Cristina opened her eyes. She felt it was so hard to breathe, especially it was so cold. It was dark but there seemed to be some movement next to her. "Mommy," the little voice said. It was then she caught herself. "Logan," she said. They were on the plane and then the pilot said something about a crash landing. She had put Logan in the correct crash position, before she did it herself. The last thing she saw when she looked across was her mom's terrified eyes. Then, there was blackness until she finally opened her eyes.
She could see the lights coming closer to them. She had such a pain on her side. It was excruciating but she had to see whether Logan was alright. "Logan," she said, weakly. The little boy answered, "Mommy." He nodded. "I am scared, Mommy." He had a couple of cuts but otherwise, he looked okay. Cristina was relieved.
"Yeah, me too. But we are both going to be brave," Cristina said. She looked on the other side of Logan for her mom. While her mom was still strapped to her seat, there was a tremendous amount of blood, pouring from her head and her face. "Mom," Cristina screamed. But there was no answer. She kept yelling for her mother but it was to no avail. She was then suddenly blinded by the flashlight in her face.
"Miss," the person said. "Are you alright?" Cristina could tell it was an emergency responder from the way he was dressed.
"My side hurts like hell. I think I may have broken a few ribs," she said. "But other than that, I think I am okay."
"What's your name? I am Riley," he said. "Cristina, Cristina Yang," she said. "This is my son, Logan. And the woman on the end is my mother, Helen Yang." Riley looked at Helen and didn't think that she was alive but he still felt for her pulse. He could find none.
"I am sorry, Miss, but your mother is gone," he told her.
"No, no, no," Cristina said. "She cannot be. Mom, Mom." She screamed for her mother. Logan was getting more scared, so he started to cry. He didn't understand why his mommy was screaming like that.
"Cristina, you have to calm down. You have to pull it together for your little boy," Riley said. "So let us get the two of you out of here." The tears were streaming down Cristina's face, as she allowed the man to help her and Logan. She winced with the pain from her ribs. The man picked up Logan and helped her to where the ambulances were. She was checked and they said that it looked like she had a few broken ribs. Logan, on the other hand, was fine for the most part. He had cuts and bruises but he was okay. She was grateful for that. As the ambulance left the scene, all she could think about was her poor mother. She couldn't help herself as she cried in the ambulance. It physically hurt her to cry but she didn't care. Her mother was dead and she was now an orphan. "Oh, what an absurd thought," she said. "My mother just died and all I can think about is that I am now an orphan." She was just like Owen, with no parents. Other than Logan, she had no immediate family, anymore.
When they got to the hospital, she was checked and X-rayed, confirming that she had indeed suffered broken ribs. Logan was also checked and deemed to be fine. They tended to his cuts and bruises and he cried a little because the antiseptic stung, when they were cleaning his cuts. His mom told him he had to be a brave boy because there were so many other people who were much more badly injured than they were. So, he shouldn't give any nurses any more trouble. He held back his tears, even though it hurt.
Meanwhile, back at the beach house, Joyce threw her hands up in the air. "Surely, there is something we can do."
"There must be a hotline for survivors' families," Owen said. On his phone, he found the airline 's website and the hotline number. He rang it, immediately. He got a recorded message that he had to hold on, since all of the representatives were busy. He was not going to hang up, no matter how long it took. He was not going to lose his place in the queue.
Finally, a human voice came on. "Thank heavens, I am enquiring about three people – Cristina Yang, Helen Yang and Logan Cleary."
"May I ask your name, sir, and are you a relative?" the representative said.
"My name is Owen Hunt," he said. "And I am engaged to Cristina Yang. Helen is her mother and Logan is her son." Joyce's eyes opened wide, when he said he was engaged to Cristina. She didn't know that had happened. Owen knew he was lying but he felt that was the only way he could get information.
"Owen Hunt, the author?" the person on the other end asked.
"Yes," Owen said. Maybe his fame would do him some good in this crisis situation.
"Oh, I just love your books and your latest book was fantastic," the representative gushed. "I got it for my boyfriend."
"Thank you," Owen said. "Can you help me with my enquiry? I desperately need to find out about my fiancée."
"Alright, Mr. Hunt," the person said. "Let me look at my computer. Yang…Yang…Yang. Ah, yes, Cristina Yang, she is at St Timothy's Hospital. It is near the crash site."
"Oh, thank God, she is alive, she is alive," Owen said. "Logan Cleary, Helen Yang. What about them?"
"Um, Cristina is the only Yang I see on the list, sir," the representative said. "Maybe they will update the list later with Helen. Or you can enquire at the hospital." Owen sighed. That did not sound good for Helen's chances. "Logan Cleary is definitely here, though, at the same hospital as his mother."
"Thank you, thank you," Owen said, as he hung up the phone. "Joyce, I am leaving immediately. Cristina and Logan are alive."
"What about Helen?" Joyce asked. Owen shook his head. "They didn't have any information on her, right now." They both knew that Helen was not among the survivors. This would be a serious blow to Cristina since she loved her mother so much.
"Congratulations, sir," Joyce said. "About the engagement. Spot of good news amongst all of this tragedy."
