The Flight Of Your Life

Tranquility

Her gracefulness made a presence within the waters. The beautiful cruise liner was standing tall. She was proud and confident. She watched on in dispair as the once mighty aircraft surrendered to the ocean. With a slight bow of the head, she waved goodbye to a fellow machine. Her poise remained. She was upset, but kept her calm. She had to be professional. Her main priority was getting the wounded back to shore where they could be treated properly. 

Her last victim onboard was First Officer Newman. A crowd had gathered on the top deck to see what all the commotion was about. The cruise liner had anchored when it had witnessed the diaster unfolding in the distance. It was there to provide first hand support to everyone who needed it. It was over capacitated, but it was for a good reason. Passengers onboard the cruise had been briefed quickly. No one was really sure what was going to happen. Medical staff were on full alert and passengers who were first aid qualified were drafted in to help the minor injuries. They needed everyone they could find. 

When Newman had finally been transported onto the top deck, a team of 5 doctors and 7 first aiders ran to her aid. She was in a terrible state. Her clothing had been dyed red and her visible skin was a murky colour. Besides her stood the Captain. There was an uneasy atmosphere aboard the cruise liner. Feelings of hatred and love were felt from the passengers. In front of them were their pilots. They had not successfully taken them to their destination, instead they had crashed their plane and innocently killed 114. Everyone stayed silent. Their initial reaction was to shake their hands or scream abuse.. but no one did. They stood back, watched.. prayed.. 

***

I could feel many hands on my body. Sensations were running wild. I was trying to make sense of the situation, but I couldn't. I assumed that Captain Hamilton was still by my side. I could feel someone there, stood still, watching...waitting... praying.. 

A calm breeze swept over my body. The suns warm rays engulfed me. The chill in my bones was lifting. My body was radiating for more. It was healing me... or so I thought. After a catastrophic event, the sun still shines. The world doesn't stop for anybody, no matter how large the scale. It added a sense of normality to it all. It reminded me who I was and what I was doing. Hope again. Something that I needed badly. Captain Hamilton was giving me more, but I needed a larger dose. Something that would reassure me that I would live. I wanted to live more than ever. I needed to. The pulsation of blood around my body had eerily stopped. I couldn't feel a limb that was alive. I could feel other people, but not myself. I was still deeply unconscious. Voices besides my ears were shouting commands. I wanted to respond to them, to tell them that I could hear them..  but I couldn't. A force was stopping me. I was meant to be like this for a reason. The body was a strange healer.

***

Onlookers stared on. The rescue team were trying their hardest efforts to bring her round. She wouldn't stir. She was growing colder by the minute. The blankets that were wrapped around her torso were doing little to help. Her lips were blue. Her natural, breath-taking complexion was fading. Newman was becoming someone else. The life within her was draining. Captain Hamilton could only stand and watch. His body was rigid with fear. He didn't want to lose her. He couldn't. Many voices could be heard at once, some were talking over one another and certain voices had authority over the rest. These must have been the doctors voices. They were shouting commands to one another. Going through routine practises... a bit like the flight manual for restarting engines, apart from they were trying to restart Newman's body.

This stage was critical. Get this right and she would survive. Get it wrong and she would not live. Nerves were high. The doctos working on Newman hadn't expected to be dealing with crash victims, but minor sea-sickness and dodgey stomachs from the local cuisine. This was a large scale operation that would take more than five doctors and seven first aiders. This needed the real professionals. 

When the cruise ship had witnessed the aircraft come down, they had sent a distress signal out. It alerted the nearest coast guard and helicopter search and rescue teams. Their location was far out in the ocean. The nearest onland helicopter would take around 30 minutes to reach them. Thirty minutes was far too long. 

Sadly, out of the 114 people that had died, only 75 bodies had been recovered. Many were still strapped into their seats and many were floating on the ocean's surface. The sight was grim. The cruise liners passengers were warned to stay indoors, but that didn't prevent the nosey ones from peering out. Lined up on the deck were rows of bodies. These were the last to be transported off of the ship when it made contact with rescue. At the moment there was nothing they could do. All they could do was wait. Every helicopter along the coast had been alerted. Ten of them were on their way. 

Was time on their side today?