There was torture, and then there was rip-your-fingernails-out-by-the-roots-with-pliers pure agony. Right now, Roseanne was in the midst of the latter. Or at least it felt like she was.
She ground her teeth and tried to think of something besides the sweat slicking her skin, the ceiling entirely too close to her face, the fact she could barely breathe in this claustrophobic box. Nothing worked. The only thought revolving in her mind was the fact that if she didn't get out of here soon, she was going to go batshit crazy on the tech behind the glass to her left.
"A little longer, Roseanne."
Great. Fabulous. Just what she wanted to hear. She knew not to move—that would only prolong her misery—but this little test had already taken way longer than it should. What the hell was he doing in there, throwing a party?
Patience had never been her strong suit. Her doctors had told her that lack of patience was probably the reason she hadn't stayed dead in the first place—that she'd given up waiting for the light to get stronger and had decided just to turn around and come back because she'd grown impatient. Roseanne wasn't convinced of that fact—she didn't remember any light. She didn't remember much of anything. But thanks to the trusty staff at Kyoto University Hospital, her "death" had lasted only a mere ninety seconds. Ninety seconds that had changed her life forever.
She had no memory of the car accident that had left her snazzy Mercedes in a lump of twisted metal. No memory of the driver of the other vehicle who'd walked away while she'd lain on a cold slab fighting for her life. No memory of her life before the accident, period. But she'd learned one very important lesson that day: some things in life were worth fighting for.
Her mind drifted to Jaehyun, their anniversary and the special dinner she had planned. Seven years... It didn't feel like seven years. In many ways, it felt like she barely knew him. The past ten months had been a blur of tests and more tests, settling into life in Osaka, reacquainting herself with her husband and their friends all over again. A side effect of the accident he'd told her, one they'd get through together. Except...he traveled so much for work, it seemed like she was doing all that reacquainting by herself.
She wanted to sigh but knew not to. Okay, so he was dedicated to his job. He loved his work. She had to admire his passion. So what if their marriage was far from perfect? No one had a perfect marriage. But she'd been given a second chance. She planned to make the most of it.
She quietly rejoiced when the machine buzzed again and the table began retracting from the tunnel. Done. Finally. Twenty minutes of hell. And she hadn't needed to flip the tech off after all. A smile curled her lips at the thought.
The tech emerged from the screening room and unstrapped Roseanne's head and shoulders from the restraints. "Not so bad. How are you feeling?"
Roseanne sat up and rubbed the scar on the side of her scalp. "Like a sardine."
He chuckled. "I hear that a lot. You'll need to hang around for a bit while we review the images and make sure we got everything we need."
She nodded, knowing the routine. She'd been through it before, and this wouldn't be the last.
She dressed then headed out into the waiting area where TVs flickered with a surreal image. Several people gathered around the three screens, staring at what looked like a war scene. Flames and billowing smoke, sirens blaring, lights flashing. Prickly fingers of fear ran over Roseanne's skin as she watched the horror unfold on the screen.
The camera zoomed in on plane wreckage. A ticker across the bottom of the screen flashed "Breaking News."
"The crash happened at roughly ten-forty five, Flight 524 from Seoul to Osaka crashed just after takeoff. Witnesses say the plane burst into a fireball only yards from the runway. NTSB officials are on scene, and an investigation is already under way. Early reports estimate there are no survivors."
The air caught in Roseanne's lungs. She scrambled for her purse, one strap sliding down her arm as she frantically searched among receipts and fruit snacks for the note Jaehyun had left her. His flight information and where he'd been staying for the conference in Seoul.
"Roseanne? Is everything okay?"
She didn't look up to see who was talking to her. Couldn't focus. The purse slipped off her shoulder, landed at her feet with a clank. She dropped to her knees, frantically pawing through the contents, looking for his note. It wasn't the same flight. It couldn't be. He was probably landing right this minute. He'd laugh when she told him she'd dumped her entire purse on the floor at the clinic.
"Roseanne? What is it? What do you need?"
Vaguely, she realized Yui, the nurse, was helping her. Tears blurred her eyes. She shook her head. "A note. Jaehyun's note. I have to find it. I have to—"
"We'll find it. Relax. Just breathe. I'm sure everything's okay."
She drew a deep breath, let it out. Yui was right. She was overreacting. Jaehyun was fine. Blinking back tears, she scanned the floor and finally spotted Jaehyun's slanted handwriting on a slip of paper just to the right of her hand. Her fingers shook as she drew it close so she could read the words.
My flight info:
Outgoing: Osaka to Seoul, Flight # 1498
Return: Seoul to Osaka, Flight # 524
The paper slipped out of her fingers. The room spun. Blackness circled in.
The CT scan, the anniversary dinner she'd shopped for earlier, the last ten months of her life swirled behind her eyes and mingled with Yui's voice, muffled now, calling to her from what seemed like a great distance. Only one thing made sense. Only one thought remained.
Her life had just shifted direction all over again. And this time, death had won.
***
Lisa Manoban tucked a towel around her body as she walked through her hotel suite. She picked up the remote on the bed and flipped on the TV, then ran another towel through her dripping hair as she searched for the news.
Lisa was craving for some good coffee. She thought about calling room service, but the commotion on the television caught her attention before she could find the phone.
Lights flashed on the screen, people scrambled, sirens shrieked. A reporter relayed the news from yesterday as Lisa sat on the end of the bed and watched the coverage of the plane crash in Seoul.
Her heart beat hard. Her palms grew sweaty where they gripped the towel. It was like watching Chaeyoung's plane crash all over again. Her stomach clenched at the memory, a sharp stabbing pain that cut right to the center of her.
Her cell phone rang, startling her back to the present. Pushing to her feet, she ran a shaky hand over her face and pulled the screaming phone out of the slacks she'd tossed across the back of a chair the night before.
"Hello?"
"You are an ass" Jisoo's voice boomed through the line, concern more than evident in her sister-in-law's words. "Scared about ten years off my life. I've been calling you for hours. You see the news?"
Lisa couldn't seem to take her eyes off the screen. "Yeah, just saw it."
"Where are you?"
She glanced around the room. "Busan."
"Thank God. I thought you were flying out of the country yesterday."
"I was supposed to. Yongsun added an impromptu meeting here in Busan and changed my flight to Osaka" She caught the airline and flight number when the reporter said it again and swallowed the lump in her throat. "My God, that was my flight."
"Idiot" Jisoo muttered. "You gonna be okay?"
"What?" Lisa was having trouble thinking. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"When are you coming back?"
"Tonight, I think. I'll cancel the Japan meetings" Lisa rubbed a hand over her forehead. "Aurora's gonna be pretty upset by this. Would you go by and see her? Your folks are at the house with her."
"Yeah, sure thing. You might not be able to get a flight back into Seoul, though, the airport is currently closed"
"I know. I'll take the train if I have to. I want to get home to my baby"
"Okay, Lis. Call me before you leave, okay?"
"Will do. See you soon."
