by PJ Vye
He checked Ipo into the pet desk and even made the effort to smile back to the attendant who helped him scan his boarding pass. She touched her brow self-consciously and held his pass a little too long.
As he walked toward the gate, he thought he heard Sunny’s voice, but when he turned there was nothing but a crowd of anxious travellers, waiting. Sunny would be on a flight to the UK with Laurence by now. Atali likely would be sitting between them, colouring in or watching an inflight movie.
Mataio bought a black coffee and stood to the side of the food court to watch the chaos. Security was still tight here and travellers were following the rules. But there was little room to move, the lines to the bathrooms extended almost until the next bathrooms. Guards stood at every eatery and were quick to move if there was any trouble. He doubted this state of being would last for long. Eventually the workers wouldn’t come to work, and the airport would be closed. It was just a matter of time.
“Dr. Brinn?”
Mataio looked up into the eyes of his old colleague. “Dr. Nattara.” They shook hands.
“This place reminds me of the emergency department at St. Van Croft.” The other man laughed. “Like anarchy might erupt at any moment.”
“It’s mad times.”
“And likely to get madder.”
“That’s for sure.”
“Where are you heading?”
Mataio appreciated the doctor didn’t remind him he was the cause. “Samoa.”
“Heading home, eh?”
“Sort of.”
“Well, I’m waiting for a flight to Sydney. I keep getting bumped.”
“Sorry.”
“You planning to practice in Samoa?”
“If they let me.”
“I’ll give you a reference. If you need it.”
“Thanks.”
“Sure. You’re a special man, Mat. Hard to figure out, and full of surprises, but I never doubted your ethics. You’re a healer. Always a healer. First and foremost. I wouldn’t hesitate to trust you again in my hospital.”
“Thank you, Ewan.”
A voice crackled over the loudspeaker. “Doctor Nattara, please head to Gate Seventeen now for your flight.”
“Oops, that’s me. Gotta run. Good luck to you.”
Mataio waved him goodbye and with two hours to wait before his own flight, decided to make his way to customs, for the first time in his life.
He slung his backpack over his shoulder and felt a tug on his hand. A five-year-old girl stood there, beaming up at him. “Atali? What are you still doing here?”
“There were no planes for us.”
He lifted her into his arms and asked, “Where’s your mumma?”
“Over there.” She pointed. Sunny waved and headed his way. Laurence remained behind, trying to keep others from taking their seats.
“What happened?” Mataio asked Sunny as Atali touched his hair.
“We’re on standby. We were bumped and now we’re waiting for another flight that isn’t full.”
Mataio stood there watching Sunny, unable to speak, his mind completely blank. Atali drew circles on his head with her fingertips.
Laurence ran toward them, juggling all the bags while holding up his phone. “They’ve got a spot for us. We need to get to the flight desk now.”
Sunny took a while to react. “Okay. Let’s go,” she said.
Atali had her arms around his neck and he wasn’t sure what to do. “Want me to carry Atali?”
“You got time before your flight?” asked Sunny, loading herself up.
“Sure.”
“Let’s move it. If we’re not there in five minutes, it’ll go to the next person,” said Laurence over his shoulder.
He ran ahead and Sunny and Mataio followed, Atali on his back, singing a made-up song about horses. When they caught up to Laurence, he stood with his hands over his face, shoulders bent. “What do you mean?” he asked the attendant.
“We’ve got one seat available now, sir. Domestic to Sydney then international to the UK. Two more on standby.”
“When will they be available?” Laurence asked.
“It’s impossible to know.”
The attendant with the tidy hair and scarf had finished with the conversation and was too flustered to be her usual professional self. Matai could see there was no point in Laurence arguing. The attendant was simply doing her job.
“Do you want it, sir? There are hundreds of people waiting to take that seat.”
“Hang on.” Laurence put a finger up to the woman.
He turned to Sunny and said, “I think we should wait. We need to stay together.”
Sunny turned to the desk attendant and asked, “Are there any flights left to Apia, Samoa?”
Chapter Forty-One
Sunny knew the instant she saw Mataio alone at the airport. He had a brokenness about him that she sometimes felt herself.
She’d never had that connection with Laurence. There was no denying he was an excellent, smart choice of partner. But she drove Laurence crazy, and he endured it. Laurence didn’t even know what he wanted. He thought he did. It just wasn’t in the shape of what she had to offer.
“What? We agreed, we’re not going to Samoa,” said Laurence, turning back to the attendant to tell her not to search the request.
“You should take the seat to Heathrow, Laurence.”
“Not without you both.”
“We’re not going.”
Mataio and Atali stood very still, watching them both. Sunny was conscious of their attention.
“There are still seats available to Apia, yes,” said the attendant.
“What flight are you on, Mataio?” she asked.
Mataio pulled his boarding pass from his pocket and Atali read it over his shoulder. “VR340.”
The attendant tapped away some more and said, “Yes, I can get you all on that flight.”
“Not three tickets, two.”
