Author's note:- apologies for the delay in posting which was due entirely to the pressures of work. There's a little humour mixed in with the angst here. Hope you enjoy. J

Part 6

Parking Gerti in a more permanent stand and clearing from airside to groundside didn't take as long as it would have done if they had left Irish airspace but it still seemed to be an intolerably long process for all of MJN air's crew. Well all bar one, the only one who didn't have to endure the formalities was the one concern about whom stretched seconds and minutes to almost unendurable length. Martin had left quickly, urgently, engines revving, blue lights flashing and sirens blaring, a stereo show of light and sound from ambulance and escort, and didn't that make it all the worse for those left behind to a screaming silence and a mind numbing familiarity of procedures before they too could exit the airport, and more importantly before they too could follow their stricken colleague.

Douglas finally returned to an impatient Carolyn and a bouncing Arthur. Douglas hadn't seen Arthur worried very often and so had failed to notice how it made the younger man bounce. It was as if he was on a small invisible pogo stick, anxiety expressing itself in movement and instead of the small scale tapping of feet or fingers that was a sign of stress amongst most ordinary people, Arthur's anxiety encompassed a tapping of his entire body.

"Well," Carolyn snapped, her anxiety expressing itself in impatience, or was that just Carolyn's default setting. "Did you get one?"

"Yes, and I'm sorry," Douglas replied, handing the keys over.

"Sorry?" Carolyn questioned, taking the keys and handing them to Arthur, whom they had agreed should be forced to focus his excess energy on something other than bouncing, driving for example. "Whatever are you sorry for?"

"There's some sort of festival on so there wasn't a lot of choice of cars and I'm afraid. . . "Douglas gestured behind Carolyn to where the vehicle was being driven up for them from the parking lot just in time to hear Arthur's

"Yellow car."

"Dear God," Carolyn gasped focussing her attention back on Douglas. "This could be as bad as that time we went to New York and had to blindfold him for the entire drive down Fifth Avenue so that he didn't give himself an aneurism trying to keep track of all the yellow cabs."

"Well to be fair Carolyn, he won't have any trouble keeping track of this one because he'll be driving it."

"Yes but in Arthur's world he has to say yellow car every time he sees a yellow car."

"But surely only once for each yellow car he sees and he's already said it for this one."

"Oh no, each time Arthur loses sight of the car he must say it again when he sees the car again. That is one of the unwritten rules of yellow car."

"Aren't all of the rules of yellow car unwritten," Douglas mumbled.

"Pardon?" Carolyn asked.

"Nothing," Douglas stated, "But surely he will still only say 'yellow car' once for this car."

Carolyn sighed in frustration and resisted the temptation to pinch the bridge of her nose because she was saving it, sure that it was a gesture she would need before the day was our. "Have you ever tried to watch the car that you in whilst driving Douglas because, trust me, I have had the unfortunate privilege of driving in a yellow car with Arthur before. Admittedly that time I was driving and he was the passenger but even so. The colour of the car is not obvious as you lose sight of it when on a flat road until that is you go over a bump or over a hill or into a dip and then it bounces up to greet you and a little voice chirps 'yellow car' and then it disappears again until the next bump at which point. . ."

"Yellow car," Douglas intoned dryly "Yes I get the picture. In which case I'm even more sorry than I was when I handed you the keys that this was all they had left."

"Mum, Douglas," Arthur shouted, his head now hanging out of the car window, "aren't you going to get in we need to get to the hospital."

And just like that their thoughts were dragged back from a moment of ridiculousness, which passed for normal in their world to the serious, which hardly ever intruded and thus made it all the harsher now. They shared a frequently repeated, in the last hour at least, glance of concern and hurried to get in the car. Shutting the doors just in time for Arthur to pull his head back in and say, "yellow car."

CPCPCPCPCPCPCP

"That was brilliant," Arthur said, "well," and his face changed to an uncharacteristic frown, "apart from the fact that we were on the way to the hospital because Skip is sick and that bit well that bit isn't. . ." Arthur paused, trying to formulate his thoughts and feelings about what had happened.

"Yes, Arthur we know," Carolyn said in an uncharacteristically soft tone, "Martin being ill is not at all brilliant, we know that."

"No, it isn't is it?" Arthur stated more than asked. He looked at Carolyn. "We'll just have to rent a yellow car when Skip is better and then it can be properly brilliant."

Carolyn managed to bite back the sigh and the automatic, 'no never again, never, and especially not on roads with any turns or dips or bumps or. . . Instead she just said, "Yes of course we will Arthur. Now do you want to find us all some coffee while Douglas and I try to find out how Martin's doing?"

"Ok," Arthur said, happily disappearing in search of beverages. It really was a blessing that he never realised when he was being sent on an errand to get him out of the way. He remained blissfully unaware of ulterior motives.

"I'll see what I can find out," Carolyn stated looking round to locate the reception area. She was about to turn away when she felt Douglas's hand on her arm, under normal circumstances she would have snatched her own arm away, under normal circumstances he wouldn't have dared take such a liberty, but circumstances were far from normal so after a brief glance at his hand she looked up and met Douglas' gaze. "I'm sure he'll be fine," he stated in his smoothest most confidence inspiring first officer's, well okay more like a Captain's really much to Martin's chagrin, tones.

"Yes," Carolyn replied slightly hoarsely, "I'm sure you're right." She patted his hand where it rested on her arm and then pulled away, as they each took as much comfort as they could from the lie they had just told each other.

To Be Continued. . . .