The flight attendant returned once more, crouching low beside Alyssa’s seat. This time, her voice softened, stripped of urgency and fear, replaced by careful honesty. “I need to explain something, ma’am,” she said quietly, again glancing toward the cockpit before continuing.
“There was an incident,” she began. “Months ago.” The way she said it made clear this wasn’t recent, but it also wasn’t forgotten. It lived on, quietly, inside procedures and revisions and rules that still shaped decisions like this one.