“It is.”
“Didn’t feel like it.”
Marcus gave him a tired smile.
“That’s aviation.”
When he finally entered the cabin, passengers recognized him immediately.
A woman carrying a toddler reached for his hand.
“My little boy gets another birthday because of you.”
Marcus opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
An elderly man touched his shoulder.
A college student hugged him without asking.
Even the passenger who had earlier demanded to know who was flying approached Marcus near the exit.
“I owe you an apology.”
Marcus looked at him.
The man swallowed.
“I said they were crazy for putting you up there.”
“You were scared.”
“So were you.”
Marcus nodded.
“Very.”
Colonel Whitmore waited near the door.
When Marcus reached him, the retired officer extended his hand.
“Bishop, right?”
Marcus stopped.
“How did you know?”
Whitmore smiled.
“I made some guesses from your squadron history.”
Marcus shook his hand.
“Don’t use that name anymore.”
“Maybe not.”
Whitmore looked toward the cockpit.
“But apparently the guy is still in there.”
Marcus stepped onto the evacuation slide.
Cold Irish air hit him as soon as he reached the ground.
The sky above Shannon was beginning to turn faint gray near the horizon. Ambulances moved around the aircraft while firefighters inspected the engines and landing gear.
Marcus walked until he was away from the crowd.
Then he finally looked back.
The enormous aircraft sat buried partially in the arresting material at the end of the runway. It looked wounded and exhausted.
A little like he felt.
Sarah found him several minutes later.
“You disappeared.”
“Needed some air.”
She stood beside him.
Neither spoke for a while.
Finally Sarah said, “Why did you wait?”
Marcus looked at her.
“When we made the announcement. You waited before standing up.”
He put his hands into the pockets of his sweatshirt.
“My daughter.”
Sarah waited.
“She’s eight. Zoe.”
Marcus stared toward the emergency lights.
“I left the Air Force because I promised her I was finished doing things that might keep me from coming home.”
Sarah nodded slowly.
“My wife died when Zoe was little. After that, every deployment felt different. I’d be sitting in some briefing room thousands of miles away wondering whether my daughter was waking up from a nightmare and asking someone else where her dad was.”
“So you quit.”
“I chose her.”
Sarah looked toward the plane.
“And tonight?”
Marcus laughed quietly.
“Tonight I spent about thirty seconds pretending I still had a choice.”
Sarah understood.
“If you stayed seated…”
“I might never have gotten home anyway.”
His phone vibrated inside his pocket.
When Marcus turned it on, messages flooded the screen.