Dana Mentink - Turbulence

“No,” Paul said, feeling his stomach clench. “I can get him back.”

“Four-one-thousand, five-one-thousand.” His shoulder muscles screamed at him, his injured ribs stabbing at him with every movement. The end of the cycle came and he looked to Maddie. Her face was damp with tears.

“It’s over, Paul.”

Anger surged inside him. “I’m a doctor. I know when it’s time to quit. I say I can save him.”

He pushed past her and administered the two rescue breaths himself. When he returned for compressions, Dr. Wrigley took a step forward and gripped his upper arm with surprising strength.

“Dr. Ford, the pilot is dead. There is no hope of resuscitation, in spite of your efforts.” He looked at his watch. “The time of death is ten-fifteen a.m.”

Paul looked at them and read it in their faces. He knew they were right. He was not going to make a save this time. Despair rose inside, along with a deep fatigue. He slowly got to his feet and Jaden stepped forward with a blanket he’d retrieved, draping the body against the falling snow.

Paul stood, hands on hips. “His name was Fisher. I saw it on his ID tag. He saved us.”

Maddie looked at the ground when she spoke. “You did your best.”

The irony cut deep. I did my best for your nieces, too.

Had he?

The question that had tormented him every day since the crash surfaced again. Had he done everything medically possible for the children? Was there something he’d overlooked because he’d been distracted by another accident victim, his brother? He’d replayed the events second by painful second in his mind, without achieving any clarity. The bald facts were that today the children were gone, Bruce Lambert was hanging on by his fingernails and Paul’s brother, Mark, was in perfect health.

A cold wind struck at them and he saw Maddie shiver. “We’ve got to get some shelter and wait for a rescue team.”

Jaden looked around. “The cabin is unstable, and there’s a fire burning in the electrical system. I salvaged what I could, but we can’t take cover there.”

Wrigley took a few steps toward the top of the hill. “There must be something nearby. A cave, a cabin—something.”

Paul considered. “I think the best bet is to move to the bottom of that rock wall. If we can find some debris to stand on, maybe some wood to make a fire, we can at least be out of the wind.”

“I’ll get the gear that survived and see if there’s anything else.” Jaden zipped his jacket up to his chin, against the biting wind.

Maddie nodded. “I’ll help. I’ve got to make sure the Berlin Heart is safe.”

An odd look crossed Jaden’s face, but Paul could not read it before the man turned and headed quickly up the hill. Maddie followed, struggling to keep up.

The Berlin Heart. He’d forgotten all about it. The rescue team might still be able to fly it to Bruce’s hospital. He looked ahead at the smoke rising from the downed plane. Had it been damaged? He didn’t allow his mind to continue the thought. One catastrophe at a time, Ford.

Before he followed Maddie up hill, he bent to one knee again and said a prayer for N. Fisher.

Dr. Wrigley stayed with the pile of singed carry-on bags while Jaden and Paul approached the plane, Maddie following. Her thoughts were fuzzy as she moved to climb on the wreckage. She’d just seen a man die, and though all she knew about him was his last name, she couldn’t ignore a feeling of loss. She wondered if Paul felt it every time he lost a patient. Maybe he felt it more keenly when he’d sacrificed one patient for the next, as he’d done with her nieces. Her father’s words rang in her memory.

He let them die, Maddie. He let the girls die.

Thinking of her dad drove all thoughts about Paul away.

Her face was stiff with cold, and she reached carefully to hold on where the metal was not sheared off razor-sharp. Smoke continued to blossom out of the shattered windows and the crackle of flames was louder now.

She was about to haul herself up when Paul stopped her.

He put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t go in there.”

His face was calm again, unmarked with the same frustration and anger she’d seen a moment before.

“I’m going, Paul.”

“Not a good idea. The smoke is toxic, you know that.”

She yanked out of his grasp. “I’m not going to let my father die.”

Jaden appeared in the opening. “Fire’s getting closer to the fuel tanks. We’ve gotta clear out.”

Maddie called over the crackling. “Did you get the heart?”

She didn’t hear his reply as a whooshing noise filled the air.

Paul grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the wreck.

She fought him, twisting and jerking. “Let go of me.”

She thought he’d listened for a moment, until she found herself draped like an ungainly package over his shoulder. Squirming did nothing to loosen his grip.

“Fight all you want, Maddie. I’m not going to let you die.”

She watched his feet crunch through the snow. “I hate you, Paul,” she stormed, angry tears bursting from her eyes.

He sighed. “I know, Mads.”

The grief in his voice startled her. Before she could say anything else, he’d lowered her to the ground next to Dr. Wrigley and started to jog back to the plane.

Maddie wanted nothing more than to march over to the plane and let him have it. She settled for kicking a mound of snow into icy smithereens.

Wrigley didn’t comment as he watched her, but she could see the corner of his mouth crimp and the thought that he was amused infuriated her all the more. He handed her a bag.

“I believe this is yours. Do you have warmer clothes in there?”

She grabbed it from his hands. “Yes. But I can wait until the plane is unloaded.”

“At least put boots on if you’ve got them.” He pointed to her feet. “Frostbite sets in quickly, and we’ve been in the snow for a while now. I’m glad I found mine.” He looked as though he was going to cry for a moment.

The emotion unsettled her. To give herself something to do, she fished through the blackened carry-on until she found socks and her snow boots. The irony stung. She’d planned a long walk with her sister after their father’s surgery was completed. A time when they could share their grief, but with the added promise of a more hopeful future.

She yanked on the boots. She’d have it all, just like she’d planned.

Though her feet were numb with the cold, it was a relief to have the thick soles between her toes and the rapidly piling snow. Dr. Wrigley stiffened, his eyes riveted to the twisted remnants of the plane.

“What?” she said, trying to follow his gaze.

She saw Jaden and Paul dive out of the opening into the pile of luggage they’d retrieved.

After a few seconds’ delay, the structure erupted into an orange fireball. It was an explosion that deafened Maddie, and she threw her hands around her head as the air became unbearably hot.

When the noise and heat subsided enough for her to raise her face, she was relieved to see Jaden and Paul heaving themselves to their feet. Each man grabbed an armful of rescued belongings and made their way back to join the others.

Maddie couldn’t wait for them to cross the hundred yards. She ran and met them, nerves tingling, stomach constricted. “Did you get it out? Did you get the Berlin Heart?”

Jaden wiped a sooty hand across his face but didn’t answer.

“Tell me,” Maddie all but shrieked. “You found it, didn’t you?”

Paul made a small movement toward her. “Yes, we found it.”

Her breath whooshed out of her, the relief so profound she could feel it in every pore of her body. “Thank goodness. Where is it?”

“Maddie…” Paul said.