Sky Still Blue

FOUR

Hawaii was her first option. She had always wanted to see the lush vegetation and the Instagram views from all over the small island. And she was excited to go there.
She thought to herself that if she was going to die anyway there was no need to hoard all of the money that she had in the bank. It was finally time for her to take charge of her life and do exactly what she wanted to do. Her job was great, but going to see the world and breath a different air was the only thing that was going to do her a lot of good at this point in her life.
She packed a bag, went shopping for some beach clothes to travel with, bought some last-minute items at the airport, and luckily, there was a plane bound for Hawaii that night.
"You're one lucky customer," one of the airline staff said to her as she walked the stairs to board the airplane.
Lucy wanted to feel lucky. She wanted to feel like some part of her life didn't need the kind of explanation that everything else needed. She didn't need to have a reason to buy herself the expensive bag she had been wanting for months if she didn't enjoy it now, then no one was going to enjoy it for her.
Throughout the flight, she kept wondering what it was like to die of cancer. How the sickness progresses and how bad it would get. She kept thinking of how chemo was going to take off all of her long glorious locks of hair. Her hair had made her poster in high school. Everyone wanted to touch her hair. It glowed down her back in thick movable strands, mimicking her motion as she walked or talked with her friends.
But Lucy also realized that didn't have any friends. Someone that she could call her own, someone that liked her for her and not anything they felt they were gaining from her. As she went deeper and deeper into her thoughts, allowing the whooshing sound of the plane to lull her into a more rested state, where she could ignore the pain in her neck, and the soreness in her back to relax into the feel of being flown to an American paradise, a place where she was going be able to breathe and not think about Craig and Jane and whatever in the world that they had done.
But as she drifted off into sleep they were all she could see, and the sound of the pilot calling for mayday through the announcement speakers in the plane drew her out to a fast descending aircraft.
"Is this how it happens instead" she wondered, trying to see if this was the final one of all the unfortunate events.
If it was all orchestrated for her to be one of the passengers that would perish in a plane that had lost control. She didn't how and what to pray for, what God cared enough to ten if she was to fight for her life, like the frantic and chaotic people around her were.
"oh mommy, I don't know what to do..." one of the younger kids cried into her mother's bosom. Lucy swore there were going to be fewer ugly lines.
"I don know if I'm gonna make it home tonight babe," another man rambled fidgeting with an object and his hand holding on to the arm of the chair he was in.
"I'm sorry everyone she heard the crackle of the pilot's voice through the speakers
Lucy watched everyone prepare for their death, but she felt odd, calm like she was embracing the end of her life. and in all honesty, she thought, she was happy in those few seconds.

***

Lucy opened her eyes to realize that she was alright. She was alive. She hadn't died In the crash. She looked around, wondering if it was all a dream and she was back in her apartment, with the covers over her body. She reflexively reached to kick it off her, but what it was that was on top of her was more rigid than she thought. It was one of the debris of the plane she was in that had just crashed and the reality of it dawned on her slowly.
Lucy looked around slowly feeling the aches in her body begin to settle how much pain she had been in. She saw the most devastating scene of her life amidst all of the rubble. A little way from her was some parts of the plane with thick dark smoke coming from it. she looked the other way and saw some of the smoke coming from the trees in the distance. She wondered just how many parts the plane had broken up into and how many hours ago this had happened. She wondered if there was anyone else still alive and stuck like she was.
"Anybody here!" she tried to scream but her throat was too hoarse to make any sound as loud as she wanted.
She tried to swallow some spit, she tried to get her already stressed body to produce saliva, in order to call for help.
She didn't know she was motivated to reach out to be saved from the brink of death now. She was already resigned to dying, she was ready to give everything up and move on to the afterlife. but she survived the plane crash. She didn't know why.
With all of the unfortunate events that befell her, all of the tragedy her heart had been carrying, she didn't think this was going to be the case with the crash. she tried to feel the muscles of her body to see if they were all still responsive, and to her relief, they were.
She tried to call out again
"Is anyone there! Help me!" she called again, over and over again, hoping that some locals would hear her, but scared that some wild animal would find her first.
She didn't want to think of there were others that survived the crash. she caught a glimpse of some body parts from where she was and quickly diverted her eyes from it. She kept her face up, looking into the darkening sky, watching the clouds move around her and the smoke from the crash rising up, trying to put every other thought away from her mind.
She got tired and decided to fall back into sleep, to shut her mind down and wait for whatever was going to happen.
When she opened her eyes again, she heard grunts and heaves coming from somewhere above her. she turned back up to see that there was a man, sweat dripping from everywhere that it could, sliding down his face and arms, soaking through the dirty piece of clothing that he had on.
"Hello," she croaked, blinking away the blurriness of sleep from her eyes. The aches in her body had settled in.
The man looked at her and there was relief on his face. Like he had been hoping that she was still alive. Like she was some kind of beacon or confirmation for him.
