DropZone

The doctor stood back, adjusted his stethoscope, then turned to look at Ethan. ‘I’m assuming, young man, that I don’t need to tell you just how lucky you are to be not simply alive, but pretty much unscathed.’

Ethan shook his head. Sam had made that fact all too clear.

‘Normally,’ explained the doctor, ‘I would expect two people who’d essentially collided in mid-air to be in various bits and pieces in the morgue. However’ – he shook his head wonderingly – ‘it seems that you have come as close to dying as is possible – and lived to tell the tale.’

Ethan attempted a smile, and the doctor smiled back.

‘Your young lady friend, as is to be expected, is somewhat grateful for what you did,’ he said.

‘Where is Kat?’ Ethan asked. ‘I’d like to see her.’

‘She’s in better shape than you,’ said the doctor. ‘Mild concussion. Doesn’t remember much apart from standing up in the plane and then waking up on the ground. I’ll have a nurse take you to see her.’

Ethan looked up at this. ‘Really?’

The doctor nodded. ‘You dislocated your shoulder, that’s all. Mild bruising. However’ – and he looked hard at Ethan at this point – ‘you will need to rest.’

Sam looked up at the doctor, who returned the stare.

‘He’ll be on a course of painkillers and anti-inflammatory tablets,’ he explained. ‘I recommend a minimum of four weeks’ rest, to give the shoulder a chance to mend. I trust you will be able to make sure this adventurous spirit can be otherwise engaged until then?’

Sam gave him a simple ‘Yes.’

‘Good,’ said the doctor, and quickly but carefully put Ethan’s arm in a simple sling. ‘Any questions?’

Ethan looked at his arm. Four weeks’ rest! Damn.

‘Would I be able to see Kat now?’ he asked.

Kat was lying on a bed, fully clothed. Natalya was with her. When Ethan walked in with Joh

Kat looked up, pushed her hair out of her face. She attempted a smile but she looked awkward, embarrassed.

Natalya gave Kat a hug, then came over to Ethan. ‘You are either a brave fool or foolishly brave,’ she told him.

‘I think probably a bit of both, don’t you, Ethan?’ said Sam.

Ethan did a good impression of a goldfish, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to think of something to say and failed.

‘Kat OK?’ asked Joh

‘More than,’ said Natalya. ‘She survived the whole thing and does not remember any of it.’ She turned back to Ethan. ‘You saved her life, Ethan. That she will not forget.’

‘And neither will we,’ put in Sam.

‘He’s such a hero, aren’t you, Eth?’ said Joh

Natalya looked at Joh

‘She’s so intense,’ said Ethan.

‘Exciting, isn’t it?’ Joh

They went over to Kat’s bed. Sam was looking down at her, face stern. Ethan tried to smile but it felt forced, like it was a smile he was wearing, not one he actually meant.

‘M’lady,’ said Joh

Ethan smiled, said, ‘Hi,’ but could think of nothing else. Kat looked pretty good, considering what she’d just gone through. Waking up to find you’d been seconds from being killed must be a fair shock, he thought.

‘You had me scared up there, young lady,’ Sam told her.

‘It was an accident,’ she said. ‘I just slipped and hit the door, I think. Ethan knows more about what happened than I do.’

‘That was it really,’ he confirmed. ‘You banged your head.’ He gri

‘Ironic, isn’t it?’ said Kat. ‘The week I go and order one is the week I have an accident.’

‘It’s not irony, it’s fate,’ said Joh

‘In what way’s that, then?’ asked Kat.

‘Don’t know,’ said Joh

Sam said, ‘Well, now that I see you’re OK, I’m going to make a phone call. I’ll be back in five.’

Joh

Then Kat and Ethan were alone. Ethan looked at Kat, smiled, looked back at the floor, then out the window, and finally took an exceptional interest in the pattern of the curtains. He could have said a lot about what had happened – what it had been like to see Kat fall from the plane, how every single second seemed to be burned into his brain with such clarity it was like watching a movie in high definition – but he just couldn’t find the words. At last he looked at Kat again.

‘Thank you,’ she said, breaking the silence. ‘What you did, it was amazing.’

‘As Joh

‘I mean it. I’m alive because of you. I shouldn’t even be sitting here. I didn’t wake up until after I’d landed, and even then I had no idea what had happened. And now it seems you’re more injured than I am.’

‘I’m all right,’ said Ethan. ‘Just got to rest the arm for a few weeks, that’s all.’

‘What about skydiving?’

Ethan shrugged. ‘Don’t know,’ he said. ‘Just have to wait it out, I guess.’

‘That sucks,’ said Kat. ‘I’ll be in the air before you. That doesn’t seem right, seeing as it’s my fault you’re injured.’

‘Think you’ll be nervous?’

‘I’d be more nervous if I could never jump again,’ said Kat.

Ethan smiled. He wasn’t handling this well, and he knew it. He wasn’t cut out to be the hero. He’d just reacted, that was all; it was instinct.

‘I’m really sorry, Ethan,’ said Kat. ‘I was a cow to you before the jump and then I put your life at risk. Unbelievable.’

‘It’s OK. To be honest, I’m as stu

Kat laughed. ‘You really think so?’

‘Sure,’ said Ethan. ‘I was just there at the time, that’s all. Anyway, how long do you have to stay here for?’

Kat shuffled slightly on the bed. ‘To be honest, I don’t actually need to be here at all. There’s not a scratch on me. They’re just keeping me in overnight for observation. I think it’s just because they like coming in to ask me about what happened. No one can really believe it.’

‘It’s quite a story, isn’t it?’ said Ethan, gri

‘If you were Joh

‘It’ll be fun to hear how the story gets exaggerated in the telling,’ said Ethan. ‘By the end of the week you’ll have been jumping without a parachute.’

They both laughed. Ethan couldn’t help feeling a little proud of what he’d done. Even Joh