In the car, on the way to the airport, Julia couldn't help but play repeatedly in her head what had just happened.

Once the SUV had stopped alongside the curb of the departure's terminal, Julia let herself out, and without giving Carson a look, she disappeared inside the check-in area.

There was a general unhappy buzz going around as she made her way to the counter. People were at various check-in counters of different airlines complaining, others were leaving the airport cursing underneath their breaths.

She handed her passport and saw the woman behind the counter inhale and exhale.

"I'm sorry, Doctor Adams, but all flights have been cancelled nationwide."

Julia narrowed her eyes. Had she heard right? "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Due to a generalized technical issue our air-traffic control radars are malfunctioning. We've had to force all in-air flights to land at the closest possible airport and have grounded all commercial and private flights."

Julia closed her eyes and put her head down in her hands. This was the icing on the cake. What else could possibly go wrong? Whose wrath had she unleashed? Was the world coming to an end? Was this it, finally the apocalypse?

"So, how do I get to Georgia?"

"You could try the bus, the train or car."

"And how long would that take me?"

"You want me to find out for you for each option?" asked the woman astounded.

"Well, considering this is not a problem I am responsible for, yes, I believe it's the least you could do as an airline and airport."

The woman rolled her eyes, but at this point, Julia was so tired and drained emotionally that she wasn't even going to make a comment about this woman's attitude.

She waited patiently as the woman typed on her computer.

"By car, that would take you more or less ten hours without taking traffic into account. As for the bus, about 18 hours and by train that would be 14 hours."

"When is the earliest I could get to Atlanta?"

"By train at 9 o'clock tomorrow because you won't make it on time for the train that gets you there at 8. And by bus, tomorrow mid-afternoon."

"How long do they expect before fixing the technical issue?"

"The last time this happened, it was resolved during the night and all flights were able to depart in the morning as scheduled."

The last time? OK, was it even possible that this kind of thing happened more than once? You'd think they would have found a way since the last time to not let something like this happen again, completely paralyzing the country.

She thought for a few minutes. No matter how she looked at it, she would never make it back on time to Atlanta for Sylvia's prom. She was too tired to drive all the way down and with her luck something like a flat tire or an accident would happen. She then thought about the train and bus, but in the end, they would get her to Atlanta either later or around the same time as if she took a plane the following morning. Being confined to a seat for so many hours after everything that had happened felt too much for her to overcome.

"When is the earliest flight tomorrow?"

The woman looked at her screen. "8:30 with arrival in Atlanta at 10:30, would you like me to book you a seat on that flight?"

"Yes, please. If the issue is not resolved, I'll drive down to Atlanta."

"Of course. As you are a first-class passenger, the airline is offering to pay for your night in a hotel. I'd be happy to assist you."

"I'd like that, thank you."

The woman took the phone and spoke for a few minutes before hanging up. She handed Julia her passport back.

"There you go Doctor Adams, you're all set. A premium suite at the Embassy Suites has been booked for you. There is a shuttle right outside that will take you there. We do apologize for the inconvenience and truly hope that you can take your flight tomorrow morning. We have your email address and mobile phone number. Updates on the situation will be sent to you regularly."

"Thank you, I appreciate your help."

In the end, it wasn't the poor woman's fault. It was just the universe messing with Julia and her nerves.

She opened the door and let herself inside her suite on the second floor. She put her backpack down on the desk table and headed further inside the room. She reached the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the king-sized bed.

She felt her phone vibrate in the back pocket of her pants and she reached for it.

"Let me guess," she heard his voice say, "you're grounded due to the air-control technical issue? I saw it on the news."

She could have cried there and then. This day had just been too much. Too much stress, anger, disappointment, and fatigue. Yet, not wanting him to feel awful, she held back the tears and tried to have a neutral tone of voice.

"Yes. I'm booked on the first flight out tomorrow. I could have rented a car or taken public transportation but I'm too tired to drive and the other options got me in Atlanta tomorrow afternoon."

"You did the right thing. I wouldn't be comfortable knowing you are driving down alone during the night. Were you able to get a hotel room for the night?"

"I did. I'm at the Embassy Suites near the airport."

"What happened with the FBI? What did they want?"

She lifted her head up toward the ceiling and closed her eyes as she pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand. She couldn't tell him the truth and even the twisted lie she could tell, as dictated by the FBI, was not something she wanted to burden him with. The less he knew, the better off it was.

"Just routine meeting and going over the findings of their investigation. They confirmed that all suspects were in custody pending trial."

"That's good news."

"Yeah, it is."

"Do they think you're going to have to testify at the trial?"

Now that was something she hadn't thought of asking and maybe had they not dropped a bomb on her, maybe she would have thought of asking.

"I don't know, they didn't say. You know sometimes it's years before these kinds of cases get tried. I'm sure that if needed they'll let me know."

Or not, she thought, they could simply come knock on her door one morning and whisk her away without warning. It seemed as though disturbing people's lives and well-being was part of their job.

"Well let's hope you don't have to. I can't even begin to imagine you facing Kane or Kim."

Indeed, not something she wanted either. She changed the subject.

"How is Sylvia?"

"Oh man, you should have seen the look on her face when Jessica showed up in her room with her dress. The tears of joy that followed were so moving. Jessica is helping her get ready and from what I hear the first limos should arrive in an hour."

Julia felt her heartbreak. She would have given anything to have been there.

"I'm happy for her."

"We all are. Even if it won't be the same without you."

"Conrad, promise me you'll go."

"Julia, I've already been to my prom."

She sighed. "I know but do it for me and if you tell me everything and take pictures, it'll be like I was there too, please."

"OK. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to order room service, watch a movie on demand, take a bath or shower then sleep."

"You don't have any pajamas… Are you going to be sleeping naked?"

"Most probably."

"Hold on, I need to take a mental picture of that in my mind."

She laughed even though she didn't want to. All she wanted to do was crawl up in a ball and cry herself to sleep.

"There, now that should make my prom night more pleasant. I'm going to go; I have a few patients I need to go check up on before calling it a day."

"Ok. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Sleep tight baby."

With that he hung up and she let herself fall back on the bed and closed her eyes.