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“We have three souls on board, and we have three hours of fuel remaining, Lars 63. We’re trying to assess the damage. We’ll get back to you.”
He turned to Adam, eyes wide, face drained of color, beads of sweat dotting his forehead. “Captain, what do we have?”
Adam glanced at the artificial horizon. The plane was in a constant fifteen-degree bank.“Limited aileron ability to the left, elevator seems to be functional, so we can control altitude, engines operating in the green.”
Devon burst into the cockpit, radiating tension.“A glider hit us on the right side. We have damage to the trailing edge. We lost part of the winglet, the aileron is missing a chunk, and there’s damage to the flap.”
Shit.
Devon zoomed in on Ted’s pale face.“What’s going on up here? Ted, are you OK?”
Out of the corner of his eye, Adam saw Ted hunch over, clutching his solar plexus, his eyes glassy.“Chest. Pain.”
“Chest pain? You having a heart attack?” Devon snapped.
“Angina. Happens. Sometimes I pass out.” Ted pulled a small vial out of his shirt pocket and quickly placed a pill under his tongue.
What the hell? Ted had always turned in perfect yearly flight physicals.
It all made sense now. He’d found a crooked doctor to sign off so he could continue flying.
Fuck.
“Can you get out?” Devin asked.
“I can try.”
“OK, go to the back and lie down. I’ve got this.”
He helped Ted exit the cockpit, then quickly slid into the right seat, putting on the headset.“All right, what do we have?”
Eve
“They have six kinds of coffee.”
Eve glanced over her shoulder at the young woman in dark blue scrubs, who, at the moment, was staring at the Keurig.
Eve found the brown bag and the box she sought, then shut the refrigerator door.“May I help you?”
“Please.”
“By the way, I’m Eve.”
“You’re the new receptionist. I’m new, too.” The woman held out her hand.“Madeline.”
“Aka Dr. Mason,” Eve said.
She smiled.“Just call me Maddie.”
Eve smiled back. A talented physical therapist, Madeline had joined the practice a few days before Eve was hired to run the front desk at Optimum Therapy. Receptionist wasn’t the hands-on work she would have liked, but it was definitely a fresh start.
“What do you usually like? Dark roast, light roast, flavored?”
Maddie’s eyes widened in mock horror.“Please, God, not flavored.”
Eve laughed.“Not my favorite either. That narrows it down to the three from Green Mountain. Nantucket, Breakfast Blend, Dark Magic.”
“Which one do you like?”