Disclaimer: See part one
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"I'll be right back Michael. I want to go get a friend of mine to come and help move you." Michael slowly gave a half nod and closed his eyes. Kristin stood and walked to the door and found a very anxious flight attendant waiting on her, "Doctor what's wrong with him?"
Kristin managed to squeeze out of the cockpit and around the young woman before addressing her. "Young lady would you please calm down a moment? Being hysterical is not going to help us at all. What is your name?"
"Debra, Debra Andrews. I'm the senior flight attendant on this plane. What is wrong with Captain Sterik?"
"Well Debra, at the moment Captain Sterik is resting and will hopefully stay that way for a while. As for what's wrong with him he has a severe case of food poisoning. He will be fine though but we do have a bigger problem at the moment. Michael is going in and out of consciousness fairly regularly now. I need to get him lying down somewhere and taken care of. But he tells me we have no co-pilot on this plane."
Debra is shaking her young head as the doctor talks. "That's right Dr. Westphalen. We didn't figuring on needing one and they cost a pretty penny too. Why? The flight doesn't land for almost 3 hours, surely Captain Sterik will be well enough by then to land."
Kristin smiled slightly to herself, not because of the situation but because this young woman was more naïve than she had thought. She had been seeing how violent that young man was getting sick and still she thought he would be able to land the plane. "Debra I want you to listen to me carefully. Once Michael is lying down and I get him taken care he will eventually be fine but his vision is blurred and he is sleepy. That is only going to get worse until he is taken to a hospital. There is no way he is going to be able to land this plane. We need another pilot. What do you suggest?"
Suddenly the woman got the picture. She began pacing and screaming questions at the doctor all at once. "He has to, we don't have another pilot. No one can land this plane but him, what are going to do? We're all going to die."
Kristin reached out and grasped the woman's shoulders and directed her to a chair and had her sit down. This reaction she could deal with, it was what she had expected at first. "Debra close your eyes a moment and just relax. We can't figure out what to do why we're in hysterics up here. I want you to keep your eyes closed and concentrate on your breathing while I go get my young companion to come and help me move Michael back here. Okay?"
The young woman opened her eyes a moment and caught Kristin's glare and quickly closed them again and only nodded. The doctor stood still for a moment to make sure the younger woman was obeying her orders and then marched out of the room and back toward Lucas. She caught the questioning share of several of the passengers on her way and she smiled and nodded to some of them, doing her best to assure them that everything was going to be okay. Having a panic among the passengers was something they didn't need at the moment.
Lucas saw Kristin approaching and looked up and smiled at her. As she sat down beside him he could tell something was wrong. "Doc what's wrong?"
Kristin leaned over toward him slightly and said in a whisper. "Lucas I don't want to talk about this among the passengers but we have a slight situation up front. I'm going back up there and I want you to wait 5 minutes and then follow me. We'll talk up there, okay?"
Lucas only smiled and felt Kristin grip his arm a moment and give it a gentle squeeze before again rising out of her seat and heading up front. He watched as she disappeared behind the curtain and looked down at his watch, silently willing it to hurry so he would know what was going on.
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"I'll be right back Michael. I want to go get a friend of mine to come and help move you." Michael slowly gave a half nod and closed his eyes. Kristin stood and walked to the door and found a very anxious flight attendant waiting on her, "Doctor what's wrong with him?"
Kristin managed to squeeze out of the cockpit and around the young woman before addressing her. "Young lady would you please calm down a moment? Being hysterical is not going to help us at all. What is your name?"
"Debra, Debra Andrews. I'm the senior flight attendant on this plane. What is wrong with Captain Sterik?"
"Well Debra, at the moment Captain Sterik is resting and will hopefully stay that way for a while. As for what's wrong with him he has a severe case of food poisoning. He will be fine though but we do have a bigger problem at the moment. Michael is going in and out of consciousness fairly regularly now. I need to get him lying down somewhere and taken care of. But he tells me we have no co-pilot on this plane."
Debra is shaking her young head as the doctor talks. "That's right Dr. Westphalen. We didn't figuring on needing one and they cost a pretty penny too. Why? The flight doesn't land for almost 3 hours, surely Captain Sterik will be well enough by then to land."
Kristin smiled slightly to herself, not because of the situation but because this young woman was more naïve than she had thought. She had been seeing how violent that young man was getting sick and still she thought he would be able to land the plane. "Debra I want you to listen to me carefully. Once Michael is lying down and I get him taken care he will eventually be fine but his vision is blurred and he is sleepy. That is only going to get worse until he is taken to a hospital. There is no way he is going to be able to land this plane. We need another pilot. What do you suggest?"
Suddenly the woman got the picture. She began pacing and screaming questions at the doctor all at once. "He has to, we don't have another pilot. No one can land this plane but him, what are going to do? We're all going to die."
Kristin reached out and grasped the woman's shoulders and directed her to a chair and had her sit down. This reaction she could deal with, it was what she had expected at first. "Debra close your eyes a moment and just relax. We can't figure out what to do why we're in hysterics up here. I want you to keep your eyes closed and concentrate on your breathing while I go get my young companion to come and help me move Michael back here. Okay?"
The young woman opened her eyes a moment and caught Kristin's glare and quickly closed them again and only nodded. The doctor stood still for a moment to make sure the younger woman was obeying her orders and then marched out of the room and back toward Lucas. She caught the questioning share of several of the passengers on her way and she smiled and nodded to some of them, doing her best to assure them that everything was going to be okay. Having a panic among the passengers was something they didn't need at the moment.
Lucas saw Kristin approaching and looked up and smiled at her. As she sat down beside him he could tell something was wrong. "Doc what's wrong?"
Kristin leaned over toward him slightly and said in a whisper. "Lucas I don't want to talk about this among the passengers but we have a slight situation up front. I'm going back up there and I want you to wait 5 minutes and then follow me. We'll talk up there, okay?"
Lucas only smiled and felt Kristin grip his arm a moment and give it a gentle squeeze before again rising out of her seat and heading up front. He watched as she disappeared behind the curtain and looked down at his watch, silently willing it to hurry so he would know what was going on.