Countdown To Love

Flight Delay

He sits there, nervously checking his phone every few seconds for any news on the girl. She is so young, just seventeen years old, and yet has to go through so much. Her story is everywhere on the Internet. How she got into a car crash and her whole family died. He can hear how it all happened in his head, constantly replaying:

Anna Johannes, 17 year old girl left orphaned after fatal car crash. Comatose and in need of a heart donor, this girl is currently in residence at Whisper Lake Hospital in Los Angeles. Our thoughts and prayers will be with Anna.

"First Class passengers may begin boarding the plane now." says one of the flight attendants over the loudspeaker. The man looks up. He doesn't have much money, so he had to get coach.

Looking at the board with all the flight times on it, the man hopefully checks his wrist again. 01d 07h 56m 24s. There's still time. He should make it to the hospital on schedule.

This was the plan: to get there in a day and a half, then to have his own heart taken out. He would die, yes, but it would mean that the love of his love could live. The only way he knew Anna was still alive was because if his time was still going, so was hers. Plus, the doctors said she had two days to live, so he'd make it just in time.

After the first class got on the plane, one of the flight attendants noticed the heavily accumulating snow and checked her phone. Missed call from the Pilot. She listens to the voicemail and announces, "Sorry for the inconvenience, ladies and gentlemen, but due to unforecasted extreme weather conditions, there will be a five hour flight delay."

The man looks down in dismay. Will he make it?

*Twenty-eight hours later, they get off the plane*

There was no time. The man ran over to the baggage claim and luckily, his bag only took half an hour to get there. He rushed out and got in a taxi. He arrives at the hospital 20 minutes later and checks in. "May I see Anna? Anna Johannes?" he asks hurriedly, his blonde hair a mess and his face red.

The receptionist glanced over a clipboard. "Family?" she asks, though from appearances, it was obvious they were not. "Soulmate," he replies glumly. The woman- Betty, from the name tag- looks up in surprise and pity.

"Go right on in." He knows it's too late. He knows he can't save her now. He just wants to see her one last time before ...

Looking down at his wrist, he sees 00d 02h 07m 41s. Then 40 seconds. 39. The man rests his head in his hands and cries at the watch hits 2 hours, 7 minutes, and 38 seconds. And stays there. "She's gone."