Everything in Time
Chapter 2
AN: I fixed a time glitch in Chapter 1 concerning Chloe's high school graduation.
Tuesday, July 5, 2005
US Naval Academy
Annapolis, MD
As the Rabbs and Marshalls walked to their cars, John was asking Mattie Rabb, "So Mattie, are you keeping up on your flying lessons?"
"Yes, Uncle John I am. I should be ready to solo in Sarah by the end of July before I start at Virginia Tech."
"You ready for that Harm?" Sarah asked.
"Well Mattie already has a driver's license, why not a pilot's license," Harm replied.
"So, you want to take over Grace Aviation?" Sarah asked.
"Well I want to have a hand in it. Beth O'Neil is doing a great job managing it with her partner, Carrie. So, there's no rush. After I get my aeronautical engineering degree, I'll decide what to do then," Mattie replied.
"I wasn't surprised that Beth jumped at the chance to manage the service and the school; what with the deal of living in Mattie's house at a modest rent thrown in," Diane replied.
"Yeah nice to know the house is being taken care of and not going derelict. It's a good thing we caught the squatters that broke into the house before Beth and Carrie moved in," Harm replied.
"We're lucky they didn't start receiving mail at the house. Otherwise it would have legally impossible getting them out," Sarah said.
"When is your next flying lesson with Beth?" John asked.
A week from Saturday. I'm staying at the house Friday night before so we can get together early Saturday. They rearranged my old room for me."
At that the families got into their respective cars for the ride home.
Saturday, July 16, 2005
1030 Local Time
Grace Aviation Hangar
Manassas Regional Airport
Manassas, VA
After doing the required navigation class and planning, Mattie took off with Beth sitting in the copilot's seat of the Cessna. Beth put Mattie through her paces as she flew the orbit flight around the area of the Manassas Airport as they planned. They were an hour into their flight just north of the airport when they received a transmission from air traffic control.
"Cessna 9234 – Manassas Control Tower, weather shows sudden worsening conditions with a fast-moving storm moving from the west with tornado warnings. Strongly advise that you cut it short."
Beth keyed her headset mic to reply, "Roger tower. We are turning toward the field. What's the ETA of the storm to the field?"
"About fifteen minutes Cessna 34."
"Roger that tower. Cessna 34 turning toward the field."
Mattie had been listening and without waiting for Beth instructions, she started her turn south toward the airport.
Beth let out a gasp as she saw the storm front in front of them.
"Are we going to make it Beth?"
"Yeah Mattie, we can make it. Let me have the controls. We're going in hot."
"You have the plane," Mattie said as she relinquished the controls when Beth took hold.
Beth expertly handled the plane as she felt the fuselage shake as the winds picked up. On the final approach she had to crab the plane as the wind blew across the runway. Beth and Mattie both breathed sighs of relief as thy touched down. It was pouring rain as she took the plane through the taxiways to the hangar.
As they approached the Grace Hangar, Mattie said, "Man that was close."
Just as she said that, a tornado touched down right outside the hangar. It picked up the little plane from the port side and before Beth or Mattie could say anything, the plane was lifted and thrown starboard. The plane's fuselage just behind the cockpit and the wings struck the hangar doors, shearing the plane completely in half. The starboard wing was bent up at the cockpit as the plane fell into the hangar and landed on its top, with the port wing falling flat onto the floor in the hangar.
The hangar crew looked on in horror as they saw the plane tossed around. They ran to the wreck and tried to extract the two passengers. Carrie was in the office watching out the window for Beth to return and saw the accident unfold. She had the sense to call 911 to get the airport's emergency crews to the hangar. Then she ran out to help as best she could.
When she reached the wreckage, she saw that the hangar crew had sprayed foam fire retardant on the fuel that spilled when the wing broke apart. As they went about clearing debris from in front of the plane to get to Beth and Mattie trapped in the cockpit, the first fire truck arrived.
