A Second Chance, Part V – The Finale
By: Tickie
©  2008 by the author and creator.
Editor: Gerry Young and Radio Rancher

 
The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...
  

Back on the raft, night had set in, and everyone was asleep; with the gentle rocking of the waves and slapping sounds on the raft, it had the effect of putting them all into dreamland.  They had all cuddled together under what few blankets were available. Matt was still unconscious, but he was in the middle of the pack of survivors. The guardian angels were all praying for them.

"Is that you Charlie?" Matt asked as he saw a bright white tunnel of light way off in the distance…

Chapter 4 

The light seemed like it was way off in the distance as he reached for his head. "OOH, MY HEAD HURTS!!" He reached to feel the blood-soaked bandage.

Matt's voice woke Colt with a start, "WHAT! …. OH MY GOD … MATT, YOU'RE AWAKE!!! THANK GOD, YOU'RE AWAKE," not realizing that he was able to not only hear Matt, but he could see him and it was in the middle of the night.

"What happened? … My head is killing me!" Matt groggily asked with a pained voice.

"DAAAAAAAAD, YOU'RE AWAKE!!!" Luke yelled, waking everyone else in the raft, and yet no one had yet noticed they were able to see each other.

Mark grabbed hold of Matt and squeezed him tight. "YOU'RE OK, POP! … ARE YOU OK?" is all he could say.

Being the first to notice a light on some sort of plane coming toward them, John said, "Guys, that light is coming toward us; could it be …"

He was cut off by Colt saying, "That's help arriving!!!" He stood up too fast and fell back, hitting his splinted arm. "OW! FUCK, THAT HURTS …" He rolled over on his good side with Luke's help.

"ARE YOU SURE, DAAAAD?" Mark yelled as he stood to see what was heading there way.

Now everyone on the raft was wide awake and watching the 'tunnel of light' as Matt called it. Matt, too, was awake, which was a good sign, or at least that's what we angels thought.

"DAMN IT! MY HEAD IS KILLING ME … WHAT HAPPENED? … WHERE ARE WE? … WHERE'S COWBOY? … MY GOD ... WHERE'S COWBOY!" Matt screamed in pain and confusion. Pulling on Luke for support, he tried to stand, but quickly sat back down before he fell.

"It's a long story, hon!" Colt said with a grimaced expression. "We had to ditch him, and the boys did all they could." Then, trying to drive the point home, more for the twins' benefit than Matt's, he shouted, "AND IT WASN'T THEIR FAULT!"

"YES, IT WAS OUR FAULT!" the twins shouted back, echoing each other.

"I CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING … DAMN IT!" Matt stammered out painfully.

"NO IT WASN'T!" Colt reiterated rather loudly as he glared at the boys.

"They're getting closer, guys!" Larry calmly stated, hoping it would cool down the heated comments being exchanged between members of the family. No one seemed to pay any attention to him except John. And he, too, was looking at the family conflict that seemed to have erupted with Matt's waking up.

"Don't move around so much, Matt; you have a nasty cut on your head, and I don't want it to start bleeding again," Larry said with authority, knowing it wouldn't make any difference.

Soon the sounds of 'whoop … whoop … whoop …' were heard – the sounds of a rescue helicopter hovering overhead, then a bull horn sounded, "ARE YOU ALL OK?"

Larry stood up and waved his arms; he yelled back, "WE'RE OK, BUT WE HAVE TWO INJURED!"

"STAND BY, AS WE'RE LOWERING SOMEONE!" came the bullhorn again.

It wasn't long before the six cast-a-ways were rescued one by one, Matt being the first to be hoisted up into the whirlybird. Then Colt was hauled up, being the other injured man. Larry, then John, finally Luke, and lastly Mark, holding onto James' painting. He was told not to take it, but who's going to tell Mark not to take something like that, saved from the ill-fated Cowboy.

Soon as all were safely seat-belted in, they were heading toward the islands at a good clip. The pilot was talking with Colt over the aircraft's onboard communications, telling him that the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) homed in on them on the raft and brought them directly to their location. He further told them how happy he was that all were safely aboard. Next stop was going to be Leahi Hospital. Strange as it sounded to Colt, it was the same hospital that Richard had been taken to, a long time back. Within the hour of their rescue, they saw the helipad on top of the hospital coming into view.

