Page 132 of Stay for Me
Jose chuckles. “Stupid man, you never fly angry.”
“That’s a new one.”
“It’s like going to bed pissed. You just don’t do it.”
“You’d think she’d know that since her husband was a pilot.”
All three groan. “Big mistake, Jacob,” Jessica says.
Jessica’s eyes flutter and I shift her, causing her eyes to open again.
“He died.”
Her eyes look to mine. “How?”
I glance at the sky and sigh. “A plane crash.”
“She must be out of her mind,” Elliot says. “I can’t imagine how she must feel.”
Jose shakes his head. “Here we are, bruised and battered. I have a broken arm, Jessica has a busted head, and we’re talking about Jacob’s girlfriend.”
“Well,” Elliot cuts in, “it’s better than talking about your broken arm, Jessica’s busted head, or my burning plane.”
The four of us have bonded together. No one took on more than they could or should. When the door was stuck and Jessica couldn’t get it open, the three of us did everything we could to help get her out of the plane. When we realized the GPS transmitter wasn’t working and we were literally in the middle of nowhere, no one freaked out. After we formed a plan, we executed it. Together, we helped each other, made sure we had supplies to get through the night if we had to, and did our best to get to a place where we hoped we’d find help.
When the helicopter circled overhead, no one started running, we all remained calm and stayed the course.
“I’m so tired,” Jessica says as her eyes stay closed for a lot longer than I’m okay with. “I can’t. We should eat . . .”
“Jess, please stay awake. Just for a bit longer.”
The exhaustion is becoming too much. I’m tired. She’s tired. We’re all tired, and I don’t know that I can go much farther, but I force my feet to keep moving.
Then there’s the very real fear that those helicopters are media and not rescue. If they are, then this will be a frenzy that I’m not ready to deal with.
“Elliot?” I call, and he stops. “When we get to that clearing, I need you to take her.”
His face scrunches. “Why?”
I hate this part of my life. “If I’m photographed carrying her, people will write stories and make up their own version of what happened.”
He nods quickly. “I understand.”
The thing is, it’s not about Brenna or anything. She would understand and never jump to conclusions. It’s more the optics that would make it seem as if the pilots weren’t as heroic as they have been. I don’t need or want glory. I just want us all saved.
“I swear, I’m not trying to be a dick.”
Jessica touches my face. “No one thinks you are. We’ve been flying celebrities for years. Just know that if we had to go down, I’m glad it was with you.”
I laugh when nothing about this is funny. “Thank you.”
And then her head falls back, and she becomes limp in my arms.
* * *
The helicopter rescue pilot lifts off the ground, and the EMTs work on Jessica as the three of us try to warm up under the blankets they gave us. “We’re glad we found you guys before the storm came in,” the helicopter pilot says over the headsets.
I nod, no longer able to speak. I watch as they stick tubes and needles into her. She almost awoke right before the clearing but it was just slurring and then it was back to absolute silence.
