Previously…
– While Diane hurried to the hospital to meet Tempest and Samantha, Isaac and Sienna were trapped in the elevator with Noelle.
– Sophie, who switched out of her “Shannon” persona during the earthquake, was shocked to find Jason stumbling out of their home badly burned.
– The earthquake trapped Molly and Rosie together, and Rosie went into labor!

All the oxygen seems to be sucked out of the hospital’s waiting area as Diane Bishop — who has been waiting with her daughter and soon-to-be daughter-in-law —  looks toward the commotion near the elevator bay and spots Isaac Banks, Sienna Ridley, and little Noelle.

For a long moment, she simply stares, processing what she is seeing. Isaac is holding his daughter, and Sienna is right by his side, looking a little too familiar, a little too attached.

“Isaac,” Diane says, still several yards away.

Isaac gives Noelle a squeeze and then hands her to Sienna. Then he doesn’t waste another beat hurrying toward Diane.

“We got stuck in the elevator,” Isaac, who is still in his doctor’s scrubs, explains. “Noelle had her check-up…”

“Oh.” Diane takes this in, knowing that it makes sense, and yet there is something about the way Sienna is eyeing Isaac that makes the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

“You’re all okay?” she asks, focusing on Noelle, who is clutching a stuffed bunny.

Sienna steps forward, her young daughter in her arms and a smile on her face that is just a little too bright.

“It was quite an adventure,” she states.

Isaac sees Tempest right behind Diane and focuses on his sister. “What are you all doing here? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Tempest says.

“She was inside Cassie’s when it collapsed,” Samantha explains. “I want her to get checked out.”

“I can check you out,” Isaac tells his sister. “Come on.”

But Tempest shakes her head. “I’m good. There’s gonna be a ton of people coming in who need a doctor. You help them.”

With a reluctant shrug, Isaac concedes.

“I should get her home,” Sienna says quietly to Isaac, as if stealing an intimate moment with him.

“You should check that the roads are safe first,” Isaac warns.

“It’s a little dicey out there,” Samantha chimes in. “We made it fine, but it’s kind of crazy.”

Isaac rests a hand on Sienna’s arm — a gesture that Diane clocks. “Maybe stay put for a few minutes.”

Tempest waves Sienna over. “Here. Claire gave me the good hospital wi-fi a while back. We can check traffic stuff on my phone.”

Sienna joins her in the seating area, but not without another grateful look at Isaac. Diane watches her with suspicious eyes.

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” Isaac says as she wraps an arm around Diane.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” she tells him. And it’s true — her relief at seeing him hasn’t diminished. But neither has her suspicion of Sienna.

—–

Landon Esco braces himself against a concrete pillar in the parking garage — a pillar that, thankfully, withstood the impact of the earthquake — as two of the men he recruited pull another piece of debris away.

“Got it!”

Landon immediately reaches into the opening.

“Lucy!”

A hand reaches back. “I’m here!”

“Okay. Okay, we’ve got you.”

They clear another chunk of rubble, widening the opening enough for Landon to reach inside. He takes Lucy’s hand.

“Can you move?”

Lucy shakes her head. Fear darkens her expression. “I can’t– I can’t feel my legs.”

Landon’s face falls, but he quickly pulls himself together. “Don’t move. We’re gonna get you out.”

The men work around him, carefully freeing Lucy from the debris. Finally, Landon reaches farther in and gets his arms around her.

“Ready?”

Lucy nods weakly, but her cheeks are flushed, and she looks to be on the verge of hysterics. He holds her a little tighter.

“One… two… three!”

Together, they pull her free, and she falls limp against Landon’s body.

—–

Samantha steps out of the hospital cafeteria carrying two coffees. She moves for the elevator bay, then wonders if it would be best if she took the stairs up the way that she took them down. But before she can evaluate the situation further, she sees the ambulance crew rushing through the entrance.

