Part 3: How I arrived in the end

So our over-sharing pilot comes on and explains that because we are so late, we are going to fly extra fast to try to make up the time.  So our nearly five hour flight will now be only three hours.  And, just FYI, this bird is pretty loaded and a little heavy so we'll need the whole runway to take off.
This is a clear case of TMI.

We finally took off and I stretched out my feet, put my dog Springer behind my head  and let myself doze.  I was looking forward to whatever snack they might serve as my stomach was starting to gnaw on my duodenum.

The plane was bumping and shimmying around, and the seat belt sign stayed on.  The stewardesses stayed seated.  The pilot came back on.  I thought, Shouldn't he be busy flying the plane, especially since we were speeding?  Anyway, he came on to tell us that because we were hustling that it would be a rough ride and that we needed to stay in our seats.

Ten minutes later, he paged for a physician, nurse or paramedic.  The man in front of me raised his hand. "I am a doctor," he said calmly (just like on TV!)  The flight attendant  unbuckled herself and rushed over to take him to the first class section.  He came back a few minutes later and got out a medical bag. I could hear him talking with his wife and the attendant.  Apparently, a woman in first class thought she was having a heart attack and the pilot was deciding whether we should go back or head to the nearest airport.  The doctor  went back up front for a few more minutes, and then came back to his seat where he informed the stewardesses that he was pretty sure that this was a panic attack brought on by stress (I could totally understand this) so he gave her some Valium.

With the emergency resolved, I figured the attendants would start serving snacks.  But instead, they wobbled back to their seats to buckle back in for the rest of the flight. 

We arrived with a prolonged landing on the runway.  I staggered down to baggage claim to get my bag.   My bleary eyes would not focus together, and my internal organs were devouring each other.

Next Stop: The car rental agency