"Hey, you don't have to move. Just stay put. I'll get you out of here," he said, and Lucy relaxed into where she was, not moving a muscle, just watching him try to get her out of there as best as he could.
"Have you found anyone else' she asked, looking at the sun that was rising high above them.
He shook his head and went on trying to lift the debris that was over her.
She watched his muscles contract and flex as he tied to lift it, the second she felt ease in pressure she tried to wiggle herself out of it. She hadn't thought to see if she was still clothed. All that mattered was that she was out of there.
He grunted as he let the piece of scrap metal fall to the ground again. He fell on his butt and panted, stretching his muscles out.
She saw that he had sustained some injuries himself, but he didn't look too bad. She felt around for any further injury in her body but she was generally alright.
"We have to find a hospital", she said to him, looking around to determine which way to go.
"I know this area. We'll go east, there's a small village there and we can tell go into a clinic there to make sure there's nothing else wrong with our bodies," he said, getting up from the middle ground and walking over to Lucy.
"I'm Zane, the pilot of this plane," he introduced himself.
Lucy was dusting some of the mud off of herself and checking to see if there was n injury, at the mention of him being the pilot. She looked up at him and didn't know what to feel.
"What? What happened to the plane? Why did it crash?" she asked, not particularly feeling any animosity towards him.
Zane looked down at his feet and back up a the sky. There was a sadness on his face that Lucy sympathized with, it may not have been his fault. He may have just been a victim of poor engineer service back at the hangers.
"I don't know. I can't explain it. it feels like everything went south from nowhere," he tried to explain.
But Lucy realized she didn't need those details.
Let's go find help," she said, and he agreed.
As they walked towards the nearby village, she took the liberty to ask questions. She felt he was a man that did his best, and he was a good pilot, she believed him. with the way her life was going, she didn't have the energy or the tie to doubt someone like him. her life wasn't ended yet, but she still didn't have much time to live. Why waste it in doubt? That was the way she thought about this. He was the only other person she had seen that survived the crash. there was an already existing bond the, connection with a shared tragedy that mercifully vomited them alive.
"How do you know this place so well?" she asked, knowing it was a cheesy question. He was a pilot, of course, he would have been here a few times enough to know how way around intimately.
"I've lived here for a while," he replied, bending a broad leaf that was in their path.
Lucy's clothes were only a shadow of what they were before. Her top was torn in places and looked like it was just hanging on by a thread and her sweat pants looked like an abandoned item that she had found and put on.
Zane on the other hand, looked like everything about his disheveled look was intentional. Lucy couldn't help stealing glances at him as he walked ahead of and beside her at a point.
He was much taller than her five foot seven frames, somewhere along the lines of six foot two inches. His tan skin all but glowed in the sun even with the mud streaks and grass attached to certain areas of his skin. He made her thirst. In the midst of the situation they were in, trying to make their way out of a whole plane crash, a crash where there were hardly any visible survivors, this man was able to ignite a passion in her body, and she didn't know what to do with it.
"We should be there in another hour or so, he told her after they had walked what felt like half the day. They were losing light soon and Lucy felt more aches in her body. She didn't know how he was able to keep up, but he did, not looking tired or worn out.
He turned around to see her painting, her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.
"I'll catch up," she said between puffs of air. "don't stop," she said, trying to get up but realizing she had no energy in her. she knew she wasn't the fittest person she knew but she thought she had enough energy in her to make the trip.
Then she remembered she had a recent diagnosis that may be the cause. She was dying, after all, her body was giving up on her.
"Let me help you, he said, walking back to her. she looked at him through her wet lashes and he looked like the object of the slutty romance books she had read as a teen. His chest hair peeked through the tank vest he had on and his muscles rippled as he stretched his arm out for her to take it. she looked up at his chiseled face, like something that was carefully crafted by a masterful sculptor, his nose having no dent or bump on it at all, smooth and sharp. His eyes were a kaleidoscopic brown that made it look like there was nothing else to be seen in the world but the intricate beauty of his eyes.
"Can you even lift your hand?" he asked, with a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips, pink and full, with a well-kept beard, covering his perfectly angular jaw.
"I don't think I can..." she started to say and suddenly felt her brain go blank. She felt his arms around her, warm and strong as he lifted her into his arms and maneuvered her so that she was on him piggyback style.
"Hang in there," he said and went on, she let herself drift into sleep with the steady drops of his footsteps in the soft earth and the labored breathing, rising and falling on his chest.
She woke up again to the lights of a hospital, she looked to the side and there was no sign of Zane, just a nurse injecting some medication into the IV medicine bag that was connected to the back of her hand.
"Thank god you're awake," the nurse said when she noticed Lucy wincing at the pain that suddenly spread through her body.
"Where's..." she tried to speak.
"No, dear. Don't try to say anything. Sip on this," the nurse said, feeding her some water through a straw.
"You and that handsome pilot are very brave. I don't know how you both survived. The authorities have been out there all last night and day looking for other survivors," she said, her accent thick.
