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First, I see her bandaged hand as she grabs onto a seat. Then it’s the other hand, which is now wholly covered in red.
My heart seizes in my chest.
Slowly, Noelle hauls herself up, yet with all the black she’s wearing it’s close to impossible to ascertain if there are any other injuries.
“Noelle…” I breathe out, half relieved she’s alive, half worried there might be something wrong with her that’s invisible to the naked eye.
“I’m ok,” she says in a small, trembling voice. “I’m fine.We’refine,” she nods, her eyes greedily roaming over me.
As she puts one step in front of the other to come to me, a screeching noise erupts in the air.
My eyes widen when I realize where it’s coming from.
“Stop!” I yell, putting a hand up. “Don’t move.”
She frowns but does as told.
Swallowing hard, I move slowly, testing the floor of the plane with my foot. The more I advance, the more it creaks.
Fuck! Fuck!Fuck!
There’s a fissure right where the wing broke from the plane.
At the rate it’s going, I have no doubt the floor will collapse. In fact, the more we move around, the more it’s likely to give in.
“The plane will break in half,” I tell her. “Please be careful.”
“But…” Her eyes widen with fear. “What will I do then?”
“You’re going to come to me. But it will have to be done slowly and very carefully, okay?” I ask in a serious tone.
She gives me a brisk nod.
“Try to take one step,” I instruct, my ears attuned to the noise the floor is making while my gaze is focused on the area for any sign. If I can find the exact area where the fissure is…
“Stop,” I shout as I note a flare in the upholstering of the plane’s floor.
It’s about four seats in front of me, and two seats in front of Noelle.
“Do you see that?” I point to the minimal movement.
“Yes.”
“It must be barely hanging on if your weight is making it tip this badly,” I grimace. “We need to do this fast.”
“Do what?” Noelle frowns.
I don’t answer her as I take a tentative step forward. Then another. Slowly, I cross one seat, stopping suddenly when I reach the second and the sound intensifies.
Looking around me, I quickly catalog everything I’m seeing.
Since the plane got caught front first in the tree, that means this side is secure enough, while the other is barely hanging in the air, gravity pulling it down. Regardless of whether Noelle moves or not, it will eventually fall.
“I need you to listen to me and do exactly as I say, ok?”
My gaze meets hers as I try to convey everything I’m feeling at this moment. Yet more than anything, I want her to trust me that it will all be ok—that we’ll prevail.
We’ve been through too much already and I refuse to believe that this is the end.