Once they arrived, Matt, and Colt were taken to the emergency room while the others were led to the same location under their own power to be examined by one of the doctors on duty. And wouldn't you know it, Dr. Brooks was on duty. Much older now, but he was the same doctor who took care of Richard; this brought smiles from Matt and Colt when they first saw him.

Both, Matt and Colt, were in the same treatment room supposedly separated by a curtain, but neither of them would let any of the staff close it.

Matt was the first to be looked at and sent to X-ray. When all the examining and testing had been done on Matt, they found only the laceration to his head. He looked funny with just the left side of his head shaved, but it had to be done so they could clean and suture the wound. But he had no broken bones. Once they had him out of his clothes, though, they spotted several bad bruises and some were an ugly dark purple. The doctor ordered him to be admitted. Colt told him that they wanted the largest suite, so the family could stay together. They were assigned to Suite B, Room 4050, on the fourth floor, as requested.

Colt was the next one into X-ray. Upon returning to the ER, Dr. Brooks set the arm and put him into a cast from his left shoulder to his wrist. Colt was then asked to finish undressing and put on a hospital gown. "Why do I need to wear a gown?" he asked.

"All of you will be getting closer checkups and placed under observation for the next few hours or more. You guys took one helluva hard hit, and we need to be sure everyone is checked out completely. Over the next few weeks, everyone of you will have some serious aches and pains from the impact," Dr. Brooks explained.

Colt was in almost the same shape as Matt with many bad bruises, and the coloration wasn't looking good on any of them. Dr. Brooks was very worried about clotting. So, Colt was also admitted over his complaining; he, too, was taken with Matt to their assigned suite.

Larry, John, and the twins were also covered with bruises, but not so badly as the other two. Larry and John were free to go after they were given some medications and told to come back the next morning for another look. They didn't leave the hospital, though; they wanted to wait for the Andersons to finish their examinations and end up in their room.

The twins, however, had some serious bruising over their shoulders and around their waists from the harnesses, enough so that they were also to be admitted. They would be spending the night in the hospital as well. They insisted on staying in the same room with their dads.

Dr. Brooks told them not to worry; their dads had already made arrangements, and he, himself, had approved it. The suites were large enough to handle four beds without problems for the nursing staff. Once everyone was checked in and the fathers and sons were in their room. Larry and John went in to see how they were doing.

Both Larry and John walked into a family discussion of what happened. Echoing each other, they both said, "Now let's talk about something important!"

"What's that?" Colt asked, smiling at the pair as they came in.

"Yes!" asked Matt, still with some signs of a pained expression.

The twins just stopped talking and looked at them, waiting for whatever was about to take place.

"I just talked to the pilot of the chopper, and he told me they had notified Earl and Jack after we arrived here safely. They were relieved to find out we're all ok, but they want us to call them and … you know … fill'em in on what happened," Larry explained to the family.

"John, can you look in my pants and see if the sat phone is there?" Colt asked.

John went to the closet and found the sat phone; he returned to Colt's bed and handed it to him. "Here you go; anything else you guys need? We were told to get to bed ourselves, and to let you guys get some rest. Is it ok if we use the penthouse tonight?"

"Sure, no problem, guys, and use whatever you two need. But ... you should already know that ... You've worked for us long enough," Colt said, "and thanks, for all your help with everything today."

Larry and John excused themselves and left for the night, saying, "We'll be back early in the morning." Then John looked at the clock over the door and said, "I’ll take that back; looks like it's morning already. Make that in about eight or nine hours. We need some rest as bad as you guys do!" They began to chuckle as they both left, waving goodbye.

"Ok, you two, see you then," Colt told them as he opened the sat phone and saw it light up, "Looks like it might work." Then he started pressing the keys. "It's working!" he stated.

"HELLO!" Earl shouted over the phone.

"I'm not deaf, guy!" Colt chuckled back.

"Thank God, are you all ok?? Can I put this on speaker? Jack and Carrie are as nervous as two old chickens about ready to loose their heads," Earl joked back, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Sure, and I'll do the same!" Colt said as he hit the speaker button on the phone.

"Glad you're all ok; it's sad to hear you guys lost Cowboy, though," Jack quickly said in return.

"AND IT'S ALL OUR FAULT!!!" Echoed the twins in very loud voices, so loud it could be heard in the hall. That brought in one of the nurses who told them, "Keep it down; this is a hospital, you know."

The twins sheepishly said, "Sorry!" Both blushed as she left the room.

