Hold My Hand || J.Seresin

Chapter 6

It'd been one of the last exercises before graduation. Fairly straightforward and I wasn't competing against Jake in this, so it was going to be a piece of cake, or so I thought. Out of nowhere, a flock of birds shot right at me. Alarms went off through the jet, signaling damage. My immediate concern was the engines. Based on the glaring red light, the left engine had caught fire. I pulled the joystick back hard, wanting to get to a higher elevation, away from my classmates. I pressed the extinguish button, watching as the left engine sputtered down. The right engine was still in good condition. Once the engine signal turned off, I restarted the left engine, hoping the problem was corrected.
"Status, Barbie." My commanding officer barked out over the radio.
"Left engine was out, but we're stabilizing now." Moments after the words had left my lips, the alarms blared again. "Shit." I mumbled.
"Left engine is out again. Extinguish fire." My hand found the extinguish button, pushing it automatically, while my eyes scanned over the screens.

The fire wasn't out yet when the right engine went out. The plane started to fall. I quickly restarted the left engine, hoping to level out.
"Right engine just went out. Attempting to restart left." I wasn't sure if they could hear me over the sounds of the alarms. I pressed and pressed the left engine start button over and over again with no luck.
"Left engine out. I repeat, both engines have failed."
"Eject, Barbie!" A familiar voice, Jake, called out from the speakers. My hands reached for the ejection handle and pulled, but nothing happened.
"Ejection failed." I called out. The plane was free falling at this point, spinning through the air. I tried to wait for a moment while the plane righted itself before pulling the handle again, still nothing.
"Failed again." I spoke into my mouthpiece, "Starting manual ejection procedures." I released the handle and began flicking the correct switches to start the process. There was a lever on the side of the jet I reached for that would lift the canopy off the jet. I pulled it hard, feeling the air whip around me. Once the canopy was off, realistically the eject handle should work.

I reached down and pulled, feeling the pressure as the seat released. I let out a breath as I shot into the air. Something still wasn't right though; the parachute hadn't released from its pack. There was a cord used for manual deployment of the parachute. I fumbled in the air, trying to grasp the cord. I couldn't see it, but I felt it and yanked it.
"Shit." I cursed out. Could just one thing go right?

Falling, falling, and I knew it was too fast. I kept pulling on the parachute tab, but nothing released. The ground was approaching and if I didn't get this parachute open, I'd be dead. I tried to right my body in the air, hoping to calm myself and get a better angle to get the damn parachute open. My training had taught me to land with my knees slightly bent and my legs securely parallel under my hips, straight like a pin. I shot another glance at the crowd and couldn't help but panic more. There was maybe another 700 feet. My right hand grabbed onto the cord, getting a firm grip on it. Then with my other hand, I reached across my body and grabbed onto another exposed part of the cord. It was an awkward position, but maybe two hands would be enough to prevent me from splattering on the ground.

The parachute sprung out and I could feel my speed slowing. A glance at the ground fast approaching told me I might not have pulled it in time. I was still descending too fast. Moments later, I felt pain and then it was all black.

I shot up, my breath heavy and gasping, eyes scanning the room. The world was still spinning and I pressed my hands into the mattress, trying to stabilize myself. Warm hands touched my lower back and the back of my arm. I flinched involuntarily, turning to look at the contact.
"Hey, you're okay." Jake told me, his voice quiet and comforting. "You're safe." My breathing was still ragged, trying to reorient myself. "Just look at me," I met his eyes and tried to catch my breath. "Just keep looking at me." The presence of him near slowly brought me back to where I was. Slowly, I caught my breath, feeling my body slump. Jake pulled me towards him gently, leaning me against his chest, his arms coming around my front.
"You're okay." He said again, before placing a kiss to the top of my head. Maybe it was the emotions of what I'd remembered, but I swear it sounded like he was trying to reassure himself of my well-being.

We lay there in silence for long minutes. Feeling the breath in his body rise and fall against my back grounded me. His hands rubbed soothing patterns along my arms.
"I'm sorry." I whispered, my mouth felt dry.
"You have nothing to be sorry for." Jake reassured me.
"I can't even remember the last time I had a nightmare about the accident."
"Maybe your subconscious is worried about the upcoming mission." He pondered.
"Maybe." I said absentmindedly, turning my head to fit more snuggly in the curve of his neck.
"They say talking about the things that worry you is helpful." Jake responded.
"Do they now?" I asked, seeing a small smirk on his face.
"They do." He had that smug confident look on his face. I wasn't going to fall for it. I pressed a kiss to the underside of his jaw,
"Nice try. You'll find out about the mission in a handful of hours."

I was more rested than I thought after the late night and subsequent nightmare that made it hard to fall back asleep. Although not as hard as it's been in the past when I've been sleeping in my bed alone. Jake and I had parted earlier in the morning, not wanting to be seen leaving at the same time or arriving on base around the same time. It may have seemed like an unnecessary precaution, but we'd spent so many years keeping it just between us, that I didn't want to take the risk of someone finding out, at least not right now.

I was preparing in my office, hearing the energetic voices of the newly arrived aviators, as they made their way towards the bunker for the first meeting. My job didn't have me teaching anything for this mission, but I still needed to be around for any plane issues. There was a rapt knock on the door. I glanced up, hoping to catch a glimpse through the window blinds only to realize I'd never opened them. I was hoping it wasn't my dad, coming back to talk more about the promise I'd broken.

I swallowed the nerves and walked towards the door, opening it and getting instant relief.
"Hey Rooster." I said with a grin. Bradley and I always tried to use our call signs while on base. He stepped into the office, glancing around the space quickly.
"I wanted to ask you something." He looked at me and I nodded, gesturing for him to continue, "I uh, swung by your house last night. Wanted to make sure you got home safe and all. Do I need to talk to the guy who was in your bed?" I was shocked,
"You what?" I called out, trying not to let my voice rise. The walls weren't super thick and I didn't want anyone to overhear this. Hell, I didn't even want to hear this.
"I just wanted to make sure you got home alright."
"How did you-" I paused, figuring out how he got into my house, "The window. You just crept around the back and looked in."
"I wouldn't say crept." He started, but I cut him off,
"Looking through someone's window is creeping, Bradley." I snapped. He almost looked a little scared and I was sure my stare could cut.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting there to be a guy." He paused, looking at shoes before saying, "So, who's the guy?"
"There's no way I'm telling you. You and I don't share things like that." I said, trying not to sound as annoyed.
"Just looking out for you, little sis." He said with a smile, bumping his shoulder into mine. I didn't want to, but my anger started to dissipate.
"I get that, but I'm not a little kid anymore. I can take care of myself, okay?" I looked at him pointedly, waiting for his response.
"Okay." He said.
"Now, if you really want to talk ," I said with a smirk, "You and Phoenix looked chummy last night." Bradley's face changed quickly, looking uncomfortable.
"Bye Barbie." He said, leaving my office quickly.