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66.
Jack flagged down a passing sheriff's deputy, who saw that Nellie was in trouble. The deputy had oxygen in the trunk of his car.
"She is having a heart attack, I think." The deputy called for a Lifeflight chopper, which arrived 15 minutes later. In this manner, Jack got a ride into Hillcrest, where the old UCSD Medical Center highrise dominated the skyline. Along the way, the female flight nurse told him: "She's stabilized and we'll get her on I.V. and get her into the E.R. We'll take it from there."
Jack phoned Linsey to tell her of his whereabouts. He was standing in the lobby of the hospital, where hundreds of people were camped out and the TV was on.
"Breaking story amid all these many breaking stories. We have just learned that emergency personnel have given up trying to recover the U.S. Marshal's helicopter that crashed into the Convention Center about two hours ago. It was presumed that the pilot and both children are dead. Now a Marine Corps helicopter dispatched to investigate reports seeing a child waving through the broken canopy. Our news chopper is on the scene and here is what Leanne Radzick is seeing:"
The woman's voice cut in. "Thanks, Bob. As you can see below, in the uninhabitable area filled with clouds of drifting, poisonous spores, it looks like at least one of the children survived and is waving for help." As Jack stared transfixed, he recognized the tiny figure of Jimmy Mendez. That was some kid. "Several Navy SEALs have volunteered to fly in and rappel down, but there is absolutely not one heavy lift chopper available at the moment. Commanders here are making tough decisions. There are rescues in progress up and down the coast as well as inland, and this child is somewhere on the to-do list."
Bob said: "Can you get close?"
"We can get kind of close, and I would love to drop some supplies—if I had wings I would fly down there—but there is the fear of the glass roof collapsing and making the situation infinitely worse if not fatal."
"Is there radio contact with the downed chopper?"
"Negative. I'm looking through binoculars, and it looks like the helicopter went down quite hard."
"Can you still see the little boy?"
"No. I'm afraid he seems to have vanished."
Jack stared at the screen. He saw a wrecked aircraft lying in a heap at the bottom of a very large glass and steel structure.
The newswoman wrapped up: "Bob, it will be getting dark soon, in this long and terrible day that seems to have no end. We will be forced to return to base, and frankly I think there is now a fuel shortage that will prevent us from flying again tomorrow. This crisis seems to deepen by the hour."
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