As the sun was beginning to set over the horizon Mark Lane awoke from his nap and stared out the airplane window. Usually he would take some time to appreciate the beauty that nature put before him but today his mind was cluttered with other thoughts.
“Would you like some refreshments Doctor Lane?” a flight attendant asked with a polite smile. She reminded Mark of his wife, and he instantaneously felt homesick.
“Whiskey, please”. He needed something to distract him from his predicament.
As she poured the whiskey Mark made no attempt to stray his eyes away from the attendants deep cut shirt, that left nothing to a mans imagination. As she placed the drink before him she made an extra effort to bend down a little farther to give Mark a better view, but this time he turned away. He didn't need the extra attention, all he wanted was a quick distraction from the reality that he was living in, and she wanted to give him more.
“Something wrong Doctor Lane?” the attendant asked placing his hand lightly on his.
“Everything is great.” Mark said and placed his left hand on hers making sure that she saw his golden wedding band “just perfect.”
As she started to walk away Mark drank his whiskey in one shot. The alcohol warned up his throat as it trickled down and Mark realized that one shot wasn't going to be enough, he would need to get more later. Looking back out the airplane window he thought about the events that unfolded before him that same day.
He got up at 4:00 AM, made breakfast for his wife Ellie and daughter Cindy, even though it was a long time until they would wake up, and went upstair to kiss his sleeping wife on the cheek before departing for work. Arriving at Central Lane Hospital he was greeted by his entire staff, just like every morning. Doctor Lane was the head surgeon at the hospital, this also happened to be the hospital that was owned by his father, so he had big expectations to live up to as he passes thought the hospital doors every morning.
He went though his routine uninterrupted until he got a call from the United States Department of Defense. They demanded that he leave the hospital immediately and get into the police car that was standing outside. Police car was an understatement, he thought as he recalled the tank-like machine that was awaiting him. No one said a word to him as they stripped him of belongings, he was left with nothing but his clothes as he got into the vehicle. A few words were exchanged with the driver but he did not give up much information, he just said that everything would be explained once he arrived at his destination.
And here he was, sitting in the plane still unsure of what was going on or when he would be able to call his wife to tell her of this madness. There was nothing that could tell him where he was going or what was to happen. No monitors, no magazines, no books and as far as he could tell, he believed that he was the only passenger on the plane apart from the pilot and the attendant. The only thing that he could tell is that he was going out of the country because the only thing that he saw for the past few hours was water.
