Turbulence
Paul stood, hands on hips. “His name was Fisher. I saw it on his ID tag. He saved us.”
Maddie looked at the ground when she spoke. “You did your best.”
The irony cut deep. I did my best for your nieces, too.
Had he?
The question that had tormented him every day since the crash surfaced again. Had he done everything medically possible for the children? Was there something he’d overlooked because he’d been distracted by another accident victim, his brother? He’d replayed the events second by painful second in his mind, without achieving any clarity. The bald facts were that today the children were gone, Bruce Lambert was hanging on by his fingernails and Paul’s brother, Mark, was in perfect health.
A cold wind struck at them and he saw Maddie shiver. “We’ve got to get some shelter and wait for a rescue team.”
Jaden looked around. “The cabin is unstable, and there’s a fire burning in the electrical system. I salvaged what I could, but we can’t take cover there.”
Wrigley took a few steps toward the top of the hill. “There must be something nearby. A cave, a cabin—something.”
Paul considered. “I think the best bet is to move to the bottom of that rock wall. If we can find some debris to stand on, maybe some wood to make a fire, we can at least be out of the wind.”
“I’ll get the gear that survived and see if there’s anything else.” Jaden zipped his jacket up to his chin, against the biting wind.
Maddie nodded. “I’ll help. I’ve got to make sure the Berlin Heart is safe.”
An odd look crossed Jaden’s face, but Paul could not read it before the man turned and headed quickly up the hill. Maddie followed, struggling to keep up.
The Berlin Heart. He’d forgotten all about it. The rescue team might still be able to fly it to Bruce’s hospital. He looked ahead at the smoke rising from the downed plane. Had it been damaged? He didn’t allow his mind to continue the thought. One catastrophe at a time, Ford.
Before he followed Maddie up hill, he bent to one knee again and said a prayer for N. Fisher.
Dr. Wrigley stayed with the pile of singed carry-on bags while Jaden and Paul approached the plane, Maddie following. Her thoughts were fuzzy as she moved to climb on the wreckage. She’d just seen a man die, and though all she knew about him was his last name, she couldn’t ignore a feeling of loss. She wondered if Paul felt it every time he lost a patient. Maybe he felt it more keenly when he’d sacrificed one patient for the next, as he’d done with her nieces. Her father’s words rang in her memory.
He let them die, Maddie. He let the girls die.
Thinking of her dad drove all thoughts about Paul away.
Her face was stiff with cold, and she reached carefully to hold on where the metal was not sheared off razor-sharp. Smoke continued to blossom out of the shattered windows and the crackle of flames was louder now.
She was about to haul herself up when Paul stopped her.
He put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t go in there.”
His face was calm again, unmarked with the same frustration and anger she’d seen a moment before.
“I’m going, Paul.”
“Not a good idea. The smoke is toxic, you know that.”
She yanked out of his grasp. “I’m not going to let my father die.”
Jaden appeared in the opening. “Fire’s getting closer to the fuel tanks. We’ve gotta clear out.”
Maddie called over the crackling. “Did you get the heart?”
She didn’t hear his reply as a whooshing noise filled the air.
Paul grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the wreck.
She fought him, twisting and jerking. “Let go of me.”
She thought he’d listened for a moment, until she found herself draped like an ungainly package over his shoulder. Squirming did nothing to loosen his grip.
“Fight all you want, Maddie. I’m not going to let you die.”
She watched his feet crunch through the snow. “I hate you, Paul,” she stormed, angry tears bursting from her eyes.
He sighed. “I know, Mads.”
The grief in his voice startled her. Before she could say anything else, he’d lowered her to the ground next to Dr. Wrigley and started to jog back to the plane.
Maddie wanted nothing more than to march over to the plane and let him have it. She settled for kicking a mound of snow into icy smithereens.
Wrigley didn’t comment as he watched her, but she could see the corner of his mouth crimp and the thought that he was amused infuriated her all the more. He handed her a bag.
“I believe this is yours. Do you have warmer clothes in there?”
She grabbed it from his hands. “Yes. But I can wait until the plane is unloaded.”
“At least put boots on if you’ve got them.” He pointed to her feet. “Frostbite sets in quickly, and we’ve been in the snow for a while now. I’m glad I found mine.” He looked as though he was going to cry for a moment.
