Three days later Abigail stood with her feet planted in the concrete, her eyes glued to the F-18 that was taunting her. Jake was on one side of her, Rooster on the other.
"We're gonna do it, Abby. We're gonna get you up into that beautiful blue sky where you belong." Jake exclaims, but Abigail heard none of it. Her hands were clammy, and she felt as if she were going to pass out.
Even the burning California heat did nothing to her extremely pale face. It took her a few minutes, but she finally swallowed thickly and took a deep breath. "Let's try it." She says hesitantly, looking from her best friend to her husband.
Taking the first step towards that plane was hard, and she felt stupid that she couldn't even stand to get near the freaking piece of metal.
Thankfully, the two men understood how hard this was going to be for her, so they were being extremely patient and calm. Abigail was already three steps closer to meeting the goal.
Soon she was standing in the shadow of the F-18 fighter plane, and her entire body was shaking out of pure fear. Its not the plane, it's the pilot. The pilot needs to be calm and collected, and this will be a piece of cake. But her brain refuses to believe those thoughts she was forcing herself to hear.
"What do you do first, Abby? How do you get up into the cockpit?" Rooster asks, squinting under the sun. She doesn't know why he doesn't come join her and Jake in the shade.
Abigail glances up at the intimidating yet beautiful plane. Usually she'd jump up onto the wing, but she probably couldn't do that now because of her prosthetic leg. She glanced at the handle that would bestow the ladder. She turned to her mustached friend with her answer. "Pull the ladder down and climb up." She replies, feeling like she was back in aviation basics. That was ten years ago, which really showed how much she regressed.
Rooster nods to the plane, telling her to do what she had just said. Abigail's feet didn't want to move again, her chest feeling like it was tightening. Jake rubs her shoulder as she took more deep breaths. Shaking her arms, she nodded assuringly to herself as she reluctantly walked over to the ladder handle.
The metal bars lower to the ground and she places her hand on the one that was just above her head. She can do this. She can do this.
Abigail places the first foot on the step, the metal creaking. The sound makes her flinch and nearly back off, but Jake was giving her a supportive look.
Next leg goes up, and her entire body freezes. This time she really couldn't breathe, her throat constricting. Her hands became even more clammy to the point where she could hardly hold onto the metal bars.
Rooster and Hangman immediately take action, pulling her down from the ladder and urging her to take a seat on the ground. Tears of frustration filled her eyes, threatening to drop. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't move. And the ringing of her ears reminded her of how she woke up in the snow right after the crash.
She no longer saw the runway that was scorching under the radiating sun, she saw the blood. She could smell the smoke and feel the cold snow that had turned her cheeks pink.
"Abby!" Rooster's voice pulled her out of the flashback. Him and Jake were huddled close to her, their faces within a few inches of hers. The pure fear she saw in both of their faces made her heart hurt. She couldn't keep doing this to them.
"There she is." Jake sighs, dropping onto his bottom beside Abigail. He places a hand over hers.
Rooster stood up, watching Abigail's face closely. "Looks like we'll have to split the one goal into multiple. First goal, get past the ladder." He says a little more lightly, going over to the F-18 and putting the ladder back up. It was mutually agreed that they would pick back up tomorrow, Abigail had enough today.
Jake helps her back onto her feet, hooking a hand around her waist. She sighs disappointedly as they trekked back inside to wait for Miami and Mallard to show up for their training practice.
Since the mission calls for stealth, obviously the crew had to be very familiar with the terrain and style of flying that it calls for. They had to prepare for this mission similarly to the one that was done last year. So Abigail stuck herself inside of an empty classroom, focusing on the screen that carefully showed the flight maneuvers and approaches she needed to be ready for.
Abigail had to admit, she felt very rusty despite the fact that she had spent the last year teaching Top Gun approaches to new students. She had forgotten the tensity and anxiety the preparation brought.
She could handle this, right?
