Chapter 285

"If it isn't my favourite patient" said Violet peeping around the door of the isolation room where Tegan was moved to in order to be interviewed by the investigators.

"Violet! Hi! Oh my god what are you doing here?" asked Tegan excitedly.

"Hey Tegan. Well… I heard my favourite twins and my favourite doc were in need of a good shrink. I have family up in Denver so I thought I'd combine seeing you with a family visit and a bit of a break" said Violet.

"You didn't have to do that, but thank you" said Tegan.

"No problem at all. How are you feeling? You guys gave us all a major scare!" said Violet sitting down on the bed next to Tegan.

"Better, a lot better. Physically, I think I'm getting there. But I'm getting nightmares… panic attacks you know" said Tegan.

"We'll tackle those together okay. I'm so happy you guys are out of the woods. I've been worried sick"

"Thanks… apparently it was touch and go there for a while. So you're here to listen to the whole soppy story with the rest of my audience?"

"If that's okay with you?"

"Yeah, I'd appreciate it" Tegan smiled sadly.

"Okay… can I tell them you're ready for them?" asked Violet.

"I guess… let me get it over with"

"Tegan, you take your time okay. If you need a break please, just let us know. If you're not feeling well physically, let us know!"

Tegan nodded.

-0-

After introducing themselves, the investigators taking care of the plane crash investigation sat down next to Tegan's bed. Sax, Sonia, Lindsey and Violet were all there. Tegan squeezed Lindsey's hand nervously.

"It's okay" Lindsey mouthed and kissed Tegan's knuckles.

"Mrs Quin…." the female investigator started.

"Call me Tegan please"

"Tegan, thank you for meeting with us. I know this is a very difficult time for you, both physically and emotionally and we appreciate your co-operation. We really just want to find out what happened and get this whole ordeal behind you" she said.

"Uh huh" said Tegan.

"Can you talk us through it? Perhaps it would be best if you start with when you got to the airport" said the mail.

"Okay… um…" said Tegan sounding nervous and small.

"The plane took off about ten minutes after scheduled time. No problems from what I could tell. We… um… well we pretty much took our seats and went to sleep. We had a bit of a… celebration the night before so we were pretty tired and Kate was supposed to be on call that night. Next thing I remember… I woke up and… I don't know how long I was asleep for…. Anyway… I woke up with the flight attendant putting my seat upright and checking my seatbelt. We seemed to be going through some heavy turbulence. The plane was bouncing around like mad. Kate… Kate wasn't in her seat. She must have gone to the toilet. Um…." Tegan said and looked down at her hand.

"Take your time" said Violet.

Tegan took a few deep breaths.

"I remember seeing the trees really close to the plane. The pilot yelled to take the brace position. Kate was… I couldn't see… but Sara was yelling at her to buckle up. Next thing I knew I woke up in my seat… it was quiet… really quiet… it was cold. I didn't really know what happened… My head bleeding a bit and then it hit me… I got up and… Um… sorry" said Tegan holding her hand in front of her mouth.

"It's okay" said Violet rubbing Tegan's leg up and down.

"Tegan, how were you, physically at that stage?" asked Sax.

"I had some bruises, cuts… scratches but I was fine. I was a bit lightheaded but I was okay. My airways started closing up but my inhaler sorted it out" said Tegan and took a deep breath.

"I saw Sara… Sara was like… slumped over in her seat. I thought she was dead, I thought she was dead and I've never been more scared" said Tegan and the crying started. Sax looked up at the monitors concerned and turned up Tegan's oxygen.

"She wasn't… obviously…" Tegan snorted nervously. She took out the nasal cannula and wiped her nose. She took her time to replace it.

"She had a pulse, she was breathing but not really well. Her leg was hanging awkwardly, it was pretty obvious that it was broken. I tried to open her airway but I struggled. I didn't know what to do… I didn't know what to do… I couldn't get the seat down to keep her airway open. I thought her spine might be damaged so I tried to improvise. I rolled up a blanket and put it around her neck. And then… I lifted her to the floor. I don't know if I should have done that… I didn't know what to do"

"You did the right thing Tegan" said Sax with a soft smile.

-0-

Sara looked through the glass into the room where Tegan was telling their story.

"What are they doing in there?" she asked.

Kate started typing on the iPad again. Alex had switched on the predictive text so it was a bit faster and easier now.

"She's telling them what happened"

"I want to know what happened" said Sara.

"She'll tell you when you're both ready"

"She saved our lives didn't she?" said Sara.

