Dillon surges forward through time.

Seconds, minutes and hours pass.

Days, months and years …

Sixteen years into the future.

 

It is midnight … on the dot. Magic hour. That time of night when anything might happen.

A young girl is strapped down onto a stretcher. Tubes and wires are connecting her to plastic bags and monitors. There are dried tears in the corners of her eyes.

Machinery whirr into action and the stretcher is lifted into the air. Up into the belly of the waiting aircraft.

Inside, the nurse secures the stretcher to the wall and starts doing obs.

The girl begins to cry again.

The nurse attempts to calm her down. He tells the girl that her mother is on the way – that she’ll be here soon and that she’ll be on the plane to Melbourne with her.

The girl nods her understanding, but continues to quietly sob.

The pilot comes out of the cockpit, has a word to the nurse, then approaches the girl. He is tall, with close-cropped blond hair and a fair complexion. He has a friendly smile and welcoming eyes.

‘Hey there,’ he says to the girl. ‘I’m told you’re going to Melbourne for a special operation. A transplant.’

The girl nods shakily.

‘Guess what?’ continues the pilot. ‘I know how you feel. Really. You know why?’

The girl shakes her head, intrigued. She has stopped crying.

‘Because, sixteen years ago, when I was eleven years old, I was in your place,’ he says. ‘I was rushed onto an RFDS plane like this and flown to Melbourne so that doctors could put a new liver into my body.’

The girl’s eyes are wide with wonder.

‘What’s your name?’ he asks.

‘Jade.’ The girl’s voice is tiny and tremulous.

The pilot extends a hand. He gently takes hers and shakes it. ‘Pleased to meet you, Jade,’ he says. ‘My name is Dillon and I’ll be your pilot today. And I promise to get you safely to Melbourne.’