"This has to stop, you two!!!" Colt said to the boys, more than to the folks on the other end of the call. "Sorry, you guys, but the boys are acting like they lost Cowboy on purpose, and I can tell you this – IT WAS NOT THEIR FAULT!!!, Neither Matt nor I could have stopped what happened from happening."

"It's was too ... our fault; if we had been watching the radar…" Luke was cut off.

"… radar, hell! You did all you could. Now stop this, you two!" Colt scolded them, as he looked to Matt for some help.

"Don't look at me; I don't remember a DAMN THING! Remember? I was out like a fucking burned-out light bulb!" Matt stated in a rather matter-of-fact tone.

That brought laughter from everyone in the room and at the other end of the call as well.

"How are you feeling, Matt?" Earl, Jack and Carrie echoed back.

"My head's killing me, and they won't give me anything for the pain for a few more hours. Guess they're still worried about a concussion. But it hurts!!" Matt painfully stated.

Worrying to himself, Colt looked at Matt while thinking 'I want to see Doc Chuck soon, I don't like my love hurting like this.' Then he asked, "Where are you folks at now?"

"Heathrow, all fueled up for wherever you want us, bro," Jack excitedly spit out.

Thinking for a few seconds, Colt looked at Matt again and said, "You guys drop what you're doing. Carrie, you can call and reschedule the others you haven't visited yet, until after the Christmas holidays. OK?"

"That's no problem, Colt; I already told these two to be ready for a trip to the islands soon," Carrie chuckled.

"Ok, then, I want you to get here as soon as possible. I want all of us back at the ranch where Chuck can take a look at Matt … well … all of us, again. It's not that I don't trust these doctors, I just want Chuck," Colt worriedly told the crew of Buckaroo.

"I have it all plotted now; looks like next stop is Reykjavik, Iceland. Then on to Juneau, Alaska, with the final leg into Honolulu, Hawaii. That's a three-legged trip but we're rested and ready to go," Earl calmly told him, all the time looking at Jack for his approval. He got it in the form of a nod.

"That's a long tough haul, guys; are you sure about that?" Colt backed off the push for a fast trip.

"It's not that bad, a little over 1000 nautical miles to Reykjavik, and just a bit over 2800 nautical miles to Juneau, Alaska. Then only about 2500 into Honolulu, making it just a three-stop trip. Shit, that's a piece o' cake old man!" Earl chuckled back over the phone. Jack just smiled while Carrie cringed at the thought of that long trip.

"Earl, that's a lot of hours for you guys without rest. You need to rest in Juneau, then here the next day," Colt told them with concern.

"Well, the way I see it, most of the trip is autopilot, so Jack or I can sleep while one of the other crew is up here to keep the other of us company. Besides, it's only about thirteen or fourteen hours, plus time on the ground for refueling. I'm not worried about it at all, bro. How about you Jack? You worried?"

"Nope. No problem for me, either, Colt, we can make it. 'Cause I wanna see your sorry asses again and make sure with my own eyes you're all ok," Jack joked back.

"Just be careful of the bad weather!" Luke yelled so as to be heard by his uncles. He didn't like it, either, that they were going to make a trip like that because of what he and his brother had done. He was still blaming himself for the loss of Cowboy.

"That's right!" Mark grumbled back, thinking as his twin thought, about the loss of Cowboy.

"Ok, then, but I just made up my mind about the next plane to enter our fleet. It's gonna be a 737/700ER. They have nearly twice the range of our current ones, and I'm not gonna let Cowboy stay in Davy Jones locker for long," Colt told everyone his plans within ear-shot. Even Matt was nodding his approval at the plan.

"COWBOY II!!" Screamed the twins in unison! "God, yes, we can have Cowboy back. Both the boys were holding each other and the tears began to flow like a pair of waterfalls.

"Great idea for the name, Nephews! Ok let us go so we can get this show on the road. We already have the flight plan filed and clearance for takeoff. See you all in about fifteen hours or so," Earl said as he closed the connection.

Colt looked over at his sons, and motioned for them to come close. They did, along with Matt, and soon there was a four-way hug, and some heavy crying on everyone's part. It had really sunk in that Cowboy was truly gone. "Remember, boys, there were lots of memories on that plane, but we have the most important part of him. You saw to that Luke; you got James' painting. That will again be hung in his honored place, on the new Cowboy II. You know, that even sounds nice, doesn't it, hon.?"

