“God. I was afraid he’d follow us upstairs,” said Nora, turning toward 4B. “Something tells me they’re terrified of a lawsuit.”
“They should be,” said 4B. “A crew performed maintenance on the wrong aircraft and then took a break before it was complete when the rain started coming down too hard to continue. So the plane took off with part of the fuel line disconnected.”
“It’s amazing,” said Nora, shaking her head. “I understand why they haven’t disclosed the information to the public yet, but I was surprised they disclosed it so readily to us. And don’t airplanes have sensors or something for that kind of thing? Something as critical as the fuel system should have monitors all over it. I don’t get it. And aren’t the pilots supposed to do some sort of visual check of the aircraft before getting inside? I know Tack does. Every single time. Commercial pilots should have the same pre-flight checks.”
Nora’s mind had been churning over the new details since she’d heard them, trying to piece it all together. She had a million questions. She would have gone through all of them with 4B, if 4B hadn’t put a hand on her arm, calming her down before she got too worked up about it again.
“I’m sure we’ll get better details about exactly what happened, and why they didn’t detect it, but it’s all quite overwhelming,” agreed 4B. “It’s possible they hope we’ll be less inclined to sue if they provide details up front. If we feel informed, we’re more likely to accept a settlement.”
“Again, you amaze me with the things you know. Now I’m thinking you might be a lawyer in your real life—or an airline executive.” Nora laughed when 4B just shrugged. She loved the way 4B seemed to accept that anything was possible. “Are you going to sign the papers they gave you?”
Nora’s opinion was 4B was in no position to sign anything while she still had amnesia, but she didn’t feel comfortable telling her what she should or shouldn’t do. All she knew is she wanted to protect her.
“I don’t know. They told me I had time to consult a lawyer. I guess I should wait until I get my memory back or they find my family, whichever comes first,” said 4B, looking at the packet of papers in her hand. They had her name and an address, but so far had not been able to find her family. Nora wondered how it felt to be in that kind of limbo. “What about you?”
“I don’t know. They moved so fast. We haven’t even had a chance to clean the forest off of us yet, and they already had settlement papers in front of us. I won’t sign anything until my lawyer has had a look. I’m sure he’d be happy to advise you as well, if you want.”
“That would be great,” said 4B with a look of appreciation, which made Nora feel more settled about at least this aspect of 4B’s future.
They walked through the open hotel lobby toward the elevators. A huge double-sided fireplace crackled in the center of the room, and stuffed animal heads populated the expansive mantle. Nora was used to the rugged outdoorsman theme ubiquitous to Alaska, even in fancy hotels, but she noticed 4B staring at the mounted animals with a scowl.
“Something tells me you don’t like something you see,” she said, amused.
“I hate it when people display animals like they’re trophies, like it’s not morbid to have dead parts of animals hanging on the walls. Can they not see the sick irony of destroying and then displaying a life-like homage to the wild beauty of a once living creature?”
“You kind of get used to it in Alaska,” said Nora. She liked seeing this spirited side of 4B. It was a new facet of a person she was finding more and more fascinating. “I’m okay with hunting as long as people eat the meat, but I don’t really understand hunting for sport and I don’t see the appeal of displaying the heads, either, even if you do eat them. It’s kind of creepy, really. We’re in the minority on that side of the discussion in Alaska, though.”
“Sorry. It just makes me sad,” said 4B looking away from the display. “Do you think the other survivors of the crash are staying at this hotel?”
Nora recognized the change of topic and shrugged her shoulders indicating she didn’t know. “I’m still surprised they didn’t tell us about the others right away. When I asked the agent who’s been debriefing me all day, he told me they assumed the rescue team would have told us. From what I understand, most of the survivors are still in the hospital in Elmendorf. Some of them are pretty beat up. Only a few have gone home. The baby was flown down to a hospital in Seattle.”
“I was so relieved the baby was found alive,” said 4B with a sigh mirroring Nora’s relief. “I wonder why they took us to a different hospital.”
“I asked about that, too. I guess we would have been sent to Elmendorf, too, but they were doing military exercises at the base today and something about restricted airspace and they couldn’t let the helicopter land.”
“Are the ones in the hospital hurt badly?” asked 4B.
“Most of them were, from what I understand. Only a couple of them have been released. You and I were lucky.” Nora’s mind and heart swirled with emotions she had yet to process. “Would it be weird of me to say I want to go meet them?”
4B seemed to consider it.
“I feel connected to them, too. I guess it’s normal that we would feel bonded by the experience.” They both mulled it over as they walked. “Why do you think there was such a delay in finding us?”
They stopped in front of the bank of elevators.
“I only got to talk to my friend Tack for a minute, but he was part of the search team like many of the bush pilots in the area. He said the weather was bad and they’d stopped searching after they found the first part of the wreck and the survivors there. They thought the crash was confined to the other side of the peak we were on. They would have figured it out when the cleanup resumed this morning, but he was on a run between Juneau and Anchorage and he circled the site and saw the smoke from our fire. When he dropped down to check it out, he saw the wreckage in the ravine.”
“We’d still be out there if it weren’t for your friend?”
