Chapter 16
AVA
Ava swallowed hard as she glanced behind her at the hospital building. It receded in the side mirror as Kyle headed toward the airport where the private plane sat ready.
With each mile that passed, Ava’s chest tightened as if an invisible cord was pulling her back to Alex.
She hated leaving him behind, especially when he needed her most. Every instinct told her to stay by his side, but doing so could mean losing him forever.
Her mind replayed the image of him lying pale and feverish in that hospital bed, a stark reminder that she had no other choice but to leave him in the hands of the medical staff—and hope she could return with a cure before it was too late.
She glances down at the pearl brooch on her hoodie, recalling that Alex was watching her every move.
“I miss you already, Ace,” she said. “I wish I had a pearl cam so I could watch you.”
Kyle slid his eyes sideways and mouthed the words, “You okay?”
She bobbed her head before she reached for his hand to squeeze it. “Thanks.”
“So, what do you think we’ll find down there?”
“I hope a cure,” Ava answered as she huffed out a sigh, rubbing her forehead. “Clearly marked and labeled the moment we enter the room.”
Her phone rang a second later. She dug it from her purse, spotting Sebastian’s name on the screen as she swiped to answer it and toggle on the speakerphone.
“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy, Ava,” Sebastian said.
“Too bad,” she lamented. “We don’t have a lot of time to waste searching the entire facility.”
“Uh, also, we are likely going to need access to restricted areas,” Kyle said as he navigated a tight curve. “Tell me the badges you scored will get us into the highest contagion levels of the lab.”
“I’m not sure about that. I only know it provides access to the facility itself.”
Kyle heaved a sigh, shaking his head. “That’s not going to be good enough. Alex, we may need your tech skills, bro. So, please don’t get sicker, okay?”
“I’m on it,” Alex said, his voice weak. “I’ll see if I can get into this facility’s security. If I can, I should be able to unlock any doors you need once you’re there.”
“Thanks, Mav,” Kyle answered.
“How are you feeling, babe?” Ava shifted in her seat with a wince. For some reason, the seat was making her back ache.
“Not terrible. Doc’s jello helped me.”
“Is that right? Doc’s jello, huh? My spray cheese wasn’t the magic cure?” She tried to giggle, but she didn’t have it in her.
“Your spray cheese was awesome, babe. But you know how I feel about jello.”
“I do,” she answered, stretching her neck as heat washed over her. Her heart rate ramped up as worry coursed through her. The stress of leaving Alex behind coupled with the high-stakes mission seemed to be causing enough tension that she worried about another blackout.
“Ava?” Kyle whispered as he leaned closer.
She glanced at him. “I’m just a little warm. And worried I may have a blackout.”
“Are you having any other symptoms?”
She aimed the air conditioning vents at her, turning the fan up. “No…well, my pulse is a little fast because now I’m nervous I’m going to blackout and kill you.”
“You’re not going to kill me. You may try to commandeer the plane, but I trust you.”
She breathed out a long exhale, trying to steady her nerves.
“Sparky, you okay?” Alex asked.
“Yeah. I think I’m just panicking. I’m okay. You worry about you, babe. Don’t do too much, okay?”
“I’m glad to be doing something constructive. It’ll take my mind off of how truly awful I feel.” The clacking of his keyboard split the silence in the car.
“Well, you have the entire flight to get through, so save some of your strength, okay? We need you up and at ‘em when we get to the facility.”
“Yep, I’ll just hack in and take a peek, then I’ll take a nap. Shadow can wake me when it’s go-time.”
Ava nodded, feeling a little better than she had. The sensation of heat passed, and she shifted the vent off of her. “The heat passed. Must have just been hot in here.”
“Good,” Kyle said as he pulled into the airport’s parking lot.
“We’re here. We’ll be in the air in just a few minutes. “I’ll hang up, and you can watch us on the pearl cam.”
“Good news,” Alex said as Kyle killed the engine. “I’m in at the facility. So, I’ll just take a quick nap.”
“Sounds good, babe. We’ll see you when we’re in South America.”
“Have a good flight.”
Ava smiled as she ended the call. She slid out of the car into the cool air, a shiver snaking down her spine. An ache lodged in her back again as she stepped forward, slinging her purse over her shoulder.
“Hey, you okay?” Kyle asked as they headed for the plane.
“Yeah, just a little backache. Must be that horrible mattress at the motel.”
“Ugh, yeah,” Kyle said with a nod as they climbed aboard and settled into the plush leather seats. He rubbed at his neck. “That pillow or pancake, rather, killed my neck.”
She chuckled as his characterization of the terrible bedding as the engines spun to life. The flight attendant closed the door, and the pilot’s voice came over the intercom. “We’ll be underway in just a minute. Make sure you’re buckled in.”
“Just a few short hours and hopefully this will all be over,” Kyle said, drumming his fingers on the arms of his seat.
Ava glanced at him, her eyebrows furrowing. “Nervous flier?”
“Something like that,” he answered.
She raised her eyebrows at him, reaching for his hand. “Really?”
“No, I’m…I’m usually fine, but…there’s something about breaking into a pharmaceutical facility that has me nervous.”
“I’m sure we’ll be…” Her voice trailed off as a dull ache started at her temples.
“Fine? I hope you were going to say fine,” Kyle said, “because if you were going to say something else then I’d really be nervous because you are like a beacon on confidence, and if you’re nervous…”
“I’m not, I’m just…” She cleared her throat as the plane lurched forward.
“What? What is it? I should know so I can have the entire flight to obsess over it,” Kyle said.
Ava shook her head, glancing down at the pearl cam. She pressed a finger to her lips as she pointed at it with her other hand.
