“What’s going on?” someone yelled. “Are we going to crash?”
The noise was getting louder. The passengers grew more restless.
“No,” one flight attendant said. “We are going to land just fine. Please remain calm. Emergency landings can happen for many reasons.”
“But is the reason a problem with the plane?” someone else yelled.
Yeah, she wanted to know that too.
Her phone was off, so she couldn’t check her blood sugar on the app, but she had the receiver in her pocket and pulled it out. 112. Pretty damn perfect for a travel day when she couldn’t eat regular meals or drink as much as normal.
Though, with her job, she’d learned that regular meals were a luxury and had mastered maintaining her blood sugar levels at peak times of stress and excess energy.
“Everyone just needs to remain calm. Please shut off your phones if they are in airplane mode,” another flight attendant said, moving up the aisle and reaching for any cups or items that were on the tables they were all pushing up.
She’d been watching a movie, but that would be shut off soon.
When the screen flickered, buzzed, then went black, she wondered if there was an electrical issue.
The screaming of a few people told her they thought the same thing.
She took a deep breath in and then out again. She had this.
She was probably one of the calmest people on the plane, second only to the crew. Her job demanded it, and right now, that calm was proving more valuable than ever.
“Why aren’t you scared?” the woman next to her asked. To prevent any conversation on the flight, she’d put her headset on right away and listened to her audiobook on her Kindle before the movie.
“I prefer to conserve my energy until I know all the facts. Don’t think the worst.”
The woman’s face paled. “I can’t help it. I want to get home to see my family for Christmas.”
Christmas was the last thing on her mind. “Don’t think of that. I’m sure you will.” She put her hand on the woman’s. “Take a deep breath and blow it out. Now another. That’s right. Keep it up.”
She was breathing with the woman, a few others around them doing the same thing.
At least their small section of the plane was calm.
A flight attendant walked back, patted her on the back, and whispered, “Thank you.”
Saylor wouldn’t want that job!
Though many out there wouldn’t want hers either.
There was no more information provided other than being given their routine instructions for landing, and before they knew it, the plane was safely on the ground in Denver.
“See,” she said. “All’s good.”
“Yeah,” the woman said. “Until we try to find another flight out of here. Between it being Christmas Eve and the storm that is coming through, there is no chance of it today.”
She sighed. That was her thought too.
“I’m sure we had to land because of the weather. Maybe we’ll just be sitting here for a bit.”
The announcement to remain seated that they would exit the plane in ten minutes proved her wrong.
Her problem—she had two carry-ons with her. She paid for the extra. One with her clothes. She had more clothing at her grandmother’s house, which was her permanent residence and where she stayed when she visited between assignments.
Her other bag had the bulk of her medical supplies since she always brought three to four times more than she needed in case of emergencies. Like this.