The emotion unsettled her. To give herself something to do, she fished through the blackened carry-on until she found socks and her snow boots. The irony stung. She’d planned a long walk with her sister after their father’s surgery was completed. A time when they could share their grief, but with the added promise of a more hopeful future.
She yanked on the boots. She’d have it all, just like she’d planned.
Though her feet were numb with the cold, it was a relief to have the thick soles between her toes and the rapidly piling snow. Dr. Wrigley stiffened, his eyes riveted to the twisted remnants of the plane.
“What?” she said, trying to follow his gaze.
She saw Jaden and Paul dive out of the opening into the pile of luggage they’d retrieved.
After a few seconds’ delay, the structure erupted into an orange fireball. It was an explosion that deafened Maddie, and she threw her hands around her head as the air became unbearably hot.
When the noise and heat subsided enough for her to raise her face, she was relieved to see Jaden and Paul heaving themselves to their feet. Each man grabbed an armful of rescued belongings and made their way back to join the others.
Maddie couldn’t wait for them to cross the hundred yards. She ran and met them, nerves tingling, stomach constricted. “Did you get it out? Did you get the Berlin Heart?”
Jaden wiped a sooty hand across his face but didn’t answer.
“Tell me,” Maddie all but shrieked. “You found it, didn’t you?”
Paul made a small movement toward her. “Yes, we found it.”
Her breath whooshed out of her, the relief so profound she could feel it in every pore of her body. “Thank goodness. Where is it?”
“Maddie…” Paul said.
They weren’t carrying the box. It must be in the pile they hurled just before the plane exploded. She darted toward the wreck, shielding her face from the heat. “I’ve got to move it away from the fire.”
Paul put the gear down and followed her. “Maddie, it’s not there.”
She continued on, eyes searching, straining for a glimpse of the metal box. “Leave me alone, Paul.”
He spoke louder. “We couldn’t get it.”
The intensity finally penetrated. “What do you mean? You said you found it.”
Paul looked at her and she could see the flames mirrored in his eyes.
“The metal shell of the tail section collapsed in on itself while we searched. It’s welded shut from the heat. We couldn’t get to it. We couldn’t save your father’s heart.”
FOUR
Paul ignored the snow that fell in a steady curtain around him. He had eyes only for Maddie and the anguish that played over her face. She took a step backward and he thought she would tumble, so he reached out a hand for her.
She stiffened. “Please,” she whispered. “Leave me alone.” She turned and walked to the shelter of a thick pine tree. Her shoulders slumped, head down, defeat written in the lines of her body.
Paul started after her, but Jaden stopped him. “Let her have a minute, Dr. Ford.”
“She’s hurting.”
Jaden shrugged. “If we don’t come up with a plan here pretty quick, it isn’t going to matter.”
Paul stared at Jaden and then at Dr. Wrigley, who cradled his shoulder and grimaced. The snow fell harder, piling into puffs around them. The sky darkened to a dull slate, though Paul’s cracked watch showed the time to be just after noon. He shot one more glance at Maddie. She hadn’t moved. He fought the urge to go to her. It was time to start thinking triage, prioritize what they would need to do to keep all four of them alive. “Okay. Let’s talk this out.”
Jaden nodded. “Search-and-rescue is probably mobilizing, but it may take a while for them to find us, and there’s a storm coming, so they won’t risk losing aircraft. I’m guessing we’re on our own at least until morning.”
Paul raised an eyebrow. “You former military or something?”
A glimmer of a smile played on Jaden’s lips. “You wouldn’t believe the great training Heartline provides its employees.”
Paul folded his arms. “Uh-huh.” He turned his focus to the surroundings. The temperature was dropping steadily, and exposure would kill them first. He scanned the terrain. Steep snow-covered slopes rose on either side, studded with enormous trees. The main body of the plane was now completely engulfed in flame, belching out toxic smoke into the thin air.
Paul reviewed the survival training he’d taken in his backpacking phase. “Shelter first. We’ve got to find something to get us out of the storm.” As he spoke, he removed his belt and buckled it into a circle. He hung it over Wrigley’s neck and helped him gingerly rest his injured arm in the makeshift sling. Wrigley nodded his thanks, his face pained.
