Forever and a Day (33 page)

A bright light lit up the cockpit and Xander blinked away the bright spots, “Wow!” He exclaimed.

Charlie looked back at Xander, “Got some intra-cloud lightning going on out there. You should return to your seat and buckle up, I think things are going to get bumpy. Oh! One more thing, you do know about lightning and aircraft?”

“Yes, flying Faraday cages!” Xander replied with a smile, “Thank you for your time!”

“Good man, and our pleasure!” Charlie said and returned to his instruments as Xander walked out of the cockpit with a smile. He nodded thanks to Teuila as he walked to his seat. He passed by Halo casually slow, she still looked like a little angel all curled up. Her golden blonde hair was all a mess around her, but it added to the effect of her name. He noticed her seatbelt was undone under the skewed blanket and wondered if he should say something to Teuila.

The butterflies in his belly distracted him as he wondered what would happen when he actually spoke with her. He reminded himself to remember to breathe. He forced himself to look away from the sleeping beauty and proceeded to his seat.

Sitting down in his seat, he buckled up tightly and looked outside at the flashing that loomed uncomfortably close. He recalled his flight school talks about a Faraday cage and the physics concerning it: Simply put they were flying in a metal cage that bled off electrical charges and hits from lightning. He had read that aircraft are frequently struck by lightning and the passengers are none the wary. Still… he thought.

He looked to his monitor and watched for a while as they progressed northward, he thought about watching a movie but he was anxious and knew the turbulence would start soon. Maybe he should wake up JJ to warn Halo? He dismissed it with embarrassment, as they might think he was weird.

A tingle ran up his spine as he looked outside the plane and he felt his heart jump, just then a jolt of turbulence rippled through the jet. Xander looked around and saw that not one of them stirred.

He wished like hell he could sleep, and began feeling antsy and considered searching for his Xanax. He watched his monitor as they continued the flight northward with the sky darkening ominously off to the side. He reminded himself that the Captain knew what he was doing.

He instead focused on what he could see of Halo, she moved her head and he saw all the golden blonde cascading around her petite shoulders and the back of her armrest. He bet himself he could sit there and watch her sleep for hours. That Robert Montclaire was one lucky bastard he mused. He asked himself why he let her make such a continued impact on his heart and psyche. For heaven’s sakes he was married, he reminded himself for the millionth time. Regardless of all his reasoning and anger at himself, he knew why and it was difficult with her being so near but he did his best to shove it all back down where it belonged. He sighed and thought if only he hadn’t got lost in those blue eyes in the first place… but if he hadn’t he wouldn’t be here and now…

BANG! A crashing sound reverberated through the plane and sent shudders through their collective seats. It sounded like a Mack truck ran into them from below. Xander saw heads come up and suddenly the plane shuddered even harder, he gripped his armrests as a loud POP sounded out from below the plane, his ears unexpectedly hurt as the lights flickered out and a sucking noise was coming from the cockpit. Bright yellow oxygen masks fell and there was a scream and shouting all around him. He quickly grabbed the mask with a yank and placed it on his face.

Time slowed to a creep and he watched as if they all were in slow motion. He saw paper fly by them towards the cockpit. The plane juddered again and he looked over and saw Jorgen gasping for air in his mask, his eyes wide as saucers in fear. He watched in dismay as the big man grabbed his left arm hard and began turning white with pain. “Shit! Heart attack!” Xander said aloud, but his words were lost in his oxygen mask. Suddenly the plane pitched down and began a dive, the words: ‘explosive decompression’ rang out in his mind. He was pitched forward and he shot a look towards Halo.

In a fright, he realized she was not in her seat. He quickly scanned through the seats and realized she was wedged against the Plexiglas partition. She was struggling to get back in her seat. Her hair was flying all around and he realized she probably could not see. Her flailing at her hands at her seat was getting slower. “Shit!” He yelled.

He braced himself against the back of the seat in front of him and took in a deep breath. Without taking his eyes off her, he unbuckled, took off his mask and controlled his fall onto the back of the seat. Using gravity, he swung around the seat and then the other. Bracing his back against the Plexiglas, and in one quick motion he had her in his arms then he began pushing her back into her seat.

His heart lurched as he realized she was nearly unconscious. Using his shoulder to hold her up and his feet against the Plexiglas wall he pushed her back in her seat and managed to latch her belt. He quickly grabbed the other seat’s oxygen mask and took a huge breath of cool oxygen then got her mask over her face. He began pulling her hair from her mask so it could get a good seal.

Suddenly her hands began flailing again and she connected hard against his nose. He ignored the sting and continued pushing the hair from her face. Unexpectedly her big blue eyes were suddenly there and staring right into his, he saw that she recognized him immediately. He sat back against the Plexiglas and gave her warm smile. What happened next shocked him to his core as she reached out and touched his cheek with her outstretched fingers.

Time stood still as the most exquisite feeling in all the world spread through him from where her fingertips caressed his cheek. Once more, he began to get lost in the blue depths… then his burning lungs reminded him their need for oxygen. He pointed to the mask and got it on and over his head. He turned his body and using his feet and legs he got himself into the seat next to hers and quickly buckled up. Turning he looked at her and she gave him a nod.

The plane was still in a dive and he knew that they needed to get somewhere below twelve thousand feet. He tore his gaze from her and peered over into the open door of the cockpit. What he saw next froze his heart cold. Teuila was in the cockpit and was desperately trying to pull back on something, was it the control yoke? He leaned over further and realized the co-pilot was slumped over the controls and she was desperately trying to pull him back and grab for the yoke.

