Camelot, NY - the Once and Future King

by Vanessa Cortese

  “Well,” Elaine glared at Arthur. “This woman doctor is off to the hospital.”

  “I didn’t think you started for a while yet,” Merlin said.

  “I don’t,” Elaine added a lot of milk to her coffee and drank it in one go. “There was a bus accident in the next town over. The local hospital is taking the non-emergency overflow, and they are bogged down. It’s an all hands sort of situation.” Merlin nodded. A horn sounded outside the house, “There’s my ride.” She placed her mug in the sink and left without another word.

  Arthur looked at Merlin, “What was that about?”

  “You offended her Arthur,” Merlin said, holding a strange looking glowing tablet and reading it intently.

  “I didn’t mean to,” Arthur decided to ignore the tablet and its soft glowing light until he had caught up on his reading but wondered at the advancements in technology since he had been gone.

  “I’m sure she’ll come to see that,” Merlin cleared his throat. “But we are at a disadvantage with this Lady. She knows nothing of her heritage or what she is capable of. She only discovered all of this last night.”

  “Poor woman,” Arthur shook his head. He’d lived with the curse for more than a thousand years, and he still found it difficult. He could only imagine how Elaine felt being dropped into the middle of this mess without any forewarning.

  “Back to your work, Arthur,” Merlin said. “The sooner you read them, the better off we are going to be.”

  Chapter Five

  The hospital was a mess. Elaine didn’t know anyone’s names, didn’t know where anything was located, and because of the accident, the entire place was in chaos. Most of the nurses were kind enough, though annoyed with her since she had to keep asking for directions. Elaine’s poor sense of direction didn’t help matters either.

  She loved every second of it.

  Diving into helping patients gave her a chance to leave everything from the last twenty-four hours behind. It allowed her to focus on the moment, giving a much-needed break from the idea that a fifteen-hundred-year-old wizard and the legendary king of Camelot she'd left in her kitchen.

  “Ok, James,” Elaine said to a young man who had been involved in the bus accident. The nurse had caught her up to speed, but the young man stared at her like he knew her. “I want to keep you here for a couple of hours for observation. But barring any complications, once we get the head wound stitched up, you should be free to go.”

  “Thanks, Doc,” James smirked, and there was something familiar in the smirk.

  “I can manage with the stitches, Dr. Lakeport,” a nurse said beside her in a low tone. She turned to the nurse, a woman in her early 40’s with a sweet smile and saw the name Jessica on her name tag.

  “I don’t want to ask you to do that Jessica,” Elaine said. “If I’ve been busy, then everyone at the nurse’s station has to be much worse.”

  “I’m working on my RN,” Jessica said in a low voice, “The practice would be good for me.”

  “You want me to stay and observe?” Elaine asked. Jessica opened her mouth to respond when a voice spoke from the door.

  “James,” a woman breezed in, rushing to the man’s side. “Oh, my dear boy,” she wrapped him in her arms. Everything about her screamed Manhattan socialite. She was lovely, long black hair that cascaded down her back, and perfect skin. Elaine had a hard time guessing her age. When she turned her icy blue eyes to Elaine, a shiver went down her spine.

  “I’m his mother,” she said, introducing herself with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. She didn't look nearly old enough to have a son as old as James. She barely looked older than Elaine did.

  “I’m Dr. Lakeport,” Elaine offered her hand to the woman, who stared at it like it was a snake about to bite her.

  “I’m sorry, Doctor,” she said, clasping her hands to her breast, “I’m a bit anxious about germs. It took me two Ativan to even walk through the door.” Elaine tried to keep her smile professional, but just the woman’s voice set her on edge. “I’m sure you have somewhere better to be. The nurse here can handle the stitches.”

  “If that’s what you want,” Elaine cleared her throat with a glance at Jessica who seemed to be struggling to keep her own opinions of this woman from her face. “James,” she said directing her words to her patient and not to his mother, “if you experience any odd headaches or vision changes, make an appointment with your primary physician, or you can follow up with me if you’d rather.”

  “I don’t think that’s necessary,” his mother said with venom.

  “Mother,” James chastised.

  “That’s fine,” Elaine said. “I’ll leave it to you, Jessica.” She left the room and nearly ran into the only nurse whose name she managed to remember. “Jen.”

  “Yes, Dr. Lakeport?” the tiny blonde nurse stopped in her tracks.