Jaden grunted. “Right. Dr. Wrigley, keep moving around, see if you can get a signal on your phone. It’s doubtful, but worth trying.” He pointed to a ridge of rock that thrust upward through the snow. “Let’s check there for any kind of covered area.”
“I’m on it.” Paul made sure Maddie was still safe under the tree before he plowed through the snow toward the shadowed rocks. Sinking to his knees every few steps, Paul floundered along until he reached the base of the rock which had long ago tumbled loose from the towering mountain peak. He picked his way from one rock—up and over—onto the next, in search of some indentation, any kind of rocky depression that might screen them from the elements.
He slipped on an iced-over patch and loosened a shower of rubble that rained down onto the snow.
Careful, Ford. Let’s not get taken out by a bunch of rocks, especially when you just survived a plane crash. That part still seemed surreal. Had the pilot really said he’d been drugged? The sinister notion added to the tension in his gut, but Paul put them away for later. He had to find shelter for Maddie.
What scared him more than the crash, more than the notion that someone wanted them to die, was the defeat on her face. The Berlin Heart was lost, and it seemed her father was, too. Could she live through it? After the death of her nieces?
He climbed over a sharp projection of rock. Part of Maddie had died the day the children did, and truth be told, part of him had, as well. He’d lost some of his confidence—some might say arrogance—when he could not save those girls. He shook the thought away, along with a clump of snow that attached itself to his neck.
Help me find a way, Lord.
The snow coated his hair now, freezing his coat stiff against his complaining muscles and aching ribs. Dropping down behind a pile of black rock, he found nothing, just a smooth blanket of white. It reminded him of backpacking trips with his big brother, Mark, especially the time Paul broke his foot, diving into a tree trunk hidden in the water, and Mark carried him five miles back to their uncle’s place, cracking jokes all the while. Mark was always quick with a one-liner, even now that they only saw each other across a scarred table in the prison visiting area, but Paul saw the pain in his brother’s eyes.
The question that haunted him daily surfaced in his mind. Would things have been different if Mark hadn’t been exposed to his uncle’s cavalier attitude toward alcohol at a vulnerable time in his life?
You’re a physician, Paul. You know that alcoholism is a disease that can affect people anywhere, anytime, regardless of the situation. Still, if his father hadn’t left them…if Uncle Lyman hadn’t turned a blind eye to Mark’s drinking…
If, if, if.
None of it would change a thing. The indisputable fact was, Mark was driving the car that hit Bruce Lambert and the kids, and he had been drinking. For all his protestations that another car had been involved, the police could not find evidence to support Mark’s claim. Their case was cut-and-dried. Mark drove drunk. He plowed into the Lamberts’ car. He was guilty of manslaughter.
And the other indisputable fact was that Paul had loaned the car that morning to his brother, thinking that this time, finally, his brother really had sobered up.
A piece of rock came loose in Paul’s hand and he threw it savagely as far as he could. He didn’t even hear it land. Biting back the frustration, he shook the snow from his hair and started to climb back up to search in another direction, when he noticed a hole cut into the rock, about four feet across. Icicles hung from the rim, like jagged teeth.
With nothing to lose, Paul kicked at the icicles to break them off and stuck his head into the opening. Blinking to be sure he was not the victim of a hallucination, he peered into the gloom again before he said a silent thank-you and headed back to the others. Finally, one small thing had gone right.
Maddie saw the snow deepening around her, but she could not feel it. Her body was numb from the inside out, with a bitter cold that had nothing to do with the elements. In the distance, the plane crackled and hissed, as if it hid some creature living out its last breath.
Last breath.
Last hope.
She was trapped in a surreal nightmare. The marvelous machine that would save her father was lying crushed underneath a half ton of twisted wreckage. She wanted to be angry at the pilot for letting them crash, at Jaden and Paul for not saving the heart; but deep down she knew they were not to blame.
Each breath caused a pain that cut her open inside.
The harsh truth was, she could have gone to get the heart, but her need to find Paul drove her to him instead. If she had put her father first, as he had done for her all her life, she would have gotten the device off the plane before it exploded.