“Maybe. I don’t know, but we owe him big time, that’s for sure. I think they would have eventually pieced together that parts of the plane were still missing and widened their search perimeter. But who knows how much time it would have taken?” Nora shivered at the possibilities.
“I don’t want to even guess,” said 4B. “It’s amazing there were any survivors.”
“I know. I feel lucky. And numb. I’m afraid to question it too deeply. We’ll probably find out more after the investigation is closed.”
The elevator door opened and a businessman stepped out, nodding his head at them absently as he brushed past.
“I’m so tired. I can’t wait for a hot shower,” sighed 4B, as she stepped into the mirrored lift and leaned with obvious exhaustion against the handrail as Nora swiped her room key and pushed the button to the top floor. It had been a long, emotionally draining day.
“That’s all I’ve thought about for the last ten hours,” groaned Nora as she took a spot against the handrail next to 4B. The haggard and rumpled woman she saw in her reflection didn’t look like her at all. In contrast, 4B looked tired but beautiful. She looked away from her reflection and down at their hands, which were centimeters apart on the rail. She could feel them, so close, like a buzz, the awareness of it was so strong. But, back to real life and suddenly shy, Nora discovered she had a hard time bridging the distance.
The doors slid open and they got off the elevator at the penthouse level. The hallway was elaborately decorated with only four doors, two on each side of the elevator, leading to what she imagined were more elaborately decorated rooms.
“I’m in P1,” said Nora, unnecessarily checking the card folder the hotel manager had handed to her at the front desk. She didn’t know how to say goodnight and she wasn’t sure she wanted to.
“P2 for me,” replied 4B, looking down the hall at her door, which was next to Nora’s.
Nora followed 4B to the short set of marble steps leading up to the thre
shold of 4B’s room and stood there, waiting.
4B turned toward Nora and looked like she didn’t know what to say either.
“I’m starving. I’ll probably order room service after a shower,” said Nora.
“Me too. I’m dying for some real food. I hate to say it, but the hospital just reinforced the bad reputation of hospital food,” said 4B, fiddling with the plastic card in her hand.
“Sad thing is they probably presented us with their best effort.” Nora gave a shallow laugh. A long pause stretched between them. Struck by an unexpected bout of insecurity, she didn’t know what to say, didn’t know what came next for them. It felt like they stood at the thresholds of their old lives, pointing in different directions. “Well… I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night.”
Nora started to turn.
“Um…” said 4B, and Nora turned back. “If you want, I can order dinner. For both of us. In my room… if you don’t want to eat alone. But if you’re tired, and just want to go to sleep, I’ll understand…”
Nora finally found the courage to approach 4B. She transferred everything she held into one hand and grasped 4B’s hand, which was nervously spinning the key card. She stepped closer and gently kissed her. “That sounds great. Order me anything with meat in it, and just call me when it gets there. Maybe by then, I’ll have washed the smoke and pine resin out of my hair.”
4B just smiled at her and watched Nora walk backward toward her own door. They smiled at each other as they keyed their locks and disappeared into their separate rooms.
Nora tossed the items she held onto the marble topped table in the wide entryway leading into a huge and luxuriously furnished room. She leaned against the door to shut it and wondered what 4B was doing in her room next door. Was she thinking about what had happened between them the night before? Thoughts of their night together had snuck into her head throughout the day, but the chaos of interviews and examinations had left her little time to really think about it at all. It seemed so long ago when they’d awoken, limbs entwined, deliriously sated in the aftermath of lovemaking. It felt like a dream. So different from where they were now, foreign to the lives they were going back to. She forced herself to move further into the room and not to dwell on the possibility that they might find the lives they lived back home—wherever that was for 4B—didn’t match up with one another.
The room was a bit much for Nora, who would have been content with a simple bed and a clean shower. She’d spent many nights in similar rooms. As the CEO of a successful web design company, rooms like this had come as part of the package, but she’d just used them for sleep or work. Most of the time she’d been so immersed in writing code it wouldn’t have mattered if she’d been sitting at a cherry wood desk or a rickety table at the local coffee shop in whatever fine city she happened to be visiting. All of that had been a long time ago, a different life.
She looked around. Soft piano music wafted from hidden speakers and a roaring fire billowed warmth from a large gas fireplace in the middle of the room, open on all sides. The airline had spared no expense on her and 4B. There was a spacious desk area, a fully stocked wet bar, a grand piano, and several couches and chairs arranged in two group settings; one near the fireplace, and another around a dark wood coffee table adorned with a huge fresh floral arrangement. An open double doorway led into another room featuring a plush, king-sized bed that had already been turned down, a gourmet chocolate nestled on the pillow. Across the room, a floor-to-ceiling window overlooked the city of Anchorage, which sparkled below in the clear night air. Nora walked over to the French doors that opened onto the wide balcony and she stepped into the late September evening. Chill night air surrounded her, and she shivered.