1300 Hours Local Time
Rabb Home
Ashby Place
Fairfax, VA
Prince William Hospital
8644 Sudley Road,
Manassas, VA 20110
Diane was watching their children having lunch while Harm was outside swimming laps in the pool. As he came out of the water, he saw the weather front moving in and hurried into the house. Just as he reached the door, he saw the first flash of lightning followed by the roll of thunder. It started to pour rain at that moment as well.
"Wow it's really coming down out there," Harm said as he closed the door.
Diane looked out the window and said, "I hope Mattie and Beth aren't flying in this."
Harm nodded his agreement as he went to change out of his swimsuit.
Just as he came back into the kitchen, the house phone rang. Diane picked it up and recognized the hangar office number.
"Beth is everything alright?"
"Diane, it's Carrie. Beth and Mattie were in the Cessna. They cut their flight short when the tower notified them of the bad weather. They were rolling into the hangar when a tornado blew it into the hangar doors. It broke apart behind the cockpit and flipped over onto its back. Beth and Mattie were trapped. The force of the impact collapsed the cockpit roof down onto Beth and Mattie. The airport fire department used the jaws of life to get them out. Right now, they're on their way to Prince William Hospital."
"What's the extent of their injuries?" Diane asked. She didn't want to believe that Mattie or Beth were dead.
"Beth was responsive. She had a head laceration and her shoulder was probably broken. Mattie was unconscious. They stabilized her neck and back before they pulled her out. She also has a head laceration."
"Carrie, Harm is on his way to the hospital now. He'll meet you there."
Harm nodded as he went out to the garage. He keyed the garage door open as he got into the Lexus.
It took him about thirty minutes to reach the hospital. The heavy rain slowed traffic to a crawl.
Harm managed to find a parking space in the hospital's parking garage and he ran in and found his way to the emergency room. He went up to the nurse at the registration desk.
"I'm Mattie Rabb's father. Can you tell me where she is?"
The nurse consulted her charts and replied, "Mr. Rabb, she's in trauma room four. Just down the hall to the right. The doctors are with her now. You're going to have to wait until they come out, otherwise you'll disrupt her treatment."
Harm sighed as he relented. He went to sit in the waiting area in front of the desk. He got his cellphone out and called home.
"Hey honey. I haven't seen her yet. The doctors are still with her. Wait a minute, here comes Carrie. I'll call you back when I have news."
Carrie rushed to him and sank into his embrace.
"How are they?"
"Beth did have a broken shoulder. They sedated her to relieve the pain. They're going to operate on her tomorrow. Mattie is still not awake. She's been sent to get a CAT scan. I told the doctors that you were here for Mattie."
At that a woman dressed in scrubs and a white lab coat came over to them, asking "Mr. Rabb?"
Harm turned to her to reply, "Yes, I'm Mattie's father."
"I'm Dr. Talley. I did Mattie's work up. She's awake now and responsive. We did a neurological exam and she is not paralyzed as she can wiggle her toes. Considering the extent of the cervical vertebrae injuries, she is very lucky. The first responders did a great job at extracting her without causing paralysis."
"How extensive are the cervical injuries?"
"She sustained fractures to her C5 & C6 vertebrae. Again, she's very lucky that her spinal cord wasn't damaged. We need to perform spinal stabilization surgery. Then she's going to be placed in a halo head harness until her vertebrae heal."
"When are you going to do the surgery?"
"Today once you sign the consent."
"Alright get the forms ready."
Same Time
Rabb Residence
Diane was on the phone with her family. First, she called her in laws, Sergei and Jen. "Jenny, Mattie's plane crashed and she's at Prince William Hospital. I need someone to come here for the kids so that I can go to the hospital."
"Diane I'll be there with Tammy as soon as I can."
"Thanks Jenny, you're the best."
As soon as she disconnected with Jen, Diane called Harm, "What's happening now?"
