Water under the Bridge

by Sherryl Hancock

An hour later, Jams and Skyler were flying in South West Los Angeles, over an area called Park Mesa Heights. It was a heavy Crips gang area in the city. They were following a suspect that Sebastian’s team was hoping to finally connect to the money he was laundering for a Mexican Cartel.

  “Come right ten degrees, Sky,” Jet was saying, hearing the static feedback she’d been getting a lot. “Fuckin A!” she growled. “Sky, did you copy?” She waited, keyed the mic again and got a screech of feedback, yanking the helmet off her head she threw it across the cabin. Unbelting the straps, she got up, hearing a strange sound as she did.

  “Sky!” Jet yelled, walking toward the cockpit.

  Suddenly there was a screech of metal sheering off, and a loud snap. In the cockpit, Skyler suddenly had claxons blaring and lights going crazy.

  “Fuck, fuck!” Skyler said. “What happened?” she yelled at Jams.

  The helicopter began losing altitude and an alarming rate.

  “Tail rotor is gone!” Jams yelled as both he and Skyler fought to control the decent of the aircraft.

  “Jet hold on we’re going down hard!” Skyler yelled, doing her best to keep the aircraft level, knowing their best chances were if they landed on the skids, at least in the initial impact.

  Skyler and Jams fought the aircraft all the way down.

  Sebastian saw that the helicopter was in trouble. He started calling it in, trying to discern the path. He had no idea what was happening, but he knew there was a problem; there was fire on the tail rotor.

  “Eleven ninety-nine, officers down! Standby for location!” Sebastian yelled.

  He tracked the helicopter visually, and started trying to figure out where Skyler was trying to put it down. There was a large parking lot at Crenshaw and West 60th, and that seemed to be the direction of the helicopter.

  “Looks like they’re headed for West sixtieth and Crenshaw, Saint John Evangelist Church parking lot! Send fire and rescue now!” he yelled.

  He peeled off the surveillance, calling out a couple of his guys to follow him. Jamming on the accelerator he headed in that direction, constantly watching the helicopter get lower and lower.

  “Damnit, damnit, damnit!” he was chanting as he drove.

  He was two blocks away when he heard the helicopter’s impact. He winced at the sound, praying he wasn’t about to see a fireball erupt above the buildings. He skidded around another corner and saw the copter on its side; the tail section was on fire. He drove up into the lot, throwing his vehicle in park and jumping out to run to the crash.

  Climbing on top of the helicopter, he tried to shove open the window, he could see that Skyler and Jams were both moving, unbuckling themselves.

  “Cover!” Sebastian yelled to them, gesturing to the window.

  Both Skyler and Jams covered their faces and put their heads down. Sebastian kicked the window with all the force he had, shoving it out of the frame.

  “Come on!” he yelled, putting his hands down into the aircraft to reach for them. “Where’s Jet?”

  “In back! I can’t get a response!” Skyler yelled, as she started to move to the cockpit doorway.

  “No Sky! Get up here now! Jams grab her!”

  Jams turned and grabbed Skyler, shoving her toward Sebastian’s hands. Skyler fought him, not willing to leave Jet behind.

  “Get up here, I’ll get her!” Sebastian yelled.

  Finally Skyler’s hands were in his, and he pulled her out, then Jams followed. Sebastian dropped Skyler to the ground, she was coughing and bleeding from a cut on her forehead, but she seemed okay. Jams and Sebastian moved to the window. Sebastian looked inside, he couldn’t see Jet, but smoke was starting to fill the back part of the cabin. Sebastian tried to kick out the window, but it only gave partially. The shatter proof glass splintered and only dropped out a few pieces, leaving a jagged small opening, not any of them could fit through.

  “Jams get down there and be ready to take her,” he told other man.

  Sebastian grabbed ahold of either side of the glass and yanked as hard as he could, feeling the glass cut through his hands as he did. It took another two pulls, but finally the window gave and he was able to create an opening big enough for him to fit through. He got cut on the sides as he slid through, but ignored the burning sensation. His hands were bleeding, so he pulled off his shirt, ripping the sleeps to wrap them around his hands, even as he moved to locate Jet. She was lying on what had been the side of the cabin in a crumpled heap. She had no helmet on, her head was bleeding, and he could see she was unconscious.

