Chapter 39- An accident
Aaron was inspecting one of the company’s projects when he received a call from Josh. For some reason, his heart began to race erratically and a sense of unease settled in his stomach.
He picked up the call, swallowing the lump that had suddenly lodged itself in his throat.
“Hello” “Sir, I’m sorry. There’s been an accident at the mall- Aaron’s heart leaped to his throat. His eyes widened as he questioned before Josh could finish his sentence.
“What accident? Is Tessa ok?” He didn’t like the way Josh sounded on the phone. It was as if he was about to deliver bad news.
The first thing that came to Aaron’s mind was that something had happened to Tessa and that thought made his stomach twist with nerves.
“Miss Hilton is trapped inside the building, sir. The left side of the mall has collapsed, trapping Miss Hilton and Peter in it,” Josh reported gingerly.
Aaron’s heart dropped to his feet. For a moment, the world stopped spinning as he processed Josh’s words. Intense fear crept into him and he ordered, “Search for her! I’m coming!”
“We are trying to search for her, Sir! We can’t locate her and the pillars keep falling the more we try to move the blocks. We are worried we might crush her inside. We are waiting for the rescue
team to arrive.”
Aaron’s heart sank into the pits of his stomach. He felt sick as he rushed to his car and sped in the direction of the mall. His heart was beating so fast that he thought it would burst out of his chest.
‘Please be ok, my love,’ he muttered under his breath.
Enock followed Aaron in another car and began to make calls for an ambulance and an express
rescue team.
Aaron broke a lot of traffic rules until he reached the mall in thirty minutes for a drive that would normally take an hour. His stomach turned when he saw the state of the mall.
A lot of people were a few meters away from the collapsing building. They were taking pictures and videos of it as if it was a tourist attraction instead of helping out. Anger surged through Aaron
like a tidal wave.
He glared at the crowd and yelled, “Are you being serious right now? There are two people trapped in the building and instead of looking for ways to rescue them, you’re here taking videos to post on
social media. Leave this place if you’re not here to help!”
The police were standing outside as well, afraid to go in.
Aaron made to rush in but he was held back by one of the policemen. The police officer didn’t even look at who he was stopping and said, “You can’t go inside. The walls are fragile and can collapse completely anytime soon! There are already some foolish people who rushed in to save.
1/5
their lady boss…”
Aaron glared at the officer who had stopped him. His chilling aura swirled around him in waves as he spat, “My wife is trapped in there, Do you want me to watch as she gets killed by this building?!”
When the officer saw that it was Aaron Wentworth, he quickly let go of his arm and apologized, I’m sorry, Mr Wentworth. The rescue team will be here soon-”
“Fuck the rescue team,” Aaron said curtly and rushed into the building without hesitation.
He didn’t care that the building was still shaking and it could collapse at any time. All he wanted. to do was find Tessa and bring her to safety. The triplets tiny faces flashed through Aaron’s mind, reminding him why their mother should be rescued on time before anything unfortunate happens.
to her.
The children were too young to lose their mother and Aaron didn’t want to lose her too. These thoughts gave him the courage to continue pushing through the debris inside the building.
However, there was too much dust and he couldn’t see properly. The dust entered his mouth and nose and he ended up coughing violently but he continued searching for Tessa.
“Tessa! Where are you, my love?!” He called out but he was met with silence and the knot in his stomach tightened.
The place was a mess. A huge block here… A pillar there, pipes and other sharp objects protruding from somewhere.
Aaron didn’t want to think of the possibility of Tessa landing on any sharp object or being trapped under a huge pillar that couldn’t be moved. His heart was galloping wildly and he felt like a large boulder was being pressed down his chest, inhibiting his ability to breathe normally.
“Tessa! Answer me, darling! I’m here to take you home. Our kids are waiting!” He shouted desperately and his eyes stung with tears.
Aaron kept searching frantically. He checked the crushed tables. He forced himself into the collapsed shops, pushing away the debris in his way. He hoped he would find her safe and uninjured but looking at how damaged the place was, he feared the worst.
Regardless, Aaron wanted to find Tessa at all costs. In whatever state she was in.
His arms and hands had cuts and his hair was now white from the dust coming from the crushed
concrete walls.
He suddenly heard some voices and recognised who they belonged to. His heart leaped as hope
crept into him.
“Josh, Andrew! Have you found her!” Aaron asked.
Josh recognised his boss’ voice. They had been searching for Tessa for a while but they hadn’t seen any sign of life in the building.
He cleared his throat and responded, “No, Sir! We’ve searched everywhere but she’s not there- Wain I’ve found someone!”
Aaron’s heart jumped to his throat and he rushed forward, following Josh’s voice. When he reached, Josh just happened to pull someone out from under a huge block.
“It’s Peter,” he said when the person’s face became clear.
Aaron reached them and bent down to glance at the engineer. Peter was gasping for breath and he had a deep cut on his forehead that was bleeding heavily. He looked like he would have died from suffocation in a few minutes.
“Have you seen Tessa?” Aaron anxiously inquired.
