I Hate Football Players 3 | 18+

Chapter 111: Ellie

My mind remained unfocused through the entire flight from Seattle to San Jose but I convinced myself that until I heard news about Dad that said otherwise, he was fine. If I thought at all, even voiced a tiny, miniscule inner question, then I knew I'd have spiraled downward into the worst 'what if?' scenarios of Dad's conditions.

In other words, I fought one of the biggest mental battles against my tendency to overthink in my life. My only line of defense was a constant stream of positivity and ignored the fact I was blissfully ignorant and potentially set myself up for a hard fall..

I'll apologize as soon as I see him. People bounce back after heart attacks all the time.

He'll be fine...

The unfortunate timing of Mom's call, on Thanksgiving Day, meant the only available direct flight Charlie found was a Southwest red-eye flight that left SeaTac at eleven-ten pm. In between two empty seats on a sparsely attended flight, I rested my head back against my navy-blue leather seat and closed my eyes, although I felt anything but tired.

At the risk that I angered the flight attendants and pilot over electronic device usage, I'd turned my phone back on, but hadn't received any new updates.

No news is good news. He's being taken care of in the hospital, he's fine.

Desperate for a diversion, any diversion, my lower lip rolled under and I chewed on it until the skin felt raw and exposed and opened my eyes. I looked around the airplane cabin at the few other passengers as they slept, from a Mom curled around her young daughter, a younger couple pressed against each other's shoulder, and a businessman whose neck craned back so far that mine pinched in sympathy.

Since I knew sleep was impossible, I ran through the best mental distraction I came up with and created made-up scenarios for why anyone else was on this flight.

The woman and her daughter caught an earlier flight to meet her Daddy earlier as a surprise.

The businessman just aced his work proposal but his startup is pinching pennies so he's flying the red-eye.

The couple are eloping in secret.

At the last thought, a humorless smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. I rested my elbow on the hard plastic under the window on my right, cupped my chin in my palm, and sighed..

A quick glance out the window showed a black night dotted full of white, shining stars. The familiar cloud cover that grayed most of Seattle nestled beneath us and the faint glow from a slivered moon cast highlights and shadows across the pillowy forms beneath us.

I'd silenced my phone but, like an addict, checked it every thirty seconds with first a check of how much flight time remained and any texted updates. My only messages were from Logan, all of which I appreciated but none I replied to.

Logan: Thinking about you, praying for the best.
Logan: Call me when you arrive, no matter what time.

Logan: I've got a flight booked that leaves 90min after tomorrow's game.
Logan: Love you, baby. ❤️

Finally, my eyes drooped closed and I pinched the bridge of my nose between them with my thumb and forefinger. An undetermined amount of time later, a slight jolt jarred my attention, as did the quietly murmured conversations, rustled movements of stretches and seatbelt clicks, and clunky sounds of luggage retrieval around me.

Once I grabbed my overhead suitcase, I followed the small passenger queue off the plane and threaded through the sparsely attended corridors at San Jose International Airport. The lack of traffic made the high, curved ceilings even more voluminous than I remembered, up-lit with lights and stark white against the black night sky in the windows. In return, I felt even smaller and more insignificant than when I'd left Seattle.