On My First Flight as a Captain, a Passenger Started Choking – When I Saved Him, the Truth About My Past Hit Me

I slumped into the seat. My knees were about ready to give way anyhow.

“I knew your parents,” he said. “Your father and I flew together back in the day. Cargo. Charter flights. We were like brothers.”

I swallowed hard. My throat felt like it was full of sand. “Then you knew what happened to them.”

“Yes,” he said softly.

“And you knew where I was?”

“Then you knew what happened to them.”

“I knew you went into the foster system after they died,” he admitted.

“Why didn’t you come get me?”

He looked down at his hands. “Because I knew myself, Robert. Flying was everything to me. It still is. I took long contracts and worked overseas for years at a time. No roots. No stability.”

“So instead, you left me there.”

“It was kinder,” he said quickly. “I’d have ruined you if I tried to be something I wasn’t.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. As I struggled to contend with my world crashing down around me, one question remained.

“Why didn’t you come get me?”

“You said you got on this flight because you knew who I was.”