  “Jet!” he yelled, trying to get a response. Moving to kneel next to her, he checked for a pulse, he couldn’t feel one. “Come on honey, give me a sign here…” he said, checking for her pulse again but he felt nothing. “Fuck!” he yelled. “Jams get the EMTs over here the minute they arrive, she’s not breathing, I’m starting CPR!”

  “You need to get the two of you out of there!” Jams yelled. “This thing is going to blow, get out of there now!”

  Jams climbed back up on the side of the helicopter, and reached through the opening Sebastian had created. Sebastian picked Jet up as carefully as he could. Her body was completely lifeless; he could see blood coming from three different places, including her chest. He gritted his teeth and handed her up to Jams, just as he heard the ambulances arriving.

  “Go!” he yelled at Jams, not wanting him to wait. They needed to get Jet medical attention immediately.

  Jams jumped down and ran Jet’s body over to the ambulance that had just stopped.

  “Baz, get out of there!” Skyler yelled, moving to climb up on the helicopter.

  The fire was moving closer to the fuel tank, and although they were designed not to blow up, gas and fire would always blow up.

  “Get everybody back!” Sebastian yelled, as he jumped, grasping the side of the opening with his hand. He slipped because of the blood on his hands and landed back inside the helicopter with a loud thud.

  “Fuck!” he yelled, moving to grab anything he could stand on to get closer to the opening. He found a chest, and stood on it, grasping the sides once again with his bleeding hands. He felt tingling and numbness in his hands and thought, Nerve damage, just what I need. This time he was able to pull himself up to leverage himself out of the helicopter.

  He’d no sooner jumped down and moved Skyler back with him, than the helicopter exploded in a fireball. Regardless, they headed straight to the ambulance that Jams had taken Jet to and heard them doing CPR.

  Sebastian and Skyler exchanged a look, both looking grave.

  “Got a pulse!” one of the EMTs said. “Let’s go!”

  “Go, we’ll be right behind you,” Sebastian told Skyler.

  Skyler didn’t argue. She got into the back of the ambulance just as they started closing the doors. Sebastian and Jams watched the ambulance pull out, as the fire department pulled up to deal with the burning helicopter.

  Less than an hour later, Fadiyah was walking through the doors to the hospital, feeling a complete sense of unreality. An officer had shown up at school, pulling her out of class and telling her that Jet had been injured in a crash and that she needed to come with him. She’d nodded, picking up her books and bag and following him numbly. Now walking through the hospital, the officer in the lead, she couldn’t stop thinking that this wasn’t happening. Jet couldn’t be hurt, she’d just kissed her goodbye at school hours before, they must be wrong.

  She saw Skyler and Sebastian standing in the waiting room with Kashena, Jericho and even Midnight Chevalier herself, having flown up from San Diego. Skyler saw Fadiyah first and walked straight over to the girl, taking her in her arms and hugging her.

  “They have to be wrong,” Fadiyah said, her tone faint. “Jet is not hurt, she cannot be…”

  Skyler pulled back, looking down at the girl, she could see that she was in emotional shock at that point. Glancing at Sebastian, she nodded toward the chairs and moved Fadiyah toward them. Jericho, Kashena and Midnight al
l turned to watch Skyler sit Fadiyah down. Skyler knelt in front of the girl, taking Fadiyah’s hands in hers, looking up into her eyes.

  “Fadiyah,” she said, her tone as gentle as she could make it. “When Sebastian found her in the copter, she had no pulse. The EMTs got her pulse back, but lost it twice on the way here… She’s in surgery right now, but it doesn’t look good… I need you to be prepared for the worst…”

  Fadiyah blinked a couple of times, then she fell forward, fainting. Skyler caught her, and was almost thankful for the girl, it might make things easier for her if she wasn’t awake for what might come. Sebastian stepped in, picking Fadiyah up and carrying her over to a couch, laying her down gently and looking over at Skyler. He was worried about Skyler as much as any of them. The way the helicopter had crashed was similar to the crash she’d been through in Iraq. He had no idea what this was doing to her emotionally. So far she’d been rock solid, he wasn’t sure how long that was going to last. It lasted precisely ten more minutes, and then Devin walked in looking completely terrified.

