Shattered (Extreme Risk 2)

Tansy nods like she’s satisfied everything is going the way it should, then turns and hightails it back to the plane. I have to force myself not to chase after her, not to get in her face until she has no choice but to look at me.

“Dude,” Luc says to Logan as he carries him toward the plane. “You never said the Make-A-Wish girl was so hot. You’re holding out on me.”

I don’t hear Logan’s response, but that could be because I’m all but diving for the cab and the gear Luc’s got stowed in the trunk. Not that I care if he thinks Tansy’s hot. And I’m definitely not rushing to catch up with them or anything. I’m just ready to get started.

It only takes a couple of minutes to get all the gear stowed in the baggage compartment and then Z, Ophelia, Cam and I are following Luc up the stairs and into the plane.

My first glimpse tells me Z has really outdone himself this time. Instead of the rows of seats I’m expecting, the plane has two separate seating areas, each with couches that come equipped with seat belts. There’s a room in the back, and I can even see a bed through the open door. For Timmy, I assume, who will probably need to rest for much of this trip.

I spent some time online last night looking up his type of leukemia. What I found was brutal and it made me feel like an even bigger dick for not wanting to come on the trip to begin with. Tansy was right. This kid has been through hell in his thirteen years and I’m just grateful that no matter how bad it is with Logan, at least he’s made it this far. At least he’s got a long life in front of him.

“Ash!”

I turn at my name, see a kid walking toward me. He’s got big blond curls and bigger brown eyes and he’s almost as tall as Logan, but much, much skinnier with purple circles beneath his eyes and clothes that look too big on his body, like he’s recently lost weight. God.

But he’s grinning hugely, his face is lit up like the Fourth of July. “Timmy?”

“Yeah! It’s great to meet you!”

“Good to meet you, too, man.” I walk forward, shake his hand, then turn to shake his parents’ hands, as well.

Tansy starts to introduce us, but before she can do more than say my name, Timmy’s mom lets out a little sob and throws her arms around my waist. “Thank you. Thank you so, so much for doing this for Timmy. I know it’s a lot—”

“No, no. It’s great. No problem at all.” I pat her back awkwardly, even as I shoot Tansy a get-me-out-of-this look.

Of course, she’s so busy smiling at Luc that she doesn’t seem to notice.

Fantastic.

“All right, if everyone will take their seats, we’ll be ready for takeoff in just a couple of minutes,” the captain announces as he makes his way through the main cabin to the cockpit.

Mrs. Varek finally untangles herself from around me. “Thank you,” she says again, a sentiment her husband echoes moments later.

“Thank Z,” I tell them, shifting their focus to my best friend. “He’s the one who made all this possible.”

Ignoring the glare he shoots me—there’s nothing Z hates more than having his generosity acknowledged—I grab Tansy’s elbow and pull her toward the seating area where Luc deposited Logan. As she settles into the couch across from me, I relax for what feels like the first time in over a week.

“Hey, you want a drink or anything?” I ask Tansy a few hours later as I climb to my feet, being careful not to disturb my sleeping brother.

“Umm, sure,” she whispers.

“What do you want?”

“I don’t know. I’ll come back to the galley with you.” She, too, stands up gingerly and I watch with no little satisfaction as Luc—who had fallen asleep with his head on her shoulder—crashes face-first into the couch. If that makes me a bad friend, then so be it. After watching him flirt with her for hours, right under Cam’s oblivious nose, I don’t really give a shit.

Tansy obviously doesn’t feel the same way, though. She gives a little gasp of alarm as he falls forward, tries to straighten him back up again. Of course, he’s at least double her weight, so it’s not like she makes much progress.

“Leave him,” I tell her. “That’s not even close to the most uncomfortable place he’s slept this week.”

She gets a look on her face that I don’t quite understand, but after another minute of unsuccessfully struggling against both gravity and a dead-to-the-world Luc, she gives up with a small shrug and a roll of her eyes.

Both are obviously directed at me, and I can’t help but feel a little thrill. It’s pretty much the most interaction she’s had with me in the seven hours since we left Salt Lake City. She’s talked to everybody else—Timmy and his family, Logan, Z, Ophelia, Cam. Has spent hours chatting and laughing with Luc about anything and everything.

But me?

She’s had absolutely no interest in talking to me at all. Until now.

“Thank you again for doing this, Ash,” she says as we make our way to the small kitchen at the front of the plane. “Timmy is so thrilled and—”