  “Jessica is in there doing the stitches on a patient,” Elaine leaned in and whispered just above the din. She paused, and they could both hear James’s mother shout,

  “If you leave a scar on my son’s face I will sue this hospital, and personally have you fired.”

  “I will go get Dr. Evans,” Jen said. Elaine mouthed ‘thank you’ and moved to the desk to grab another patient file.

  “Hold on there, Dr. Lakeport,” the chief physician, Dr. Evan’s, said as he pulled her aside. “You’re making us look bad. You’re too efficient,” he winked. “The patient backlog is clear. You go ahead and go home.”

  “I don’t mind staying,” Elaine said.

  “You’ve been here for 14 hours,” Dr. Evan’s stared. Elaine looked at her father’s watch on her wrist doing a quick calculation in her head.

  “Wow,” she said, “I hadn’t realized how much time passed.”

  “Go home,” he insisted kindly. “I’ll deal with the harpy in 8.” His gaze flickered behind her to the room where they could still hear James’s mother berating poor Jessica. She reluctantly nodded and ducked behind the desk to grab her purse, taking off her watch, and slipping it in a zipper pocket in the lining. She only ever wore it at work.

  It was dusk when she stepped out of the doors to the hospital. She sighed heavily as exhaustion washed over her. When she had taken a taxi in, she had every intention of walking back home. It was only a few miles, but there was no way she could face the long walk back home. She began digging around in her purse to find her cell phone when a car pulled up in front of her, and a familiar voice called to her. She looked up to see Merlin behind the wheel of a dark sedan. He leaned over and pushed the door open. “You don’t drive?” he asked as she slid into the passenger seat.

  “I do,” she said. “I just don’t have a car. I lived in Queens, not a lot of point in having one.” Merlin nodded as he drove off down the road.

  “Should you be driving?” she asked. “Do you even have a license?”

  “I don’t need one,” Merlin shrugged, and Elaine shook her head.

  “I don’t think I want to know,” she sighed, picturing Merlin waving his hand in front of a police officer saying, ‘these are not the droids you’re looking for.’

  “How is he?”

  “You mean Arthur?” Merlin asked.

  “Who else would I mean?” she rolled her eyes.

  “He’s probably finished reading the journals by now,” Merlin said, pulling onto the dirt road that would lead to the driveway. “I keep extensive journals. It helps him to adjust quickly to a new time if I can get him caught up on major events.”

  “That makes sense,” she nodded. Silence hung between them in the car for several minutes before Elaine spoke again. “I keep thinking how disorienting it would be to wake up like that.”

  “He takes it in stride,” Merlin smiled sadly, and Elaine had to wonder why. Why would he need to take it in stride? Why did Arthur keep coming back? She had always just assumed that that part was just a fanciful notion of T.S. Eliot’s; the idea that Arthur was some sort of messiah-like being that would come back
to protect England. She had never once considered it to be true.

  She felt bad about how angry she had been with Arthur this morning, but when he suggested that women couldn’t be doctors, she’d lost any patience she had. Elaine had to deal with more than her fair share of sexism in her career from patients and colleagues alike, and it was not the first time that she’d had to hear that phrase said to her face.

  She thought back to her profession as it was in 1944, the last time that he had been brought back according to Merlin. It was a very different scene and unlikely that he had ever heard of a female doctor, let alone met one. Elaine decided that she’d have to be a little kinder to him. It had to be disorienting to wake up almost 75 years later. “And that’s been going on for a long time too,” she muttered to herself.

  “What was that, my lady?” Merlin asked.

  “Nothing,” she shook her head. “Just talking to myself.” She was mulling over her thoughts as the car came to a stop in front of the house, and she saw the man in question. Arthur stood in front of the house, with a sword in hand, going through some sort of practice routine. His sword quickly swung to the left, and then up above his head to block an imaginary attack.

  “What do you think you are doing?” Elaine leaped from the car with a shout. If she had surprised him, it didn’t show. He turned and stared at her, confusion etched onto this face.

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “You were shot,” she slammed the car door and strode over to him, arms waving in her anger. “You can’t be doing…whatever that is.” She gestured to the sword in his hands. “Get inside now.”

  “It’s just a bit of exercise,” he defended, but he did stop swinging the sword around as Elaine drew near. “I don’t see the harm.”

  “Really?” Elaine pointed at the front of his shirt at the growing blood stain where his bandages should have been.

  “It’s just a bit of blood,” Arthur pulled the shirt away from his body, examining it.

