Free Flying Home by Mary Anne Wilson Page A

isn’t dependent on the main circuitry.”
    “All right,” she said. “Relax and let me figure this out.”
    He closed his eyes again as she moved around, then he could hear her clicking something. “I think I found it,” she exclaimed.
    “Good,” he whispered, all energy draining out of him as the pain intensified. “It’ll take a couple of minutes to either work or not work,” he told her.
    He heard a click right before Merry asked hesitantly, “Can I ask you how long you think we’ll be stranded here?”
    Gage had no legitimate answer for her question, but told himself to pick a reasonable time span, tell it to her, then get onto the really important issue—survival. Before he could give her an arbitrary hour, long enough for the storm to let up, and time for the GPS signal to be triangulated and the crew to get here, his body was shaken by a violent shiver.
    Merry was there, stroking his face, her voice soft, “Oh, Gage, you’re so cold. The heat should be on any minute now.”
    He couldn’t talk, not when his teeth were chattering and his body seemed to be trembling inside and out. And the pain seemed to be everywhere. He swallowed hard, feeling sweat trickling down his temple, burning on the wound at his hairline.
    “It’s okay. It’s okay,” Merry cooed over and over again, even while he shook uncontrollably. “I just need to get you warm. Warm. The heater.” He heard each word, but her image was out of focus, then gone. “Yes!” The single word echoed in the cabin, and he felt warmth from her hand on his face. “I did it! The heater’s on. It’s on. Warm air is coming out the bottom vents.”
    “Good,” he managed again, and meant it when he could feel the hint of heat filling the air. It only made him shiver more as the temperature shifted slowly from cold to almost bearable.
    “I did it,” she said as her hand caressed his cheek again.
    “Th...th...thanks,” he managed to get out.
    Merry put a hand on his shoulder. “Now, take off your clothes.”
    He was shaking, but he almost laughed at what she’d said. Almost. Although, that didn’t mean that the pain wracking his body could stop him from smiling. That didn’t hurt. “You...know, it’s b...b...been a while since a w...w...woman said anything like that t...to me.”
    Despite his inability to speak smoothly, he was glad to see a slight tilt of her lips “Really? From the reputation that precedes you and your brothers, I’d suspect that it’s happened more than you’re admitting to.” He felt pressure on his arm through the soggy jacket. “Come on, you need to get this off.”
    He glanced back over the seat and frowned. He was too tall to move around much where he was, despite the seat being on the incline. “I kn...knew I sh...sh...should have gone for the bigger model,” he muttered.
    Without saying anything, Merry shifted toward him, leaning over the console, and started to methodically undo the buttons on his heavy jacket. She was so close he thought he could see the hint of gold in her green eyes as she worked intently and got the jacket open. There was a bit more warmth in the cabin, but he wondered how much of it was her body heat and how much came from the heater that had to be held on low to conserve energy.
    “Okay,” she said on a rush of exhaled air. “This is a good start.”
    His shivering was letting up, and he could actually speak without too much stammering. “You are a f...f...forward woman, aren’t you?”
    She hesitated, and then said, “Get over yourself. It’s just a wet coat...” She bit her bottom lip. “But, if you prefer to do it yourself—”
    “No, sorry, I can’t,” he admitted through clenched teeth.
    “Oh, no, it’s your ribs, isn’t it?”
    He exhaled. “You got me.”
    “You should have told me right from the start,” she said, and even in the dim light, he could tell she was annoyed. It didn’t stop her from reaching for his jacket cuff and pulling at it so his arm