Nora went back inside, closing the doors behind her, and investigated the huge bedroom. The bed was bigger than most she had seen. It still wasn’t her own feather bed, but it looked inviting, with a soft comforter and a dozen pillows creating a nest at the headboard. Her weary bones craved to feel the soft surface of the mattress after so many nights spent lying on the forest floor, though she already thought longingly of the pine needle bed 4B had made for them. Body memories from the night before tingled through her and she smiled. Yes, she’d remember that pine-scented pallet for far different reasons than the lack of comfort it provided.
Several bags brandishing familiar department store names sat on a low table at the foot of the bed. Curious, Nora went to see what was in them and found new clothing, pajamas, underwear, shoes, and a jacket. Aside from the underwear, which had been purchased at a famous chain known for frilly garments, rather than the more utilitarian ones she usually wore, all of it was clothing she would have purchased for herself. Whoever had shopped for them had even gotten her sizes right. Nora was impressed. In the bathroom, which was larger than most people’s bedrooms, a similar set of bags was waiting with toiletry items.
Nora sniffed the ginger-lime body wash she pulled from one of the bags, and the marble and glass shower taking up one end of the large bathroom called her name. The shower would have to wait. Before Nora did anything else, she needed to call Aunt Mace. The circumstances of being stranded after the crash had distracted Nora, but now that she was on her way home, worry about her aunt had started to invade her thoughts more often. She had talked to her briefly, earlier in the day, but only to tell her she was all right, that she would be home soon. She’d promised to call her later. When she’d asked Aunt Mace how she was doing, Aunt Mace had diverted the conversation back to the rescue.
Nora went into the front room and grabbed her cell phone, which she’d recharged earlier at the hospital. She’d already gone through all of the voice messages, some of which were work related, but most of which were her friends calling to leave heartfelt messages of worry and hope after hearing about the plane crash. She had saved most of them without listening all the way through. She wasn’t quite ready to deal with it all yet. She’d listen to them later and return the calls once everything settled down. Aunt Mace was the only one she wanted to reassure right now. She sat down next to the fireplace and pressed the speed dial. As she listened to the phone ring, the fire warmed her back.
“Ready on this end,” quipped the voice on the line. Nora smiled at the familiar greeting.
“Hi there, crazy lady. It’s Nora,” she said, happy to hear her aunt’s voice again.
“Eleanor! I’ve been waiting by the phone. When they lettin’ you come home? Did the damn vampires drain you dry yet?”
Nora had called Aunt Mace earlier from the examination room. Despite her frequent need for tests, Aunt Mace had never grown used to needles, and voiced it quite loudly.
“They didn’t take much blood, Aunt Mace. It was just a regular examination.”
“Everything check out okay, then?”
“Yep. Fit as a fiddle, though a few pounds lighter. How about you?”
“You didn’t need to lose any weight,” said Aunt Mace, ignoring the rest.
“I know, but that’s what a diet of peanuts and beef jerky does to you after a few days. How was—”
“We’ll get that weight back on you in no time. Tell me everything. I wish I could have taken the ticket the airline offered and flown out to you today. But Dr. Shou said no. Too many germs, too much stress, blah, blah, blah! Is Tack there with you? I was scared shitless. There was no information from the airline. I kept calling. I’m not proud of some of the things I said to those yahoos who picked up the phone. And you know me. That’s saying something. I’m so glad you’re okay. We all are. I want to hear every detail.”
Nora smiled at her aunt’s monologue.
“I’ll tell you all about it when I get home. But I want to know how—”
“When’s that gonna be?”
Nora sighed. It was impossible to get a question in with Aunt Mace when she didn’t want to talk about something, but Nora needed to know how her aunt’s therapy was going.
“I have some more meetings tomorrow morning, but I’m going to
try to come home as soon as possible,” said Nora, and without taking a breath she asked: “How are you doing, Aunt Mace? And don’t ignore my question. I need to know.”
Aunt Mace let out a long sigh. “Circling the drain, Eleanor. Circling the drain.” Nora’s smile disappeared and she tried not to breathe her frustration into the receiver. The phrase was another favorite expression of her aunt’s, and though it had been funny in the years past, it was too close to home for Nora now.
“You say that all the time, and it’s not funny. How was your appointment this week? You went, didn’t you? Even though I wasn’t there? Ship took you, right? What did the tests say?”
In the several weeks prior to Nora’s trip, the tests monitoring the marker for her aunt’s cancer had remained at the same level. Still in the elevated zone, but just barely. They hadn’t gotten any worse, which indicated the treatment was keeping the cancer from advancing. But it wasn’t pushing it back. They had given up hope for that before Nora left. The answer, they hoped, was in the medicine Nora had bought in Mexico. They needed to start it as soon as Nora got it back to Juneau. They were now a week behind schedule.
“Ship, the old battle axe, made me go, even though I said no. It’s never good news. Why go, I asked her. She dragged me anyway, and I was still right. Doctors live to suck the life out of you.”
“You didn’t give Doctor Shou a hard time did you? And you didn’t answer my question. What did the tests—”
“The same! The same,” said Aunt Mace, irritation painting her response. Nora knew her aunt had given as much as she would give in this phone call. “Dr. Shou lives to get a hard time from me. You know that. But enough about me. Are you okay, Eleanor? When are you coming home?”
Chasing Mercury Page 14