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She knew better than to argue. Focus on what she could control. Blood was still trickled down the side of her face. She sat in her seat and he found a foothold on top of some debris in front of her. She was eye level with his stomach and his shirt was riding up. The pilot had a hell of a six-pack. She bit her lip to keep from giggling. She was losing it. Now was not the time to be thinking about his abs. But the other side of her brain argued it was a hell of a lot better than thinking about someone wanting her dead.
“Am I hurting you?” he asked.
She glanced up. “What? Oh no. It’s fine.” The antiseptic stung a bit but that was it. She didn’t even have much of a headache. Of course, the absence of pain could be the adrenaline. What was more concerning was the fact that she was concentrating on the pilot’s six-pack instead of figuring out a solution to the problem of the crash, and what it meant to her personally, well, beyond the fact she could have died. Maybe the crash had scrambled her brain more than she thought.Am I in shock?That and she hadn’t had sex in more months than she could count.Why the hell are you thinking about sex at a time like this?She clamped her jaws together in an effort to keep it together.
“There,” he said, after applying a couple of butterfly bandages. “You should be fine.”
“Thanks.” She glanced up at him. His gray eyes focused on her, assessing her. “I’m okay. Promise.”
He nodded once and stepped back, tossing the first aid kit onto another seat that was still intact. “Okay, look for anything we can use,” he directed.
“To do what?” she asked as she stood, grateful to be focused on a task.
He’d started back toward the front of the plane, so he turned and looked at her. “Survive.”
She shivered then, suddenly realizing the truth of his words and how cold it was getting inside the plane. They were in the middle of the Alps in a snowstorm and the sun was going to set soon. They needed warmth, food, and water if they were to survive, but at this point, mostly warmth. The reality of the situation hit her and her knees buckled. She crashed back into her seat rather unceremoniously.
Had the Captain brought down the airplane? It had been hard as hell to tell what was going on when the two men burst into the cabin during their fight. That had been a shock. She had been trying to calm herself over the oxygen mask thing when they’d suddenly come flying out. She didn't know what to do. Still didn’t. Did she trust the pilot? He’d said it was the other guy. Somehow, she believed him which was weird but instinctively she trusted him.
“Idiot,” she murmured. Trust was earned, and so far, this pilot hadn’t done anything to earn it.
If he’d been the one who was sent to kill her then he wouldn’t have put the mask on her or come help her when they crashed. He’d had plenty of opportunities to kill her and hadn’t. That must be why she trusted him. It wasn’t instinct, it was her subconscious putting the clues together before her conscious brain could process them. At least that was what she was going with if anyone asked her. Trusting her instincts wasn’t something she was known for. She dealt in facts, and the cold hard fact staring her in the face was someone wanted her dead.
Allegra swallowed and tried to push that thought away by going back to the task at hand, survival. She surveyed the wreckage. It soon became apparent that things had fallen to the left. That’s the direction she’d been leaning to when she’d come to. The plane must’ve veered that way at some point. She then started a systematic search of the left side of the airplane, being super careful not to cut herself on any debris. She pulled a couple of water bottles out of a crevasse in the floor. They were still closed and although they were beat up a bit, they didn’t leak.
“Captain Larson,” she called, holding up the bottles. “Where should I put what I find?”
He glanced at her, holding what looked like frozen food containers in his hands. “Good job. Put them on the seat with the first aid kit.” She nodded and moved forward slightly to drop the bottles.
“And call me Xavier. There doesn’t seem much point in calling me Captain.”
She shot him a brief smile. “Allegra.” He’d already been calling her by her first name but it seemed rude not to offer it back. She bit back a bark of laughter. She could die of exposure. Stupid time to be concerned about being rude.
She walked to where she’d been and sorted through more debris. A few minutes later, she pulled her coat up from under a half-inflated life vest. “Oh, thank God,” she said as she stood and pulled it on. She’d started to shiver a few minutes ago so it was the most welcome of finds.
“Nice,” Xavier agreed. “That should help.”
“Where’s your coat?” she asked. “You weren’t wearing it when I came on board so I assume it’s tucked somewhere.”
He nodded. “It’s in that closet.” He pointed to the closet that currently had a table of some sort jammed up against it. “I’ll get it shortly. Right now, I’m trying to find something to put the food in.” He stood suddenly with a black backpack in his hand. He pulled a pair of shoes out of it and started putting the food trays in. “Throw me the water and the first aid kit.”
She obliged and he added those. At least they had some food and water. Neither of them was seriously injured and they had warmish clothing and shelter of a sort. These were good things, she tried to remind herself as a lump of tears built in her throat. She tried to swallow but choked and ended up coughing.Just be calm. Everything will be fine. Help must be on the way.Allegra was noted for her even-keeled manner and laser focus at work. She could do this. Her knees wobbled a little but she ignored them. Shecoulddo this.
“That should keep us going for a few days.”
Allegra bit her lip. “Do you think it will take that long for someone to find us?” The rock in the pit of her stomach distracted her from the lump in her throat. She wasn’t sure she could push through if it meant spending days on the wrecked airplane. As tough and ambitious as she was, she still had a breaking point. Being in a plane crash and knowing someone wanted to kill her might have just pushed her passed it.
She needed to focus on something else. If it took too long to be rescued, then the announcement would be made and everything would turn to shit. She glanced around. Everything was shit. There was only so much worse it could get, right? She let out a long breath.
His gaze met hers, his eyes the color of steel. “It might. I’m not sure where we are exactly so it will depend on what roads are around us and how remote we are.”
She gave him a brief nod. “Thanks for being honest.” Her stomach rolled. She should tell him the truth. That it was her fault they were in this situation. She was the target. Someone was trying to kill her and he was just, what was the term? Collateral damage. He stared at her with his eyes narrowed as if he could read her mind. She swallowed and asked, “Is it worth digging through the snow to see what else we can find? There might be a few blankets or pillows or something. Maybe more water.”
He shook his head. “Not worth freezing and getting wet. We’re better off to stay in here at least for the time being.”
“Okay,” she started her scavenger hunt once more but found herself sitting down in her seat moments later. Weakness had overcome her. The scalp lac had stopped bleeding but she was a bit woozy. No doubt, it was the adrenaline crash.And the shock of almost dying.
“You okay?”
