Lost Love by Anna

Her eyes glassed over in tears as she spotted him walking towards her. Her heart started to flutter as he got closer and closer. She had loved Shane ever since the day they first met in school. That was four years ago. Now Shane was in a band and Hollie was an air hostess. They had only been going out for three months but with both of their heavy schedules they didn’t really see each other much. Hollie’s best friend Anna was going out with Shane’s band mate Nicky. They had been going out for the last two years. Anna was a Nursery Nurse in a Day Nursery. Hollie was working on a Germany to Dublin flight before having a three week holiday. During those three weeks she, Anna, Shane and Nicky were going to the Caribbean for two weeks. The guy walking towards her looked so much like Shane. Tall with dark hair and hazel eyes. A masculine figure with a cheeky smile. He also walked like him. Hollie froze on the spot. “Are you alright, Hollie?” He said to her.
“Shock more like!” Hollie replied. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be on the next flight.”
“We finished early. It’s just you and me now babe,” Shane replied putting his arms around her and pulling her close.
“You might not be working now Shane but I am,” she replied peeling his arms from around her.” Shane put on a sulky look. Hollie gave him a quick kiss on the nose then turned to walk into first class. Shane stalked back to his business class seat.

Shane waited in arrivals until Hollie got off the plane after they had cleared away and got ready for the next flight. Anna was waiting for Nicky who had gone to the toilet. They were all going to go to Nicky and Anna’s house. Anna and Nicky had just moved in together and their house still needed work done to it. Nicky tried to do some when he wasn’t working but things would often go wrong so his dad had to come over and help him. Finally they all arrived at the house to be greeted by a rather confused looking Yvonne, Nicky’s mum. “I wasn’t sure whether it was tomorrow night you were going or tonight. I got here and I saw all the suitcases. Then I saw you turn up and I thought you might have cancelled or something,” she said giving her son a hug. Yvonne was going to look after the house while they were away.
“Do you want a cuppa mam?” Nicky asked her. “It would be nice to see you for more than ten minutes.”
They all went inside to have a drink. They all had an early night as they had to get up at six the next morning to be back at the airport for seven.

They all had a really nice holiday and came back tanned and ready to start work again. They all had another week off before they had to go back to work. The plane was suffering a bit of turbulence on the way back as they were flying through a sudden storm. The captain had ordered everybody to keep their seatbelts on. Every now and then the plane would dip sharply and make most people scream. Anna didn’t like flying and after this she vowed never to do it again. She grabbed Nicky’s arm and wouldn’t let go, not even when he had to go to the toilet so she went with him. Shane and Hollie just laughed.

Nicky came back without Anna. “Where is she?” Shane asked.
“She’s at the front with the stewards,” replied Nicky. At that moment the plane jerked downwards again and the oxygen masks came tumbling out from above them. The captain came on the speakers. “Please make sure your seatbelts are fastened and oxygen masks are on. We are not in serious trouble but just to be on the safe side. We will make and emergency landing at our nearest airport in approximately fifteen minutes.” Nicky wanted to get up and go to get Anna but was stopped by Shane.
“She’ll be alright. She’s with people who know what they are doing.”

Ten minutes later the plane had started to drop even more. People were complaining that their ears were popping. An enormous bang could be heard and the plane picked up speed as it fell downwards. Screams echoed in Shane’s ear and they felt like they were going to explode. The plane was rattling and shaking all the way down and Shane was wondering when it was all going to end. He heard one last bang then everything went black.

Nicky woke up as he felt hands tugging at him. He was being pulled out of something but he couldn’t see what. He felt sleepy but the hands were stopping him from sleeping. Then he heard voices. He couldn’t make out what they were saying but some of them had panic in them. He was laid on something hard and uncomfortable but eventually fell back to sleep.

Hollie managed to find Anna near where the front of the plane had landed. She was curled up in a ball underneath a piece of metal with her head buried in her arms crying. Hollie pulled the metal off her but Anna still laid in a ball. “Why don’t you get up?”
“I can’t believe this has happened.”
“It’s alright. We’re alright,” Hollie said dragging Anna into a sitting position.
“Where’s Nicky?” Anna asked.
“They haven’t found him or Shane yet. They weren’t in any of the major parts of the plane. There are a few scattered pieces that they are searching. I was just listening to the news on the radio. The end of the plane is on the coast. We’re eighteen miles from the coast and there are parts of the plane everywhere. Come on you have a cut on your arm which doesn’t look good.” Hollie pulls Anna to her feet and they go to the medical area that was set up on the other side of the plane’s cabin.