A stretcher. A badly burned man. And a teenage girl following close behind.

Samantha stops dead. “Sophie?” As she recognizes her younger cousin, it hits her. “Uncle Jason?!”

Sophie looks to her with both relief and fear. “Samantha!”

Samantha sets the coffees down on the nearest table and hurries toward them.

“What happened?” she asks.

Sophie, pale and shaken, sputters an explanation: “There was a gas leak at the house. The earthquake–” She struggles to get the words out. “The stove exploded.”

Samantha looks at Jason as the paramedics rush him toward the elevators.

“Is he going to be okay?”

“I don’t know,” Sophie says.

Samantha reaches for her. “Come here.”

Sophie steps into her arms, finally allowing herself to break down.

“I thought he was going to die…”

Samantha holds her tightly.

“He’s here. He’s getting help.”

Sophie nods against her shoulder. Samantha looks toward the elevators as the doors close behind Jason.

Then Sophie steps back and looks at her. “Why are you here?”

With a heavy sigh, Samantha says, “This has been one insane day.”

—–

Travis Fisher pulls into the driveway of the small green house he shares with Rosie and her mother. He gets out of the car and hurries toward the front door, his feet almost moving faster than the rest of his body.

“Juanita!”

The door opens before he can knock.

“Travis!”

He pulls his mother-in-law into a quick hug, one that she is already reaching for, too.

“Are you okay?” he pants.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.”

Travis looks past her into the house.

“Where’s Rosie?”

Juanita’s expression changes. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“She left earlier. I thought she was going to see Brent.”

“Brent?” Travis pulls out his phone and checks it again. “She hasn’t answered me.”

“Me, neither.” Juanita’s eyes widen with terror.

“When did she leave?”

“I don’t know. Before the earthquake.” Juanita glances toward the television in the front room, where images of the damage are still being broadcast. “I tried calling her. Nothing.”

“I finally have service again,” Travis says, his concern deepening. “But I haven’t gotten her, either. I assumed she was here…”

He looks toward the driveway. “I’m gonna find her.”

“Travis–“

“I’ll call you when I know something.”

Juanita nods, trying to hide her own fear. “Be careful, mijo.”

Travis hurries back toward his car. Juanita watches from the doorway as he peels out of the driveway with a troubling urgency.

—–

Landon and the others carry Lucy out of the parking garage and into the daylight. Lucy is barely responsive, her head resting against Landon’s shoulder.

“Easy,” he tells her. “We’ve got you.”

One of the men flags down an ambulance crew already working nearby.

“They’ll take her,” he says.

Landon nods, then looks down at Lucy. “You’re gonna be okay.”

She looks up at him weakly.

He reaches into his pocket for his phone. There are several missed calls and messages, but one name catches his eye.

Tori.

He immediately taps the screen, calling her back with a few deft movements. To his relief, the call actually goes through. The line rings barely one full time before she picks up.

“Landon?”

He closes his eyes, relief flooding his face.

“Tori–“

“Oh my God. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I swear.”

“Where are you?”

Landon looks up as the paramedics approach with a stretcher. One of the other men begins filling them in on Lucy’s condition. They carefully take Lucy from Landon’s arms, placing her carefully onto the stretcher.

“Landon?” Tori says.

“I’m with Lucy. We were in the apartment’s parking garage when it hit. Are you okay? Are you at work?”

“I’m okay. Yeah. The building shook like crazy. But everyone is fine. The lines were down–“

“I know. Lucy is–” Landon watches as the stretcher is led toward the ambulance. Lucy keeps her eyes on him as she is transported.

“Can he come?” she asks the paramedics.

One of them nods. Landon, the phone still held to his face, hurries along behind them.

“She got trapped under some stuff in the garage. I had to go get some people to help get her out.”

“Oh my god. Is she okay?!”

“We’re taking her to the hospital. I’m gonna go in the ambulance with them.”