Lucy let herself fall back into the pillow and let out a breath. She had survived. She and Zane might be the only survivors of that terrible crash. She didn't know how bad it was and didn't see the extent of it, but she felt like she had narrowly escaped a death sooner than the one she was already waiting for.
"The pilot is recovering quite well too. But I'm afraid you may have to stay here a few more days before you can leave. I'll turn the television on for you, to keep you busy while you're here," she said.
Lucy liked that she was friendly. The second the TV came on, it was drone shots of the crash, on almost every station she turned to.
"It's the news hours, you can change the stations to something else later on. Poor poor people," she said, smiling at Lucy before she left.
Lucy layed there for the next three days, eating food that tasted surprisingly good, although most of them were soft food because of the nature of her recovery. She didn't want to mention the recent diagnosis when the doctor came in to clerk her. she didn't want to be an identity that she had and had to carry around like a bag. She wanted to look normal and feel normal while she was here. And it felt like a second chance at life was given to her. to have landed in Hawaii and survived a plane crash.
When she was ready to be discharged, to her surprise, Zane was in the lobby as well, speaking to some important-looking people.
"Oh hey there!" Zane called out when he spotted her. he left the person he was talking to and went over to her side. His eyes were still soft, still beautiful and she still felt like she had dreamed him up.
"Hey... Zane the pilot," she said, trying to add some humor. She still had trouble standing for a long so she was in a wheelchair.
"I'll take her," he said to the nurse.
The nurse looked down at Lucy for confirmation to which Lucy nodded. Where else would she rather be than with Zane at that moment? He was the one she survived with, she trusted him to take care of her.
He wheeled her over to the meeting point, briefing her on what was going on along the way.
"They didn't let me come see you so I waited till you were et out of the ward to tell you. The government has booked you a room at a resort near the beach that's where you'll stay as compensation for what happened and a get well soon gift from the locals as well your food will be free and you can stay as long as you need," he said.
"Lucy couldn't believe her ears. Why were they being so nice to her?
"Did they... find anyone else?" she asked, not looking up at him, not wanting to hear the truth but asking anyway.
"No. No one else," he responded, his voice deep and mellow.
She couldn't imagine the guilt that filled him. having been responsible for all those People's lives as a pilot and not being able to save them when something happened that was out of his control. She wondered how he was still able to be up and about as if what had happened was not going to leave a lasting scar on him.
"I'm sorry," Lucy said, wishing she could do more.
"I'm sorry too," he said, just as they arrive where the important-looking man was.
"Ms. Meyers. We sympathize with you on this tragic event. And we hope you get well soon this card is funded with enough money for what you would need while on your stay here. Is there any family you would like us to reach for you?" he said, taking out a brand new phone a handing it over to her as well.
She hadn't asked for her personal belongings, and she didn't expect anyone to have access to them. She was essentially meant to start her life over. She felt it was what she had to do. Besides she had ghosted on her job and now, no one else would know where she was or what had happened to her. it would almost be like she disappeared from the face of the earth.
"Thank you, sir," she replied politely.
"I'll drive her to the resort. Thank you again, Chief," Zane said, before wheeling her out on the bright day outside.
Lucy felt reborn like there was another kind of endless possibility waiting for her.
"You said you live here?" Lucy asked as they drove, taking in the sights and scenery around them.
"Yeah, I stay here when I need to take a break from my life. We're almost at the resort," he said, turning to her with a big smile that made Lucy's heart skip a beat.
She felt like a schoolgirl that was just learning to fall in love again, one that sat miles away from her crush in the cafeteria just so she wasn't so close to him, the butterflies fluttered in her stomach like there was an urgency to being with him and hearing that they were soon at the resort, the thought of being away from him made her heart race.
"That must feel nice. Thank you for saving me, Zane," she said, not sure whether she meant it, not sure whether she would have preferred to have died with the others.
"My pleasure," he replied, with a sparkle in his eyes that made her blush.
He helped her get settled into the room and he made sure to tell the staff to attend to her as best as they could. She observed that they recognized him and respected his words she stood there, watching him command the room, with consideration and dominance, she didn't realize how intently she was staring at him.
"What is there something on my face?" he asked, walking over to her, his loose shirt and shorts making him look like the picture of the American dream.
"Nothing at all, your face is perfect," she wanted to say in all her honesty. But she said, "no," instead and looked away.
"If you're up for it, I can come to get you so you can get used to this place, it's beautiful and I have a spot where I watch the sunset," he offered to her.
The suggestion took her by surprise.
She almost thought to herself that it was too soon to feel this way again, it was too soon to let her heart fall for another man the way she had fallen for Craig, soon after they had broken. She didn't feel like she could trust any man again.
But the sincerity in Zane's eyes and the baptism of tragedy that she had experienced with the crash gave her a renewed sense of the world around her.
"I'd love that," she responded finally and she saw that he stopped himself from punching the hair in excitement.
"Great," she said, his smile broadening, his perfect teeth lighting the room.
Lucy felt this wouldn't be so bad after all.