"Sure as hell does," Matt said as he pulled the twins in tighter for a real hug, "Now, you two, I don’t remember a lot of what happened up there, but I know your other dad told you it wasn't your fault. I believe him, and that's not just because I love him, either." Matt smiled at Colt as he said those words. Then he continued, speaking to his sons, "I don't ever want to hear you two say it was your fault again, you hear me now???" He pushed the boys back and looked them right in the eyes, yes, each one of them.

"Thank you…" Luke was cut off.

"…Pops, for everything!" Mark finished the sentence again with a tear-stained face that looked just like his brother's.

"OK!, now I think we need to call your Granddads, or there will be real hell to pay!" Colt smiled at his sons and his lover as he pulled away so he could make the call.

"What time is it there, Dad?" Luke asked, while he and Mark were comparing their bruises with those they saw on their Dads. They were careful not to put too much pressure on any one of them; some were quite sore to the touch.

"Four hours later there than it is here. But we still need to call them, no matter what the time is." Colt placed the call to Mike’s sat phone.

"HELLO!" Mike answered over the sound of Poppa I's engines as they were in the air on the way back to the ranch.

"Hi, Dad. Guess you've all been worried about us? We’re ok, and everyone will mend…" Colt was then cut off.

"My God … what happened, son? … Is everyone ok … and my grandsons … how are they?" Mike stopped long enough for Colt to continue.

"Gonna put this on speaker so we can all hear you, Dad." Colt said as he pushed the speaker button on the phone.

"HI, GRAMPS!" The twins said loud enough for them to be heard on the other end of the phone.

"Good to hear my sons and grandsons are ok, but how badly hurt are you? Wait; I’m putting you on speaker, too." You could hear the distinct sounds of Poppa I’s engines and in-flight sounds. "Sorry about the noise; we’re in flight, on our way home," Mike explained.

"Well, I guess Matt is hurt the worst, and the others are just banged up a bit, with bruises. I have a broken arm, but I’ll survive; I’m more worried about Matt. His head is killing him," Colt responded with a slight chuckle.

"I’ll live; you know how hard-headed I am. But it still hurts a little, right now." Matt forced a chuckle, not wanting to worry his dads, knowing both were listening.

"I certainly hope so!" Andrew spoke loudly over the noise, "I wouldn’t want it any other way!"

"So what happened up there?" Mike asked.

"We just hit a very bad squall and the boys did all they could; in fact, I think they saved our lives. They brought Cowboy in so we were able to stay afloat long enough to get the life raft inflated, and get … my … love … aboard," Colt said in a broken voice as tears formed.

The twins were watching him close, and they, too, were tearing up with the thoughts of what Colt was telling their granddads. "NO, WE DIDN’T GRAMPS. NO, WE DIDN’T. It was all our fault that we lost Cowboy!!!" Mark screamed out as he began to cry ... no ... began to sob, holding his brother tightly.

"STOP THAT, RIGHT NOW!!! BOTH OF YOU … STOP IT!!!" Matt yelled at them as he got out of bed and pulled them into a hug… "You both stop that now, I don’t want to hear that again! PLEASE, my sons, stop saying that!"

"Sons! ... Sounds like you two have couple of boys there who need some tender love and care. You take care of my grandsons. But I know you both too well to think differently," Andrew replied.

"Couldn’t have said it better myself," Mike echoed back.

"WE LOVE YOU, ALL OF YOU!!!" Julie and Jo echoed next.

"We all love you too, grandma’s," everyone replied in unison.

"Bros, I’m only getting part of what you’re saying. Just happy you're all alive and will be home soon!" Johnny yelled, as he continued to pay attention to getting his part of the family home.

"Dad, we have Buckaroo coming to pick us up, and as soon as they get here, we'll be on the way home," Colt explained.

"Sounds good, but are you sure you want to leave that soon? What do the doctors there say about moving that fast?" Mike asked.

"I don’t care what they say. I want Matt seen by Chuck as fast as possible. It’s not that I don’t trust the doctors here, I just trust Chuck more! I hope you understand, Pop," Colt flatly stated.

"I do son, I do. But be careful with the rest of our family. I know you will," Mike cautioned, "I love you all so much. Well, we all love you guys, now get some rest; ok?" Mike smiled at the rest of the bunch on Poppa I.