"Oh, that, Cristina and I are not engaged," Owen said. "I just told the person that so I could get information."
"Oh," Joyce said. "But," Owen interjected. "That doesn't mean she is not soon going to be my fiancée. I am going to ask Cristina to get married. I love her very much and this plane crash makes me realize that I can no longer wait, anymore. Life is too precious and too short, not to be with the one you love the most."
"Yes, sir," Joyce said. "I agree with you. Poor Helen."
"Yes," Owen said. "Poor Helen. I am hoping for the best but I am anticipating the worst." He packed a carry-on bag with some clothes and toiletries. He didn't know how long he would have to stay there. He just wanted to get Cristina and Logan back home. With a little bit of trepidation, he boarded a flight. His fears were for naught, as he landed safely, rented a car at the airport and drove to the hospital. When he got to the hospital, there were so many camera news crews there. Apparently, they were waiting for a press conference from the hospital authorities about survivors.
He went to the ER and enquired about Cristina and Logan. He found out that the room they were in and immediately went to them. He opened the door and was so relieved to see Cristina and Logan, sleeping on the bed. They both looked banged up but they were alive. For this, he was very grateful. He went to the bed and gently kissed his girlfriend on her forehead. He didn't mean to wake her but her eyes fluttered open. "Owen," she whispered.
"Hey," he said. "How are you feeling?"
"A little painful. I broke a few ribs," she said. "Do you know that Mom's dead?" He nodded, sympathetically. "Yeah, they didn't want to tell me on the phone," he said. "So I figured it was something like that."
She started to cry again. "My mom is gone. Logan is all I have left," she sobbed. "Thank God he is okay and nothing happened to him."
"Don't say that. You have me. You will always have me," Owen said, as he got in the bed to hold her. It was a tight fit with Logan on the other side of her. Logan stirred and lifted up his head. Owen saw all of the bruises on his face, plus he had a few band-aids all over. "Owen," he said.
"Hey, buddy, how are you feeling?" Owen asked him, touching his head. "Hungry," Logan said.
"Okay, let's get you something to eat and let your mom rest," he said. He got up and picked up Logan from the other side of the bed. "When will you be released?" he asked.
"Maybe tomorrow," she said. "Other than my broken ribs, I am okay. I have a few cuts and bruises."
"Well, maybe we can go back to the house in Maine and you can recuperate there," he said. "I will call Phyllis for you and tell her what happened." He disappeared with Logan in tow and went off to find something to eat. As he wandered through the lobby, he could see many people crying. They probably lost someone in the crash. He kissed Logan and hugged him, tightly. He was so grateful that Cristina and Logan were still alive but he was so sad that Helen did not make it. He knew Cristina was devastated. After getting Logan a snack, he went back to the room.
"I can't go to Maine, right now. I have to make sure that Mom gets a proper church service and cremation," Cristina said. "I have to go to Westchester to see about it. I have to see about getting the body released to me." She tried to get up and fell back in pain. "Cristina, you are going to injure yourself further," he warned. "Don't worry. I will find out about everything. Just rest. I don't want anything bad happening to you." He left Logan with Cristina and he went about finding out all he could about getting Helen's body released. Though an autopsy had to be performed, he was told that it would be released as soon as they found out the actual cause of death. The next day, he drove Cristina and Logan to Westchester to recuperate. He hired a nurse to care for them, while he did all of the running around about getting Helen's body released. He also made funeral arrangements since he didn't really want Cristina to be dealing with it.
At the memorial service, Cristina spoke about her mother. She didn't cry but he could see her body shaking, as she delivered a beautiful eulogy for her mother. After the cremation, Helen's ashes were gathered up in an urn and then, scattered in a park near their home, where she liked to go walking. Cristina was still recuperating from her injuries, when she, Owen and Logan went to Maine. She had closed up the house in Westchester and gave up her apartment in Brooklyn. To everyone's surprise, she also quit her job at the publishing company. Phyllis called Owen, immediately and asked him what was wrong with Cristina. All Owen could say was that Cristina needed some time to recover from the plane crash and the death of her mother. Still, he was very worried about her. She had become withdrawn and quiet. The spark in her seemed to have died. He hoped that as her injuries healed, her spirit would return but it didn't. He had wanted Cristina and Logan to come live with him but this was not the way he had imagined. He still had not told her that he loved her. He didn't know if she was ready to hear it. She just seemed so distant, at the moment.
Owen enrolled Logan into a pre-school in the town near where they lived. He settled down, quickly and enjoyed it, immensely. Every morning, Owen and Cristina would take the drive into town to drop him off at pre-school. Then, they would come home and she would go to Logan's bedroom and lock herself in for the day. She never said what she was doing in there. Sometimes, he would knock and she would answer saying that she was okay. She was so secretive about it. He didn't know what to do.
Then, the day came, when it would be a secret no more. He was sitting in his study, reading his newspaper. She strode into the study and dropped a box in front of him. He opened the box and stared at what was inside. It was full of printed pages. "What's this?" he asked.
"My book," she said, her voice strong and true. "I have written my book."
A/N Please leave your thoughts and comments. Thanks for leaving your reviews. I really do appreciate it.