-
"Why do you put up with me? Surely there's better things you could be doing in your life than dealing with a basket case." Abigail questions Jake as they pulled into the driveway of their home. The once lovely plants her mother brought over had scorched in the sun due to the exposure on the front porch.
Jake turns to her with an exasperated look. "We've been married for four months, surely you still remember my honest vows to you." He says plainly, placing his elbow on the console that was dividing them. Abigail's lip quivers as she recalls the vows they made to each other as if they said them yesterday. She nods softly.
"I'm going to love you until my lungs give out, sweetheart. We'll grow old and grey together. I don't care if you wake up one day and decide to hate me, you're stuck with me because I made a promise to you." Jake smiles softly, placing his hand on her left leg. She hates that she can't feel the touch.
Abigail sniffles. "I'll never hate you, Jake Seresin. I thank my lucky stars that I ran into you, even though sometimes I feel like I'm burdening you."
Jake shakes his head, removing his hand from her prosthetic leg and placing it on her cheek instead. His thumb wipes away the tear that had fallen. "You do not burden me. I'm so in love with you that I'd do anything, so let me do this. I want to help you get better, I want to see you get better."
She leans across the console and wraps her arms around him, his lips pressing a kiss to her forehead. A playful smirk spread across her face. "You'd do anything for me?" She questions, eyeing the front door. Jake chuckles, seeming to catch onto the idea. "Yes, anything."
They exchange glances, sharing the same spark in their eyes. She grins "Then how about taking me upstairs?"
-
Miami was fifth-wheeling a few nights later when the chosen group went out to hang together at the Hard Deck. Rooster and Mallard were particularly close tonight, and apparently they had been on quite a few more dates after Rooster expressed his admiration to her.
In fact, they even made it official as of yesterday. Rooster had a girlfriend, and he couldn't look more happy.
Jake was bragging on and on about his three air-to-air kills when Liliana and Bradley ditched them to go sit at the piano together. They started playing little jingle duets, laughing along with each other when one of them messed up the note.
Abigail shakes her head at the smitten couple, turning back to Jane and Jake. "I don't think I've ever seen Bradley so happy." She chuckles, taking a drink of her beer.
Jane nods. "Yeah, same with Liliana. He's all she'll ever talk about now, makes me want to throw up." She grabs the pool stick and hits the ball, the spheres of all colors clatter together in a satisfying sound.
Jake throws a peanut at Abigail and when she turns to give him a look, he grins. Turning back to the pool table, Abigail readies her stick, and purposefully hits Jake in the kneecap as she pulled back, then hits the white ball. She hears him groan in pain, and when she looks over at him she sees him clutching his kneecap with his open hand.
She sends him a sweet smile, to which made him forget all about the knee. He smiled back at her. She loved having him fall under her spell.
The familiar introduction to a song starts playing loud enough for the entire bar to hear, and the attention is drawn to the couple sitting at the piano. Abigail chuckles. Rooster is always the performer.
"Oogum oogum boogum boogum boogum now, baby, you're castin' your spell on me."
The three by the pool table make their way over to Rooster and Mallard, who were singing along together. They truly were a match made in heaven, Abby thought.
"I say, oogum, oogum, boogum, boogum, boogum now, baby, you're castin' your spell on me."
Jake puts and arm around Abigail, pulling her into his side. He sets his other arm on top of the wooden piano that the performers were using.
"You got me doing funny things like a clown. Just look at me."
"When you wear your high heeled boots with your hip hugger suit, it's all right, you're outta sight."
"And you wear that cute mini skirt with your brother's sloppy shirt. I admit it, girl, that I can dig it."
"Well, then I says oogum, oogum, boogum, boogum, boogum now, baby, you're castin' your spell on me."
"I say, oogum, oogum, boogum, boogum, boogum now, baby, you're castin' your spell on me."
"You got me doing funny things like a clown. Just look at me."
"When you wear your bell bottom pants I just stand there in a trance. I can't move, you're in the groove."
"Would you believe, little girl, that I am crazy 'bout you. Now go on with your bad self."
"My, my, my baby's castin' her spell on me."