“She’s… She fell… Into the… underground car park,” Peter managed to say with difficulty.
Aaron’s stomach twisted as he assumed the underground car park had suffered the biggest impact. If Tessa was trapped there, he could only imagine what could have happened to her.
He glanced at Josh and Andrew before instructing. “Take him outside. If he stays longer, he will suffocate. I’ll stay and look for my wife. Tell the rescue team to focus on the underground parking lot.”
Aaron’s heart was pounding violently as fear crept into him, twisting his stomach into a bundle of
nerves.
“Let me help you search, sir. Andrew can carry Peter alone,” Josh offered.
Aaron wanted to refuse but he realised he wouldn’t manage alone so he agreed. When Andrew left, they began to dig their way to the underground parking lot with their bare hands.
It took a good twenty minutes to form a clear path. The place didn’t look like someone would survive if they were trapped there.
One couldn’t even stand straight. Aaron began to crawl through the cleared path all while shouting, “Tessa! Tessa! Are you here?!”
At the same time, Tessa was almost giving up when she heard a familiar voice calling for her. It was Aaron! He came to save her!
Her heart leaped with joy as she called out in response, “Aaron! Aaron! I’m down here!”
When the building collapsed, Tessa went directly to the underground car park. Luckily, there was an area that hadn’t collapsed but the collapsed part was where the entrance and exit were located so she was trapped inside with no way out.
She could only hope that someone would rescue her before the whole building fell on her.
Hearing Aaron’s voice gave her hope. Her biggest fear was being buried under the building and leaving her children alone. The few minutes that she was down there were the worst of her life.
Not knowing whether someone would find her was scary.
This was why her heart swelled when she heard Aaron’s voice. She was touched that he came for her despite how dangerous the situation was. He risked his life to save her… not many could do
that
She ran towards the crushed side where his voice was coming from and saw that he had cleared a
path but the space was too small and he had to crawl through to get to her.
When he finally found her, he pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly as if she was his
life source.
“I thought I lost you, Tessa. I was so afraid, you have no idea. Are you okay?” Aaron asked and
began to check her body for injuries.
Apart from a few scratches here and there and a sprained ankle, Tessa was miraculously ok.
“I’m fine. But I can’t say the same for you. Where’s all this blood coming from?” Tessa questioned. There was a hint of worry in her tone.
Aaron had a cut on the side of his head and his palms were bleeding from when he was clearing the rough stones out of the way.
“I’m ok. Let’s get out of here,” Aaron said and just when he was about to call for Andrew to get ready to receive Tessa, there was a large noise and the whole roof of the car park gave way.
Aaron acted fast, he shielded Tessa with his body until the building stopped falling apart.
When it was quiet, he looked at Tessa and a smile crossed his lips when he saw that she was safe.
“I’m glad you’re safe.” Those were the last words he said before he got plunged into darkness.
“Aaron? Stay awake with me! Don’t sleep!” Tessa screamed, panicking when Aaron closed his
eyes.
When the dust settled, Tessa’s breath hitched when she saw that Aaron’s legs were trapped under a huge pillar.
Her heart dropped to her feet.
“A-Aaron… Are you ok?” She asked.
She couldn’t move him because his legs were under the pillar and she didn’t know if he was still alive. The beating of her heart became deafening as worry twisted her stomach.
Suddenly, a machine cleared the huge blocks and someone shouted.
“I found them! They are here! Are you ok, Miss Hilton? How’s Mr Wentworth?”
Tears streamed down Tessa’s cheeks as she pleaded while cradling Aaron to her chest, “Please, save him. Save Aaron, he’s hurt!”
Everything else happened so fast. Aaron was rescued and rushed to the hospital but his legs didn’t look so good.
Tessa refused to get treated and stayed outside the operating theatre, waiting to hear news about Aaron.
Enock had tried to get her checked by the doctor but she declined. She refused to move until she knew Aaron was ok.
Two hours later, the doctor came out and sighed. He glanced at Tessa she said, “Aaron will be fine. Let me take you to your ward. You might go into shock if we leave you like this.”
“Aaron is fine. But?” Tessa inquired, ignoring his other suggestion. “You didn’t finish your sentence, doctor.”
“I’ll let you know once you’ve rested and have no signs of going into a nervous shock-”
“Please… I want to know. That man in there is the father of my kids. I need to know that he’s fine,” Tessa pleaded.
Her eyes were red and swollen from too much crying. She was still in the same clothes that were torn and stained with Aaron’s blood. She looked horrible but she just wanted to know how Aaron
was doing before she did anything else.
The doctor sighed. He glanced at Enock who nodded.
“Just tell her, Doctor Victor. I’m afraid she will sit here until she passes out.”
Victor who was one of Aaron’s friends pinched the bridge of his nose. He gave in and told Tessa the news that made her heart jump out of her chest.
“Aaron is ok. But he broke his legs. Although we’ve done reconstructive surgery, I cannot say for sure if he will regain feeling in his legs. I’m afraid, he may never walk again.
