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Paige
What a jerk! I mean seriously, saying I look like I got caught in a cotton candy machine? How rude is that? It’s basically true, and it is kind of funny, but he shouldn’t have said it. I glance over at his hand as he taps at a button on the dashboard. That is one manly hand leading up one manly, muscley arm, leading to one hell of a manly body. He’s older than me for sure, I can tell in the way his eyes crinkle a bit when he smiles. I’ve never thought about an older man this way, but this guy certainly has me thinking. He’s hot. And probably married or something….
I get back to work on my face, trying to cover the dark circles under my eyes and make myself look presentable. I don’t know what the heck I’m going to do with my hair, but I’ll figure it out. My stomach tightens at the thought of facing everyone in a few minutes. I’ve always been the wild card. The one who’s most likely to screw up, and today is no exception.
Just when I start to apply some eyeliner, the helicopter jerks to the right, causing me to stab myself in the eye. “Ouch. Can you keep it steady? This is harder than it looks.”
We rock again, this time a much bigger bump. When I look up, I gasp. The biggest black clouds I’ve ever seen are bearing down on us.
“Get your seatbelt on. This is gonna get rough,” Mac says, his voice is so calm, I can hardly believe it.
Terrified, I quickly grab at the seatbelt, but I can’t get it to buckle around this ridiculous dress. I tug at it, trying to loosen it as fast as I can. The helicopter jostles me so hard that my makeup case goes flying off my lap and crashes to the floor, eyeshadow and bronzer spilling out everywhere. “Dammit!”
I reach down to try to salvage what I can.
“Never mind that. Get buckled now!” He orders.
“Do you have any idea what all that stuff is worth?”
“If it’s less than your life, leave it!” Mac’s voice is rough now, which tells me I have reason to worry. I fiddle with the belt as best I can until I finally manage to get it on.
Lightning flashes in the sky and the back-end of the helicopter swings wildly from side to side now. I clutch the seat arms with both hands and shut my eyes. “Oh, God!”
I’m suddenly glad I haven’t eaten in over eighteen hours because if I had, I’d definitely be vomiting right now.
“Shit!” Mac says as we start to spin in full circles now. “Mayday! Mayday! This is C1509. I’m in a tailspin and we’re going down. One passenger on board. We’re at latitude thirteen…”
He’s shouting a bunch of numbers into the radio while he tries to wrestle the controls. Tears prick my eyes and I fight to control the sobs building in my chest. I’m about to die. And I’m dressed like a giant peach. I shut my eyes and start to pray, trying to block out the sound of his voice, and the horrible beeping coming from the dashboard. I’m going to die. My sister is going to be so pissed at me for ruining her wedding.
***
I wake up to the sound of pounding rain on metal. My body feels stiff, but I’m alive. I think. I open my eyes and see Mac crouched down in front of me. “There you are. You’ve been out for a few minutes.”
“Am I okay?” I ask.
“Yeah, you look good, anyway. I think you passed out before we landed.”
“Where are we?”
“To be honest, I’m not exactly sure. We were above a string of about twenty cays, and we got blown around so much, I don’t know which one we’re on.
I suddenly notice that he has a gash above his right eyebrow. I sit up in my seat. “You’re bleeding.”
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about that. We’ve got bigger problems than a little cut on my face.”
Uh oh, I don’t like the sound of that. “I’m not going to make it to my sister’s wedding, am I?”
“Not unless there’s a miracle, and at the moment, I’d say it’s not looking too good.”
A lump forms in my throat. “I don’t think you understand. I have to get there. Just radio someone, okay? Maybe there’s a boat nearby. They could pick me up and take me, then when the storm stops, you can fly back to St. Lucia.”
He shakes his head and puts his hand on my arm. “Listen, Paige, I need you to stay calm, okay? I can’t radio anyone. We got hit by lightning and my dashboard was fried. Nobody’s going to be out in this storm, anyway.”
“No, but…” Tears blur my vision. “But, we’re so close. We could even be on Lover’s Cay, couldn’t we? Or maybe it’s so close I could swim? I’m a very good swimmer.”
“No, Paige. We had another five minutes to go by air. It’s still a good distance from here.”
“No!” I jam my thumb into my seatbelt buckle and it comes loose on the first try. “No! I’m not going to just sit here. I’m leaving. Just tell me which direction to go, and I’ll get there!”
