Chapter Twenty-Four
Adrian
“Neil?”
Choking from the dust, I spied him getting to his feet. Relief filled his eyes.
“Adrian, are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. You?”
“Yeah, but you’re bleeding.”
Feeling a wet trickle on my cheek, I touched my face, and my fingers came away with blood on the tips. “Just a slight cut. Where are Lisa, Jolie, and the kids?” The seats by us were empty.
“I don’t know. After the ceremony, Lisa and Jolie went inside with the girls and Jolie’s mom.”
“This is a disaster. How many people might be hurt? It’s terrible.”
“Adrian, go find out. I’ll dial 9-1-1, but you should see if you can talk to some people and find out what happened. Get their stories.”
I stared at him. “Neil, that’s morbid. This is a disaster.”
Serious, he nodded. “Yeah. Exactly. And you’re on the scene, and you can tell the audience what’s happening live.
There are people watching who have relatives here.
You’re their connection, their lifeline.
Record using your phone.” I hesitated, and Neil grew impatient with me.
“If you want to be a news reporter, you have to put yourself in situations that might not always be pleasant. Go. I’ll look for the others. ”
I pulled out my phone and saw texts from Rob.
I know you’re at the game. Go get the story.
Taking the stairs two at a time, I saw several people with blood running down their faces, in obvious pain.
Instead of getting the story, I stopped to help move some broken concrete, and I could see people standing around, uninjured, filming us.
Why wouldn’t they help instead of recording…
on their phones? They could do both if they wanted.
I found a woman crying and moved a heavy piece of railing off her legs, then smoothed the tangled hair off her face.
“Don’t worry. We’ve called 9-1-1, so help should be here soon.”
“Coming through,” I heard the shouts.
“Over here,” I called out and waved to the paramedics. I stood back as they put the woman on a stretcher to carry her out. I followed them.
“You’ll be okay now.”
“Thank you for staying with me.” She reached out a hand, and I took it. “I appreciate it. I don’t know where my sister is. She came with me but went to the bathroom. I haven’t seen her since it happened.”
I squeezed her fingers gently. “I’m a reporter with Channel 8. Do you want me to get it on the news so she’ll know you’re okay and you’re in route to the hospital?” I turned on my video.
“Yes, please. Katelynn, it’s Megan. I’m okay.”
I turned to the paramedics. “What hospital?”
“Mercy.”
I gave her one last reassuring smile before they hurried away, and then I was patched through to Rob.
“Please put this video I’m sending you on the live feed so that this woman’s sister will know where she is.”
“Good job, Adrian. You’re already on national television as helping that woman. Keep doing what you’re doing.”
I frowned, again annoyed that someone would stand around to film a tragedy and not do what they could to help.
“I’m going to see if anyone needs assistance.
Talk to you later.” I returned to the area and helped move the debris and winced at the people’s injuries.
Other more fortunate people were simply sitting and waiting for directions.
I approached one woman in a Blades jersey, sitting next to a younger woman who was crying.
“Hello. I’m Adrian Hunt with Channel 8. What are your names, and would you like to say something to your families at home who might be watching?”
The woman with the Blades jersey spoke first. “I’m Amanda Owens from Rego Park. I’m okay. Just a few cuts.” The woman next to her continued to cry. “This is my sister, Chloe. She’s just scared. Mom, Dad, we’re both fine.”
The man next to her winced as he pushed up. “My name is Jason Sears. This is my wife, Madison. We’re from East Seventy-eighth Street in the city. We’re okay.” The dark-haired woman by his side gave me a shaky nod.
“Yeah, I feel lucky. One older man standing next to me got hit in the head. They took him away already. I hope he’s all right.”
“Can you tell me what happened?”
Jason spoke first. “We were all standing by the railing to watch the ceremony, jumping with happiness, celebrating the Blades’ win, when I heard, like, a groaning sound. Then bam, the railing gave way and we fell.”
Firefighters appeared along with EMS paramedics. “Is anyone here hurt and needing assistance?”
I pointed to Jason. “His leg’s injured.” I backed away and let the first responders take my place. “I’ll let the experts do their job. Thank you, and I hope everything works out well.”
I took to the stairs again and pushed my way through the crowd. I found several people on the floor crying. With trepidation, I approached two men, one older, one younger, and from their facial features and red hair, obviously related.
“Hi, I’m Adrian Hunt from Channel 8. Are you okay? Do you need me to call the paramedics to help you?”
