Part 43 (1/2)
”Ana, el avion esta al fin de esta senda?” she asked. [”Ana, Is the plane at the end of this path?”]
Nodding her head yes, Ca.s.s insisted that she return to the safety of the compound to remove any suspicion of her role in the escape. After a round of hugs and good wishes, Ca.s.s and Rox continued on down the path alone.
They had come to within 100 yards of the plane when they heard the commotion behind them. Apparently, the escape had been discovered and a guerrilla unit dispatched to hunt the two women down. Approaching the clearing where the plane had been hidden, Ca.s.s and Rox discovered that the camouflage had already been removed, probably when the plane had been loaded earlier that evening. Unfortunately, considering the cargo the plane was carrying, it was being guarded by two soldiers armed with machine guns.
”s.h.i.+t! How are we supposed to get past them?” Rox asked.
”You leave that to me,” Ca.s.s replied as she moved closer to the edge of the clearing.
”Are you crazy? They have guns!” Rox exclaimed, grabbing her arm.
”Don't worry about it, Rox. I can do this,” the dark haired woman said before placing a kiss on Rox's mouth and moving away from her into the clearing.
Sneaking up behind the first guard, Ca.s.s cleared her throat to get his attention, then promptly punched him in the nose as he turned around. As he grabbed for his face, she swung her right leg up and caught him on the side of the head with her foot. He went down hard, laying motionless at her feet.
Hearing the commotion, the other guard came running, only to be tripped by a tree branch that Rox had swung at his s.h.i.+ns. As he fell to his knees, she swung the branch around and brought it down on his back, and then up under his chin. He too lay motionless on the ground when she was through.
Looking at Ca.s.s, Rox grinned and said, ”This feels like deja vu all over again!”
Suddenly the sounds of more guards entering the clearing became a reality as hordes of guards approached them. Grabbing Rox's hand, Ca.s.s pulled her toward the makes.h.i.+ft steps and dragged her into the plane. Kicking the steps away, she closed the door just as the guerrillas started to open fire on the plane.
Rus.h.i.+ng into the c.o.c.kpit, Ca.s.s threw herself into the pilot's seat and started the jet engines.
”Rox!” she yelled to the other woman. ”Strap yourself into the co-pilot's seat and hang on. Were in for a rough take off. I hope we have enough runway.” she exclaimed as another burst of gunfire peppered the plane.
Rox screamed as the small window next to Ca.s.s was shattered by the spray of gunfire.
”Hold on, Rox!” Ca.s.s shouted as she engaged full throttle, generating forward momentum to move the plane down the runway. The plane shuddered terribly as it rolled over the rough terrain toward the trees at the end of the clearing.
”Ca.s.s! We're going into the trees!” Rox shouted as she covered her eyes.
”Pull, Rox, pull!” Ca.s.s yelled as she instructed Rox to pull back on the elevator in front of her.
At the last moment, the plane rose from the ground, veering sharply into the sky, and barely skimming the top of the trees. Once they were airborne, and the plane had leveled out, Rox pried her finger off the controls and looked over at Ca.s.s. Something was wrong. Ca.s.s was partially slumped over in her seat. With the window shattered, Ca.s.s' hair was flying wildly about her face, obscuring Rox's view.
Unhooking her seat belt, Rox climbed out of the co-pilot's seat and reached up to gather the hair away from the pilot's face. That's when she noticed the red stain on Ca.s.s' s.h.i.+rt. Her heart immediately jumped into her throat as she realized she had been injured. Taking Ca.s.s' chin in her hand, she turned the pilot's face toward her and noted the pallor of her skin.
”Ca.s.s, talk to me. You're hurt. Tell me what to do,” she pleaded with her lover.
”Rox, I've been hit.... in the shoulder. You've got to stop the bleeding,” she exclaimed.
Trying hard not to panic, Rox went in search of something to use for bandages. Shuffling through the flight attendant's station, she found several white towels, which she quickly grabbed and returned to Ca.s.s. Upon her return, she found Ca.s.s struggling to reach the auto-pilot computer.
”Ca.s.s ... what is it?” Rox asked as she put the towels in Ca.s.s' lap and knelt on the floor next to the injured woman.
”I can't reach the auto-pilot. We need to go to Miami ... that's the shortest flight path to the U.S.,” Ca.s.s explained.
”Okay, talk me through this, Ca.s.s,” Rox said as she programmed the auto-pilot up for Miami, Florida. That done, she concentrated her efforts on stopping the blood flow from Ca.s.s' shoulder. Packing the wound with clean white towels, she wrapped her braided belt around the bandage and cinched it tightly, cringing with each moan that escaped Ca.s.s' lips during the process. ”I'm sorry, my love,” she said repeatedly as she administered to the wound. Finally, with the wound dressed, Rox retrieved several cold washcloths from the bathroom and washed the excess blood off Ca.s.s' face, neck and arm.
Rox had never been so scared in her life. Here she was, thousands of feet in the air, in a plane full of illegal drugs, alone with an injured pilot who she just happened to be madly in love with. If it wasn't for the fact that Ca.s.s could pa.s.s out at any minute and leave her to fly the plane, she just might laugh.