  “Sky!” she exclaimed, running to her wife, and throwing her arms around her. “Oh my God, all I was told was there was a crash and that you were all hurt, possibly killed…”

  Skyler completely lost her composure then, and it took Sebastian, Devin and Jericho to move her to the chairs in the waiting room and calm her down.

  “I killed her, I killed her,” Skyler kept repeating, her hands shaking so badly that Sebastian motioned to Midnight to get a nurse.

  In the end, they had to give Skyler a sedative. Even then, Skyler just sat and stared straight ahead, her thumb rubbing the palm of her other hand. Devin watched Skyler carefully, she knew that Skyler was right on the edge, and she knew she needed to watch her carefully.

  At one point, Devin turned to Sebastian. “We don’t leave her alone for a second right now.”

  He nodded, understanding exactly what she meant. They could be losing Jet as they sat there, and they’d already almost lost Shenin. They weren’t going to take the chance of losing Skyler now too.

  Slowly but surely the group showed up at the hospital. Quinn and Xandy walked over to Skyler and Devin. Xandy hugged Devin and Quinn talked quietly to Skyler. Skyler nodded a few times, closing her eyes slowly, then took Quinn’s hand, squeezing it in thanks for her words. Cat and Jovina got there, they both hugged both women. Quinn, who was sitting next to Skyler, nodded to both of them. Zoey arrived, hugging Jericho, then walked over to Skyler and Devin, talking softly to each of them, and hugging Skyler. Raine and Natalia arrived, moving to sit with the rest of the group, not wanting to intrude, but knowing they needed to be there.

  Sierra rushed in at one point, hugging Kashena and Sebastian, being the first to really notice his hands and insisting that he get seen by a doctor. Sebastian was surprised to realize he’d forgotten about his hands completely. The blood had finally stopped, but the scraps of shirt were stuck to the wounds. While he was waiting for the doctor to come in, Ashley arrived, having finally been told when someone thought to call her.

  “Sebastian…” Ashley said, walking into the exam room where Kashena had sent her. Then saw his hands. “Oh my God…” she said softly.

  “I’m okay honey…” he said, his tone grave. “But Jet…”

  Ashley looked at him, blinking a couple of times. “What?” she asked looking frightened.

  “We’re not sure if she’s going to make it…” he said, knowing he was dealing her a blow and wishing like hell he didn’t have to be the one to do it.

  Ashley moved to sit in the chair next to where he sat on the exam table, all the color draining from her face. She shook her head, tears sliding down her cheeks. Sebastian moved to hold her, and she buried her head against his chest, crying in earnest. He held her doing everything he could to try to help, but they were all feeling the same pain.

  It was hours until they were told anything. Jet’s parents arrived from Seattle and immediately went to comfort Fadiyah, who’d finally come to, and sat stoically by herself. When Todd and Marcel arrived, however, she cried in Marcel’s arms for over an hour.

  When the doctor finally came out, Midnight directed him to the three sitting off to the side. He walked over to Marcel, Todd and Fadiyah, speaking directly to Jet’s parents.

  “Your daughter is in a very serious condition, she has a head injury, damage to one lung and a lot of internal bruising, so much that we can’t even see clearly on the CT scan. We had her open for longer than we wanted to trying to repair the damage we could see. I have no idea what the next few hours will hold,” he told them, his look sympathetic. “But I would prepare yourselves for the possibility that she won’t regain consciousness and that she could very well die tonight.”

  Fadiyah closed her eyes, not wanting to hear what the doctor was saying, and sure that if she just shut her eyes she would find that this was all just a bad dream.

  “Can we see her, doctor?” Marcel asked.

  “Yes, right this way,” the doctor said.

  He led them to the recovery room Jet was in, she was hooked up to every machine imaginable, and there were bandages on her head, wrist and around her torso. Marcel and Todd walked over to their daughter, talking to her for a few minutes, leaning down and kissing her cheek, both crying as they did. They moved back then, giving Fadiyah the room to walk over to the side of the bed.

  Fadiyah reached out with a hand that was shaking terribly, she touched Jet’s cheek, her tears sliding down her face silently. She put her hand to Jet’s forehead, leaning down to kiss her cheek and her lips softly. She put her hand in Jet’s hand, lifting Jet’s hand carefully, kissing the back of it, and putting Jet’s palm to her cheek, crying harder as she did.

