Don't Look Down

Chapter Fourteen: It Begins

"Okay, Lieutenant, we're going to transport you in a wheelchair. It's our best option and you can't fight me on it." The nurse who I had met my first day in the hospital was tasked with being in charge of me on the carrier. He was in charge of making sure I stayed in the chair and didn't try anything stupid.

    These were good precautions to take.

    I was dressed as best as I could in my flight suit, since my tan uniform couldn't fit around my leg cast and going without pants was even less appropriate, so the flight suit won. That process was awful, considering I needed help with everything. Needing help getting dressed made me feel weak, so I tried to do some on my own. That earned a good smack on my un-broken wrist by one of the nurses.

    The nurses who helped get me into my flight suit were now here helping my new friend in getting me into my wheelchair. They were very slow and careful, ensuring they had me pretty even and weren't messing with the positions of my casted limbs.

    The wheelchair was somehow even less comfortable then the bed, and I grimaced when they set me in it. My leg was kept straight out on something attached to the chair and my arm was place carefully next to my side.

    "You all good?" the main nurse asked me. I nodded, and he got behind the chair. "Then let's get you going."

    The other nurses stayed behind, presumably so they could freshen the room up for the next unlucky pilot. As I was steered along, I realized I didn't know the name of the man driving me.

    I figured that was good enough to break the silence. "What's your name?"

    "Jace Long. Call me Jace," he answered.

    "I will, but that means you definitely can't call me Lieutenant all the time. That's going to get on my nerves very quickly and we should try to avoid doing that."

    He laughed, causing me to even crack a smile. "Sounds good. Does Magnolia work? Or do you like your callsign more?"

    I thought for a second, then said, "Sunset. Magnolia is too long and we're not friendly enough to use nicknames yet. So Sunset will work," I decided. Very few people get to call me variations of my first name. So far they are Nat and Bradley, surprisingly. I heard his use of 'Mags' the other day. I'm not complaining about it.

    In fact, I was going to bring it up and let him know I liked it.

    At the doors out, two officers were standing there and noticed us, so they opened them up. Jace gave them a nod while I smiled to show my thanks. Since we were going out into the ocean, we were meeting at the docking area. Meaning I had to be driven there in a fancy looking van. It was somewhat embarrassing but I figured it was fine.

    "Quite the vehicle we're taking," I commented as Jace unlocked the doors and got the side door closest to us opening. "Can't wait to show up in style."

    "It's better than not going," he said. I had to agree there.

    We loaded up into the van and got driving. Lucky for me, it wasn't a long drive. For all of it we sat and listened to the radio station he put on. I was even able to hum a few of the songs, which kept my mind occupied.

    Arriving, we saw the cars of the others all lined up. Rooster's Bronco was the one that caught my attention and made me smile. Cool, he was already here.

    "Hey, what's my rooming situation like?" I asked as Jace got me out of the van. By the looks of it, everyone was already on board.

    "You're going to be staying in one of the hospital rooms on board, just so you can be monitored properly."