A/N Today is Choose Your Spooky Prompt (Free) for Polinween! So I, like any sane person of course, chose to go with a helicopter crash au. (Parts are inspired by that one episode of Grey's Anatomy, I vaguely remember.)
"I can't find my shoe." Penelope held her jacket in her left hand. Her clothes were in rough condition - a far cry from their usual perfectly ironed state. She was missing a button and had a cut on her temple that was still bleeding. It was dusk.
Colin shook his head. Then he remembered they had been going up in a chartered helicopter. He was supposed to take his wife to a fancy dinner.
But . . .
"Hold on!" The pilot's voice cuts through on the headset. Penelope calmly turns a page in her book. The helicopter jerks.
CLASH - their bags slam against the sides of the aircraft, and Penelope's book flies out of her hands. Her slightly scared eyes look up to meet his.
Colin tightens his seat belt, then he turns and does the same for his Pen.
Colin blinked the memory away. Taking stock of their situation, Colin noted he was still strapped into his seat. Shifting slightly, he confirmed he had no injuries. Then he unbuckled and Iooked at the rest of the wreckage.
"Where is our pilot?" He asked.
"I need my shoe." Penelope's eyes were darting around quickly.
"Don't panic. Don't panic. Okay, deep breath." Colin told himself. Closing his eyes, Colin tried to think of what to do. Maybe he could find their phones to call for help? Or he could tap into the helicopter's radio? Okay, new plan ready, Colin opened his eyes.
Where was his wife?! She wasn't in the helicopter anymore. Turning his head, he spotted her through the window by the tree line. He quickly exited the helicopter after her.
"Penelope!"
"Have you found my shoe?" She started hurriedly walking toward him.
Colin sighed. Maybe this was a trauma response? That had to be a thing. It was best to just go with her.
"I wanted to see what the other one looks like to help me search. Did you check the whole helicopter?"
"Here." Penelope pulled off her other shoe and held it out for Colin's perusal. They were in the middle of the woods. Maybe the white would stand out among all the green.
Colin took the nondescript white trainer from her and turned it over in his hands. He pretended to examine it, but he was really looking closely at her cut. It looked ready to start scabbing over. Thank god. Colin handed the shoe back to Penelope. The sun had started to set.
"Got it?" Penelope asked. Colin nodded. "Good. I'll check the cockpit."
She slid her shoe back on and walked toward what was left of the front half of the helicopter. Though it was mostly contained, the glass windshield had a large hole in it just in front of where the pilot should be. There were a few other holes as well, but overall, the helicopter was still in its helicopter shape. Colin looked up. The rotor blades were missing.
Colin followed Penelope back into the helicopter and her progress to the front. There wasn't much room, but Penelope was short. He looked over her head and tried not to throw up from the gruesome sight.
The missing chunk of glass from the windshield had embedded itself in the pilot's chest. His eyes were still open, staring glassy and unseeing in front of him. He had also fallen forward onto the steering controls until the glass had stopped his progress. He also had other cuts on his face, likely from debris flying around as the plane crashed down.
Penelope didn't hesitate to pull the pilot's shoulder backward. A sickening crunch was heard. Colin shivered. The pilot's stiff arms must have made the noise at the unexpected movement.
"My shoe isn't here. We have to keep looking." Penelope said.
Colin gave her room to squeeze around him. Then he leaned forward to lightly close the pilot's eyelids. Okay, he could handle this. Just don't think about the dead body next to him.
Colin felt better with the tightened seat belts. The helicopter could not have been in good shape. Colin and Penelope held on for dear life.
Colin started to panic. His breaths got quicker. His hands were white-knuckling his seat belt. His vision started to narrow and creep in from the outside.
Fighting to stay conscious, Colin he couldn't quite …
"Maybe we can call for help to find your shoe?" Colin said. The light from the sky was almost gone, and he didn't want Penelope outside of their helicopter shelter in the dark.
"Good idea. I don't know where my phone is. But the priority has to be my shoe." Penelope said. She sounded weird. Colin reached over to grab her hand and give it a quick squeeze. He wanted to give her a tight hug, but with the current look in her eyes, it wouldn't be welcome.
"I don't know where my phone is either. But maybe I can use the radio. I used to play with my dad all the time as a kid." Colin said. "Will you stay in the helicopter while I work on it? Logically, your shoe is most likely within the aircraft."
"Quite right, quite right. I'll look for my shoe here." Penelope muttered to herself.
After some finagling, Colin got the radio working. Colin called for help on various channels before he got through.
"I've got someone!" Colin called out in excitement to Penelope. She wandered over toward the cockpit.
"That's great! Ask if anyone has found a shoe."
After coordinating with the locals, Colin was assured that a search and rescue team was on the way. Unfortunately, they were in a huge forest. So they were unlikely to be found until the morning.
Okay, what should they do for food? Colin left the cockpit and found Penelope looking under their seats.
