Touching The Forbidden

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Aaron's POV

I have to find Jessica. I don't want to disappoint my Troy, it's the least that I can do for him.

I coordinated with the authorities and together with my own rescue team, we went to the crash site.

Hundreds of injured and dead bodies lying on the grassy ground, but Jessica was not among them. She was still trapped inside the plane.

Getting all the five hundred fifty passengers out of the plane was not easy. A portion of the plane was crushed, and many bags, hand baggage and dead bodies were blocking the door.

After two hours of searching, Ari, the head of my team, came running towards me.

"I think we found her. You have to see her to confirm."

"Where is she?"

"In one of the rescue tents. She's being attended by the medics."

I squirmed when I saw the woman lying on a stretcher. Her face was wrecked and covered with blood. She had an open bone fracture in her right leg. Her arms and some parts of her body were scalded with burns. She was gasping for breath like she was dying.

I pitied the woman, she did not deserve such fate.

"Do you think she's Jessica?" Ari asked.

"I'm not sure. She's blonde, but... " I looked at her fingers, "she's not wearing my mother's ring."

"What kind of ring?"

"An engagement ring. It has an enormous square-cut diamond at the center, and the white gold band was accented with small diamonds."

I knew my mother's engagement ring by heart. The only time mom took it off from her finger was when she gave it to Troy eight months ago.

I remembered it very clearly. Troy came home after a long vacation in Florida, looking so tan and happy. We were all surprised when he announced that he was going to propose to an American girl named Jessica Gulliver.

A long time ago, Mom promised to give her priceless engagement ring to the bride of any of her sons who would marry first. To honor her promise, she gave the ring to Troy for Jessica.

The head of the New Zealand Police search and rescue team received the complete list of passengers and some vital information that could easily identify them, like seat numbers, age and address. There was also footage of the passengers at the airport boarding gate.

"Her name is Lauren Wright. Twenty three years old from Tampa, Florida." The head officer confirmed that the woman on the stretcher was not Jessica.

"Can I have a look at the footage of Jessica Latsis at the boarding gate?"

"Yes, sir." He scanned the footage, then gave me his tablet right away. "That's her."

Jessica looked so restless, she kept on looking around. She wore a plain white shirt and blue jeans. Too simple compared to the glamorous outfits she wore in the photos that Troy showed us.

She was holding her bag and jacket while in line and slowly walking towards the gate. I could see the nervousness in her facial expression. Maybe she had a premonition of what would happen.

She instantly looked up at the CCTV camera and her green eyes fixed at me. I was taken aback. It was like being caught staring at someone. I felt a sudden hot flush all over my face.

My mouth twisted, hating my reaction. I checked Jessica's seat number and returned the tablet to the officer.

"She must still be inside," Ari said behind me.

"Yeah. We have to find her inside, now."

"It's too late to go inside the plane, sir. The petrol is leaking. Anytime soon, it will explode," the officer informed me, "I already ordered everyone to stop the rescue and get out of the plane fast. It's too risky."

Those green eyes would haunt me as long as I lived if I did not even try to save her. My conscience told me to do what I must do, for Troy.

Without warning, I ran towards the plane. Everyone shouted at me to stop and there were men who ran after me. But I was determined to get inside the plane and I did.

Inside was fogged with smoke. I could smell the leaking petrol. Bloody dead bodies, bags and small suitcases were everywhere. It was dark, and I used my phone to find Jessica's seat number, K38.

"Fuck!" I stumbled and fell over a dead body. I stood up and checked the number above. Row 48. I continued to walk and kept on checking the number, until I reached the 40th row.

She must be here somewhere.

"Sir, you have to get out, now!" someone shouted from the door, "the plane is going to explode any minute. The fire is getting bigger!"

"I will! Just give me a minute," I shouted back, then called out Jessica's name. "Jessica! Jessica! Dammit, Jessica. Where the hell are you?"

Trying to be calm, I moved dead bodies aside until I arrived at the 38th row. I climbed up the seats until I was near seat K38.

I focused the light from my phone on the seat, and there I saw her. She was still in her seat with the seatbelt on, unconscious. The side of her head was covered with blood. Mom's engagement ring on her finger confirmed that it was really her.

"Jessica! Jessica! Wake up." I shook her but she was unresponsive.

I did not know if she was dead or alive at that moment, all I cared about was to get us out of the plane. She was so light as I carried her out, I was in a hurry but avoided stepping on the dead bodies. I managed to get us out, just in time before the plane burst into flames then exploded.

Later, the medic informed me that Jessica was still alive. Her vital signs were stable and there were no signs of internal bleeding or other major injuries.

"She's alive." I called Mom right away, when I confirmed that Jessica would be fine.

"Thank God. Thanks to you too, Aaron. Troy would be so happy," Mom said, then bursted into tears.

"She's still unconscious, but she'll come around once she's properly rested."

"I'm relieved. I'll see her when she wakes up," Mom said. She was in Wellington with Dad to attend an important yearly event.

Jessica was confined at Auckland Hospital, where she was taken care of by our family doctors. After we found out that her chest Xray, brain CT scans and laboratory tests were okay, that was the only time I left her.

A helicopter took me back to my yacht where Tayla was waiting, clad in a tiny black bikini. A flute of wine dangled between her fingers.

"Where have you been? I missed you," she said in a very sultry voice. She was about to fling her arms around me when she noticed the bloodstains on my shirt. "Eww. Is that blood?"

I looked at my shirt, then twisted my lips unpleasantly.

"Yeah. I rescued an injured sheep."

"Really? That's so sweet of you. Was it cute?"

Green eyes, soft skin and blonde.

"No. Absolutely not cute." I forced a smile. "Let me take a shower first and I'll be with you."

"Hurry up." She looked at me seductively, before she took another sip of her wine.

After I had my shower, I saw her on my bed, already waiting and naked.