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“Why can’t you file the flight plan now? Get that out of the way.”
“Because if you don’t take off within two hours of your ETD, your IFR flight plan expires. I’d have to file another.”
“You’re saying it could be another two hours!”
Rye used the toe of his boot to indicate the radar screen. He was leaned back in a desk chair, hands stacked on top of his head, feet propped on the counter. Brynn wasn’t deceived by his seemingly relaxed posture. He was coiled to spring if necessary.
“I’m not in charge of the weather. Anytime you want to go, we’ll go. But the condition still holds. Brynn stays here.”
“No, no, Delores was very glad to know that she’ll be along.”
So she can gloat, Brynn thought.
Timmy, who was watching the radar screens, said, “We’ll wait till there’s no more red.”
That didn’t occur until almost two o’clock.
Violet
Dr. O’Neal left without coming inside!
When I saw her walking toward the house from the end of the block, I was so excited. I knew she was going to be the special surprise Daddy told me about.
But I couldn’t say anything when she got here because Elsa was singing, and it would have been rude to interrupt the song. Everybody made a big deal of Elsa when she got here. “Look, Violet, it’s Elsa!”
Don’t they know that I know Elsa isn’t real, and that this is just a lady dressed up to look like her? But she was nice and asked me questions about other stuff besides cancer. I just wish she hadn’t been singing when Dr. O’Neal got here.
There were a lot of TV people in the way, but I saw Dr. O’Neal on the sidewalk talking to Timmy.
He’s Dr. Lambert’s friend, but I don’t think Dr. Lambert likes him much, and I don’t, either. His jokes are stupid, and he didn’t fool me with his magic trick. My little brother could have done it better. I didn’t like Timmy being in my room. He stood too close to the bed and fiddled with my IV line. Nobody is supposed to touch it except nurses like Jill.
Dr. Lambert checked my chart and asked Jill some questions. Mom asked why he was here instead of Dr. O’Neal, and he said she wasn’t working the holiday weekend, but that was a fib, because she got here just after he told us that.
I don’t think she was glad to see Dr. Lambert and Timmy. While they were talking, she kept shaking her head. Dr. Lambert took something out of her coat pocket. Timmy grabbed it and didn’t give it back.
Then this other man came running up to them. He’s the same age as Dr. O’Neal, but the jacket he had on looked really old. The sun’s not out, but he had on sunglasses, too. Mostly, though, he didn’t look at anything except Dr. O’Neal.
He got mad when Timmy pushed Dr. O’Neal into the back seat of a car and got in behind her. I think the tall man wanted to sit by her, but he had to get in front with Dr. Lambert.
After Elsa left, I told Mom that Dr. O’Neal had been outside. She asked me if I was sure. I told her over and over, Yes I’m sure, and asked if she thought cancer had made me blind? She told me to watch my mouth, but she called Dr. O’Neal anyhow to tell her to come back. Dr. O’Neal didn’t answer her phone, so Mom called Dr. Lambert, and he said Dr. O’Neal had to leave on an emergency.
I started crying.
I think they gave me a special day because I’m going to die. I wish I had seen Dr. O’Neal instead of Elsa.
Chapter 35
1:57 p.m.
No more red,” Nate announced. “Not in the direction we’re going.”
Rye had been aware of that for more than half an hour. Heavy rains still threatened, and there was a low ceiling, but the hazardous elements had moved past. He’d kept the information to himself in order to delay their flight for as long as possible.
Because once they took off, any hope for Violet would be lost. Brynn knew that, and Rye felt her pain. After that call from Violet’s mother, her despondency was palpable.
He had tried to figure out a way to distract Timmy, overpower him, something. But he’d been unable to devise a plan of attack that wouldn’t result in injury or worse for Brynn. Now, time had run out.
He lifted his feet off the counter and took a closer look at the nearest computer monitor. “Yeah, I think we’re good to go.” He reached for his cell phone.