"Penelope, given we still haven't found your shoe we should stay in the helicopter until we get help. Does that sound like a plan?"
"Good idea." Penelope said. She didn't move from her spot.
Colin found an emergency kit in the back. It contained a flare, heat retention blanket, and a few provisions. Not quite up to snuff as to be called food, but beggars can't be choosers. Colin pulled Penelope to her feet and started to hand her half of the edible items. Then he wrapped her in the blanket.
Despite her extreme focus on her shoe, Penelope was willing to settle in and eat what he gave her. Thank goodness.
Leaving the helicopter, Colin set off the flare to help them find the crash site. Closing the door behind him as he entered, Colin hoped they'd be found soon. Penelope had finished eating.
"Penelope, can you sleep? We should take shifts sleeping until we're rescued. I'm happy to take the first one."
"I, I'm not sure. I can't find my shoe." Penelope's brows furrowed.
"I know, love. Can you try it for me? Why don't you just rest your eyes a bit and then we can switch?"
"Maybe," Penelope yawned and closed her eyes.
"That's it, Pen. Get some rest." Colin cooed and Penelope fell asleep.
Inhaling the rest of the emergency stash, Colin kept his eyes peeled. Mostly he hoped to see the rescue team, but he was also worried about any stray wildlife.
Staying awake as long as he could, Colin must have lasted several hours. But when his eyes got heavy, he knew that he'd have to switch with Penelope.
Waking her up gently, Colin hoped some sleep had helped to clear her head. It didn't bode well for their chances if she tried to find her shoe outside the helicopter. After some subtle probing, Colin realized that Penelope was dialed into the situation and ready to keep watch.
Colin couldn't have told you what was said, but he felt safe enough to immediately knock out in the pitch black night.
What feels like a short time later, but must be hours since the sun is now out and lighting up the world. Penelope had woken him up.
"Colin, we have a good, bad, good sandwich." Penelope was referencing their first fight, when they agreed to always find something good to finish good/bad news.
"Okay, give it to me straight." Colin said groggily.
"The rescuers have found us. But there's a bear on top of the helicopter. They're waiting on animal control to determine the next steps. I found my shoe!"
Colin jerked up at the mention of the bear. He started frantically looking around him. When he turned back to Penelope, she pointed up. He could see a bear's leg dangling over the window outside the door.
"This isn't a bear-proof helicopter! The glass is already broken in several parts." Colin's breath started to come in faster and faster.
"Colin! Breath with me. In, one, two, three. Hold it, one, two, three. Out, one, two, three." Penelope had grabbed his head and was holding it close to hers. She repeated the above mantra, until she felt Colin start to calm down.
"They radioed to let me know that as soon as animal control gets here, we'll be taken to the local hospital. Penelope sat down on the floor and pulled Colin's arm until he was seated with her.
Colin settled his butt between her legs and leaned back into his wife. She wrapped her arms around his torso tightly.
"How's your head?" Colin asked once he was settled.
"My head?" Penelope asked.
"Your temple was bleeding earlier and you hyper-fixated on your missing shoe."
"Previously missing shoe, I found it! Once I had the shoe on, it was like I could think clearly again." Penelope wiggled her shoe-clad feet.
"I'm glad." Colin snuggled closer to his wife. "No pain or anything?"
"No pain. I promise."
Once animal control arrived, everything happened very quickly. The trained specialists lured the bear away from the helicopter. Colin and Penelope were driven to the hospital - Penelope refused the ambulance.
At the hospital, the doctors discovered that Colin had a concussion and they wanted to keep him overnight for observation.
Colin has trouble following what is happening with Penelope, but he sees her walk out of the room and is reassured that it is just for more tests.
Colin calls Anthony to fill him in and ask for help setting up transportation home. As they work out the logistics, Penelope is brought back into the room in a wheelchair. Colin promises to call Anthony back and hangs up.
"What happened? Are you okay? You walked out of the room just fine, but now you're in a wheelchair."
"Your wife is just fine. Considering the scenario you all were in, your wife and the baby are going to be just fine." The doctor said.
"We're pregnant?" Colin asked in disbelief.
"Well actually, only Penelope is pregnant." The doctor muttered.
"We're pregnant. I know that we weren't trying, but we also weren't not trying." Penelope bit her lip.
"Penelope . . . " Colin sighed. "I'm going to be a dad. You're going to be a mom!"
"Are you excited? I'm pretty excited." Penelope said quietly.
"Love, this is wonderful!" Colin's smile took over his face. He walked over to the wheelchair and gave her a quick sweet kiss.
"We're going to be kickass parents." Penelope smiled.
"You bet your ass we are!" Colin said, his hand grasping her tightly. "Let's get home and check in with your regular doctor."
He then called Anthony back to give him the great news and focus on getting his wife and their unborn child home safely.
The End.