Page 61 of Flight Plan

Chapter Nineteen

Ava

To Ava’s overwhelming relief, Jack revived in the helicopter before they landed at the nearby hospital, complaining his wrist and head hurt.

“You’re going to be okay, buddy.” Wesley held him in his lap, patting the damp hair away from Jack’s forehead.

She repositioned one-half of her headset so she could hear Jack asking questions, though she had to pay attention to the hospital’s med-flight communication center.

Wesley stayed focused on him as he answered. “You were in the tea house. Do you remember?”

“Goliath! Did you get him?”

“I…I’m not sure.” Wesley consoled her child. “We’ll find out, though.”

She approached the hospital’s helipad, setting down easy and cutting the engines. Hospital staff met the hulking dragon-copter wide-eyed before they collected Jack and wheeled him inside on a gurney. Nurses were efficient getting him settled into a room and cleaning up his few lacerations. Soon a doctor appeared, checking Jack over and asking him questions about what happened.

Jack retold the story. “And the last thing I remember was the roof coming down, knocking me down.”

“I suspect your son might have broken his wrist,” the doctor said to them, as if Ava and Wesley were his parents. “We’ll need an x-ray to confirm.”

She ignored the implication, and the look Wesley gave her, focusing on getting Jack through this.How could she explain who Wesley was when she couldn’t understand where the defining line of their relationship was drawn?Obviously, he wasn’t Jack’s dad or her husband.Boyfriend, maybe? Lover of one passionate night?Despite her tangled feelings for Wesley and the fact she wore his brand literally on her body, she couldn’t deal with such cheeky thoughts right now.

“I also suspect Jack has a mild concussion.” As the doctor explained what that would mean for Jack and how to process his recovery over the next weeks, she listened though she knew well what to do, having had a couple of her own in the past during active duty.

“They’re going to take a picture of your hand with a machine,” Wesley explained as they prepared to wheel Jack from the room.

Ava watched Wesley, awed at how calm and attentive he was with Jack. The tenderness in Wesley’s gaze and voice sent her heart thumping as an unfamiliar love bloomed within her.

They waited together outside the x-ray room in the empty corridor.

She’d chewed her lips raw with worry. Now, with a considerable measure of relief, she dug around in her slim cross-body purse for her lip balm. The smooth glide over her lips comforted her, and she sighed, leaning back against the wall.

After she returned the balm to her bag, Wesley took her hand, giving her a silent smile.

She stared into his softened topaz eyes and the sympathy there caused a lump to rise in her throat. Here he stood, by her side and holding her hand, when he should be at his important event.

“Thank you for being here with me. For rescuing Jack from the tea house. Todd texted me a few minutes ago, asking about Jack. He said what you did. What the team did.”

“It took all of them to lift the roof. Good thing Leroy is so strong. Even Harry helped.”

It amazed her how he didn’t take all the credit. How he always made everything about teamwork. How dedicated he was to his coders, Brock, and her and Jack.

Oh Wes, I love you so much.The sudden realization caused tears to blur her vision. But this was all so complicated.

Even Wesley had monumental situations to deal with, both business and personal. He’d been wonderful with his own child Tejas, once given the chance to spend quality time with him. But in her opinion, he’d allowed his insecurities to hold him back from raising his son—just like her.

Did he feel regrets, too?Her emotions ran high. Jack almost getting seriously injured or worse and her newly realized love for a man she couldn’t be with made her vulnerable in a way she’d never known before.

“Ava.” Wesley squeezed her hand. “Are you all right?”

She shook her head, verbalizing her most secret confession. “I’m an awful mother.”

“That’s not true.” He turned her to face him. “It hasn’t been easy for you. A single mom in the military.”

“That’s just it. I didn’t raise him. My parents did all the work. It was easier traveling for the army. Yeah, I served my country—but my duty should have been to Jack.”

“C’mon, Ava. You were young. Just out of high school. Forget about regrets. You’re with him now when he needs you the most.”

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