  In the room the only sound was the beeping of monitors and Fadiyah’s quiet sobs. Then they heard Jet groan softly. Fadiyah’s head snapped up, her eyes focused on Jet’s face. Jet was grimacing, her eyes still closed, but her breathing becoming labored. Fadiyah immediately pressed the button for the nurse, even as Todd strode out into the hallway.

  Jet’s eyes flew open, and she was gasping in pain, her eyes were on Fadiyah immediately.

  “Jet!” Fadiyah said, holding Jet’s hand and feeling Jet squeeze her hand repeatedly.

  “Everything…” Jet said, her voice breathless, “Hurts… It hurts…” she said, tears in her eyes. She shook her head. “I’m sorry… honey… I’m sorry…” she said, her tone devastated. “I love you…” she said then, her breathing labored. She was writhing in pain.

  “Jet! Hold on, please hold on,” Fadiyah said, squeezing Jet’s hand.

  “Can’t… hurts…” Jet said, her eyes pleading with Fadiyah. “Tell me you love me…” she said, haltingly.

  “You know I do, Jet, but please, you have to hold on, you have to…” Fadiyah said, crying as she tried desperately to get through to Jet.

  “Baby, please…” Jet said, her voice tearful and trembling. “Please tell me you love me… please…”

  “I love you Jet, I love you,” Fadiyah said, leaning down so her lips were right next to Jet’s ear. “I love you, but you have to hold on, please…”

  Jet shook her head, tears sliding from her eyes. “I can’t honey… I’m so sorry…I love you…”

  Fadiyah was holding Jet’s hand and she literally felt the strength drain out of it as the monitor went to one long beep, signaling that Jet’s heart had stopped.

  Fadiyah let out a long keening wail and sank to her knees. Sebastian and Skyler had come running when they’d heard Todd tell the nurses that Jet was awake. They both just stared in shock. Skyler collapsed but fortunately Sebastian was still aware enough to catch her. Marcel cried in her husband’s arms. Ashley, who’d followed Sebastian, leaned against the wall, crying silently.

  The hospital staff responded instantly to the monitor and came on the run. Ashley had the presence of mind to go to Fadiyah, helping her up and getting her out of the way of the hospital staff who were trying to get Jet back. It
was a nightmare scene, one none of them would ever forget.

  Chapter 9

  To everyone’s shock and relief, the doctors and nurses managed to get Jet’s pulse back. The doctors had gone back in surgically to find that Jet’s spleen had ruptured, causing all the pain she was in when she woke. The pain had sent her body into shock, which had caused the cardiac arrest. After having surgery where the doctors were able to repair the rupture, Jet rested more comfortably. She was unconscious for two days.

  When she woke, she looked up at the ceiling for a long time, and then slowly turned her head to see Fadiyah sitting in a chair next to her bed, asleep. Reaching out she gently touched Fadiyah’s hand.

  Fadiyah woke up instantly and smiled the most incredible smile Jet had ever seen.

  “We have got to stop meeting like this,” Jet said, her voice weak.

  “Yes, that would be very good,” Fadiyah replied, nodding. Then she leaned forward, her silver-gray eyes on Jet’s. “We lost you, Jet,” she said, her voice tremulous. “You died right in front of me…”

  Jet closed her eyes slowly, then opened them again, looking up into Fadiyah’s. “I’m sorry honey…” she said, saying the same words she had as she was dying. “I’m sorry.”

  Fadiyah shook her head. “You cannot ever do that again,” she said, her tone so serious that Jet couldn’t help but grin, which caused Fadiyah to narrow her eyes.

  “I’ll put that on the list of things I’m not allowed to do ever again,” Jet responded, smiling softly.

  “At the top of the list,” Fadiyah said.

  “You got it, babe,” Jet said, grinning.

  Todd and Marcel walked in at that moment.

  “Jet…” Todd said, smiling at his daughter as he walked over to the side of the bed. Marcel moved to the other side, looking down at her daughter.

  “You gave us a pretty good scare, young lady,” Todd told Jet.

  “So I hear,” Jet said, her look serious.

  “But you’re better now, and that’s what matters,” Marcel said, reaching out to touch her daughter’s cheek.