“You want me to go ahead to Lincolnshire?” asked Laurence, in a hopeful tone.
“No. I want you to go and leave us behind,” said Sunny, as quietly as she could.
“I don’t understand.”
He did, though. She could tell by the way he stared at Mataio and back at her.
“Sunny?”
“I’m so sorry, Laurence. You deserve more than I can give you.”
Sunny heard Atali take in a sharp breath and Mataio released her to the floor. “You want to ride on the escalator?” Mataio asked, and Atali gave him a solemn nod. “We’ll be just over there,” he said, pointing.
When they’d moved out of earshot, Sunny continued. “I have to tell you something.”
“Don’t do this, Sunny. I love you. I love Atali. We’re a family.”
“I don’t love you the way I should, and it’s not fair to you. I told you that right from the start, and even though I thought I could change it, I can’t.”
The attendant who’d been watching this with much interest, interjected. “I need a decision.”
Some shouting erupted at the desk across the room and a dozen guards came and settled the argument, escorting a family out of the area. “Two tickets to Apia, and he’ll take the standby to Heathrow. Thanks.”
The woman looked at Laurence for confirmation but didn’t get it. She looked back at Sunny, who handed her a credit card and finalised the transaction.
“What am I supposed to do now?” asked Laurence, shrugging his shoulders like a child.
“Remember when you told me Karina came to visit, but I’d already left to find Mataio?”
He nodded. She doubted he could speak without his voice breaking.
“And you had to look after her for three weeks until she flew home.”
He nodded again.
“She broke up with her fiancé when she got back to the UK. She said she realised she didn’t love him.”
His face flushed.
“I don’t know if anything happened with you and her, and I don’t n
eed to know. Sometimes what we think we want, isn’t what we actually need. Maybe what you really need is somewhere else.”
His eyes misted and he cleared his throat. “Why didn’t she tell me?”
“Because you came to Australia to be with me.”
“Nothing happened, Sunny.” He took a step toward her. “Believe me.”
“It really doesn’t matter, Laurence. This isn’t what I want.”
The attendant interrupted. “Here’s your boarding pass for Laurence Williams. Now, for the Apia flights I’ll need your passports please.”
Sunny rummaged in her bag, a panic slowly brewing. Where were they? Laurence produced the passports from his backpack and wordlessly handed them to the woman.
“Thank you, Laurence.” She reached out and hugged him, the sting of tears pricking behind her eyes. She knew if she looked directly at him, she’d cry. He kissed her on the lips, a warm salty touch that broke her heart. She hated hurting him. He turned without a backward glance and moved to the escalators where Mataio and Atali had been travelling up and down.
Sunny watched as Laurence hugged Atali. The girl smiled, obviously unaware of what the goodbye truly meant. He kissed her head and walked away.
Mataio joined Sunny at the service desk as the attendant handed over the travel documents. “Your flight leaves in ninety minutes, so you should head to Gate Seven now. Is there anything else I can help you with today?”
A woman screamed behind them and guards ran from all directions. The attendant ducked behind her desk and Mataio put himself between them and the commotion. A man ran out of the departure doors and onto the footpath, several uniformed men in pursuit. “It won’t be safe here much longer,” he said, and hurried them toward the customs area. “They’ll have to shut this down, too.”
An expression Sunny had seen before etched his face. Protective. It was a much better expression than his usual passive, emotionless one.
The zigzagged line through the international gate filled the room. “How long before our flight?” she asked, trying to read the crumpled boarding pass in her hand.
“Why are you coming to Samoa?” asked Mataio.
“There weren’t any other flights.”
“Do you plan to get a flight to London from Apia?”
“No.” Sunny didn’t need him or anybody making decisions for her. She was in charge of her own life and Mataio would have to get used to it.
“You’re staying in Samoa?”
“Yes.” Sunny couldn’t disguise her irritation.
“Why?” asked Mataio.
Atali looked up at the two adults like they were dummies. “Because we live there, Daddy.” She gave him a big smile. “You gonna live there too?”
This was far too complicated a conversation to be having with a five-year-old.
“I wonder how long this line will take to progress?” said Sunny, gazing out over the mass of people. Fear lined the travellers’ faces.
A couple of young girls pushed through the ropes and tried to get to the front yelling, “Our plane is leaving, please let us in.”
The crowd pushed back and guards escorted them to the back of the line. They cried out and flung their arms and eventually had to be taken away in hand cuffs.
After thirty minutes of waiting, the line moved only a couple of metres. “I don’t think we’re gonna make it, Mataio.”
Atali’s hand pushed itself into hers. “It will be okay, Mummy.”
Mataio met her eyes and she could tell he thought the same thing as Sunny. People were getting restless and announcements were continually being made about cancelled flights. If they didn’t get out today, where would they go?
They could hear screaming coming from behind them and guards locked the doors just as an announcement was made the airport would be closing. No new flights available. The people in the line surged forward en masse and bodies shoved up against them, Mataio held Atali above the crush with one arm and protected Sunny with the other. None of them would get through if the crowd didn’t calm down.
