"Yeah?" A man's voice comes into the phone.
"Is everything in place?" A woman responds, but she doesn't get an answer. "I said is everything in place?"
"You weren't supposed to relieve me." the man says.
"I felt like taking a shift."
"You just like to watch him, Trinity."
"Shut up Cypher, don't be ridiculous."
"Then let me ask you something. Why is he watching her, if he's sure this guy is the one?"
"He has his reasons for everything, we just need to trust him."
"You don't buy it, do you?"
"It doesn't matter what I believe," Trinity pauses, "Is this line secure?"
Cypher hesitated, "Of course I'm sure, why what's wrong?"
"I have to go." Trinity hangs up.
What time was it? I couldn't remember falling back to sleep after the nightmare I had, the same one every night for the past couple of years. A man calls my name, begging me to run before I die along with him. It didn't make any sense and I've been chalking it up to me and Keira watching too many action movies. I looked at the time and realized I was late for work. My job was a helicopter pilot for the Chicago Fire Department and I was also a part of the rescue team in extreme circumstances. I loved my job, I was in control while I flew, up in the sky where I felt free but nothing ever seemed to be enough. I loved the rush I got from every mission my team was sent on, but something always seemed to be missing. Keira was convinced I needed a man in my life, but the one I was crushing on wasn't even real. At least I think he wasn't real.
The man I dream about is my crush, as sad as that is. I have tried to date, but something stops me from making it serious. I couldn't say what it was. The dreams started when I was little. They weren't always nightmares, sometimes I'm on a ship and he gazes down at me, or at a hotel and just talked about literally everything. He has such a weird name too, Morpheus. What kind of name is that? In my dreams, he always looked at me with such desire and happiness that I always had to remind myself when I woke up I shouldn't wait for him. It was pretty pathetic if I say so myself. Nevertheless, I was completely devoted to my dream man. I pushed up my cargo pants and black and red tank top and got a cab to the hangar. I was going to be in big trouble.
I walked out of the locker room, in full uniform heading to my chopper to go over my checklist in case we were called onto a scene. I saw my co-pilot Marcus looking at me, shaking his head at me. "How you manage to never be late is beyond me."
I wasn't late. I clocked in right on time, got dressed in record time, and now, the checklist is just about done. We checked the fuel pump, flight controls, radios, propellers, and seatbelts among other things to make sure we didn't die mid-flight. I just finished the outside checks when the announcement came that my team was needed. Me and my Co-Pilot hopped into the chopper to do final checks until my team arrived in the hangar.
A vehicle ran off the road and was stuck on a tree. My team came out seconds later, geared up and ready to roll. I did final checks inside the chopper and rushed off to the scene. We were minutes out and I kept praying we'd reach the person in time. I don't particularly appreciate losing people on the job, I took it personally if I couldn't save everyone, but fortunately, I only had one loss on my record. Three years ago I couldn't hook her into the harness in time and she fell, and slipped right between my fingers. I wear a reminder on my neck, the letter for her first initial, "T" for Tracey. I visit her funeral every year, she would have been nineteen this year. I kiss my necklace, a ritual I do every time we get a call.
"Mika, I see the car." Marcus talks through the headset and I spot the car as well. It wasn't just hanging off the tree, it was on a small branch and even the slightest movement could have tipped the car over. I was surprised the branch hadn't snapped from the impact.
"This is Mika, we have a visual on the vehicle and are preparing to make contact." I angled the chopper so that I could get my guys on a good angle to repel down to strap the woman into the harness and bring them up.
"This doesn't look good Mika." Marcus voices the thoughts I've had in my head. This really didn't look good.
I looked behind me and looked at my two guys preparing the basket, "Tuck em in boys." I looked out the window, quickly figuring out the best way to rescue this woman. I turned to one of my guys, "Liam, you're going to have to do a double tie so leave the basket, we don't have time. One slightest shift in that car and it's over for the both of you." As soon as the word left my lips, I knew we were in trouble. He was freezing on the job again. A growl escaped, and I turned to Marcus, switching the controls over.
"We have maybe five-ten minutes before your crazy little ass needs to be back in the chopper!" Marcus explains looking at the gauges.
"I'll be up in two." I pounded my fist against his, as I moved Liam over to sit out. I hooked the rope up to the bar hanging outside the helicopter. "Liam, we're going to talk about this when we land at the base." I repelled down just outside the car looking for the woman that was supposed to be in the car.
"Mika, talk to me, what's going on?" Marcus' voice came into my ear as I peered into the car. She wasn't in the car. The windshield was broken, making me think we were too late to save her.
I heard a scream and looked below me, not believing what I was seeing. The woman was holding onto the rock edge crying. I had no idea how she was hanging on, but I wasn't going to argue with it. I looked up to see how much slack I had, and I wasn't sure if it was enough to get her. "Woman is hanging on the edge of the wall, I'm rappelling down to hook her up."
"Mika, we don't have enough rope to go down that far!" Marcus was telling me not to go, but I did anyway. I went as far as I could, making a lasso with the extra rope I kept on my hip. This was going to work. I observed where she was under the car, if it tipped I wanted to make sure the both of us wouldn't get hit in the crossfire.
"Marcus, bring the chopper two clicks forward."
"If the car falls it's going to hit the chopper."
I didn't have time to argue, I needed to save this woman now. "Just bring the chopper two clicks forward, not down. She's under the car by the wall."
I was brought closer to her, able to actually talk to her. I reassured her everything was going to be ok. I got the rope around her waist when we both felt a shake. The rock she was groping too was shaking, making me think this was an earthquake, but it was the tree. The car was finally coming down, and it was coming toward us. I thought at least the car would fall forward but it's just my luck it's tilting where I am. I heard a crack, and when I looked at the woman, I yelled as I saw her slip, and everything paused. She was frozen in mid-air, the car wasn't falling anymore, and the chopper wasn't moving. Time was frozen.
I yelled out to Marcus, to anyone, but no one answered. I hung there, dangling from the rope trying to figure out what just happened. I stared at the woman who I was in the middle of rescuing and decided this was a chance to help her. I reached for her, looping the rope around her so I could buckle her to me. As soon as I wrapped my arms around her to hold her to me, time unfroze. I didn't realize it until I was inside the helicopter working my way to the pilot seat like my body was on autopilot. What the HELL just happened to me?