Dana Mentink - Turbulence

Could it be true? Had she really sacrificed her father’s life for Paul? The man who already held responsibility for letting her nieces die? Paul, Paul, Paul. He was the center of all her pain, and now there was no chance that she would ever be able to rebuild the tattered remnants of her life.

She felt herself sliding to the ground. Snow crunched under her as she collapsed on hands and knees, her palms punching down through the iced crust. There should have been tears, rivers of them, flowing hot down her face, but there were none. There was no way to release the terrible agony she felt, not a single tear left to ease the pain.

A hand took her arm and pulled her up. Tai Jaden stood over her, brows drawn together, saying something. But she couldn’t understand him through the wind and the emotion howling through her body.

She didn’t want to go with him, but he moved her anyway, until she found herself sitting on a pile of luggage.

“Watch her,” Jaden told Dr. Wrigley. “I’m going to see what Paul found.”

Dr. Wrigley eyed her uneasily as his fingers moved over the keys on his phone. “No signal still. It’s like we’re at the bottom of a well.”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she looked at the fire, still burning, and wondered how long her father had left to live.

“We’ll make it. The rescue crew will find us soon,” Wrigley said.

She wondered if he was saying the words to comfort her or himself. A nod was all she could manage.

When Jaden returned, Paul came with him, cheeks reddened and jacket dusted with snow. He hastened to Maddie.

“There’s a cave back behind those rocks. We’ll have some shelter there until help arrives.”

She looked at him, at the face that had brought her so much hope and joy in the past. A desperate thought took root in her mind. She grasped his hand. “Paul.”

He started and covered her fingers with his, chafing as if to rub some life back into them. “What is it, Mads?”

“Is there a chance, any chance, that we could get another Berlin Heart for my father?”

Paul opened his mouth, then closed it. He squeezed her hand. “There’s always a chance.”

But she saw the truth in his eyes. It had taken months of effort on the part of the hospital and her father’s government contacts to obtain one Berlin Heart. People in Europe and the States were vying for the precious few that were produced. Months that Bruce Lambert did not have anymore. Her father’s best hope was entombed in a burning aircraft, a medical marvel with all the hope smashed out of it, just like herself.

She looked away, biting down on her lip until she tasted blood.

He tried to put an arm around her, but she shook him off. She would not take comfort from him, or anyone, ever again.

Dr. Wrigley grabbed a suitcase with his good arm. Jaden and Paul did the same. In a daze, Maddie picked up the bag she’d been sitting on and followed them. Someone helped her over a steep rock and another took the luggage while she ducked under the rounded archway and stepped into the large cave. The ground was clear of snow, covered with rocks from pea-size to boulders. The ceiling rose ten feet above them, glazed and shimmering, as if it had been carved out of ice. It was deep, so deep the far walls were bathed in darkness.

Paul ushered her to the far side, away from the entrance, and urged her to sit on a blanket he’d placed on a piece of luggage. The others did the same, moving together until they were seated in a strange circle, as if they were enjoying a camping trip instead of having just fallen out of the sky.

Jaden looked around. “Ice cave?”

Paul spoke, his breath making steamy trails in the cold air. “Caused by steam, I’d guess. This mountain is volcanic. The rising heat melted these tunnels in the glacial ice. I’d guess there’s a network of them.”

Wrigley sighed. “Too bad it isn’t any warmer than outside.”

“At least we’re out of the snow.” Paul rummaged in his pack. “Is everyone okay? I found a small first-aid kit, and I can take care of any minor injuries.”

Jaden waved him off. Dr. Wrigley pointed to his shoulder. “I believe my clavicle is broken.”

Paul nodded. “I’ll make a better sling to immobilize it.” He turned to Maddie, his voice soft. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

She shook her head, unable to trust her voice. He continued to look at her, his gaze deep and searching, but she lowered her eyes to stare at the ground.

Paul unrolled a length of linen from the kit and began to fasten it around Dr. Wrigley’s neck. “I need to tell you all something Maddie and I heard from the pilot before he died. It’s not good news.”

Wrigley grimaced. “How could it be worse at this point?”

“The pilot said his coffee had been drugged.”

Jaden stiffened. “Drugged? Is that what caused the crash?”

Paul sighed wearily. “I would guess so. Seems to fit the facts. His depth perception was probably off. He clipped the mountain, fought off the effects of the drug long enough to straighten us out, but not enough to keep from crashing.”

“The copilot, too?” Jaden asked.

Paul shook his head. “I don’t know. I thought I heard a struggle before the crash.”

Wrigley’s face was incredulous. “Drugged? Who would have wanted to drug the pilot?”

Maddie felt a prick of interest. She’d been so focused on the heart, she hadn’t had time to think about the pilot’s last words. “Someone who wanted my father dead.” Her words echoed eerily in the cave.

All three men stared at her. Jaden spoke first. “Who would benefit?”

Maddie took a deep breath. “The hospital. It would be better for them if my father died, rather than continue the financial investigation he started before the crash.” She locked eyes on Wrigley. “Because you don’t want my father to uncover any irregularities, do you?”

Dr. Wrigley shook his head. “That’s preposterous.”

“I don’t think it’s so preposterous. And after the surgery he intended to file a malpractice suit.”

Paul jerked. “Malpractice?”

She forced her chin up. “Yes. He believes the children died because the E.R. was understaffed and…”

He stared at her, disbelief strong in his eyes. “And because he thinks I was professionally negligent?”

She didn’t answer.

His voice trembled with emotion. “Is that what you think, Maddie? Deep down, do you believe I turned my back on those children, gave them insufficient care and let them die?”

She wanted to glare at him, to feel her father’s hatred flow through her, but the anguish in his eyes, the betrayal she saw carved deep in the gray depths, stopped her. Instead, she looked away. “What I believe doesn’t matter anymore. We’re talking about a motive for crashing the plane. Now that the heart’s ruined, it looks like things just got a lot better for Bayview Hospital.”

Paul’s laugh was bitter. “And for me, too. Maybe I can escape a malpractice suit now. I guess that gives me a pretty good motive for drugging the pilot, if it weren’t for the fact that all of us should have been dead from that crash.”

She recoiled from the razor edge in his words, wishing she’d kept her mouth shut, but it was too late.

Wrigley stood, good hand on his hip. “I agree with Dr. Ford. I certainly wouldn’t have arranged to crash the plane on which I happened to be a passenger. I have no love for Bruce Lambert, but I’m not about to give up my life to punish him.”

Jaden held up a hand. “There was another person who didn’t make the flight. Someone else who would benefit if the investigations went away.”

Wrigley jerked as if he’d been slapped. “Director Stevens?”

Maddie watched him closely. Wrigley finally shook his head. “No. Director Stevens and I have butted heads, but at the end of the day we’re both doctors. We got into this business to serve people, and I don’t believe he’d sacrifice six lives. He’s not a murderer. Do you agree, Paul?”