Chapter 1 #2
A hundred worried voices assaulted her with a hundred different questions.
Mickey took a deep breath and held up a hand, trying to quiet them.
“I know everyone is scared, and I don’t have any answers for you right now.
But I have a badly injured man in need of assistance.
Please, is there anyone who can help him? ”
A young blond woman with a top knot and leggings stood up and walked toward her. She kept her gaze fixed on the floor and grabbed onto each seat as she passed by to keep her balance. She stopped in front of Mickey. The steel behind her green eyes stood in stark contrast to her timid body language.
“I’m in my second year of med school. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to help, but I’ll try.”
“You’ll be great.”
Mickey turned toward the bathroom with the girl at her heels. With no hesitation, the girl dropped to her knees and unbuttoned Captain Fuller’s shirt to get a better look at the wound.
“Do you need anything?” Mickey asked.
“A medical kit if you have it.”
Mickey closed her fingers around the hard metal of the keys in her skirt. Yanking them out, she strode to the locked cabinets that lined the wall.
“What can I do?” Allison, her fellow flight attendant, asked as she stepped beside Mickey. The slight tremor in her voice gave away the fear she hid behind her locked jaw and hard eyes.
Mickey handed her the keys. “Help with the captain while I check the flight deck. We need to land fast. I don’t think we can do that without him.”
“What about Bill?”
The image of the co-pilot slumped over the control panel flittered in her mind and she winced. “I don’t know, but it didn’t look good. Now get the med kit to the bathroom.”
Turning the small corner, Mickey stepped into the flight deck.
The man who’d hijacked the plane sat huddled on the floor behind the captain’s chair with his hands handcuffed behind his back and his ankles tied together with a zip tie.
His chin rested on his chest. The man who held everyone’s fate in his hands turned and acknowledged her before facing the wide window that looked out to the sky.
“Have you checked the co-pilot? Is he dead?” She should see for herself, but lead weighed down her feet and she couldn’t move.
“He’s breathing. We need to land. How’s the captain?”
“A med student is looking at him now.” She twisted her hands in front of her. “He’s lost a lot of blood.”
“Is he conscious?”
“Yes.”
“Then he can help me get this damn thing on the ground. I’ve radioed for help, and we can touch down in Atlanta. I need him in here fast.”
Mickey’s mouth fell open and she stared at the clean-shaven neck and the tousled dark blond hair in front of her. A shiver raced up her spine. They weren’t out of the woods yet.
Hard gray eyes turned to her. “Go get him. Now.”
His deep voice shook some sense into her.
She stepped out of the flight deck and turned to look in the bathroom.
She glanced past Allison, who stood in the doorway, and heaved a sigh of relief.
The captain sat a little straighter on the cramped floor.
White, wiry hairs curled in a matted mess on his bare chest and a flush brought some color to his cheeks. His shirt lay in a heap by his side.
The young woman sat on the floor, pressing white gauze to his wound. She glanced up. “He’s lost a lot of blood.”
Fuller shifted on the floor, using his hands to brace himself. “Did Bill call Air Traffic Control about making an emergency landing?”
Mickey’s tongue swiped across her dry lips. “Bill’s unconscious, but Air Traffic Control has been notified. An FBI agent is flying the plane right now, and he needs you to tell him how to land it.”
The color on Fuller’s cheeks instantly faded. He pushed up on his hands and collapsed on the floor as air wheezed from his clenched mouth.
“He really should stay down,” the med student said.
“Then we’ll all die in a damn plane crash. Not on my watch.” His eyes met Mickey’s. “Help me up.”
Mickey pushed past the two women and bent down low. She grabbed the captain’s arm, hooked it around her neck, and a howl of pain split the air. “Allison, keep your hand on his side while we walk him in.”
They stepped out of the bathroom and into the flight deck. “Get the hell out of my seat, son.”
The agent looked back, humor and appreciation softening the hard lines around his eyes. “Are you up for this?”
“I’ve been through worse.”
The man nodded and stood from the chair. Mickey helped Fuller hobble to the seat, and then lowered him down. She grabbed Allison’s hand and placed it over Fuller’s wound. “I’m going to let everyone know we’re preparing to land. Keep pressure on the wound and don’t move your hand.”
The heat of those gray eyes followed her out of the cockpit. She shook it off and stepped up to the intercom once more. “Ladies and gentlemen, we will be making an emergency landing in Atlanta. Please buckle your seatbelts and prepare for landing.”
Walking up the aisle, she tried to right the cabin as much as possible while the plane descended.
Her muscles throbbed with tension, but she pressed on.
Outside the window, white, fluffy clouds appeared, and then disappeared.
Terrified passengers hurled questions at her with every step, but she fixed a tight smile on her face and continued replacing luggage in overhead bins.
The last thing she needed was for a piece of luggage to fall from the storage compartment and knock someone unconscious.
The nightmare was almost over and then she could fall apart.
But not until dirt sat beneath her feet.
When the outline of the city replaced the clouds in the windows, she walked to the back of the plane and took a seat next to Vanessa, the newest member of the flight crew.
Vanessa reached over, took her hand, and squeezed it when the wheels touched down on the pavement and they taxied to a complete stop.
Flashing red lights and screaming sirens announced the arrival of emergency vehicles.
Applause filled the cabin as the door opened, and the FBI agent stepped out of the cockpit with the man in beige cuffed in front of him.
This man had saved them all, and she didn’t even know his name.
He led the hijacker to the door, but stopped suddenly and stared down the long aisle of the plane until their eyes locked.
Mickey sucked in a breath and her heart jumped into her throat.
He gave her a curt nod and then stepped out of the plane.
Pride battled against the terror that had taken up residence in her bones.
She’d been scared out of her mind, but she’d helped save the lives of everyone on board.
The FBI agent, whoever he was, had acknowledged that with that one tiny gesture.
Her muscles went lax and she melted against the seat. She might have helped save the day, but she was going to need a very large drink soon.