Her body was steadier now, but the weakness had not fully passed.
Margaret's juice had helped.
Lena's care had helped.
The kindness of strangers had helped more than the airline had.
Lena leaned close.
"When we stop, don't stand up too fast."
Maya nodded.
"I won't."
"Do you want medical staff at the gate?"
Maya looked toward Clare and Ethan.
"I want them to explain why medical staff were not called when you asked."
Lena understood.
"Then I'll stay with you."
Samuel Reed turned from 2C.
"So will I."
David Kaplan in 2A raised a hand.
"I'm not leaving until somebody takes my statement."
Margaret Ellis, now back beside her husband, said, "Neither am I."
The aircraft stopped at the gate with a soft jolt.
The seat belt sign went off.
In most of the plane, passengers stood at once.
Overhead bins opened behind the curtain.
Luggage thumped.
People in economy, unaware of the full story, began shifting into the aisle.
In first class, no one stood except Victoria Langford.
She rose quickly, clutching her handbag and phone.
Her cream blazer was still smooth, but her face was not.
She looked toward the front door, then toward the galley, then back at the passengers watching her.
"I have a car waiting," she said to no one in particular.
Clare did not move to help her.
Victoria's eyes sharpened.
"Clare."
Clare looked at Ethan.
Ethan looked at the closed aircraft door.
No one answered Victoria.
That was when she understood that the protection she had counted on was thinning.
She stepped into the aisle anyway.
Lena lifted her phone again.
"Mrs. Langford, are you leaving before speaking to corporate security?"
Victoria turned.
"I don't answer to you."
Samuel spoke quietly.
"Tonight, you may have to answer to more people than you planned."
Victoria's phone rang again.
She looked down and saw her husband's name.
This time she answered in a whisper.
"Robert. Not now."
His voice was loud enough for the first two rows to hear.
"Do not speak to reporters. Do not post. Do not say another word until legal calls you."
Victoria's mouth tightened.
"There are no reporters on the aircraft."
From behind the curtain, someone said, "There are reporters already tweeting from the terminal."
Victoria ended the call.
The aircraft door opened.
Two uniformed airport police officers stood outside with a Crestline ground manager and two people in dark suits wearing corporate badges.
One of the suited people, a woman in her 40s with a tablet tucked against her side, stepped into the aircraft first.
"I'm Denise Harper, Crestline Corporate Security," she said.
Her voice was controlled, but her eyes moved quickly from Clare to Ethan to Maya.
"No crew member from Flight 608 is to leave the aircraft until instructed. Captain Mallerie is to remain available. We need all incident reports. Crew devices used for reporting and service documentation are to be preserved."
Clare's face lost the last of its color.
Ethan stood.
"Miss Harper, I have the report prepared."
"I'm aware," Denise said. "Do not alter it."