Legal Murder

chapter:27

The airport was crowded for a Friday, and most travelers blamed the lack of seats and multitude of heavy, snow-clad footsteps on the fact that Christmas was in three days. Reagan led the small group towards TSA, and Dixie fell back behind the group to loosen her shoes and go through the scanner without haste.

They moved through TSA relatively unharmed, save for Steve's suspicious bottle of mountain-spring water being confiscated. Arriving in a heap at an area near their gate, Reagan had everyone set down their bags and wait for boarding.

Lidia sat down beside Dixie on the long, metal benches in front of the runway-view windows. Cecile agreed at the last minute to let her daughter go on the trip because she was happy that Lidia was making friends.

Lidia fiddled with the handle of her sloppily packed carry-on suitcase. "How's your dad doing? How are you doing?"

Dixie didn't really know how to describe her emotion. She was definitely afraid, but she didn't say so. She recalled something that her dad always used to say whenever she couldn't sift away anxiety; true confidence can be developed from fake confidence, and no one can tell the difference. As long as you held your head high, no one could tell that you were internally slouching. With a slight smile she said, "He'll be better soon, and he told me he wants me to do this."

Virginia stumbled near them with two large suitcases, a giant purse, and a small rolling carry-on. On top of that she had put on three layers of coats and dropped a knit hat on her head. "Hey gals, ready for this?" She was trying to be a positive role model for Dixie in such a difficult time.

"I don't really know how to feel." Dixie admitted, leaning back against the cold, white wall. The airport sort of reminded her of the hospital, with the swarms of expectant people, listening for their flight to be called. There was the disappointment and extended waiting for delays, and the unassuming thud of vending machine chips landing into the hands of temporarily unproductive time-consumers. But Dixie knew what really made the airport and the hospital despairingly unalike- the life-changing misery, joy, life, and death.

A woman nearby with disheveled hair who appeared to be dressed in a bed sheet began to flail her arms wildly. Dixie stood up immediately to see if she could help. A few security guards standing around a kiosk beat Dixie to it, and rushed to assist the woman. There was quite a struggle, and then a call for an ambulance. Only a minute needed to go by before it was clear that the woman had been having a heart attack.

Dixie blinked, feeling numb all over. She kept reliving the night of her father's fall, and it was driving her insane. "I-I hope that woman is alright."

Lidia nodded, almost as if programmed to do so. "Yeah. Oh, look, our flight is boarding. We better go."

Virginia clasped one hand down on Dixie's shoulder, and stood in front of Dixie's view of the incident unfolding before them. "This is what life is, Dixie. Life is a series of moments that can either decide for us where we'll go, or give us the opportunity to decide for ourselves. Your dad didn't choose his situation right now, and neither did that woman over there. Sometimes, choices are out of our control."

"But not all of them." She responded, reassessing the reason why she was about to travel around the country. "Some choices are within our control, and education, or a lack of it, is the only thing that stands in the way of a right or wrong choice." Her shoulders visibly rose and stood taller, "Virginia, you're really good at this whole pep talk thing. How come you don't have any children?"

There was a pause by which Virginia retracted her hand from Dixie's jacket-clad shoulder. "I live for children, but none of my children ever lived. Reagan and I had a daughter many years ago, but she was not born alive. The year after my miscarriage, we were overjoyed to find that we would have another girl." Her vivid green eyes faded into dark pools of deep-rooted devastation, "She was ten and half when we lost her to leukemia. I've wanted to adopt or at least foster in all the time since, but Reagan had been so busy with his movies. I guess you could say that my love for children is what drives my need to help women choose to keep theirs."

Dixie was unable to form words for a good while after Virginia had told her story. The air between them wasn't uncomfortable- it was sorrowfully hopeful. The future was filled with all of the things they planned to accomplish.

The flight attendent appeared to check their tickets, so Dixie stood up and collected her suitcase and bag. She took one last glance out of the wide, frosty windows at the city of New York. She thought about their plans with determination, and her heart didn't feel quite so empty anymore.