"We love you, too, and we'll see you tomorrow." With that, Colt closed the connection. He looked at Matt holding the twins, got out of bed, and walked over to them, then he wrapped his good arm around them all, and calmly said, "It's been a rough time for all of us; how about we get some badly needed sleep?"

Luke broke the hug and took Colt's good hand and pulled him toward his own bed saying, "Dad, will you get in bed with me, please, there's enough room, see?" he said as he slid into bed, leaving enough room for his dad to get in behind him. "Come on, Pop; please." He patted the bed beside him.

"Ok, son," Colt said as he got on the bed next to Luke, cuddling up with his boy.

Not to be outdone, Mark went over and asked Matt, "Could I get in bed with you, Pop?"

"Of course you can, son; come on up here." Matt threw back the covers and made room for Mark to crawl in beside him. They, too, cuddled up tight.

James, JC, Richard, and I were all so thankful they made it through that terrible tragedy without too many injuries, when we thought about how bad it could have been. We sent down our prayers and strength to our loving family as they all entered dreamland.

♂♂♂♂♂♂♂♂

Mark woke to the sound of the sat phone ringing. He reached over and grabbed it from the side table, and opened it, "H … Hellooo," He yawned into it.

"Is that you, Luke?" Earl asked.

"No, he's still sleepin'," Mark said, still yawning.

"Ok, so it's you, Mark; how are you guys doing?" Earl asked.

"I hurt all over, and the others are still sleepin'; take that back. Dad just woke up." He handed the phone to Matt.

"Sure?" Earl asked.

"Sure, what?" Matt groggily asked.

"Hi, Matt. I was talkin' to Mark, but how are you feeling?"

"My head's still hurting a bit, and the rest of me feels like someone took a baseball bat and hit me about the head and shoulders; other than that; ok, I guess," Matt said as he continued to move around looking over toward the other bed where Colt and Luke were moving around trying to get untangled. Luke had his arm wrapped around Colt's cast and they were a pair, to say the least.

"Well, at least you're all at alive, but I wanted to call and let you know, we should be arriving in about an hour or so," Earl said, as Jack handed the controls back to him, whispering 'I wanna talk to Matt'. Earl then took control of Buckaroo.

"Matt, I just called Larry and John. They're gonna have everything ready – food, and whatever else they think you guys will need for the flight home. Earl and I will need some sleep. This has been a long trip, bro, but don’t worry about a thing, ok?" Jack told him.

"Sounds good. I know Colt and the rest of us want to get back to the ranch as soon as we can. But we'll take care of the flying part. You guys just get here safe, now," Matt said with pride in his voice at his dearest friends because of what they were doing for the family right then.

Colt motioned for Matt to hand him the phone, which Matt did after telling Jack he would see them soon.

"Hi, Jack; good to hear your voice again. We'll have a lot to talk about as soon as you get here. I hear you're close?" Colt said as he pawed at Luke who was trying to grab the phone from him

"Put it on speaker, Dad," Luke yelled out so Jack could hear him.

Colt pushed the speaker button, "I'm gonna get this show on the road; we all want to get back to the ranch as soon as possible."

The twins echoed, "You bet … Uncle!" Both were hugging each other in their morning ritual, along with a sexy kiss for each of their two dads.

"Do you want us to contact the company for another flight crew to fly us home?" Jack asked of their brothers.

"NO!" Colt said, then looked at his two sons and continued, "The boys will fly us home." He knew that wasn't something they had talked about, but he knew Matt would be behind his decision with the twins.

"NO WE AREN'T, DAAAAD!!!" Both the twins said rather loudly and with fear in their voices.

"Yes, you are; now stop it." Matt scolded the boys. "You have to get back in the saddle just like if you fell off a horse. You can't let this get to you."

"NO, WE DON'T!" yelled Mark as he ran out the door of the room.

"HE'S RIGHT … Nooo… WE DON'T HAVE TO!" Luke yelled as he followed his brother out of the room, slamming the door behind him……

To be continued…
 

Feedback always welcome:     

Author's Note: Seems we have a couple boys who keep blaming themselves for the crash. Well, who knows what they will do? The characters are writing this story, not me.

Tickie

Darryl's Notes:

Somehow I have a feeling that Mark and Luke are going to fly them back, no matter what they think right now. I wonder if a word or two from Charlie and James as well as Richard and JC might help them realize that it wasn't their fault.

Everyone is safe and that is very important. Let's hope that the youngsters can come to terms with the fact that they did the best they could.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

 Posted: 08/08/08