With shock in his eyes, he turned to Halo. He knew she saw his look and her eyes widened. There was no way the diminutive flight attendant could move Henry the co-pilot. He pointed to the cockpit and leaned close to her face, he caught her feminine scent and it almost sent him into a reverie she smelled so good. He forced his attention at hand and yelled as loud as he could, “Trouble in the cockpit! I should go help!” He waited until she understood and she nodded vigorously at him.

He tore his gaze from her once again, braced himself with his legs, and unbuckled. Another bang and heavier turbulence shook the plane as all the lights suddenly went out. The darkened plane banked hard to the right and he heard screaming from the opposite row of seating.

Suddenly he was weightless and falling into the galley, his oxygen mask ripping away from his face. With a backbreaking crunch, he landed hard against the locked food carts. He ignored the erupting pain and forced himself to crawl towards the cockpit. The screaming and roar of the jet filled his ears. Panic echoed at the fringe of his mind as he heard the words through the screaming: ‘the engine is on fire!’ Steeling himself, he calmed his mind and pushed himself towards the cockpit.

With intense concentration and what seemed like inch by inch, he found his way to the doorway. The plane began to slowly right itself, but they were still descending at a steep angle.

Bracing himself on the doorway, he saw Teuila had been thrown against the bulkhead and her head was bleeding as she struggled to get up. The Captain was pulling back hard on the yoke with one hand and trying to push away an unconscious Henry with the other.

He let himself fall onto the co-pilots seat and tried to pull Henry back away from the yoke. He saw the problem, his seat belt was partially hooked on to the control yoke. He pulled it free and saw the Captain point rapidly to Henry’s control yoke.

He pulled Henry back with one hand, with the other grasped the yoke and began pulling back as hard as he could. Looking ahead through the windows all he saw was dark gray mist. He scanned the instruments ahead and found that all the electronics were dead. He located the analog altimeter and saw they were dropping fast and were descending past ten thousand feet. He continued straining hard as he used all his strength to pull back on the yoke.

Ever so slowly, the jet’s nose inched its way up. In what seemed like forever, finally at three thousand feet and change they were finally leveled off. He felt the Captain pat his shoulder hard several times and gave him a thumbs up. The Captain took off his mask and shook his head at him.

“Xander! If you hadn’t come in here, we would all be dead right about now!”

Xander could only nod and blink, he saw the Captain’s eyes go to his co-pilot. Adrenaline shot through him again as he remembered the man who he was holding against the seat. He quickly felt for a pulse at the co-pilot’s thick neck. He pressed harder, then quickly undid his tie and then tore open Henry’s shirt and yanked down the undershirt then thrust his ear against the man’s gray hairy chest. He heard nothing and looked up into the man’s face: his lips were bluish. He shook Henry and yelled into the man’s face, “HENRY? Can you hear me?”

Then he remembered Jorgen. Looking at Teuila who was watching wide-eyed as she dabbed the blood at her forehead, he yelled, “JORGEN! I think he was having a cardiac issue! I got this guy, go check him!”

The Captain yelled, “Go Teuila!”

Xander looked to the Captain, “No pulse, he’s unresponsive! I have to get him on his back, do you have autopilot?”

“No! I have to stay at the controls. Do you know what you are doing?”

Xander nodded rapidly, “I’m an Emergency First Responder, I got this!”

The Captain pointed to where the seat control was and he managed to pull Henry out and dragged him out to the galley floor. He began rapid chest compressions as he looked for Teuila.

Halo heart leapt into her throat as she lost sight of her Mystery man when the plane banked hard. She looked out through the window and saw the engine was on fire and just as quick, the flames were out. The plane soon began slowly righting and she leaned over the seat. Fighting to stay upright as the plane dived steeper, she saw Xander in the cockpit. She felt a measure of comfort knowing he was in there. Sure enough, the front of the plane slowly came up. She looked out her window when the plane fully leveled out and the ocean below looked much too close.

She leaned over as Teuila came running out, her eyes followed her to Jorgen. Teuila was blocking her view of Jorgen’s face but she could tell he was in some sort of distress. She unbuckled and slipped into the adjacent seat then called out, “TEUILA! Is there something I can do to help?”

Teuila turned and shook her head, then she ran into the galley and came sprinting back with a black and yellow bag. She watched as her hands shook as she opened the small bag. Someone coming out of the cockpit caught her attention, it was Xander and he was half carrying and dragging the co-pilot. As soon as he had him down he began chest compressions, she saw him look to Teuila then to her.

She unbuckled and ran up to him and out of breath she yelped, “Xander! Can I help?”

“Do you know CPR? Can you do chest compressions?” He asked in a hurry.

She nodded fast at him. He pointed to where her hands should go, and hand over hand she began to compress Henry’s chest.

“Harder! He is barrel chested use your weight! Yes, that’s it! I’ll be right back I need to see if they have another defibrillator!”

She nodded to him as she continued the compressions. She watched as he began talking to Teuila and she shook her head at him. Teuila then quickly stepped away and let Xander look at Jorgen. In utter fascination, she watched him tear open Jorgen’s golf shirt and then he was quickly putting on leads to his chest. He pushed Teuila gently away and looked down at the yellow box. She heard a beep and saw its red light, light up. Xander stood away, yelled ‘clear’ and pushed the button.

She expected Jorgen to lurch up at the shock, but he barely moved. She turned her attention to Henry, his lips were blue and she wondered if she should do mouth to mouth. She looked to Xander who suddenly was running back to her.