Chapter Text
Inside, the air was thick with dust, every breath tasting like concrete and ink. The shelving units had collapsed like dominos, burying tables and chairs beneath mountains of books and debris.
“Watch your step,” Bobby warned as they moved deeper into the wreckage, flashlights cutting through the swirling dust.
Eddie coughed, sweeping his beam across the destruction. “Jasmine!”
No response.
His chest tightened as he climbed over shattered wood, scanning the debris. He wasn’t the only one looking - Hen was clearing a path toward the far corner, Buck and Chimney lifting fallen beams.
Then-
“Over here!” Chimney shouted.
A hand.
Barely visible beneath the rubble, fingers slack, dust coating the skin.
Eddie’s stomach plummeted. “Jasmine.”
He was at her side in seconds, hands shaking as he started digging. “Jasmine, hey - can you hear me?” His voice cracked.
No response.
Her body was limp, pinned beneath a support beam.
“Buck! I need help!”
Within seconds, the others were there. Hen checked her vitals while Chimney and Bobby worked to stabilize the wreckage.
“She’s got a pulse- faint, but it’s there,” Hen confirmed.
Eddie’s breath hitched. “Stay with me, Jasmine.” he whispered.
The beam shifted, and suddenly, Buck was pulling her free. Eddie caught her before she hit the ground, cradling her against his chest.
She wasn’t waking up.
“Come on, Jasmine, open your eyes.” His voice broke, forehead pressing against hers as sirens howled in the distance. “You don’t get to do this. Please.” He swallowed hard. “Please, don’t leave me.”
A ragged breath. A slight stir.
Then, a whisper: “Eddie? You found me.”
A wave of relief crashed over him. He exhaled audibly and pressed his lips to her hair.
“I’ll always find you.”
Rain poured as they carried her out, the weight of the moment settling over the entire team. Jasmine had barely survived, but she had survived.
The storm was relentless, hammering against the pavement. The others shouted - paramedics rushing forward, Bobby giving orders - but Eddie could only focus on the faint rise and fall of her chest.
She was breathing. She was alive.
“Get her stabilized,” Hen told the paramedics as Eddie laid her onto the stretcher. Jasmine blinked sluggishly, her lashes damp from the rain and dust. She tried to lift a hand to her forehead, but Eddie caught it, holding it tightly.
“Hey,” she murmured, voice hoarse. “You look like hell.”
Eddie let out a strangled laugh, his grip tightening around her fingers. “You were buried under a damn building, and I look like hell?”
Jasmine gave him a weak smirk before wincing. “Ugh. Everything hurts.”
“You’re lucky it’s just bruises,” Hen reassured her. “But we’re taking you to the hospital. You took a hard hit to the head and we have to make sure you don’t have internal injuries.”
Jasmine groaned. “Great. Hospital food.”
“Yeah, yeah, complain all you want,” Chimney said, shaking his head. “You gave us a heart attack in there.”
Eddie still hadn’t let go of her hand. He wasn’t sure he could.
Buck clapped a hand on his shoulder. “You coming with?”
Eddie barely hesitated before nodding. “Yeah.”