Read Online Flying Home by Mary Anne Wilson - Free Book Online Page A

wing on his side had either been ripped off, or had been shredded, and since something was keeping the plane fairly level, shredded was his guess. He’d felt the torque when they hit land before he’d blacked out and come to with Merry over him, talking.
    He’d been taught to undo the doors before impact in an emergency crash, and he’d totally forgotten. Now he was glad he had skipped that step. The windows and doors seemed to be intact, keeping out the wind and snow, but the coldness was starting to seep into the interior of the plane. He wasn’t sure how much he could move, but he had things to do, and he needed to do them now.
    “Merry?” Gage said slowly, watching her closely. “I need to check the plane.”
    “What?” Now her eyes were wide with disbelief.
    “I need to see what condition it’s in,” he said as he reached for the door handle by his left side, but that was as far as he got. Merry had his right arm clutched in both of her hands, and was leaning into him. He barely kept from gasping because of the pain and had to will himself to turn very cautiously back to her.
    “No,” Merry was saying emphatically, “you can’t. It’s a blizzard out there. You can’t go out.” She was still holding him and he could feel the pressure of her fingers through his jacket sleeve. She looked terrified.
    “Hey, it’s okay,” he told her, but didn’t make any move to get free of her hold on him. “I’m just going to go around the plane and get back in.”
    “No,” she said again. “You’ll get out there and disappear. You’ll get lost.”
    He’d thought she was fairly controlled, that she was dealing with this as well as he could expect her to. But he’d been wrong. That unexpected sense of protectiveness surged through him. “Okay, okay,” he acquiesced, and he felt her fingers ease a bit, but they didn’t let go. “I’ll explain how I’ll do it, and...” He paid the price in acute pain to use his free hand to cover hers resting on his sleeve. “We’ll get through this,” he said simply, never breaking eye contact with her.
    He saw her swallow. “Promise?”
    “Absolutely. We’ll do it together.” That statement stunned him. He never joined forces with anyone if he could avoid it, but he’d meant what he said. “We’ll get out of here.”
    He thought he’d handled that well until Merry sat back and spoke, releasing her grip on his hand.
    “Clearly, you know what you’re doing, so sure, of course, you need to see what you have to do to fix the plane. And if you think you’re well enough to do it right now, I’ll help any way I can so we can get out of here sooner rather than later.”
    He didn’t know how to word what he had to tell her, but it had to be said, despite the fact that it would wipe away that hopeful look on her face. “It can’t be fixed,” he said as evenly as possible. As the statement hung between them, the hope not only disappeared, but it was replaced by fear. He plunged on quickly. “We’re lucky that the plane seems intact, that there wasn’t a fire, but I need to check it to make sure it’s going to protect us until we can get out of here.”
    “How can you do that?”
    He had to admit that if he stood up just then, he might fall right back down again. His head was killing him, and nausea was beginning to rise in his belly. “I need to get the straps off,” he said, not answering her question.
    The relief from surviving the crash was rapidly being sucked away by the thought of what he had to do and what he most likely couldn’t do. But he had to try. “I have to get out, now,” he said, trying to speak firmly. “Do you understand? I have to get out.”
    Her tongue touched her slightly parted lips, then she finally said, “Yes, I do.”

CHAPTER FIVE
    “G OOD ,” G AGE SAID , surveying the cabin. “My hat?”
    Merry glanced past him to snatch something off the floor by his feet. His baseball cap had survived unblemished. He took it,