Here is the next chapter...Thank you to everyone who reviewed and even read and didn't review, I couldn't do this without you!
Chapter XVI-The Impossible
Rafe and I sat on a wooden surface, our makeshift bench, staring at the plane sitting a couple hundred feet away in silence,
neither of us really knew what to say, there was nothing that could be said to change the severity of the situation
So we sat there
Rafe was waiting for Evelyn, and it was almost time to go, he was beginning to get fidgety, afraid she wasn't going to come,
but at that time, Evelyn walked in and I let a breath of relief, the only thing that would have kept Evelyn away from Rafe
would have been if something was wrong with Leanna
Immediately Rafe rose and jogged to greet the brunette halfway with a very long kiss, then they headed towards the plane,
Rafe wrapped around Evelyn, I took this as my cue to follow behind them, catching up only when they stopped beside the
plane in a seemingly eternal embrace that I didn't want to interrupt and when Evelyn finally let go, a single tear rolling down
her cheek, Rafe kissed her
Evelyn finally looked over to me, and to my surprise, gave me a tight hug
"You take care of him, ok?" she said softly
I fought off the urge to tell her to take care of Leanna yet again, and simply nodded
"And don't worry, nothing is going to happen to Leanna, I promise" she said
I smiled when she pulled away
"You two come home to me, alright?" she teased seriously, wagging a finger at us
"I'll see you later" Rafe said, giving her a quick kiss before turning sharply and walking to the plane, knowing this was the
only way he'd ever be able to leave her, I followed him
I could tell from the moment we got on the plane that Rafe already missed her, the way he was gazing longingly out the
window as we took off
Once we were off the ground and the images of below had drifted away, Rafe turned to me with a sigh, he didn't say
anything, just looked at me with a bit of a smile before settling down in his seat beside me and leaning his head against the window...
Ever since Rafe and I had left Leanna at the hospital, it seemed that time ceased to move. Minutes took hours, and
hours...they lasted an eternity, and after what felt like three years to me, the plane had landed and Rafe, I, and all the other
pilots were lined up inside another hanger being given orders by Colonel Doolittle, I was only half listening, really I was
thinking about Leanna and stealing quick glances at Rafe, who was wearing his best poker face, keeping himself void of
emotion, but that didn't help.
I had known Rafe my entire life, and it took more than a time-perfected poker face to fool me, I could see he was worried,
but as to his exact feelings, well, that was Leanna's field, she could always tell exactly what you were thinking just by
looking in your eyes almost instantly, if only Rafe would look at me, I knew what his looks meant, but it wouldn't help
unless he looked at me
"...it is highly possible that by the end of this mission, the man beside you could be dead" was the only part I really heard,
and that must have been what it took, because at that moment, Rafe looked over and locked eyes with me
That was more like it. We could communicate through looks, like an unwritten language.
His eyes were smiling sarcastically, *I guess that means you're going down, coz I ain't* they said
I couldn't help but look somber, and he knew it, because his gaze softened to a light *Aw, c'mon Danny, I didn't mean it*
I formed an inconspicuous half-smile with my lips, he knew what that meant, *It's ok*, then we both faced forward again,
putting our emotions aside once more and listened to the rest of his little speech
"All who are willing to accept this challenge, step forward" he finished
A pause.
And then the hanger erupted with the sound of boots against the concrete, and I looked around to see that everyone,
including Anthony, Red, Gooz, and Rafe, had advanced
Suddenly, I wasn't so sure, this was my last chance to turn back, to go and be with Leanna, let Rafe be the hero again, but
somewhere inside me, I knew I couldn't do that
A quick look around, a deep breath, and a silent prayer to keep me, Rafe, and Leanna safe, and I joined them...
We were definitely a sight, walking out onto the runway in step, about 20 pilots who were going to attempt the impossible
And that was confirmed as soon as Doolittle opened his mouth. We were supposed to get a plane off the ground before we
crossed a red line painted on the runway. Only about half the distance it would have normally taken. It was definitely
impossible.
The man, the one that was helping us, or trying, he was telling us to pretty much gut our planes so they would fly better. I
couldn't help but shake my head to myself, they were both off their rocker.
And then we actually tried it. Rafe first, and he failed. Miserably.
I went next, and, same as Rafe, rolled over the red line.
Many more pilots tried to no avail before the man (I hadn't even bothered to listen to his name, I was to dumbfounded) sent
us back to 'lighten' our planes some more.