About an hour into the flight, they radioed ahead to Miami to let them know the unscheduled flight had to have emergency clearance to land, and that an ambulance was required immediately upon arrival. Air Traffic Control in Miami stayed in constant touch with them throughout the flight, offering flight and weather information, and medical advice.
Rox did her best to keep Ca.s.s as lucid as possible on the three hour flight to Miami. Several times, Ca.s.s started wavering in and out of consciousness from loss of blood. Twice, Rox changed the bandages, the pile of bloodied towels growing at an alarming rate. There was a serious possibility that Ca.s.s would die from loss of blood before they even reached Miami. The closer they came, the less capable Ca.s.s was of staying conscious for more than a a few minutes at a time.
Rox was scared to death about the landing. There was no way in h.e.l.l she could land the plane by herself, and even scarier, in her present condition, there was no way Ca.s.s could do it alone either.
As they neared the airport, Rox began to panic. Climbing out of the co-pilot's seat she grabbed Ca.s.s by the front of the s.h.i.+rt and shook her. ”Ca.s.s! Ca.s.s, honey, if you don't wake up, we're both going to die. Do you understand what I'm saying? I can't land this plane alone, Ca.s.s, please wake up,” she pleaded.
Ca.s.s looked up at her, her head rolling loosely about her shoulders, as she struggled to remain conscious.
”Ca.s.s!” Rox said again, shaking her hard. ”When I said I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, I didn't mean the afterlife! Now please wake up ... I need you Ca.s.s!” Rox shouted directly into her face.
Ca.s.s' eyes flew open at Rox's last statement. Pulling in all her reserves, she struggled into a sitting a position and grabbed the flight controls. ”Buckle up, Rox ... it might be a rough landing,” she said, managing a half grin for her lover.
Rox grinned back as she buckled herself into the co-pilot's seat. ”You're good at this cras.h.i.+ng landing thing... right?” Rox asked with a smile in her voice.
”Right!” Ca.s.s replied as she fought to keep her eyes open. ”I need you with me on this one, Rox. I don't have the strength to do it alone,” she said, her eyes never leaving the runway before her.
”Okay, Ca.s.s... just tell me what to do,” Rox replied.
The atmosphere in the c.o.c.kpit was extremely tense as the plane drew nearer and nearer the runway. Ca.s.s briefly went over landing procedures with Rox, including when to decelerate, and when to throw the engines into a reverse thrust mode to stop the plane once the wheels were on the ground. Needless to say, Rox was scared s.h.i.+tless, and hoped that she wouldn't have to carry out these procedures alone.
On the final approach to the runway, Ca.s.s looked over at Rox and said, ”You are the best thing in my life, Rox,”
”I love you Ca.s.s,” Rox replied as they hovered briefly above the blacktop before the wheels touched down on the hard surface.
The plane jarred sharply as the wheels came in contact with the paved runway, causing the back end to fishtail slightly. Ca.s.s was struggling not only with the controls but with her ability to stay conscious through the landing. She was rapidly losing both battles.
”Reverse thrust ...” Ca.s.s said weakly as Rox reached over and threw the engines into reverse. Both women were thrown forward in their seats as the engines protested the sudden change in direction. Again, the plane fishtailed nearly out of control.
”Oh s.h.i.+t! Oh s.h.i.+t!” Rox exclaimed as she looked through the winds.h.i.+eld and realized they were running out of pavement. ”We're not gonna make it!” she shouted.
”More reverse thrust,” Ca.s.s said.
Again, they were thrown forward in their seats as additional reverse thrust had an adverse affect on their forward momentum. They were slowing down quickly, and so far, safely on the ground. Rox looked over at Ca.s.s for rea.s.surance, and found her completely slumped over her controls, blood oozing from her forehead caused by her impact with the control panel on the last reverse thrust.
Unable to tend to the injured woman until the plane was at a complete halt, Rox was forced to look on helplessly. Finally, the plane came to a rest, very near the end of the runway. Within seconds, Rox was out of her seat belt harness and at Ca.s.s' side. Sitting her up in her seat, Ca.s.s' head slumped over onto her right shoulder. No amount of talking or coaxing would bring her around this time. Rox searched for a pulse and found none.
EPILOGUE.
3 MONTHS LATER.
ROX STROLLED OUT onto the widow's walk, carrying a cup of hot chocolate. Leaning against the railing, she looked out over the ocean and remarked to herself that the storm brewing on the horizon was going to be a violent one. Rox loved storms. They filled her with a sense of excitement that truly rivaled an o.r.g.a.s.mic climax. Taking a sip of her cocoa, she inhaled the salty scent of the air deep into her lungs. A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she thought about the first night she had talked to Ca.s.s in chat. It had been storming that night as well.
Ca.s.s. Rox never dreamed she could love another human being as much as she had the tall dark haired pilot. Ca.s.s truly had saved her, both physically and mentally. She would never have guessed that the unhappiness she felt while with Chris was in reality, a longing to be with a woman. Ca.s.s brought out feelings from deep within her heart that she didn't know existed. Ca.s.s had changed her life forever.