Could it be true? Had she really sacrificed her father’s life for Paul? The man who already held responsibility for letting her nieces die? Paul, Paul, Paul. He was the center of all her pain, and now there was no chance that she would ever be able to rebuild the tattered remnants of her life.
She felt herself sliding to the ground. Snow crunched under her as she collapsed on hands and knees, her palms punching down through the iced crust. There should have been tears, rivers of them, flowing hot down her face, but there were none. There was no way to release the terrible agony she felt, not a single tear left to ease the pain.
A hand took her arm and pulled her up. Tai Jaden stood over her, brows drawn together, saying something. But she couldn’t understand him through the wind and the emotion howling through her body.
She didn’t want to go with him, but he moved her anyway, until she found herself sitting on a pile of luggage.
“Watch her,” Jaden told Dr. Wrigley. “I’m going to see what Paul found.”
Dr. Wrigley eyed her uneasily as his fingers moved over the keys on his phone. “No signal still. It’s like we’re at the bottom of a well.”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she looked at the fire, still burning, and wondered how long her father had left to live.
“We’ll make it. The rescue crew will find us soon,” Wrigley said.
She wondered if he was saying the words to comfort her or himself. A nod was all she could manage.
When Jaden returned, Paul came with him, cheeks reddened and jacket dusted with snow. He hastened to Maddie.
“There’s a cave back behind those rocks. We’ll have some shelter there until help arrives.”
She looked at him, at the face that had brought her so much hope and joy in the past. A desperate thought took root in her mind. She grasped his hand. “Paul.”
He started and covered her fingers with his, chafing as if to rub some life back into them. “What is it, Mads?”
“Is there a chance, any chance, that we could get another Berlin Heart for my father?”
Paul opened his mouth, then closed it. He squeezed her hand. “There’s always a chance.”
But she saw the truth in his eyes. It had taken months of effort on the part of the hospital and her father’s government contacts to obtain one Berlin Heart. People in Europe and the States were vying for the precious few that were produced. Months that Bruce Lambert did not have anymore. Her father’s best hope was entombed in a burning aircraft, a medical marvel with all the hope smashed out of it, just like herself.
She looked away, biting down on her lip until she tasted blood.
He tried to put an arm around her, but she shook him off. She would not take comfort from him, or anyone, ever again.
Dr. Wrigley grabbed a suitcase with his good arm. Jaden and Paul did the same. In a daze, Maddie picked up the bag she’d been sitting on and followed them. Someone helped her over a steep rock and another took the luggage while she ducked under the rounded archway and stepped into the large cave. The ground was clear of snow, covered with rocks from pea-size to boulders. The ceiling rose ten feet above them, glazed and shimmering, as if it had been carved out of ice. It was deep, so deep the far walls were bathed in darkness.
Paul ushered her to the far side, away from the entrance, and urged her to sit on a blanket he’d placed on a piece of luggage. The others did the same, moving together until they were seated in a strange circle, as if they were enjoying a camping trip instead of having just fallen out of the sky.
Jaden looked around. “Ice cave?”
Paul spoke, his breath making steamy trails in the cold air. “Caused by steam, I’d guess. This mountain is volcanic. The rising heat melted these tunnels in the glacial ice. I’d guess there’s a network of them.”
Wrigley sighed. “Too bad it isn’t any warmer than outside.”
“At least we’re out of the snow.” Paul rummaged in his pack. “Is everyone okay? I found a small first-aid kit, and I can take care of any minor injuries.”
Jaden waved him off. Dr. Wrigley pointed to his shoulder. “I believe my clavicle is broken.”
Paul nodded. “I’ll make a better sling to immobilize it.” He turned to Maddie, his voice soft. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
She shook her head, unable to trust her voice. He continued to look at her, his gaze deep and searching, but she lowered her eyes to stare at the ground.
Paul unrolled a length of linen from the kit and began to fasten it around Dr. Wrigley’s neck. “I need to tell you all something Maddie and I heard from the pilot before he died. It’s not good news.”
Wrigley grimaced. “How could it be worse at this point?”
“The pilot said his coffee had been drugged.”
Jaden stiffened. “Drugged? Is that what caused the crash?”
