“You okay, Brother?” Gave asked. “Mask coms are on. Press that little com button if you want to talk so I can hear you.”
Owen did. “I am. I’m good. You?”
“Fine. Everything is good. All secure. We ready to roll?”
“I am,” said Owen.
“I feel like Ice Man in Top Gun.”
Owen laughed. “Do you need me to do anything?”
“Do you know how to fly an ERJ-175?”
“No,” Owen laughed.
“Neither do I.” Gabe began to move the plane.
“Dude, it’s not funny.”
“I’m not joking.” He looked at Owen. “Let’s hope for beginners’ luck, right?”
“No. Not right.”
Gabe laughed.
Whether his brother was joking or not, it didn’t matter. They had to lift from the ground. What choice did they have?
Gabe’s voice over the speaker was easier to hear than on a full plane, even with the mask and oxygen flowing. He called it Flight 3430 B and they were taking off. He’d turn off the seatbelt sign when they hit thirty-thousand feet and the air was safe.
She was confident in Gabe, but had no clue that was he wasn’t confident in his own abilities.
The plane quivered and shook slightly as he barreled down the runway. Like any flight she had ever taken, she grabbed the arm rest and closed her eyes.
When she felt the plane lift from the ground, she realized she had been holding her breath, the sound of it bounced back at her.
It wouldn’t be long. Five to ten minutes.
She was envious of how in control Tom was. Even in the seat across the aisle she could hear his breathing. In ... out. Slow.
Unlike her, he didn’t have that seat next to him to rest his second tank, it rested on his lap like a toddler.
He did what was called box breathing. Slow breathing in for a second or two, then holding it before letting it out just as slowly.
It was hard not to hear him, being right next to her and being a larger man, she could hear him.
In ….
Pause.
Out.
Pause.
In … out….
In.
The moment it took longer than a few seconds to hear that exhale, Delaney shifted her eyes and saw Tom’s hand. It gripped the arm rest, knuckles white.
A flap of her belt, she jumped to her feet and as soon as she stood before him, she heard what she thought was a hiss.
It was hard to tell with the engine noise.
Something was wrong, definitely wrong. Tom’s eyes were wide and he wasn’t breathing.
If his tubing, like she suspected, sprung a leak, then he inhaled the poisonous gas, putting him in an almost instant inebriated, helpless state, rending him unable to fix the hose.
Gary flew forward not even a second after she did.
Immediately, he fixed the hose.
It was too late. Tom didn’t breathe.
What to do. What to do.
A split second memory of her inflight autopsy told her the gas was in his lungs, trapped there. She could see his expanded chest.
Even if it wasn’t in there, free flowing oxygen wasn’t going to be enough to jump start his breathing. He needed to inhale.
Hurriedly, she felt for a pulse. One was still there. It was faint.
Delaney knew what she had to do and there was no time to waste. She wasn’t even sure medically it was the thing to do to someone alive, but the alternative was worse. It was a long shot that she had to try.
She inhaled the biggest breath she could take into her body and held it.
Quickly, she unstrapped the suction mask from Tom, tossing it aside, and took off her own.
Gary blasted, “What are you doing?”
Hands extended, palms flat, she slammed into his chest, giving on solid push, before opening his mouth, sealing her mouth to his and exhaling every bit of that air she had inside of her into him.
It took everything she had not to follow instinct and inhale after she delivered that breath.
Mouth locked to his, she reached out for the mask.
Gary must have known what she was doing, she saw through the corner of her eyes as he brought the mask in.
As soon as she felt the plastic touch her cheek, she pulled away. Not before realizing, what she had done … worked. At least she believed it did.
Tom blinked.
The exchange was fast.
Gary had the mask on Tom within a split second of removing her mouth.
But Delaney was still without air.
Her own lungs were depleted, and her mask dangled against her hip. For the life of her, she couldn’t get it. It seemed an impossible task.
The rising plane slanted the flooring and caused her to wobble in her balance.
I have it. I have it. Delaney frantically thought as her fingers touched her mask.,
Then finally she had it, brought it to her face and once it was sealed, she wheezed in a huge breath.
It all lasted at most ten seconds, but it felt like a lifetime.
She plopped back to her seat wanting to cry.
Exhausted and fearful that maybe everything truly was in vain, she looked to her left.
Gary was before Tom and then both men turned to look at her.
Weakly Tom lifted his hand in a thumbs up.
She exhaled, releasing all tension she held in her body. It was too much. It overwhelmed her. There in that seat, heart racing out of control, for many reasons, Delaney just cried.
EIGHTEEN – FULL BUT EMPTY
Naval Operations Support – Billings
News of the survivor named Kyle was a happy factor in a forty-eight hour period that was nothing short of emotional annihilation.
And Gene hadn’t really lost anyone. He didn’t have anyone to lose. He could only imagine what the people