"Definitely"

"Poor Tegan… can't be nice having to relive it all"

"One plus about not being able to talk" Kate wrote.

"It must have been really scary"

"It was. I thought I was going to die"

"I'm very happy you didn't" said Sara and turned her face to Kate.

"You pulled me through. You told me to fight and never give up. I wanted to" Kate typed.

Sara smiled.

"Tell me about our daughter"

Kate's face lit up. "She's amazing. She's so smart and beautiful. She's kind and fun"

"Can't wait to meet her" said Sara. Kate took her hand and smiled.

-0-

"Sara woke up… she was scared… she wanted to know where Kate was. I didn't know how to answer her. I found Kate towards the front of the plane. I guess she didn't manage to get the seatbelt on in time. She was… fuck..." said Tegan softly, now pale.

"Deep breath sweetie" said Lindsey and squeezed Tegan's hand.

"She had this… this piece of metal sticking out of her… kind of under her ribs… there was a lot of blood"

"Was Kate conscious at that time?" asked Sax.

"Yes, she was knocked out initially but she came to. She was quite obviously in a lot of pain. She was breathing very heavily. Kate told me find something to stop the bleeding and her medical bag. She actually wanted to get up to go help Sara. Of course, she couldn't… anyway… I um… I found a hoodie and I put it around the wound. She told me to go check if there were other casualties and find a phone. I tried my phone, didn't have any reception. I… I went to the cockpit… They… the pilots… the one had a tree branch in his neck… his eyes were still open… he was gone… I checked the other pilot for a pulse… He was cold… I checked and checked but he didn't have a pulse" said Tegan and now looked as if she was going to vomit. She made some gagging sounds and her heart monitor sped up. Lindsey put the back of her hand in front of her mouth.

"It's okay, take a sip of water. Just take a break for a minute" said Sax.

The investigators looked away awkwardly as Tegan was comforted.

After a few minutes Tegan continued. "I then somehow opened the plane… the back was ripped away completely but there was lots of sharp shit around so I couldn't go out the back"

Tegan continued to tell them about how she searched for supplies and the bag. How she tried to call and radio for help. How she found the medical bag outside. "I saw the flight attendant. She was still in her seat but flung out of the wreckage, lying on her side. I checked… she was gone" said Tegan becoming emotional again.

"When I got back, Sara either bravely or stupidly had made her way to Kate after I told her to stay put. Kate was struggling. She was really struggling to breathe. She told me to find the really large needle with the… the thingy on the end. Then she told me to shove that needle into a spot she pointed out on her chest. I… I didn't think I could… I hesitated… a lot… but Kate was now hardly breathing and she was begging. She had this… this blue ring around her mouth. I shoved the thing in and it was like a balloon deflating. Lots of air hissed out. Kate was breathing again but she wasn't good… she wasn't good" Tegan muttered.

"There were three large bags of saline in the med bag. Kate talked me through starting an IV on her. God it was difficult…. I just couldn't find a vein for a while. I was shaking so badly, Kate was shaking… I eventually did, in her hand and I let the fluid run in. It's a miracle I got it in… like really! Kate told me to make it slow so it would last. I gave her some morphine at that stage, she didn't want it but I gave it. She was in a lot of pain. Oh no… hang on… I gave the morphine only after I gave some to Sara before I got working on her leg. Kate told me to pull Sara's leg back into place or she would lose it… I gave her some morphine in her thigh… It was the most difficult thing I've ever done. Sara was in excruciating pain. She was wailing for me to stop. Kate told me to do or Sara would lose her leg… so I did it… I just did it, I don't even remember how. It sounded terrible. This popping sound" said Tegan now breathing fast and heavy. Sax's eyes were wide with shock.

"She lost consciousness… from the pain maybe, I don't know. I found my oxygen concentrator at some point… I'm sorry I may have the order of things wrong… some of it's jumbled up" said Tegan.

"That's okay, just tell us what you remember" said the female investigator.

"Kate's blood pressure was really low and her oxygen sats were falling. I gave her oxygen, opened on max. In between she instructed me on drugs. Morphine, Epi, Dopamine. I wrote it down on my hand. The two of them actually fought about who would get the morphine. I mean each wanted the other one to have it"

Everybody gave weak laughs.

"Tegan, did you check Sara's pupils at all?" asked Sax.

"Yeah, all the time. Kate made sure I did. They were equal and reacting to light all the time. They did become a bit sluggish later on though"

Tegan continued to tell them about how she struggled to keep the two of them alive, how she looked for cell phone signal. How she kept them warm and as comfortable as possible and how she eventually spotted the hill.