"Mattie woke up. The doctor explained what happened and about the surgery. They're prepping her now."
"Okay Jenny is coming here to be with the kids. I'm going to meet you there."
"Okay, I'll be waiting on the 5th floor surgical wing."
A few minutes later Jenn arrived. She put 1-year old Tammy in the charge of Les. When Les walked into her bedroom with Tammy, Diane said, "Mattie is having surgery in her neck. She has two fractured vertebrae there. Thank God there's no paralysis"
"Yeah," Jen replied making the sign of the cross. She said, "Okay I called Sergei at Cherry Point. He'll meet me here after the copter shuttle lands at Andrews. I'll make dinner for the kids."
"Thanks Jen," Diane said. Then she was out the door to the garage and on her way to the hospital.
It wasn't long until Diane reached the hospital and went in to find her husband on the 5th floor. She readily went into his outstretched arms and melted into his hug.
"Any word?" Diane asked.
"They're still operating. It's been a little over any hour."
"Okay all we can do is wait. Where's Beth?"
"On the floor below. Carrie's with her. She's in a lot of pain. She told me to worry about Mattie and not about her."
"Fine, we'll visit her after we hear about Mattie."
The two sat down on the waiting chairs. About forty-five more minutes later, they looked up when they heard someone say, "Harm Diane?"
They looked up and saw Sarah walking toward them.
Diane welcomed her sister with a hug saying, "Thanks for coming. Did Jenny call you?"
"Yes, she did. I asked her to not call Chloe yet until we have some news. There's no sense having her leave the academy and wait here."
"Smart move," Diane replied in agreement.
It was then that a nurse with the name plate "Nancy" approached the trio. Mr. & Mrs. Rabb?"
"Yes?" Diane replied.
"Mattie's surgery is over. It went well. She's being taken into the recovery room now. The doctor will be out shortly to give you more details after she finishes her post operation examination."
The three let out a collective sigh of relief. Diane said, "Thank you Nancy."
"My pleasure." Nancy replied before she turned to walk away.
They sat down and waited about another hour for the surgeon, a tall dark-haired lady, to come out.
She shook all their hands saying, Hello I'm Dr. Harrington. I performed the surgery to stabilize Mattie's cervical spine."
"How is she doctor?" Diane asked.
"Well I wish I had more patients like her. I'm very proud of her. She came through it like a champ. She woke up a bit in recovery. We gave a complete neurological examination. She was able to move her feet; so, there is no paralysis."
The three family members breathed a relieved sigh.
"So how long until she can resume normal activity?"
"About 2 months. Was she starting college in September?"
"She was going to start at Virginia Tech," Diane replied.
"Well she's going to have to put that off a semester or even till next fall. She's going to need a lot of physical therapy."
"Well, we'll set it up for her when the time comes." Diane said. She asked, "Can we see her?"
"Yes, come on back with me. Don't worry about how she looks. She's going to have the halo on as well as a neck brace. That's going to stay on as the incision heals."
The group went down the hall to Mattie's recovery room.
When they walked into the room, Mattie was awake enough to see that she had company. "Mom, Dad?"
Diane went up to her and went to caress her cheek but stopped from reaching passed the vertical spars of the halo. But Dr, Harrington reassured her, "Yes, you can reach to touch her."
Diane started to stroke Mattie's cheek and said, "How do you feel baby?"
"Okay I guess and I can wiggle my toes. I was so scared when that tornado flipped us. I was awake for the whole time until I went asleep for the surgery."
"I know baby. We were just as scared and because you can move your toes shows that there is no paralysis. You're going to need a lot of physical therapy though," Diane said.
"Will I be able to start school in September?"
"We may have to postpone that for a time. Let's concentrate on getting you better."
"Okay, I guess. I can wait. It's not like they won't admit me again."
"That's the spirit," Diane said as she gave her daughter's hand a reassuring squeeze.
The family settled down and relaxed, knowing that the worst was over.