Before they got to it Anna saw an ambulance with someone inside it. The paramedics were searching through the person’s pockets to try to identify him. Anna noticed the person had the same build as Nicky. She couldn’t see his face but could just make out dirty blonde hair on his head. Anna broke out of Hollie’s grip on her arm and ran into the ambulance. It wasn’t Nicky but they were loading another blonde haired man into the ambulance next to her.
“Nicky?” she said in shock. Nicky was covered in cuts and mud, just recognisable.
Nicky muttered something that nobody could make out.
“Do you know him?” said one of the paramedics that had brought him in.
“Yes,” came a numb reply.
The paramedic gave Anna some forms and asked her to fill them in as best as she could then took both of their names and went to a small tent.
“He’s gone to tell them that you have been found,” said Hollie, after seeing Anna looking confused.

Anna wasn’t allowed to go to the hospital with Nicky as there was no room in the ambulance so she stayed with Hollie until a police officer came and offered them a lift to the hospital as he was going as well. He also took two other people to the same hospital to be treated for minor injuries. Neither of them were allowed to see Nicky. He was in resuscitation while they took x-rays and tests. Anna and Hollie waited an hour to be seen by a doctor about their injuries. Hollie kept phoning the incident helpline, which had been set up so people can call to see if a family member or friend had been found. There was still no news that Shane had been found. A large television on the receptionists desk was broadcasting news on the crash continuously. Out of the three hundred people on board the plane only forty-three had been found so far with twenty-five already dead. “There have been only seven people who had survived with minor injuries,” said the news presenter. Including Anna and Hollie and the two other people they arrived at the hospital with. “Parts of the plane’s body is being found within a radius of ten miles. It has been reported that the plane ripped in half as it shuttled towards the ground leaving half at the coast. Police are commending the actions of both pilots onboard for getting the plane above land and landing the front half of the plane with as little danger as possible. Neither pilot had yet been found. The cabin was empty when fire rescue searched it. They managed to retrieve the black box before the cabin ignited from sparks.” A police inspector then came on the screen and started talking about why the plane may have crashed.

It was a further three hours before all the tests on Nicky were complete and Anna was allowed to see him. Hollie waited in the waiting room as she thought it was best for them to be alone. She phoned the incident helpline again and gave Shane’s name but there was still no record of him being found. The person on the other end asked for a description of Shane, as there were still unidentified bodies. None of them matched Shane’s description. Hollie returned to the waiting room as Anna came out of the resuscitation unit. “He’s got a concussion,” she said to Hollie. “He’s been in and out of consciousness since they found him but when he is conscious he’s really drowsy. They are just going to take in up to intensive care. Any news on Shane?”
Hollie shook her head and started crying. Anna put her arms round her and gave her a hug. They went outside for half an hour while Nicky was moved to intensive care then they both went to see him.
He was breathing on his own but he was hooked up to a heart monitor just in case. He had a drip in each hand and wires all over his chest. He had his own room, which had a small window, which overlooked the children’s ward park. Anna looked out of the window and saw some children laughing as they slid down the slide. Anna walked back over to the side of Nicky’s bed and sat down in the chair. Hollie sat in the chair on the other side. He looked so pale in the dim evening light. The sun had started to set. Anna picked up Nicky’s hand as he started to move. It felt cold and sweaty. Nicky mumbled something then went quiet again. Anna continued to hold his hand as the sun went down putting the whole room into darkness.

Anna felt a hand on her shoulder. “Perhaps you should both go home now,” said a voice. “We’ll look after him and we’ll phone you if anything happens.” Anna looked up into the soft bright eyes of a nurse. She let go of Nicky’s hand and stood up to stretch. She could see that she and Hollie had been asleep. The nurse left again and Anna leaned over Nicky. She kissed him on his forehead. “I love you,” she said as she brushed a few strands of hair out of his face. Anna left with a worried looking Hollie.
“They still haven’t found him,” she cried as soon as they got to their hotel. Hollie had been onto the phone to the helpline again. The line had been busy the first few times she tried but finally managed to get through.
Anna got to the hospital first thing the next morning. The plane crash was still all over the news and it was all anybody seemed to talk about. It had been leaked that two members of Westlife and their girlfriends were on board the plane and that one of them was in this hospital, now there were security men trying to keep the press out. At first they wouldn’t allow Anna into the hospital but the nurse who had woken her up the night before recognised her as she was on her break and let her inside.
“Your boyfriend’s cause quite a stir with everyone,” she said. “Even the staff and patients have been coming up from other departments so we’ve had to put a security man outside his door just in case.” Anna smiled at her. They got to Nicky’s room and the nurse introduced her to the security bloke. Anna went into Nicky’s room to find him with his hand over the bed as if he was reaching for something. Anna sat down and took his hand. She held it in hers and talked to him all day.