“Attention passengers, paging Doctor Mat Brinn. Could you please make your way to the rear of the building?”
What did they want with Mataio? “Don’t go,” she said, scared for what might happen. “Everyone hates you. Don’t go.”
“It’s the only way out of this. Come on.”
He pushed his way through the back of the line, the crowd eager to take his place as they wound their way out the back. A guard collected them and escorted them out a side door, past security to the international terminal, bypassing customs.
With Atali on his hip, he held Sunny’s hand tightly as they set a cracking pace through the terminal to Gate Two.
Security led them onto the tarmac where a man in a pilot’s uniform lay on the ground. Another man tried to find a pulse with one hand and rummaged in his first aid kit with the other. Mataio dropped Atali into Sunny’s arms and joined the man on the ground. Without even speaking, they worked together, a knife, a tube and an incision in the front of the neck.
When the paramedics arrived, Sunny was pushed back further. She worried she might be asked what she was doing there, and be taken away.
Eventually, both men wiped their hands on towels and chatted to the paramedics. The man said something funny and Mataio laughed, a sight she hadn’t seen in a long time.
Mataio shook hands with the man and returned to Sunny.
“What just happened?” she asked.
“Gate Seven. Let’s go,” he said, steering her away.
“What about customs?”
“We’re through. All the rules are changing.”
“I don’t understand what just happened.”
“That was Doctor Nattara. He just performed a tracheotomy. He’s performed dozens of them on his own, but he thought I might be having trouble getting through, so he told them to page me.”
“Wow,” she said, the shock of what that meant slowly seeping in.
“We’re gonna make it, Sunny.” Another smile. It was almost too much.
Atali noticed the smile and jumped up and down on the spot. “We’re going home now?”
“Yes, I think we are,” said Sunny.
A line had already formed at the steps and they took their place and boarded. Anarchy hadn’t reached this part of the airport yet and everyone, grateful to be through, followed the rules.
The plane taxied from the terminal at only half capacity—most of the would-be passengers were most likely still locked in customs.
“We’re going to Samoa,” said Atali, kicking her feet against the seat in front.
Sunny put a steadying hand on her legs and Mataio did the same.
“Yes, we are,” he said, a new expression on his face as he stared out the window at the land below.
“This is Daddy’s first time in Samoa,” said Sunny.
“Huh?” Atali looked confused and turned.
“I wonder what he’ll do first.” Sunny couldn’t keep the smile from her voice.
“He’ll get off the plane first, silly,” said Atali with confidence.
Sunny laughed. “Then what?”
“Swim.”
“Are you sure?”
“Then visit Tinamatua and Noona.” Sunny’s stomach flip-flopped at the thought of what her Samoan family might say or do.
“Maybe.” Sunny considered how that reunion might go.
“He will,” said Atali, indignantly.
“How do you know?”
“Because they’re his family,” she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Chapter Forty-Two
Three hours into the flight, Atali had her head in Sunny’s lap and feet on Mataio. He knew he needed to speak his mind, but didn’t want to break the serenity of the moment. After all the chaos and concern at the airport, and the kidnapping before that, the tranquility of the flight, with the two most precious things in his world safe beside him, was all he needed and must be savoured.
Sunny sipped wine from a plastic cup and stared at the seat ahead of her. There must be a million things going through her head.
“How are you feeling?” he asked gently.
“I was just thinking about my YouTube channel.”
“That’s what you were thinking about?” She’d just escaped a convicted criminal, fled the country as the world fell apart, broken up with her boyfriend and she was thinking about her social media?
“When I set up Kimbo’s TikTok channel, I set up a new Google account for him. It was what Carrie did for me, when she uploaded my English songs for the refuge kids on YouTube.”
She’d lost him, but he listened as she spoke, enjoying the sound of her voice.
“She had my account details, and set it up later once I had enough subscribers.”
He nodded like he understood.
“She ran the channel for me, right up until she sent me the details the day she stole the refuge money.”
Sunny took out her phone and began typing as she spoke.
“If you have more than one account and password, and you need to use it on more than one device, you’d probably keep the passwords and emails similar, right? So you could remember them?”
She looked up from her screen briefly, and he said, “Sure.” He had no idea who Carrie was.
Sunny typed more on her phone and gradually a smile spread across her face. Then she yelled so loudly it woke Atali. The girl blinked a couple of times then fell back to sleep.
“What?” he asked. Was this random behaviour delayed shock from the kidnapping? Mataio looked at Sunny’s face, but the dark circles under her eyes had lightened and colour had returned to her cheeks. She looked perfectly well. “Tell me.”
“I’m in,” she said gleefully.
“In what?”
“I guessed right. She has her own Google account. Mine is [email protected]. I tried the same but with Carrie. It’s her account. I used the password she gave me for my account and it works for her too.”
“How does that help?”
“I’m not sure yet, but I’ll let the Samoan detective know and they might be able to trace a location.”