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CHAPTER FIVE
ETHAN
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The jostling of theplane woke me up. It took only a second to get my bearings, and then my sleepy gaze drifted over to the woman beside me.
Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, and her fingers dug deep into the armrests.
“Having a pleasant flight, Ivy?” I whispered as I turned to look at her. “Or did you get into the tiny booze bottles while I was asleep, and it’s Janice now?”
She cringed at my joke, and even though I chuckled internally, I didn’t push on. I could see how uncomfortable she was about getting so hammered the night before, and as much as it was in my nature to tease people relentlessly, I didn’t want to make her more uncomfortable than she clearly already was. Lord knew I’d had my fair share of embarrassing drunken debacles, and I’d also had my fair share of getting ridiculed mercilessly about them the next day. Though I could understand her anxiety, I didn’t think she was too terrible last night, and hell, I’d behaved far more badly when I’d been drunk on many occasions, but clearly, getting drunk and regretting her behavior wasn’t a usual occurrence for her.
“I’m kidding. I’m kidding,” I said as her big green eyes locked with mine. “Seriously. I’ll behave.”
“Thank you. The plane may be long gone for the Paradise Isles, but I seem to have carried all that embarrassment and anxiety right along with me. So, let’s just keep up the pretense that we don’t know each other, and last night never happened.”
“I’ll behave, I promise.” I yawned and stretched. “How long have we been flying? I went out like a light.”
“Two hours,” she answered quickly. “But I think something’s wrong with the plane.”
“What?” I furrowed my brow, glancing out the window to see we were still cruising along just fine. “Looks fine to me.”
Ivy shook her head and pointed at the flight attendants. “They look nervous. They’ve been hurrying around, and they didn’t bring us drinks. I think they’re hiding something.”
I chuckled. “I’m sure everything is fine, Ivy. I know you said you hate flying, but it’s really quite safe, I can assure you.”
She flicked her gaze to me and then back to the flight attendants who huddled together in the front. “Nope. Something is wrong. I can feel it. Oh, God. We’re gonna crash, aren’t we? I’m too hungover for this kind of anxiety. I feel sick.”
“We’re not gonna crash. We’re just a couple of hours away from landing, and before you know it, they’ll be announcing our descent. You just wait and see.”
Just as I finished my sentence, the PA system flipped on, and the captain’s voice crackled through the plane.
“If I could have your attention, please. This is your captain speaking. I need everyone to please remain calm and seated under the direction of the flight crew. I can assure you that things are well in hand from the cockpit, but we are going to have to make an emergency landing. An electrical malfunction has affected our flaps, and we are being rerouted to JFK International Airport so we can use their longer runway to account for the increased speed. Our landing will be very bumpy, but please, do not panic. We will take all precautions to ensure a safe landing.”
Small gasps and chatter filled the plane, and I whipped my head over to look at Ivy. All the color drained from her face as she stared wide-eyed at the flight attendant.
“I knew it. I knew something was wrong. Oh my God. We’re gonna die,” she whispered as her breathing sped to racing.
“Hey, hey,” I soothed. “They will get us down safely. They are trained for this.”
At least, I hope they are.
The flight attendant raised her hands to quiet everyone down as she walked the aisle. “I know this sounds scary, but I can assure you our pilot is more than capable of landing us safely. So please remain calm and prepare for an emergency landing. Store all your belongings beneath the seat and put away any devices or small carry-ons.”
I felt the plane descending, and my stomach dropped along with it.
“Oh, God,” Ivy moaned, her grip on her armrest tightening. “This is it. We’re dead. Why didn’t I take my Xanax? Why? It’s too late to kick in if I take it, isn’t it? Now I’m going to feel every last second of terror as we plummet to our deaths.”
“We’re not gonna die,” I answered confidently, even though I started to fear the worst as the plane dropped again. But instead of letting my fears loose inside, I reached over and slid my hand over hers. “I’m right here with you. We’re going to get through this together, okay?”
She looked over, tears brimming her beautiful green eyes as she twisted her hand around to grip mine. I threaded my fingers between hers and squeezed. The woman behind us wailed, and it only caused the fear in Ivy’s eyes to deepen.
“How can you be so calm? We could seriously crash!” A tear broke loose and started a steady stream down her cheek. “I don’t want to die, Ethan. I’ve barely even lived!”
Barely even lived.At least I could say with certainty that if the plane went down, I had lived my life to the fullest. I’d spent every day pushing myself to experience new things, see the world, and chase my dreams. Every day, every minute, every moment, I had lived. And I hoped that after this plane hit the ground, I would keep on living, but if it didn’t, at least I had achieved a full life I was proud of.
My gaze locked with hers. “I’m right here, Ivy. We’re going to be okay.”
