The Journey

The airport was only 40 minutes away from Jake's house, but for him, it seemed like hours. He couldn't stop thinking about the time he had spent with Chrissie, and how much he loved her. Every time he thought of her, a tear came running down his face. He was scared that he wouldn't be able to say goodbye to her, if anything were to happen that would make her condition worse. As Jake parked his car in the only space he could find, he wiped away all the tears and took a minute to regain his composure. He got out of the car and went into the airport. He booked a seat on the next flight to Madrid, as Chrissie lived just outside the city, near the coast. The flight didn't leave for another hour, so Jake took the time he had to phone Alfie, to see how Chrissie was.

"Hello" Alfie said in a chirpy mood.

"Alfie, it's Jake, I got a seat on the next flight to Madrid. It leaves in 15 minutes."

"That's great, look, Chrissie's improving, her temperatures came down and so has her blood pressure. Yesterday the doctors knocked Chrissie out because her headache was so bad, but now they're saying she might be well enough to wake her up. The doctors seem positive so that's a good thing right."

"Yeah, em…. The plane will land in Madrid about quarter past 8 this morning, will you meet me there?"

"Corse I will, might even bring Kat along, listen Jake, there's something really important that you should know, I never told you before because Chrissie didn't want me to, but she…..."

"Alfie I've got to go, the plane's boarding. I'll see you later…"

Alfie looked to Kat and said "I was about to tell him and he hung up"

Kat; "Typical, you men"

"Anyway, he'll find out tomorrow, I need to pick him up from the airport at 8 am. Hey maybe Chrissie can tell him herself if she's awake."

"Yeah, we'd better go to bed then, at least get a few hours sleep"

Jake boarded the plane and it took off 15 minutes later. During the flight, he got about an hour's sleep and the rest of the time, he was thinking about Chrissie. He never knew how ill she actually was and didn't know what to expect when he arrived at the hospital. The plane landed 

at about 8:07am and when Jake went to get his luggage, he saw Alfie and Kat walking towards him.

"Alfie… I haven't seen you for ages" Jake said with a smile on his face.

Alfie gave Jake a big hug and Kat said "Hey stranger". "Alright Kat", Jake said giving Kat a hug. Jake picked up his bag and the three headed for Alfie's car. Alfie looked at Jake and said "She will be alright you know", knowing that Jake will know that he was talking about Chrissie. Jake started fiddling with his hands and said "I haven't seen her for ages, I just don't know what to expect of her, you know"

Alfie; "Yeah, well she's got a tan"

Jake looked at Alfie smiling. "I never meant that". Alfie looked at Jake and said softly "I know". Kat then started to tell some funny stories to try and lighten the mood up a bit. Ten minutes later, they arrived at Chrissie's house, where Kat and Alfie were staying.