Blood Magic

13: Wake Me Up

.^^ Lady Durham ^^

— Athenos —

-I've always hated airplanes. Even before 9-11, and all the new regulations and safety checks, I always hated planes. Ironic, of course, that it's worse now that there's more security, but there it is."

The old woman next to me nodded and patted my arm. "It'll be alright, dear. Have a peppermint." She handed me a peppermint, and I smiled.

"Much obliged, ma'am."

"If you're done complaining, old man, we're landing soon. Your prayers have been answered." James said dryly from the other side of her.

The older woman chuckled. "Oh stop that! I swear, you two are like my sons... and besides, I think it was very sweet of him to pray for the whole plane, instead of just himself!"

He sighed. "You'd think for someone who can walk on the moon, he wouldn't be afraid of a little airplane."

"Oh! You're an astronaut, dear? I thought you were a doctor?" She gasped.

"Well, they need doctors in space as well, ma'am... if someone gets hurt up there, it's not like there's a hospital 30 minutes down the road." I grinned forcefully, then glared at him.

She nodded seriously. "That is very true, yes."

The seatbelt sign came on, and I tightened my own, gripping the arm rests tightly.

The old woman patted my hand gently, calm as can be.

"You're a very tough woman, you know that?" I laughed tightly.

She smiled. "Oh I know. I flew courier dispatch during Vietnam, Boy! A little turbulence is nothing compared to mortars and anti-aircraft missiles!" She cackled at the horror on my face.

"See, now she has a good reason to be afraid of planes." James quipped.

The landing went off without a hitch, and I breathed a sigh of relief. We exited the plane first, being in the first zone, (I had splurged a bit on the tickets,) and I sighed, as soon as my feet were on land again.

"You're a very weird old man." James shook his head at me, and dragged me down the ramp, towards customs.

I commanded my bag to make itself look empty, except for a single book, then did the same to James's bag. We passed the metal detectors easily, and then I got my passport stamped, while he stood on the other side, as a returning citizen.

—

"How in the hell am I supposed to... which side do I turn on?!!?" I snapped, driving the weird reversed-side driver car carefully down the road.

"Well, first of all, you're in the fast lane, so get over to the far left for the slow lane." He explained.

I nodded and did the turn signal, moving over to the curb.

"And you turn to your left, mostly. Right hand turns are like left hand turns in America, you have to do the signal, wait for the light, then go. Simple." He nodded.

"Simple, he says." I grumbled.

The hospital she was staying at was a drive away, halfway to Scotland, but because of the small size of the island, (almost as big as Florida, if you count Ireland and all the other little islands,) and my slow, cautious driving, we reached it in just a few hours.

I got us in, with my credentials and his Medical ID, which listed him as a dependent of a patient, and we went to find her room.

I paused, at the door, and James walked past me. He sat on her bed, next to her, and gripped her hand gently, speaking in Gaelic for her. I remembered a few words, but didn't bother translating.