“Were you supposed to land here?” he asked.
“Hardly. We barely made it here.” Gabe replied.
“Do you need help?” Gary asked.
Owen walked over. “As a matter of fact, yeah, we do. We have a man down with a broken leg or hip, femur I think. I’m pretty sure.”
“Oh that’s bad,” he said. “He could die from that.”
Even in the distance, it was apparent Lance heard. He yelled out. “Oh my God, what?”
“It’s fine,” Gary yelled over, then dropped his voice to a whisper and shook his head. “It’s not fine. We better hope it’s the hip. Broken femur can be fatal.”
“We need to get him up on the plane,” Owen said. “We’re gonna use a container loader.”
“Makes sense.”
Tom pointed to the truck. “I’m going to get that lift now.”
“All right, and I have a first aid kit in the truck,” Gary said.
Owen exhaled and looked at Gabe. “Why does everyone think a first aid kit is gonna do it.”
“I don’t know man,” Gabe told him. “Just get him on the plane and do it fast. I have to finish this.”
“That,” Gary indicated. “Is something I can help with when it’s done.”
“Good. Good. Help them get Lance on the plane, then come back and help me. We need every second of every minute, and we don’t have much time.”
“Don’t have much time for?” Gary asked.
“Until whatever happened …” Gabe answered. “Happens again.”
<><><><>
Lance was brave, but still couldn’t contain the shrieks of pain when they moved him onto the lift and into the plane. There was no blood on his pants, which was a good sign the bone hadn’t emerged from the skin.
Owen made another sarcastic comment to Tom about the first aid kit, until the firefighter Gary carried the big red box onto the lift to bring on the plane.
It shut Owen up.
“Okay, look, get him in a stable area,” Gary said. “I’ll be back. I’m not really trained in much more than CPR, bleeding, but I’ll try. I have to help Gabe, I’ll be back. Ask around the plane, I’m sure there’s a medical person here. Usually is,” he said, then crouched close to Lance. “Just try to stay still. I know we have stuff in the kit to help with pain.”
Lance nodded.
“I’ll be right back.” And then the firefighter walked out the door back onto the lift.
Tom wondered where they could put him to make him comfortable. There was no way he could just sit down and laying him somewhere would be tricky.
It was an economy airline. A 737 ninth generation if Tom was correct. No first class, thirty rows, three seats on each side of the aisle.
The plane wasn’t full. The best place would be that first row right by the exit. There was extra leg room, and they could lift the seat dividers to create a makeshift bed.
But there were people in the seat.
Leaving Owen to tend to Lance, Tom inched his way to the flight attendants, Marina and Trevor who were on hand when they boarded with Lance.
“Can you get the folks in the first row, maybe moved somewhere so we can put Lance in that row?” Tom asked.
Trevor replied, “I’ll go handle that. How’s Lance?”
“Hard to say.” Tom face Marina. “Could you see if there are any medical personnel onboard?”
“I’ll make that announcement,” she said.
The captain stepped out. “How is he?”
“In pain. We think he broke his femur,” Tom replied. “He’s in some incredible pain. There is pain stuff in the medical kit, but none of us know much about what to do.”
They both paused when Marian made the request of any passengers with medical experience.
“Does this effect you in the cockpit?” Tom asked.
“I can handle it. Just worried about how many times we have to land, fuel and fly. According to Gene we could be doing that for days. I really hate the thought of asking if there are any pilots on board. Then again, everyone knows Lance is down.”
“Not sure it if will help,” Tom said. “My son, Gabe, the one fueling the plane has had his license since he was eighteen.”
“He got his PPL?” the pilot asked.
“He does.”
“What about his instrument rating?”
“I know he was working on that a few years back before his license was suspended,” Tom said. “Not for anything stupid flying. The kid took that serious. Unfortunately, on the ground it was a different story. He got a DUI.”
The pilot nodded knowingly. “I get that. And yes, that will help. I’ll talk to him once he’s in and settled and we’re in the air.”
“Good.” Tom looked behind him, he saw the first row was clear. “I’m going to go get Lance situated.”
“You do that. I’m going to get us ready to take off.”
Tom passed Marina on his way back to the main cabin. “Anyone?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Trevor is walking through the cabin asking people, in case they didn’t hear or don’t want to come forward.”
“Sounds good.” Tom nodded. “Do you have a blanket or pillow?”
“I’ll find something.”
“Thank you.” He rejoined Owen with Lance. “Let’s lift him away from this door and to the seat. Injured side out, so whoever examines him can get to him.”
“Sounds good.”
“Hey, Lance,” Tom said. “We’re lifting you now, buddy. We’re gonna lift you straight up. Put all your weight on us.”
“Alright, I’m ready,” Lance replied.
Owen took one side, Tom on the other. Then braced under his arms and lifted him straight, trying not to touch the leg.
Lance was restrained in his painful cries as they carried him to the first row.
“I haven’t seen anyone approach,” Owen