Paul sighed wearily. “I would guess so. Seems to fit the facts. His depth perception was probably off. He clipped the mountain, fought off the effects of the drug long enough to straighten us out, but not enough to keep from crashing.”
“The copilot, too?” Jaden asked.
Paul shook his head. “I don’t know. I thought I heard a struggle before the crash.”
Wrigley’s face was incredulous. “Drugged? Who would have wanted to drug the pilot?”
Maddie felt a prick of interest. She’d been so focused on the heart, she hadn’t had time to think about the pilot’s last words. “Someone who wanted my father dead.” Her words echoed eerily in the cave.
All three men stared at her. Jaden spoke first. “Who would benefit?”
Maddie took a deep breath. “The hospital. It would be better for them if my father died, rather than continue the financial investigation he started before the crash.” She locked eyes on Wrigley. “Because you don’t want my father to uncover any irregularities, do you?”
Dr. Wrigley shook his head. “That’s preposterous.”
“I don’t think it’s so preposterous. And after the surgery he intended to file a malpractice suit.”
Paul jerked. “Malpractice?”
She forced her chin up. “Yes. He believes the children died because the E.R. was understaffed and…”
He stared at her, disbelief strong in his eyes. “And because he thinks I was professionally negligent?”
She didn’t answer.
His voice trembled with emotion. “Is that what you think, Maddie? Deep down, do you believe I turned my back on those children, gave them insufficient care and let them die?”
She wanted to glare at him, to feel her father’s hatred flow through her, but the anguish in his eyes, the betrayal she saw carved deep in the gray depths, stopped her. Instead, she looked away. “What I believe doesn’t matter anymore. We’re talking about a motive for crashing the plane. Now that the heart’s ruined, it looks like things just got a lot better for Bayview Hospital.”
Paul’s laugh was bitter. “And for me, too. Maybe I can escape a malpractice suit now. I guess that gives me a pretty good motive for drugging the pilot, if it weren’t for the fact that all of us should have been dead from that crash.”
She recoiled from the razor edge in his words, wishing she’d kept her mouth shut, but it was too late.
Wrigley stood, good hand on his hip. “I agree with Dr. Ford. I certainly wouldn’t have arranged to crash the plane on which I happened to be a passenger. I have no love for Bruce Lambert, but I’m not about to give up my life to punish him.”
Jaden held up a hand. “There was another person who didn’t make the flight. Someone else who would benefit if the investigations went away.”
Wrigley jerked as if he’d been slapped. “Director Stevens?”
Maddie watched him closely. Wrigley finally shook his head. “No. Director Stevens and I have butted heads, but at the end of the day we’re both doctors. We got into this business to serve people, and I don’t believe he’d sacrifice six lives. He’s not a murderer. Do you agree, Paul?”
Paul ran his hands through his hair. “Yesterday, I would have agreed with you. At this moment—” he looked at Maddie “—I don’t trust anything I believed in before.”
Maddie felt his gaze burning into her, but she did not look at him.
“It could be,” Jaden continued, “that plans were changed at the last minute and all the parties involved were not informed. Perhaps, the copilot was paid to slip drugs to the pilot and land the plane somewhere off-course, to cause delay, or to disappear with the heart.”
Maddie noticed how the strange light picked up the silvered strands in Jaden’s hair. His face was weathered, tough and grim. “Who would do that?”
“It’s entirely possible that Dr. Wrigley or Paul is part of a scheme with the director to see that the heart never reached Bruce Lambert.”
“But—” Wrigley began.
“But,” Jaden finished, “the plans changed. Perhaps the director decided to switch things up.” He looked slowly from Wrigley to Ford. “To take care of anybody who could turn evidence against him later. Or maybe the pilot realized what was happening, fought back and caused the crash.”
Wrigley clutched his shoulder and took a step toward Jaden, as if he meant to hit him. “I don’t have to listen to this.”
“I think you do.” Jaden waved a hand around. “You’ve got nowhere to go, no title to hide behind and no secretary or staff to shield you. Here, your reputation and skills mean nothing. You’re just another crash victim, Dr. Wrigley, and you know more about our situation than you’re letting on.”
Maddie held her breath as Paul’s face twisted in anger.