I listen to their exchange, my stomach twisting while they’re making plans for a future that doesn’t include me.
San Felipe comes into view. At the rate we’re moving, we’ll be landing in just a few minutes. And then it will all be over. I can see the writing on the wall as clear as the sun in the sky. And it’s a message I told myself over and over would come, but my stupid heart didn’t want to believe it.
Well, fuck me. This sucks.
27
Apologies, Forgiveness, and Girl Talk at 30,000 Feet
Paige
As soon aswe step off the helicopter, a medical crew is waiting for each of us. Mac’s is local, mine is American. The paramedic gives the doctors his initial assessment, then they sign some paperwork, and my team hurries over to me. I strain my neck to get a look at Mac, but he’s already gone.
“I’m Dr. Yung. My team and I will be accompanying you back to New York,” he says. “We’ve got an ambulance waiting downstairs to take us to the airport and I’ll do a preliminary exam en route so we know it’s safe to make the trip home.”
“I’m fine,” I answer.
“Well, we just have to be one-hundred-percent sure,” he says, putting his hand on my upper back and guiding me toward the door.
My mom hurries to catch up with us. “We’ll be right behind you in a limo. Tiff and Ethan are already at the airport.”
“I don’t understand why we’re in such a rush,” I say, a wave of desperation coming over me to get to Mac.
“We already told you. Guy set this whole thing up, and it must be costing him a fortune,” my dad answers.
“There’s no sense in waiting, Paige,” my mom puts in. “Let’s get you back to the U.S. where we know you’re safe.”
I snort laugh at the thought that New York is safer than here, and my mind immediately goes back to Mac telling me it’s a crime I have to lock my doors.
“What’s so funny?” Dad asks.
“Nothing, I just … remembered something.”
When we get to the airport, the ambulance pulls up next to a private jet. The driver opens the back door in time for me to see Tiffany rushing down the steps to greet me. She opens her arms and runs to me.
I climb out of the ambulance and run to her, tears of relief already spilling from my eyes. We give each other the biggest hug of all time, both of us talking at the same time. “I’m so sorry, so, so, so sorry I wasn’t there,” I whisper while she says, “Thank God you’re alive. I was so scared you were gone.”
“Come on, let’s do this on the jet,” my dad says.
We laugh-cry at ourselves while we put our arms around each other for the short walk to the steps. Once we’re aboard, Ethan gets up from his seat and gives me an awkward side-hug.
“I’m sorry I ruined your wedding,” I tell him.
“To be fair, you also ruined our honeymoon, so…”
“Ethan!” Tiffany snaps. “We’re happy she’s alive, remember?”
He gives me a deadpan look. “Right. I almost forgot. Glad you’re not dead.”
Tiffany slaps his stomach with the back of her hand. “He’s still a little miffed that you missed the entire thing.”
I look up at him, feeling that familiar sense of shame. “As you should be. I screwed up royally. If it was the first time I’d bailed on you for work, that would be one thing, but…” I shift my gaze to my little sister’s face. Tears fill my eyes as regret and guilt sweep over me. “I’ve missed everything. And mom was right. Those are moments I’ll never get back. I’m just so sorry, Tiff. I hope someday you can forgive me.”
The flight attendant walks up the aisle and asks us all to have a seat so we can prepare for takeoff. Tiffany and Ethan sit across from me at a table for four. My mom is beside me, while my father sits in a recliner on the other side of the aisle. The medical crew all take spots together near the back of the plane. The preliminary exam cleared me for flight, so they’re basically getting paid a whole lot of money to just sit there.
Once we’re settled, Tiffany reaches across the table and puts her hand on mine. “Of course I forgive you. I mean, I’m not going to lie. It hurt that you didn’t show up for my shower or our engagement party or the stagette. And I was so sure you just decided to pull a no-show for the wedding too. I was really pissed until Vivian told us she was flying down here to try to find out what happened. Then I was in full panic mode. We all were.”
“I can only imagine,” I tell her. “I woke up every day with a bowling ball in my stomach, feeling just sick about what you all were going through.”
