THE BEGINNING:CHAPTER IV:IN FLIGHT
"Listen carefully everyone, I'm flight attendant Marion Rose and as you all know, we are about to leave the runway heading towards our destination. We advised all passengers here in this section, to fully abide by our protocols which is binding on all passengers on board, both young and old alike. Without any delay, I will quickly relayed to you some of the prominent safety protocols guiding the safety of the aircraft including those inside it. So pay attention and listen, all passengers on board should strap themselves to the seat and mustn't be found standing while the aircraft takes off from the runway. And those electronic devices that could access the internet including those that have Wi-fi connection must be switched off or put it on flight mode if you have any type of cell phone While defaulters of this criterion will be penalize by having their cell phones confiscated and will be duly return after we have landed safely in Greaves", Marion reported to the passengers who looked spellbound at her long speech,
"Any further information including more safety rules, will be relayed to you at subsequent time during the journey to Greaves and as for your meals, I and flight attendant Jane Diego who I believe is in the other section relaying the same message to the other passengers, will handle it without any charges of course, while if you need to use the restroom that's provided in the aircraft, inform us about it in order for us to show you the specific restroom meant for your usage. Any questions that's pestering you should be asked later on during the flight. Thank you", Marion concluded her speech with a smile enhancing her charisma which enthralled some of her spectators who listen with keen interest while the others showed no concern and gave her a blunt stare except for those far behind who wasn't paying attention to her speech but she didn't care what they think of her and strode through the aisle to the staircase leaving the passengers to carry out the required procedure for the flight which some reluctantly complied with.The aircraft peacefully elevated into the crisp atmosphere surfing over the concrete jungle of Summerville towards the distant ocean which flowed with soft tranquility far below the heightened aircraft ebbing slowly towards the riverbank as it splashes softly on coarse rocks. Marion held the handrail waiting for the aircraft to hover safely on the atmosphere before climbing up the fancy staircase in haste to the first class section trying to find Jane but she decided to pass Marion climbed into next compartment of the second class section of the plane and relayed the message captain Malcolm passed to her onto the passengers of flight A43. The passengers were more attentive than the other section whom showed more appreciation for her kind gesture and charming charisma. She moved to the next section using the fancy stair case as her guide but almost bumped into Jane who was about to descend down the staircase, striding forward from the right direction where the passengers sat tending to their boring activities.
“Hey! Watch it! Can’t you see where you are going?!”, Jane shrieked out when she almost collided with Marion who wasn’t paying much attention to her direction and wasn’t aware that she was heading towards her from her right since she was lost in thought while she ascended the stairs which resounded her footsteps loudly as she approached the standard class of the plane.
“Oh! I’m so sorry, are you hurt pretty bad?”, Marion inquired apologetically trying to find out if her co-attendant after she had inflicted a ghastly blow on Jane’s abdomen using her elbow.
“What were you thinking.…..about that made you hit me ?”, Jane queried with a sharp groan, grasping her lower rib with her right hand and held the handrail as she squatted beside Marion in bitter anguish.
“I’m so sorry about this accident. I didn’t see you there and I was deeply lost in thought about which hour for us to begin the night shift and what hour is suitable for the both of us”, Marion explained the initial cause of the accident between them while a ringlet of her dark curly hair fell downwards between her eyebrow, on her forehead which was glittering under the fluorescent light, illuminating the whole fuselage. She looked at Jane with her two black pupils, peering softly at Jane who bent down in agony with drops of few wet tears dribble gently down her cheeks that was slowly emitted from her tearduct. Jane was about to cry out when a passenger who noticed the incident from his seat walked towards them and stood beside them.
“Miss, Is there any problem over here? What happened to her?”, Luke, who had seen Jane collided with Marion, stealthily got up from his seat in order not to disturb sleeping Lora and his baby girl wrapped in her arms after being cuddled to sleep by her mother. The aircraft kept its swift movements among the opaque clouds surfing towards their programmed destination in the serene night enabling some passengers to experience tranquil comfort provided for by the plane.