The young man wiped his eyes. “It’s okay. They checked us out and said we’re not hurt.”
“Can you tell me your names and where you’re from?”
“I’m Ryan McGee, and this is my father, Timothy McGee. We’re from Brooklyn. It was my twenty-first birthday yesterday, and these tickets were my present.”
The older man looked rather pale, and I peered closely at him. “Are you sure you’re feeling all right?”
His lips lifted slightly. “Yeah. Just a little freaked out.”
“I’m sure. What do you remember?”
Ryan rubbed his face, his blue eyes wide with what I assumed was shock.
“Me and my dad were cheering the Blades. I had my first beer to toast the win when I heard this awful creaking noise. Then it looked like a movie, with pieces of concrete tumbling down along with these metal railing pieces. We ducked and ran toward the exit, but some other people weren’t so lucky. ”
I followed his quick glance to see people being carried out on stretchers. I shuddered. “Yes, you were very lucky. Thank you for telling us your story.”
I left them, and seeing an official-looking firefighter directing others, turned on my video camera again. “Chief, I’m Adrian Hunt with Channel 8. Can you tell us what’s happening—what you know so far?”
He pushed the hat off his face. “We have around fifty people en route to local hospitals with varying degrees of trauma, but none life-threatening. From our preliminary investigation, looks like this area’s railings became loosened from the weight of the people leaning on it, and it collapsed.
The seats are fortified underneath, so that remains intact. ”
“So only the front railing was affected where there was excess weight? You don’t think it was anything deliberate?”
“No, but we’ll do a thorough investigation, as will the Blades. It could’ve been a lot worse. And as for something deliberate, it’s always a possibility, but I don’t think so.”
“When does the investigation start?”
“It already has. See?” He pointed over my shoulder.
I turned to see several men in Department of Buildings jackets walking through the rubble with people wearing NYPD jackets. Through the static, I heard firefighters’ voices.
“Squad 43 reporting in. We’re clear at the arena. All injured removed and rubble secured.”
“10-4.”
“Squad 43 returning to base.”
“Thank you, Chief. I’ll let you get back to work.”
The loudspeaker blared an announcement. “Attention. Attention, please. All injured parties have been taken to Mercy Hospital. There is no damage to the structure of the arena. It is limited to that one section. We’re happy to report that thanks to the quick and heroic efforts of our first responders, none of the injuries are life-threatening.
The Blades have set up an emergency number for people to call, and we’ve given it to all the local news stations.
” The announcer stated the number, and I entered it into my phone.
I videoed a panoramic view of the broken section of the arena and kept my camera on as I picked my way through the mess to get to rink level. Once I found an area with good signal, I called Bryan, and he picked up immediately.
“What’s going on? Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Good. We’ve got a live feed. What did you manage to get?”
“I interviewed some of the injured and the fire captain on the scene. I have it all on video from my phone camera.”
“That’s great. Send it, and we’ll put it on the news in a few. Good thinking to capture it all.”
“Yeah, thanks.” Now that I’d finished with the impromptu interviews, I wanted to see Rip. I felt so horrible that he’d waited his whole life for this moment, and it was being overshadowed by a tragedy.
The ice was empty, and when I searched the crowd, I picked out Rip, Denis, Seb, and other members of both teams helping people. I wove my way through people until I reached them.
“Did you see Neil?”
Rip held on to a woman’s elbow as they maneuvered past me. “Yeah. He’s inside with Lisa, Jolie, the kids, and Jolie’s mom. Where were you?”
“I went upstairs to talk to people and the fire department. Neil thought it would be a good idea to get a news story. I’m really sorry I wasn’t here to congratulate you.”
Rip hugged me. “That’s okay. You did the right thing. People were hurt. This is just a game. Their lives are more important.”
“Rob told me I was on the national news. I needed to help some people more than getting a story.”
“Baby, you helping them is a story. I’m proud of you.”
A warm glow enveloped me. “It was the right thing to do. Give me a minute. I’m gonna send my videos in to Rob.”
I collected all the footage I’d taken and sent it to Rob along with an explanatory email. He called me immediately.
“Obviously, we’re running with this story first. Bryan’s gonna put you on live. Pick up when he calls. We know where you are—the sports department cameraman is there.”
“But—”
“But nothing. This is real news, not a game.”
I looked up and watched as a Channel 8 cameraman walked toward us.