"Kate was dying… I knew it, Sara knew it. She was in and out of consciousness. Her BP was through the floor. Her pulse was really fast and weak. We had run almost run out of drugs and fluids. I was refilling the bag with fucking coconut water. I knew that if I didn't do something… Kate… would die" said Tegan, she was now shaking.

"Tegan, just take a minute" said Violet.

"No, I just want this over" said Tegan through tears.

She told them about hiking up the hill and how she eventually found a cell phone signal.

"I saw the helicopter. I just wanted to get back down there. I don't know what happened but I slipped… and then I slid down an embankment… fast… I tried to stop myself" said Tegan showing a grazed and bruised hand.

"I woke up, I don't know when. I was in so much pain, I couldn't breathe. I knew I had to get out of there, it was almost dark. I tried… I tried so hard to get up, to yell. I couldn't breathe right and my inhaler was almost empty. Only got a little bit at a time. I heard people… I tried to scream but I couldn't. The phones didn't have signal. I felt myself start to slip. I was so cold… fuck I was freezing. I was shaking so bad. It was so cold. I don't know how I thought about it but I turned the flashing torch on with the one phone and some music on the other. I didn't know how much battery I had but I had to try. God I was in so much pain. Couldn't breathe well… so cold. I knew that was it… I didn't give up but I thought it was inevitable. From there… dunno… blank… I woke up in here" said Tegan, she let out a deep breath and lay back.

"Well, your sharp thinking made a difference Tegan. That's how they found you. They heard the music and eventually saw the light" said the investigator.

"Ha… music saved my life huh" said Tegan looking tired.

"I guess it did" said Lindsey.

"Well done Tegan. Thank you. You did an amazing job. Really incredible. You saved Kate and Sara's lives" said the male investigator.

"I was just doing my best... Couldn't imagine losing one of them"

"Well done Tegan, I'm so proud of you. It's over now. You're safe" said Sonia and kissed Tegan's hair.

The investigators asked Tegan a few more questions before thanking her again and excusing themselves.

"That must have been really hard Boo… talking about it" said Lindsey.

"It was, but you know what, I actually feel relieved… I feel better now that it's out" said Tegan.

"I'm so fucking proud of you I can burst" said Lindsey.

Tegan just smiled half heatedly.

"Okay, we're going to get you back to your room now Tegan. You've had a really exhausting day. You should get some rest" said Sax.

"Thank you, I'm beat" said Tegan softly. She looked pale.

Sax put an oxygen mask over her face after checking the monitors. "Just take nice easy, deep breaths for me, your sats are a bit low. I'm going to give you something to bump your BP up a bit and something to relax you. You did really well in there" said Sax.

Tegan just nodded and clutched one of her emoticon pillows tightly. She was wheeled back into her normal room staring into space. Kate was sleeping again but Sara kept herself awake until Tegan came back.

"Tegan… you okay?" asked Sara.

"Uh huh" said Tegan.

"You sure?"

"No" said Tegan and closed her eyes.

"You want to… talk?"

"No… I'm tired… I need some meds and some sleep"

"Okay… feel better"

"Thanks"

A nurse put a tray of food in front of Tegan.

"I'm really not hungry, thanks" said Tegan.

"You need to eat something please"

"I can't, really" said Tegan looking pale.

"You need to Tegan, sorry" said the nurse.

Tegan didn't answer. She turned her head away. Tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"Give her a few minutes please" said Lindsey.

"Sorry, I'm a big baby" said Tegan and took the lid off the plate. She stared at the food feeling nauseous.

"I can't" she said.

"What's this about you not eating Tegan?" said Sax entering the room a minute later.

"I'm really not hungry, I feel nauseous after all that"

"Okay… I guess that's understandable. Nurse, up her TPN. We'll try again in the morning" said Sax.

"Thank you" Tegan whispered.

"You get some rest now please. Lindsey, five more minutes"

Lindsey nodded and turned her attention back to Tegan.

"You want me to stay tonight? I'll speak to Sax"

"No, I'll be okay, thanks baby" said Tegan.

"I love you… I love you so much" said Lindsey and kissed Tegan's cheek.

"I love you too… at one stage… I remember slipping. I just couldn't any more. Then I saw your face in front of me… you and the kids. I think that pulled me through"

Lindsey gently touched Tegan's cheek with her palm.

"I'm so happy it did. Get some rest now… you're okay. Everything's fine" she whispered.

A/N: what's with the drop in reviews for the last chapter? I thought it was a really cute one!