“I can meet you at the hospital,” Tori says.

“Only if it’s safe to drive,” he says. “Maybe you’re safer at the office.”

“I’m gonna see. I don’t know. I want to get out of here. But the elevators are broken.”

“Be safe, please. Tori, if anything happened to you…”

“I’m okay,” she assures him.

Landon climbs into the back of the ambulance as a paramedic holds open the door for him. Lucy looks at him with desperation.

“I’ll call you when I know more,” he says into the phone.

“Okay.”

They hang up.

Landon takes one last look at the apartment building before the ambulance’s doors slam closed.

—–

Tempest sits beside Sienna in the waiting area upstairs, her phone in hand.

“I think the roads are okay,” Tempest says, looking at the traffic updates. “At least around here.”

Sienna nods absently.

Across the lobby, Diane and Isaac have disappeared from view. Samantha is nowhere to be seen, having gone to grab some coffee. Tempest notices Sienna staring toward the elevators.

“I was so scared in there,” she says.

“I don’t blame you. Being trapped in a box like that — no thanks.”

Sienna sighs as she watches Noelle playing on the floor. “Thank god we had Isaac with us. Just him being there helped both of us feel calmer. Safer.”

Tempest glances at her. “So y’all are in a better place, with the co-parenting and stuff?”

“Definitely.” The faintest hint of a smile plays on Sienna’s lips. “Though I get the impression that upsets your almost-mother-in-law.”

“She wants Noelle to be happy, too.”

“That’s not what I mean.” Sienna shifts in her chair. “She was so cold.”

Tempest considers this. “Diane’s… protective.”

“Of Isaac?”

“Of everybody.”

Sienna gives her a skeptical look. “She was looking at me like I was going to steal him away.”

Tempest almost smiles. “Well… you did have a kid with her boyfriend.”

“Yeah. Before he even met her. And I’ve been really hands-off, wouldn’t you say?”

“You have. Yeah.”

Sienna laughs despite herself. “This wasn’t like on some dramatic TV show where two exes get stuck in an elevator and…”

“Wind up hunching?” Tempest lets out a laugh. “Good. ‘Cuz that’s my brother and I don’t wanna hear about it.”

Sienna looks toward the elevator again. “Isaac wants to take Noelle to the beach with them. Him and Diane. What do you think?”

“I think he’s Noelle’s dad and Diane– look, she and I have had our shit in the past, but she raised one hell of a daughter. So I think Noelle is safe with her.”

“Okay.” Sienna sighs. “Then you’d think she could give me the benefit of the doubt.”

“She will.” Tempest smirks again. “Just give it four or five years. That’s what it took me.”

“Great,” Sienna says with a roll of her eyes.

A nurse steps out of an exam room. “Tempest Banks? We’re ready for you.”

Tempest rises from her chair, perhaps a little too quickly, and winces at a shooting pain in her back.

“Are you okay?” Sienna asks, genuine concern flooding her voice.

“Guess I’m about to find out,” Tempest says before following the nurse back to the room.

—–

Brent Taylor pulls his SUV into the circular driveway of his own home, barely waiting for it to stop before he throws the door open. He has been trying to reach his wife ever since the earthquake hit, to no avail. Her car is still here, which makes him cautiously optimistic, but there is another vehicle in the driveway, too.

It takes him a split-second more to place it, but once he does, his heartrate quickens, and he doesn’t even understand why. He jumps out of the vehicle and hurries toward the front door.

“Molly!” he shouts, even before he has fully pushed the door open.

No answer.

“Rosie?” he calls, wondering why in the world her car would be out front.

And then he hears it.

A woman wailing.

Brent stops dead, every muscle in his body tensing with terror, before his instincts kick in and he sprints toward the sound.

END OF EPISODE 1314

Are Rosie and her child okay?
What will Lucy’s prognosis be?
Will Jason recover from his injuries?
Talk about it all in the comments!

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