Chapter 14: Flight Back Home (Part 2)

Michaela was in a deep sleep when Zeke suddenly tapped her a few times to wake up. "Michaela, wake up. Something's happening." The plane was heavily shaking back and forth undergoing extreme turbulence. "What…what's going on?" Michaela asked groggily. Looking out the window, Michaela noticed that the sky was now filled with extremely dark clouds as if a disastrous storm was beginning to brew. "This weather came out of nowhere." Zeke said. "Just like Flight 828. How could this be happening again? When I tried so hard to convince myself that it wouldn't." Michaela thought. A loud thunder and unexpected lightning began to crash violently through the airplane windows. There appeared to be a ship beneath the plane that rapidly rocked back and forth from the same lightning strike. The passengers firmly gripped on to the hand rests as the plane began to take a deep nosedive, headed directly towards a landing in the Atlantic Ocean.

The plane continued to spiral out of control, speeding up more and more every precious second. The passengers let out an outpour of screams throughout the plane. Some were cursing up a storm, some let out uncontrollable tears, some sent out a powerful prayer to God, and some were children holding on to their parents for dear life. Michaela looked hard into Zeke's eyes. "I'm so sorry, Zeke. I love you!" Michaela tried to yell out over the heavy chaotic screams. She didn't know what was about to happen, but those final three words were the most important words in the world to her and she needed him to know that. She tightly closed her eyes, afraid to watch their inevitable impending doom. "I'm not going to lose you, Michaela!" Zeke shouted as he quickly bent down to grab his red carry-on backpack under his seat. He pulled out the pink-twin budded flower. "For good luck, remember?" Zeke stated. He placed it between their hands again and it quickly regained its radiant light with the simple touch of their connected fingers.

The plane slowly began to steady itself again just seconds before crashing into the Atlantic Ocean and the passengers unanimously let out a big sigh of relief. The skies suddenly began to clear up again and bright light was shining through Zeke and Michaela's window. They both looked at each other with their shaking bodies and heavy breathing. Michaela looked around at the mixed reactions from the other passengers and overheard a woman next to her blame the incident on her. "I bet we're in 2026 now, thanks to her. I should have stepped off this flight the moment I saw her." she said furiously. Michaela brought her left hand up to her face to wipe away early tears. "I did this Zeke." Michaela mumbled. "Michaela, look at me." Zeke said sadly. "You're not some monster. I think we saved these people. This flower really does bring us good luck. The moment we both held it in our hands some miracle happened." Michaela stayed silent, recapping every detail of what just happened in the back of her mind. "I love you, Michaela. Don't ever forget that." She lifted her head upon hearing the words and stared deep into Zeke's eyes. From just their stares alone, they knew exactly what each other were thinking.

Saanvi listened closely to the sound of the roaring waves from the Atlantic Ocean. She had been on this ship for a few hours now, staring at nothing but blue water in the distance. "Ennui." she said glumly as she slid her back down against the side of the ship. Inside her mind she was wishing she could be back home instead to somehow erase her past mistakes and completely start over. But erasing is also what got her into trouble in the first place. If she never erased the callings from her mind, the Major might still be alive to give her the answers she desperately needed. She was now forced with the consequences of having to hide in an unfamiliar place for an unknown amount of time. On the ship with her were five other shady individuals that she knew nothing about.

"Why the glum face?" one of the ship members asked. He was extremely tall and had long, dark brown hair that rested on his shoulders. "Oh…it's nothing." Saanvi replied, avoiding eye contact with him. "Well…it must be something if Vance wanted us to send you all the way to this private cabin." The man stuck his hand out. "I'm Jordan." Saanvi politely shook his hand. "Saanvi. But you probably already knew that." Jordan laughed. "I did. You know, my father always used to tell me, "As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart." Now I don't really know you, but something tells me you have a good heart. But your face is telling me that you're drowning in your past mistakes that is preventing you from moving forward. Whatever you did, think about the good in your life that truly reflects on your character. Focus on that." Saanvi took in his wise words. "Thank you, Jordan." Saanvi responded.

She looked down at the water again, unable to see her reflection against the waves. The clouds in the sky suddenly turned extremely dark. "Was a storm expected to come?" Saanvi asked Jordan. "No, the sky was clear a minute ago." A big crash of lightning came down from the sky and Saanvi noticed a plane trapped in the storm above. The ship suddenly rocked back and forth intensely. "Everyone take cover!" Jordan yelled. A few seconds later they heard a crack forming in the ship's floor and water started to leak in. "We're going down!" the ship's captain yelled out. "I only have two life jackets." Captain Ylad explained while turning pale white at the sudden realization. "What do you mean you only have two life jackets? What is this, the Titanic? There should be one for everyone!" Jordan yelled. The tiny ship continued to rock back and forth and the water began to fill up the ship even more.

Jordan quickly ran to the ship's passenger cabin to grab the two hidden life jackets. When he came back up, he threw one to Saanvi and started to put the other one on himself before Captain Ylad attempted to yank it off him. "Hey, give me one of those!" Captain Ylad yelled out with power. Jordan quickly threw him a punch that caused the captain to stumble over. He speedily got up and forcefully pushed Jordan to the side of the ship with all his strength. "Jordan!" Saanvi yelled. "I'll be okay, Saanvi. Save yourself. Jump!" Jordan tells her as he falls into the water. The three other passengers without life jackets soon targeted Saanvi. She quickly made a leap into the water and tried to swim around to look for Jordan, but the large waves kept pushing her further and further away from the ship. "Jordan!" Saanvi called out. She heard no response. Her arm strength was quickly fading away as she attempted to swim around in the strong water. It didn't help that her lack of food in the past week left her severely drained. She could no longer see the ship in the distance. Only the endless blue ocean.

An hour of swimming went by and Saanvi was starting to give up. The water was freezing against her exposed skin and her breathing was slowing down. She relaxed the muscles of her frozen body and slowly closed her eyes. Little did she know a few moments later a bright light would hit her eyelids. As she opened them back up, she squinted to see a small fishing boat in the distance pointing a flashlight around. "Please help me!" Saanvi yelled out with a tired voice. She attempted to make tiny splashes in the water hoping that the people on the boat would hear her.

"Dad, look!" a woman yelled from the boat. "There's someone in the water." The boat moved its way to Saanvi and pulled her up into the boat. She was intensely shaking and soon went unconscious as they placed a warm blanket over her wet body.

When Saanvi woke up again, she didn't recognize where she was. It appeared to be a house where she was resting comfortably in a warm bed. "Saanvi?" a young woman sitting in a chair next to her asked. She appeared to be around Saanvi's age. "How do you know who I am?" Saanvi asked. "The woman smiled. "You're Saanvi Bahl. At least that's what it says on your hospital ID badge. What irks me is that it says you started working at Mercy hospital in 2018. It's only 2014. Are you from the future or something?" Saanvi looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean it's 2014? Last time I checked it was 2020." The long brown-haired woman let out a laugh. "I think you need a better calendar." she joked. She reached for a cup on the bedside table. "Here, drink this. It's my momma's famous tea. It'll make you feel better instantly." Saanvi sat up and took a small sip of the hot drink. "This is delicious, thank you. And thank you for saving me in the water." The woman nodded. "You're welcome. I'll let you get some more rest. I'm sure you had a long day. I'm Leila, by the way." She walked out of the room and left Saanvi alone. "What in the world just happened?" Saanvi thought.