The Last Flight Chapter 26

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The woman in the rearmost seat had her hand reaching out to me across the aisle and I pushed myself back against the cabin wall beside my seat as I stared in terror, moving my head silently from side to side and my lips contorted in a grotesque effort to form the word ‘no’ but no sound would come. I wanted to scream aloud but my throat seemed paralysed with fear and suddenly, Pamela was there, in front of me, grabbing me and holding me by the shoulders. “Karen, it’s all right, it is your mind playing tricks! Close your eyes and breathe!” I did as I was told and took several deep breaths, slowing my heart again and pushing the fear away. When I opened my eyes again, to my concern, the woman was still there only now, she was standing beside Pamela, her face sad and her mascara in streaks down down her perfectly smooth cheeks. I gulped back the lump which had formed instantly in my throat, “Jemima, is it really you?” I whispered, allowing myself to relax back into my seat. She nodded and smiled a weak smile as Pamela Barnes released my arms and helped me to my feet, standing to one side to let me out into the aisle. I stepped quickly past her and threw my arms around this wonderful vision before me, this gorgeous woman whom I had not seen nor heard from since she left the hospital so many weeks before. Pamela allowed us to remain locked in each others arms whilst she opened the passenger door and waited whilst an airport handler placed a small step frame against the fuselage. We were careful not to let too much emotion show, we were ‘only friends’ after all, to anyone other than those who already knew differently and, whilst Pamela was a friend, she was also my Training Officer and I couldn’t risk her suspecting anything that might be frowned upon. I stepped back and stood in front of Jemima, holding both her hands like a long lost friend. “I’m sorry I reacted so badly,” I told her. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here and my mind took me back to the day of the crash. It is something I have to learn to control.” She released my hand and dabbed away the mascara from her cheeks, making herself as presentable as possible. “I know, bahis siteleri I have been following your progress closely,” she smiled, “I didn’t really understand just how sick you have been until now though.” “You have? How?” I asked her, more than a little surprised as I thought I had been pretty inconspicuous whilst in France. “Not now,” she whispered in a conspiratorial sort of way, “I will explain later but I will be staying nearby for a few days until you are settled… If you want me to, of course.” The last few words she added as though it were possible that I may not wish her to stay with me. “But, how… well, yes, of course I would. Thank you.” I stumbled over the sentence as so many questions were waiting for answers but I waited. There would be time for that later. The steps were now in place and Pamela returned to us. “I had better warn you, Karen, that there will be a small presence of journalists and photographers when you get to the arrivals hall. If you cannot face them we will go through one of the hangers and out the back way.” “Oh gosh,” I gasped. I hadn’t really thought about that. “No, I will be all right,” I continued, “As long as I can freshen up first?” “I think we can arrange that,” she grinned, “There is the crew rest room before the main hall so we will use that.” I took my small suitcase and followed her and Jemima down the steps and across to the crew entrance just a few yards away where we slipped unnoticed into the rest room. It was deserted, I was pleased to see, and I went straight into the ‘Ladies’ and looked at my reflection in the long mirror. I let out a sigh and hoped that the others were not in too much of a hurry. I could see quite a bit of touching up needed to be done. I remembered, suddenly, how tightly I had gripped the armrests and immediately looked down at my nails. I breathed a big sigh of relief . There was only minimal damage, nothing that a nail file couldn’t sort out. At that moment, Pamela joined me and saw me staring at my nails. “I brought these with me,” she said, holding up a pair of white cotton gloves and smiling broadly, “Remember them?” “Yes,” I giggled, canlı bahis siteleri “I do and I’m pleased to say I won’t be needing them but you do seem to think of everything, Pamela.” “Oh, I have been doing this job for a long time, Karen.” she smiled. I stepped towards her and gave her a peck on the cheek. “I have a lot to be grateful to you for, thank you.” “You have no need to thank me,” she replied, “You did all the hard work and you will do it again, I know. You have been the strongest and best Stewardess I have ever had the pleasure to train and I will do whatever I can to help you get your confidence back, don’t you worry.” For the next thirty minutes, the three of us concentrated on getting our make-up perfect. Pamela didn’t need anything but she helped me get straightened out whilst Jemima attended to her own smudged face until, finally we were ready to face the world. Pamela looked carefully into my eyes. “All right then,” she said gently, “Ready?” I looked across to Jemima who smiled and gave me a little wink. “Yes,” I replied, “I am.” In the arrivals hall, the journalists and photographers were waiting and , as soon as we appeared, bulbs began popping and shouts of ‘over here’ and ‘Miss Farmer’. I put on my most confident walk, held myself erect and smiled sweetly for them as questions such as ‘How do you feel now?’ and ‘Will you be flying again soon?’ came at me from all sides. I smiled sweetly at them but said nothing. Pamela, sensing my discomfort, fended off the questions with her own statement. “Gentlemen, please, give her little space. A press conference has been arranged for tomorrow nd we will anwer your questions then.” Finally we were through and outside a car was waiting. I smiled and waved to the following photographers as we pulled away. Only then could I relax and breath easily once again. I had never in my whole life been the centre of so much attention and I really wasn’t too sure if I liked it. Pamela looked at me. “I am sorry about springing the press conference bit on you like that but you know how they are. They need to know everything as soon as possible.” “I sort of guessed canlı bahis there would be something,” I confessed. “The company had mentioned it whilst we were planning my recovery so it wasn’t a total surprise. I just hadn’t given it much thought.” I sat quietly for a moment and then continued. “Pamela, that flight…” I began, “It was the most terrifying time of my whole life. Even worse than the night when they bombed the factory.” She didn’t comment but waited patiently whilst my mind churned over the thoughts. “What if I cannot conquer those fears? What if I can’t fly again?” “Karen, you can’t think that way. There is plenty of time and you musn’t rush. Just concentrate with getting back to normal. I will help you all the way.” She took my hands and raised them. “You did it once, you can do it again. Tomorrow, after the press conference, we will be having meeting with the managers to discuss what we do about getting you fully fit again. In the meantime, you should rest and settle back into your own home.” The car took a little time to get to my home in New Cross and I realised that life here had gone on as normal whereas, for me, time had been standing still. Eventually, the car pulled up on front of my house and we all got out. The car, however, didn’t leave. “On the flight over, Mrs. Rana, and I discussed this moment,” Pamela said. “She said that if you were agreed she would remain here to help you settle and then stay in a nearby hotel for the the time being, Is that all right?” I agreed, relieved a little that I wouldn’t be immediately alone. “All right, I will see you tomorrow then and, after the conference, we will discuss your return. The car will be here at Ten,” and, with that, she took her leave of us and returned to the car, waving goodbye as it pulled out into the traffic. A short flight of stone steps led up to the front door and I stood at the bottom looking up. It appeared exactly as it did when I closed it behind me on that fateful day in June. There were a few leaves from the trees on on the top step but, other than that, nothing had changed. Slowly, step by step, Jemima and I went up to the door and I pushed my key into the lock and turned it, pushing the solid wooden door inwards. It moved a little and then resisted any further movement. I pushed a little harder and realised that there was a pile of letters on the floor behind it.

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