Contamination Concern

"Contamination concern?" Bram whispered. "What the hell does that mean?" He banged on the cockpit. "Hey! What's going on?"

Len opened the cockpit door and stared at Bram for a moment.

"We was a concern about Ebola, but the coast is clear. Either way, we had to land. The rainstorm doesn't look like it will stop until tomorrow."

"Ebola? Holy shit," he gasped. "So, we're grounded until then?" Bram asked.

"Yes, but he will have a driver for you soon."

Len closed the cockpit door without another word. Bram turned around and narrowed his eyes. Sitting next to me he whispered, "What do you make of this?" I was confused by his asking me for counsel, but I didn't mind. I was honored. 

"I was thinking the meant Nimble wasn't contained."

Bram leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.

"I hope that you're wrong for many reasons. We thought we had this under control."

"I doubt it's that, though. I jumped the gun. They'd be taking a lot more precautions and look--" I pointed out the window at the steady line of planes. "The airport is still really busy."

"True," he said quietly. "But Ebola is horrible as well. Nimble had hemorrhagic symptoms."

"No wonder I was hurting so much."

Len opened the cockpit.

"Rhys' driver is here."

"Great. Where?" Bram asked. Len pointed to the busy airport.

"We can take you."

With that, Len and Rachel began to unload the plane. They held umbrellas over our heads as we battled the wind and rain into the airport. We entered through the sliding glass doors and were immediately hit with the cool air-conditioned building. It made me shiver after the rain and my sweating. 

Bram took my hand and led me toward the front near the drop off area. After we exited through the automatic doors, we saw a limo waiting for us.

"How did Rhys know we'd be here?" I asked.

"These two must have told him."

Rachel and Len opened the doors for us, gestured to get in, then placed our belongings in the trunk. They slid inside with and gave the driver a nod. We left the airport in the stretch limo and were out on the highway in no time.

"So, what's the plan?" Bram asked our guards. Rachel, still wearing her sunglasses, turned to Bram.

"We'll take you to a hotel for now. When the weather is better, we'll pick you up and fly the rest of the way."

"Okay, that sounds good. And you're sure there isn't a contamination concern anywhere else?" Bram questioned.

"Yes, we found out it was fine, hence we're no longer in the plane."

"Right," Bram said, his voice sounding husky. He sat back and glanced at me.

It wasn't more than a few minutes before we arrived at an upscale hotel. The limo parked in the unloading section. We raced inside to avoid the sudden heavy downpour. Rachel and Len grabbed our things and led us to the front desk. They took care of our booking, and we rode the elevator to room 626.

Len and Rachel opened the hotel door for us, checking the corners of the room with precision. I leaned into Bram and asked, "Are these two former military?"

"Yes. They still could be called. This is just considered a special assignment."

"That's comforting to have three military members among us."

Once the room was secured, our guards brought our belongings in.

"We'll be in room 627 if you need us," Len said. I glanced across the hallway at their room number. Bram and I nodded. Once the door was shut, we opened our suitcases.

"How long do you think we'll be here?" I asked.

"They said it was supposed to storm until tomorrow. You never know with the weather. I'm just glad they decided to remain grounded. There are many pilots who would push through and that wouldn't be a good idea."

"I'm glad about that too," I replied.

We unpacked our necessities and then decided to take showers. The bathroom was smaller than the one upstairs at home, but we could fit.

It wasn't long before we were kissing and that gave way to more. It was fun to be in a hotel with him and we took advantage of the uninterrupted time. 

***

After we were finished, we laid there together in bed listening to the rain. Bram had his arm around me, caressing my shoulder.

"What will we do when we meet with Rhys?" I asked.

"He usually enjoys upscale restaurants. He may take us to one or maybe we can go to his house. There's a beautiful pool in the backyard."

"That sounds great!"

"Did you bring a suit?" Bram asked. I nodded.

"I figured we might end up at a hotel with a pool or maybe even a jacuzzi."

"A jacuzzi? Good idea, but do you need a suit for that?" he asked. I looked up at him and he had a suggestive smile on his face. I giggled.

"If there are other people around!" I exclaimed slapping him. He chuckled.

"Rhys is married. Maybe you and his wife will get along," Bram suggested.

"Maybe. I wasn't one to make many friends in my life with us moving all the time."

"What was that like?" he asked.

"Chaotic but it was a good way to leave everything behind if things got bad."

"Were you a rebel in school?" he asked. I glanced up at him.

"Sometimes," I replied. "What made you ask that?"

"There wouldn't be as many long-term consequences so why not get in some mischief?"

"Very insightful," I said. "You're right anyway. My dad didn't notice what I was doing good or bad, so I just had fun with it."

"Was it hard to get your degree beyond high school?" he asked. I figuratively hung my head, resting my cheek on his chest.

"Yes, it was. I've never been good at school," I conceded.

"Things would have been different for you if you'd had a stable life. You're intelligent."

"You don't need to say these things."

"I know," he said softly. He touched under my chin tilting it up to look at him. "I say them because they're true."

I smiled at him feeling emotional about his kind words. It was night and day compared to who he used to be. My fear made me wondered if this was just a fluke between us, I pushed that thought away. I deserved to be happy and so did he.

As the rain continued to tap against the windows, we gently drifted off to sleep.

***

When we woke the sun was down. We both stirred and then sat up after hearing something. 

We heard loud bang then some vibrations shook us. The swinging of the lights above us made us drop to the ground. We could see a crack forming in the wall. 

"Fuck! This place is about to fall apart!" Bram exclaimed. 

"Are you serious?" I asked in disbelief.

"Alex, yes!" 

Bram opened the windows and pushed the screen out. Then he began smashing the glass with the end of a nearby lamp. Once the opening was big enough, he grabbed me and we teleported down below. After setting me on the wet cement sidewalk, he disappeared. I could see him up in our room and then gripping both Len and Rachel. They put their arms around his shoulder. 

When he made it to me with the others, he was heaving in and out. The rain poured upon us as we stood on the sidewalk. 

"That's hard to carry two people at once!" 

"Thanks for that!" Len exclaimed. It was the most animated Len had been yet. Rachel was nodding too.

"Yes, I'm grateful," she said. With her sunglasses off, I could see that she had sea-teal eyes that complimented her toe head blond hair. "We'd better get out of here."

"Wait, I can bring more." Bram insisted. I looked into his green eyes, and I could see that he was determined. I couldn't stop him if I tried but he needed my approval for some reason. I nodded. 

"Do it."

Bram raced back inside and collected as many people as he could before the top floors of the building collapsed. People spilled out of the hotel, guests, and staff alike. From the looks of it, the majority were out. 

Spectators had joined offering help and calling 911. The four of us exchanged looks and then we began to walk down the street. We didn't want to see if it fell completely to the ground.

Bram was extremely out of breath, and we had to stop a few times for him to either sit or stand still. Each time, he seemed to recover exponentially and before long he was back to his old self but we were also getting drenched. 

Len was on the phone calling to have someone pick us up. It ranged from misting to huge heavy drops, never completely letting up. We were already getting soaked. 

"We have a car on the way," Len informed us. We all gave him a nod.

"So," Rachel began turning to me as we continued to a store awning. We huddled under it together. "You were ... Noir?" I could tell she didn't want to get personal with us but after nearly dying, things were different. 

"Yes," I answered with a nod. 

"What was it like?"