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Fred and his supervisor came back to the desk, and she sat down, with him observing. She picked up our passports, asked each of us our date of birth, and did some more typing. When she finally smiled and handed us our passports back, it had been twenty minutes, and I let out an enormous sigh of relief. “Sorry about that, folks. Problem with the system. Thanks for your patience, and have a great flight.”
We loaded up our luggage, and after we tied labels around them, they moved down a conveyer to a hole in the wall and disappeared.
But our bad luck didn’t end there.
“Right, we’ll have to be quick getting through security because we’ve only got an hour and a half until our flight,” Charlie announced as we marched up the stairs to security.
Charlie didn’t go into detail but told us it was to check that we had nothing in our hand luggage that could hurt people. He explained the process and that we had to make sure we didn’t have any metal on us.
I walked on my unsteady legs through the scanner, which thankfully didn’t beep, and they waved me on to wait for our shoes and coats. I sent a small prayer of thanks to God for looking after me, while my stomach gurgled.
Zaide reached me first, and I grabbed hold of his hair as a wave of dizziness passed over me.
“Little Cat, are you well?”
I nodded slightly, breathing deeply and staring at the floor as though communicating to it my desire to stay upright.
Daithi joined us on the other side. “This is a primitive form of security. I’ve never been robbed of my footwear in my life.” I was so shocked he had spoken to us, even if it was just to complain, that I stared at him. “Where is Charlie?” he growled, then muttered as someone pushed past him. “Wretched place.”
Zaide collected our items and turned. As the tallest of us, he scanned the area for our lost member. “He is in the larger box in a strange position.”
“What?” I cried.
“Don’t worry, Little Cat. He doesn’t seem to be in any pain.” Zaide’s hand stroked my back.
We waited. I wrung my hands as anxiety wracked me. Ten minutes later, Charlie emerged from the crowd. He was scowling as he stomped over to us, and it reminded me of how annoyed he would get with me when I teased him as a cat.
“I swear to God, this process has never taken this long. It’s bloody typical that when I’m trying to do something more important than a holiday in Spain, I get fucking searched.” He huffed out a frustrated breath and ran a hand through his hair. “Come on.”
We followed the moving crowd toward even brighter lights. That’s when the smells hit me. Sweet and sickly perfume permeated the air and lingered in my nose when I tried to hold my breath. I gasped when someone moved in front of me and sprayed me. I inhaled it. It hit the back of my throat, and I coughed and coughed. Zaide took my hand and pulled me away as my eyes streamed and my stomach rolled.
We escaped the perfumed hell and entered an arena of people. The smell of food from restaurants and the heat from so many bodies made me flush.
“For fuck’s sake!” Charlie exclaimed as he stared at a large screen. “The flight’s delayed.” He turned around to face us and noticed me. “What’s up?”
“The flight is delayed?” Daithi repeated.
“I do not think she is well.” Zaide was stroking my back. I was calmer but still felt ill.
“That would explain the green tone to her skin. Do you need to go to the toilet? It might make you feel better to get it all out.”
I shook my head sharply and instantly regretted it when my stomach clenched, my eyes blurred, and I moaned deep in my throat. Blindly, I reached out for something to steady myself and clasped Zaide’s braid. He wrapped his arm around me, and I sagged against his firm chest, knowing he’d hold me steady.
Charlie put his hand on my forehead. “You’re warm.” He stared at me, concern etched into his face. “Okay, she’s not all right. Let’s find seats somewhere and then get her to the toilet.”
“I’m fine,” I protested weakly. I’d always hated being babied. Nursing someone wasmyjob, and I hated being the patient.
They guided me toward Wetherspoons as I still clung onto Zaide’s hair. I waddled as though my feet didn’t belong to me or as if I were walking on custard. They placed me in a seat, and I sank into it gratefully, placing my head on the table.
“Should we not be boarding the plane?” Daithi asked, getting more irritated by the second.
Charlie sighed. “No, the flight is delayed by an hour. We have to wait. Sit.”
“Little Cat, what ails you?” Zaide’s hand smoothed my hair.
“I feel sick, faint, and dizzy, and I think I have a headache coming on,” I listed in a mumble.
Charlie replied, “It could be anxiety, a stomach bug, or migraines. Have you suffered from migraines before?”
