She pauses. Lets the silence sit.
"Under the table. Now."
Her quakprep brain had already mapped the exits, identified the structural columns, noted the water fountain's location (hydration after rescue). She crawled to Marcus, checked his airway, his pulse, his legs. She used her backpack as a cervical collar. She talked to him in the low, steady voice her mother had used: "You're okay. The shaking will stop. I need you to breathe with me. One-one-thousand. Two-one-thousand."
She pauses. Lets the silence sit.
"Under the table. Now."
Her quakprep brain had already mapped the exits, identified the structural columns, noted the water fountain's location (hydration after rescue). She crawled to Marcus, checked his airway, his pulse, his legs. She used her backpack as a cervical collar. She talked to him in the low, steady voice her mother had used: "You're okay. The shaking will stop. I need you to breathe with me. One-one-thousand. Two-one-thousand."