The whole process took about a week, and we spent the next week trying to get everyone up and over the line. Doolittle
and the man proved to us over and over that it was, in fact, possible by doing it on numerous occasions, each time followed
by an exasperated sigh and a "Well, if he can do it" from Rafe, followed by him trying again, failing, and the whole process
started over
Finally, two weeks from the beginning of the training, even though we were tired and the sun was very hot and standing on
the runway made it even hotter, Rafe tried for the fifth time that day, and something happened
He started off fast, the line got closer and closer, I crossed my fingers and said a prayer, and his plane shakily glided, not
rolled, over the line
Rafe had done it
There was an instant outburst of cheers from us, the pilots, and Rafe jumped down out of that plane, but he didn't have one
of those wild grins like he usually got when we did something dubbed 'impossible'
Instead he walked over to me, a small, smug grin across his face, and with a half-shrug
"Told ya it wasn't impossible"
~*~
Leanna took a deep breath and sighed shortly, there was nothing wrong with her, so why did Evelyn insist on keeping her in the hospital for two weeks, her reason was that Leanna was so small, only 100 pounds, and that she was weak from not eating and sleeping properly, but personally Leanna thought that Evelyn was hiding something from her
Even though Leanna had never been pregnant before, somehow she knew something wasn't right, she was 4 months along, and by then, the worst of the morning sickness should have already passed, but it hadn't, if anything, it was worse than ever, her stomach was beginning to show, which was normal, but her baby was in what felt like constant motion, instead of a break, it was all getting worse
The movement of her baby felt like a butterfly fluttering inside of her stomach, it was exciting, enough to make her heart quicken, and this was one of those times when the fluttering got faster and she rested her hands on her growing belly
"Shh now, little one" she whispered, but it didn't stop, with a soft smile that her mother had once possessed, she moved one hand in small circles and began to sing quietly an old church hymn that she had heard when she went to church, every Sunday for the first 16 years of her life
"I'm kind of homesick for a country,
To which I've never been before,
No sad goodbyes will there be spoken
And time won't matter anymore"
Leanna's voice was high and pretty as she sang softly to the unborn child that she was looking at so lovingly, and with a short pause for breath, she continued
"Beulah Land, I'm longing for you
And someday on thee I'll stand
There my home shall be eternal
In Beulah Land, Sweet Beulah Land"
Leanna let her voice slowly drop until it was no more than a soft note drifting around in the empty room, with a deep breath, she realized that the restless fluttering had stopped and looked up
Much to her surprise, Evelyn was standing at the door smiling
"Leanna, the doctor is here" she said gently
Leanna bit her bottom lip in embarrassment and smiled, "I'm ready"
Evelyn exited and returned a few minutes later with a young woman with straight black hair and hazel eyes wearing a long white coat covering her clothes behind her
"Hello Ms. Walker, I am Dr. Allison Knight" the lady said
Leanna only smiled
"I am an obstetrician, I work on mothers and their babies" she said calmly
Leanna shot a glance at Evelyn that said 'Who does she think she is? I'm not 4.'
Evelyn pushed back a laugh and shook her head shortly
"I'm going to examine you today, starting with a physical examination," Dr. Knight smiled, "I hear you've been having fainting spells, general weakness, tell me if I'm wrong"
Leanna smiled and nodded, "That's right"
"Ok, I'm going to do some blood tests, you just sit still" the doctor said, turning to Evelyn and whispering something to which Evelyn nodded, winked at Leanna, and walked off
Nearly an hour later, Dr. Knight walked back into the room, her look was grim, but not so much to worry Leanna or Evelyn, she approached and sat down on the edge of the bed opposite of Evelyn and spoke
"Well, Ms. Walker, I have found the source of your problems, you are severely anemic" she said
Evelyn took a deep breath and looked at Leanna, who didn't look surprised even in the least
"Your red cell count is dangerously low, I would advise that you get iron supplements through an IV for a week or so, until they stabilize, then you will need to take medicine every day to keep it in check, it's nothing life threatening yet, but if it gets out of control, it may harm your baby" she explained
Leanna still looked at her, stare unwavering
"Well, if you'll excuse me, I'll get on with your ultrasound" she said, standing and walking out again, this time to get the machine
"You knew about this, didn't you!" was Evelyn's stern whisper
Leanna didn't look up
"Leanna, you *knew* this could have hurt you and your baby, you're a nurse, you should have *known*!" she was still talking low
"Ev, I-" Leanna began, but Evelyn cut her off
"How could you be *so* irresponsible? Huh? Danny and Rafe were worried *sick* about you, and they still are, how could you put them through that?!" she asked in a whisper hushed with anger
"Listen, I've been anemic most of my life, since I was 12, no one knows, not even Danny, we couldn't have afforded those pills! I wasn't about to put him through that, we were both already getting regular beatings from our father and he didn't need to deal with me being sick too. I dealt with it. I kept it under control. Then it got better. There was no need for him to know, not after all this. Don't talk about things you don't understand *Evelyn*." Leanna finished, eyes burning like fire
Evelyn sat motionless, thinking of what to say, but she had no more time, because Dr. Knight walked back into the room, pulling the machine behind her
"Alright, here we go" she smiled, wondering why the two women had such hard looks on their faces
Ten minutes later and the fuzzy image of a baby was forming itself on the screen, and Dr. Knight was pointing things out
Head...
Arm...
Heart...
Then she took in a sharp breath..
"I think I know why you suddenly became anemic" Dr. Knight said, the corners of her mouth curving up
Evelyn shot a stern look at Leanna, who wasn't looking
Dr. Knight turned the screen a bit and began tracing something out with the end of her pen
"See? You're going to have twins"
A/N: Eh, I posted this chapter, and then I decided I may as well make it longer...yeah, so, the next chapter will be posted in
about a week, so look for it!!
PLEASE REVIEW!
Preview for the Next Chapter: Danny and Rafe learn the not-so-easy part of their mission; Leanna is on maternity leave and doesn't like it