“It’s just a minor accident and nothing serious. Sir, please go back to your seat and await your meal which will soon be ready after I’m done patching her up”, Marion replied feeling quite uncomfortable with his presence and also trying to chase him away from there in order not to attract attention from the other passengers. She bent down to assist Jane who had a slight bruise on her body under her natty suit.
“I don’t mean to pry but that doesn’t look minor to me. I think she sustain much more than just a superficial wound on her body” , Luke replied looking concerned about Jane’s well being, “I suggest that you apply something to it before it gets worse”,
“Thanks for the advice sir, but I already know what to do. So, please have your seat over there with your wife”, Marion rejoined sharply feeling bothered of his incessant advice on what to do which she already knew. Her reply sent chills down his spine but he wasn’t going to give up just like that since he felt he needed to assist the flight attendant who had kept few of the passengers in the first class section, entertained a while ago before they flew out the terminal. Jane had kept them enthralled and entertained as well as some other passengers by her funny jokes including some of her funny experiences she encountered during her college days which erupted incessant laughter in the standard compartment. He silently went back to his seat which Marion to let her guard down with the thought that he had finally obey her and would sit down without any sort of intrusion that might make her mad with anger but he didn’t sit down and stood beside his wife peering at his wife who rested on the seat with her back while her damp blonde hair lay spread over her nape and shoulder. She held the sleeping baby girl in her arms who was clad in a pink baby pyjamas and a blue cloth shrouded her small head leaving her red dimpled face to be entirely exposed for Luke to stare with a smile across his face.
Marion tried to placate Jane who still continue to wallow in pain, by rubbing her back slowly with her right hand in order soothe the pain but it didn’t work on her but instead made it worse. Realizing that her efforts in trying to help her suppress the pain was in vain, Marion decided to get the first aid kit from her private quarters in the third compartment beside the flight deck.
“Stay right here and don’t go anywhere else. I’ll be right back right away with the first aid kit from our quarters”, Marion said and descended down the staircase, leaving Jane behind. Luke had been glancing quietly at them from his seat waiting for the right chance to help Jane who still bent down with her head on her knees in sheer pain which covered her tears while holding the hanrail as her support with her left arm.
"I told you not go there, the other flight lady won't be please to see you together with her", a chubby man clad in yellow shorts sleeve T-shirt and a green trouser whispered to Luke beside while reading a magazine. Luke brushed aside his advise and stealthily ventured to where Jane was after getting up from his fancy blue seat which he left behind to Jane's rescue.
"Hey, come over here. Let me help you before she gets back", Luke offered his help in haste as few drops of sweat dribbled down his chin, trying to persuade her into accepting his help before the arrival of Marion who will chase him away the moment she comes back to see him beside Jane.
"Oka...y, I will try...my...best to get up", She stuttered moaning in pain as she struggled to stand up using the handrail as her first support before he held her hands across his shoulder with her eyes clouded in tears. Luke gently took her to the first empty seat and was assisted by two other passengers from behind, making it only six passengers present including his sleeping wife and child, in the standard class. He went to his seat and took out an antiseptic ointment he bought from a hospital for Lora whom suffered similar experience after she accidentally hit her back on the hard surface of the fitted wardrobe. He had applied it to the affected region on her body which relieved her of the pain when it got sheerly healed in five days. He quietly ransacked his hand luggage in order not to wake her and his child, which he had carried along with him into the aircraft and found it inside the front pocket of his arranged black trouser. Then he beckoned for a woman in a green T-shirt who earlier partook in a brawl between the passengers and security guards back at the terminal, to assist him in applying the ointment to the affected areas of Jane's body. The woman willingly obeyed while the four passengers stood behind them peering at the scene unfolding before their eyes ad the brownish woman gently applied the white creamy ointment affected part after unbuttoned her natty suit which partially exposed her abdomen while Luke kept a look out for Marion who might interfere with the quasi healing procedure that would temporarily soothe the pain that was being rendered to Jane by the woman.