He furrowed his brow before he raised a finger in the air and dug into his pocket for his phone.
As the plane’s wheels left the ground, he sent her a text. Texting so he won’t hear whatever it is you don’t want to say out loud.
She offered him a smile as her fingers flew across the keyboard. I hate to say this but…I think I may be sick.
She offered him a wince as his phone chimed. He glanced down at it, his eyes going wide. He stared at her, his features questioning. “What?”
With a shrug, she typed more as she said, “Sorry.”
Backache, headache, chills.
His shoulders slumped as he read it, rubbing at his forehead. Come on, Ava. You can’t get sick. I need you.
“I know,” she answered. “I’m sorry, I’ll try to keep it in check. I shouldn’t get worse until the flight home.”
“You and Alex are the first in line for the cure, too,” Kyle answered.
“Speaking of,” Ava said, her voice low as she struggled to focus over the dull throbbing in her head, “what’s our plan when we find the cure? If it’s not in bulk, how do we make sure we have enough for Alex? For everyone?”
Kyle’s jaw tightened as he glanced out the window. “We either need the formulation or a sample to reverse-engineer it. We won’t know until we get there.”
“And if it’s just one dose?” Ava pressed, her heart thudding painfully. She couldn’t bear the thought of finding a cure only to realize there wasn’t enough to save Alex.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Kyle said quietly. “But whatever we find, Alex and you will be the first to get it.”
Ava sucked in a heavy breath, her eyes stinging a little. “Let’s hope we can find whatever it is you need to help everyone.”
“Well, we have a few hours before that happens, so why don’t you get some rest?”
“Yeah,” she answered, reclining her seat and settling into the supple leather. With a yawn, she let the motion and buzz of the plane soothe her to a dreamless sleep.
A violent shudder jolted Ava awake, her heart slamming against her ribs as alarms screamed through the cabin. She blinked rapidly, her mind sluggish as her body was tossed side to side.
“What the hell?” she gasped, fumbling with the seatbelt as she pulled herself upright.
The plane lurched again, the metallic groan of the fuselage echoing in her ears as it dipped sharply.
A deep rumble vibrated beneath her, and the roar of the engines faltered, leaving nothing but the deafening wail of the alarms.
“It’s not good. We hit some turbulence, we’re trying to ride it out.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?” She glanced out the window. “Where are we?”
“Not far from the airport, I don’t think. I hope we make it.”
The pilot’s voice broke through the chaos. “Keep those seat belts on, we’re doing our best up here, but things aren’t looking that good.”
Ava’s stomach flip-flopped at the words as she wrapped her fingers tighter around the arms of her seat.
The plane lurched again, dropping the sky with a bang. The lights in the cabin flickered before coming back on.
“That’s not good,” Kyle said.
“No,” Ava answered, reaching for him.
Time slowed to a crawl. Her fingers dug into the armrests, knuckles white, as the plane plummeted again, the cabin shaking violently.
Panic seized her chest, her mind racing with a thousand thoughts of Alex, lying helpless in the hospital bed.
She wasn’t ready to die, not like this, not when she had so much to fight for.
The plane jolted again, and her breath caught, a sob tearing from her throat as she squeezed Kyle’s hand.
The pilot’s voice crackled over the intercom, chilling Alex to his core. “Brace for impact. We are going down.”
The alarms continued to blare as both Ava and Kyle leaned forward, covering their heads as the plane dropped again.
Alex flashed through Ava’s mind as she prepared for a plane crash she didn’t expect to survive.
She couldn’t believe this was how she met her end. A plane crash over the jungle after all of the trouble they’d gone through with The Board would never have been her prediction.
A sob escaped her as the plane continued to drop.
“Impact in three, two—"
They never heard the one. The chaos that replaced it made Ava squeeze her eyes closed and hold her breath. A force like she’d never experienced before slammed into her, sending her body airborne as much as the strap that held her to the seat allowed.
She jostled around as the plane smashed into the ground then rumbled forward, propelled by its own momentum. The sickening screech of metal on metal was only drowned out by the booms of the trees that smashed into until the plane finally came to a rest.
Ava sat frozen, her head still pressed against her knees as the world seemed to spin around her.
Her ears rang, and the acrid scent of smoke filled her nostrils.
She blinked rapidly, her heart hammering in her chest as her mind struggled to catch up with the reality of what had just happened.
Am I alive? Her limbs felt disconnected from her body, tingling with the aftermath of adrenaline.
Slowly, she straightened, her fingers trembling as she ran them over her arms, her torso—searching for any sign of injury.
But all she found was a throbbing ache in her chest and the sound of her own shallow breaths.
After a few seconds, she slowly sat up, running a shaky hand through her hair. With a hard swallow, she shifted her gaze to Kyle.
“Ava?” He slowly rose, a small trickle of blood marring his forehead but looking okay otherwise.
“I’m okay…I think,” she answered, her breathing shaky as she tried to unbuckle her seat belt with trembling hands. “We need to get out of here.”
Kyle tore at his seat belt until he managed to remove it. “What about the flight attendant and the pilots?”
“You check on her, I’ll go for them,” Ava said as she rose on shaky legs.
Kyle nodded, and they went in separate directions. Ava made her way to the crumpled front of the plane, pulling open the broken cockpit door. She found both pilots slumped over the controls.
A quick check of their pulses revealed neither made it through the crash. Ava shook her head before she twisted around to find Kyle behind her. “She’s gone, and we need to get out of here. There’s a fuel leak.”
Ava’s heart skipped a beat as she swallowed hard. This plane was a ticking time bomb—and time was running out.