Hollie phoned the incident helpline for the hundredth time that day. “A Shane Filan has been found,” came the answer on the other end. “He is just being taken to St James’s hospital.” Hollie put the phone down and phoned for a taxi to pick her up outside the hotel the police had put her and Anna in. She arrived at the hospital an hour after Shane did. No news about Shane had broken out yet so she was free from the press. Across town at the General hospital a journalist had snuck into the hotel and managed to find Nicky’s room. A nurse was walking into Nicky’s room when he arrived and he started taking pictures of Nicky from the door until the security man pulled him away. He grabbed the camera and opened the back to let the film roll fall out.

Hollie was able to she Shane who was half awake. He had more wires and tubes in him than Nicky had. Hollie picked up his cold hand and Shane turned to her but didn’t open his eyes. He shivered slightly and looked uncomfortable. “I love you,” he mumbled. Hollie felt his grip on her hand tighten. “I love you too Shane,” Hollie replied. “After this I can’t wait to get back to work and forget about it. But first we have to finish off what’s left of our week together.” Shane tried to smile.
“I really love you,” he said and his grip went weak. Machines around him started to screech and doctors came rushing over to him. Hollie got pulled away. “Shane!” She screamed. A nurse pulled her outside the resuscitation area and into a relative’s room. Hollie sat down and started to cry.
An hour later a doctor came in with a solemn look on his face. Hollie gave him one look and she knew. She cried even harder, not being able to control her tears. “I’m sorry. We did everything we could but after being in cold water for so long he got hypothermia and he had a clot in his brain from a knock on the head. We’ll just take the wires of him then you can see him.” The doctor put his hand on Hollie’s shoulder and he left the room.
It was another half and hour before she was able to see Shane. The curtains were pulled round his bed. She looked at him. He was so pale to what he was only an hour earlier. His lips had a blue tinge to them and there was no sound coming from him. There was no comforting rise and fall of his chest, no comforting hand on hers to say that everything would be alright. Just silence and stillness. Hollie held Shane’s cold hand for a moment then she kissed him on his head. “I love you Shane. I always will,” she said through tears. She put his hand on the bed by his side and said goodbye. Hollie got outside after she had signed bundles of forms and sat on the bench by the ambulance bay. She sat there until it got dark crying.

Anna almost jumped into their room that night. She went over to Hollie who was sat on her bed and started jumping up and down. “He’s awake!” Anna almost yelled in excitement. “He’s going to be transferred to Dublin tomorrow evening if he’s well enough.” Anna stopped jumping when she saw Hollie starting to cry again. “What’s the matter?” she asked.
“Shane…Shane…” Hollie cried to hard she could speak. Anna guessed what was wrong and fell silent. She put her arms round her best friend to comfort her. She didn’t know what to say.

The next day Anna and Hollie got to Anna’s house in Dublin while Shane and Nicky were being transferred. The streets were buzzing with the news about the crash and what had happened to Shane. They both watched the news and they showed pictures of teenage girls putting hundreds of flowers on the bench in the ambulance bay at St James’s hospital.

A week later Nicky was out of hospital in time for the funeral. It was a bright sunny day but the atmosphere that fell on the church grounds was dull and grey. Shane’s parents had arranged the funeral in a big church, which had a graveyard that overlooked a horse field. Shane loved horses and now he could watch them everyday. There were police, fans and journalists everywhere trying to get a glimpse. After the funeral everyone went back to Shane’s parents’ house. As soon as Hollie got in the door she fainted. A doctor was called but Hollie insisted it was because she was tired from the lack of sleep she had been having and her lack of appetite. “I’m not so sure of that,” said the doctor after examining her.
“What do you mean?” Hollie asked.
“I would like to see you in my office first thing in the morning,” she said. “I will be able to examine you properly there but I have the feeling you’re pregnant.”
“What?” Hollie yelled in shock. Shane’s mum went weak and had to sit down.

Eight months later Anna and Nicky walked into the hospital room. Both Shane’s and Hollie’s parents were already in there. Shane’s mum was holding a blue blanket and was crying. Anna asked to hold him and Shane’s mum gave her the baby. Nicky leaned over Anna’s shoulder to have look. The baby looked just like his father. He had his hazel eyes, nose and brown hair. The spitting image.
“What are you going to call him?” Nicky asked, taking his from Anna.
“Kieran Steven Filan,” Hollie replied with tears in her eyes.
“Every time we see him we will see Shane,” said Shane’s mum.

Westlife carried on as a four-piece band after agreeing that nobody could ever replace Shane. Two months after the funeral Westlife released a song. The proceeds from the sale went to the families of the people who lost their lives in the crash.