Crashes and ungodly sounds filled the cabin, and I could feel us being tossed around, shaken and rattled. Something, I wasn’t sure what, hit me in the head, and I felt the world start to spin. With a sudden, crunching stop, we came to a rest, and it took me a while to realize I wasn’t dead. The silence after the noisy descent was eerie. I could hear my heart beating in my chest, and I could hear Wesley’s heart where he’d pulled me against him. “We . . . we made it,” I stuttered unbelievingly. “What happened?”
“Are you hurt?” Wesley said in reply, slowly letting go and setting me back in my seat. “Is everything okay?”
I shivered, although I wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or the knowledge we had survived the crash, but I thought I was okay. “Yeah, no major pain. I’m going to have bruises on my hip bones from that belt though, for sure.”
“Those’ll fade,” Wes replied, unbuckling his belt. “You sure you’re okay?”
Blinking, I touched where something had hit my head. “I think so. What the hell hit me in the head?”
“I don’t know, but I know what hit me,” Wesley replied, tenderly touching his scalp. I could see a trickle of blood ooze out from his hairline, and I gasped. “Don’t worry, I don’t think I’ll be challenging Frank Timmons for head lacerations. It was just another one of the bottles from the cooler, and it only glanced off. Stay here, and I’ll go check on the pilot.”
Shivers overtook me as Wes stood up and made his way to the cabin of the plane. I didn’t understand why it seemed he was walking at an angle until I realized that we were sitting at a tilt. Looking out my window, I saw that the wing was propped against the ground, the outrigger pontoon gone and the wingtip lying on bare dirt.
The door was locked, so Wes kicked hard, snapping the lock off and sending it flying open. I couldn’t see much, just Wesley’s hips as he leaned in and examined the pilot. It took him less than five seconds before he turned around and shook his head. “Pilot’s dead. Cockpit’s destroyed.”
“What do we do?” I said, looking around the cabin. While it had survived, it was a shambles. At least our backpacks looked like they were still in place. “The pontoon on my side is gone. That was our food.”
I felt the shivers increase more, and I felt my mind start to wander. Wesley knelt next to me and looked me in the eyes. “Robin?”
“Yes?” I replied, looking at him. It was a weird feeling, like I was in some sort of dream, and Wes was talking to me from down a long hallway. I could see his lips moving, but I couldn’t really understand what he was saying. I just wanted to drift away and go to sleep.
“Robin!” Wes said sharply, taking my hands. He shook them gently, looking into my eyes the whole time. “All right. You’re going into shock, baby. I’m going to help you up, and get you lying down. If you stay warm, you’ll be fine. I’m going to check around outside, see what our situation is.”
“I’m not sleepy though,” I said nonsensically. I mean, sleep was exactly what I wanted to do. “Why do I need to take a nap?”
“You’re not going to take a nap,” Wes replied, unbuckling my belt and helping me to my feet. “You took a hit to the head, no matter how light. No sleeping. But you will lie down with your feet up some, and I’m going to cover you with some blankets. I’m just glad we brought the backpacks up here.”
Going to his pack, Wes unstrapped the sleeping mat from the top, along with my sleeping bag. Unrolling both, he angled it in the tiny area in front of the first row of seats and laid it out for me. He then helped me lay down and zipped me up, kneeling next to me after propping my legs up on the rest of his pack. Thankfully, he had tucked it under my calves and knees, which was actually pretty comfortable.
“Okay, I’m going to be gone no more than five minutes,” he said, stroking my exposed face. It felt good, I had to admit. “I’m going to leave the door closed because I want to keep what heat there is in here, but you can’t fall asleep, okay? No matter what. Promise me.”
“I promise, Wes,” I said in a little girl voice, quiet and scared. I felt like I was six years old again, and that the monster under my bed was going to get me or something. “Be safe?”
“I will,” Wesley replied, flashing a hint of his grin. Suddenly he leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead. “Five minutes, I promise you.”
Chapter 3
Wes
Closing the outside door behind me, I was finally able to let my emotions show for the first time, making sure Robin couldn’t see me. Feeling tears in my eyes, I reflected on how close we had come to dying, and I shivered in fear. Zipping my field parka tighter, I pulled the hood up over my head. We had crashed above the snowline, which I guess was a good thing. The cold prevented the trees from being thicker, and the snow had smoothed the ground somewhat. If we had crashed a thousand feet lower, the rougher ground I saw down there would have torn the bottom of the plane to shreds. As it was, we were lucky. The large rock that stopped us from going further had also prevented us from sliding over a twenty-foot precipice. If we had gone over that, I’m sure we’d be dead.