust and pieces of the ceiling. She picked out the clean popcorn and ate it to calm her angry stomach. The coke had also spilled. The brown liquid was all over the floor.
‘There’s a bit left!”. Natalie’s eyes lit up. She was lucky.
There was a bit of coke left in the cup.
Using the light from her phone, she crawled back to Sebastian.
There was a huge slab of slate on Sebastian’s body. One side of the slab had pierced into his body. Blood trickled down along his body, forming a pool of blood on the ground. His wound was covered with dust and rubble. The space under the seat was too narrow, so Natalie couldn’t reach him. She wanted to check his wound, but she couldn’t see it clearly.
Fearing that Sebastian would lose too much blood, Natalie held his jaw and tried to pour the coke into his mouth. Sebastian was unconscious. The coke she poured simply spilled out from the corner of his mouth.
“Honey, can you hear me? If you can, please drink…” Natalie was choked with sobs. Tears rolled down her cheeks uncontrollably.
Sebastian’s wound was still bleeding, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Sebastian seemed to hear what Natalie said. He frowned and struggled to peel his eyes open. He raised his hand slowly, wiped away Natalie’s tears, and said with difficulty, “Don’t cry.
When Natalie saw that his eyes were open, she immediately pressed the cup of coke to his lips.
“I don’t know when the rescue team will come Honey, just hold on, okay?” A faint smile tugged at the corners of Sebastian’s lips.
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Only then did Natalie notice how pale his lips were. She couldn’t tell if he had heard what she said just now. Soon, he closed his eyes again.
Natalie sniffed, stroked Sebastian’s eyebrows, and wiped the dust off his face. Time passed. Natalie didn’t know when, but she had fallen asleep. She woke up to the sound of digging around her. She glanced at her phone. It was already early morning of the next day.
Suddenly, a beam of light shot out in the darkness. Natalie had to shield her eyes from the strong light.
“Miss, are you okay?” A rescuer asked warmly, reaching out his hand towards her with a flashlight.
“Please save my husband first. He’s trapped down here.” Tears welled up in her eyes. She refused to let them save her first. The rescue team obliged. Several men lifted the huge slab of slate off of Sebastian’s body.