  “Just a bit of blood,” she scoffed “Get inside. If we’re lucky, you only ripped your stitches.” Arthur looked over her shoulder at Merlin behind her. “Don’t go expecting he’ll get you out of this. Now go,” she snapped the command, and to her surprise, Arthur sighed and turned back to the house. He made it to the door and opened it standing there, watching her expectantly.

  “He’s holding it for you,” Merlin prompted from behind her.

  “Oh...Oh!” Elaine hadn’t been expecting that, especially with as harsh as she’d just been. She made her way up the porch stairs. “Thank you,” she said once she crossed the threshold. Arthur made a slight inclination of his head and followed her inside. She led him back into the dining room to the large table and pointed at it. Without words, he slid to sit on the table as she grabbed her bag. “Take off your shirt,” she said, and he quickly followed the order. She pulled up one of the large wooden chairs and sat as she began to gently remove the bandage. “You’re lucky you only pulled these a bit,” she said as she cleaned the stitches, finding them intact. Silence fell between them as Elaine worked on cleaning up the stitches and reapplying the bandage.

  “I am sorry about this morning,” Arthur said, causing Elaine’s head to snap up to look at him. She took a deep breath before responding.

  “I can imagine how weird all this is for you,” she said. After a moment's thought, she corrected. “I take that back. I can’t imagine it. I don’t know what I would do if I went to sleep and woke up decades later.”

  “I have had practice at it,” Arthur chuckled bitterly. “Though, I am still sorry about this morning.” Elaine looked up at him. “I should have known better.”

  “Yes,” Elaine chuckled. “And no. There weren’t really a lot of practicing female doctors in 1944, so it’s unsurprising that you thought that.”

  “It’s not that,” Arthur shook his head. “I’ve revived all over the world, in countless different eras. I’ve had what I knew about the world challenged more times that I could possibly tell you.” He smiled warmly. “I should have known it was only a matter of time before the world stopped treating women as helpless. I’ve known more than my share of females who challenged that notion.”

  “I should apologize too,” Elaine said, removing her latex gloves. “I’m not the most patient person.” In truth, it was what he had said more than anything else. She was more than a little sick of having to be a ‘good woman doctor’ when her male colleagues only were referred to as ‘good doctors’. “Let’s start over.” She stood up and met Arthur’s dubious gaze. “It’s an expression.”

  “Ah,” he nodded and stood as well.

  “You need to take it easy,” Elaine said.

  “I’m not really good at that,” Arthur looked sheepishly at her.

  “Yes,” Elaine said, striding confidently to the living room, Arthur right behind her. “But that was before TV.” She flicked on the television and a football game in progress began to blare on the screen.

  “What is that?” Arthur asked, sinking down onto the couch. “It looks like rugby.”

  “Yeah, no,” Elaine said, sitting down next to him. “It’s American Football.” She began to go over the rules as Arthur’s eyes flicked about following the action on the screen. In truth, she loved football.

  “This is fantastic,” Arthur said, cheering as one of the teams scored a touchdown.

  “Perfect,” Elaine smiled. “Now, as long as you don’t root for the Patriots, we’ll get along just fine.”

  Elaine ordered pizza for dinner, and she and Arthur sat on the couch watching the game, Merlin never far from them as he stared at his tablet. “So, what's the plan for finding the knights?” Arthur asked innocently enough after they had finished eating. Elaine shrugged and turned her gaze to Merlin.

  “As I mentioned,” Merlin glanced at them out of the corner of his eye, “This Lady doesn’t know what she is doing.”

  “Perhaps you should rephrase that,” Elaine glared, and Merlin cleared his throat.

  “I apologize, my lady,” Merlin said, finally looking up from his tablet. “I only meant in terms of your other abilities.”

  Elaine rubbed her face. “I should have asked for the long version of the story.”

  “The Lady of the Lake,” Merlin explained patiently, “has always been gifted with magic.”

  “That’s where you lose me,” Elaine said. “There is no such thing as magic.”

  “What do you think happened last night?” Merlin switched the tablet off.

  “I’m still not sure that I wasn’t struck in the head by a tree branch,” Elaine said, “and this isn't just a crazy coma dream.”

  “I assure you, my lady,” Merlin said, “this is not a dream.”

  “Please stop with the ‘my lady’ thing Merlin,” Elaine begged. “It’s weird.”

  “It is the proper way to address the Lady of the Lake,” Merlin said, affronted.

  “Three things,” Elaine held up her fingers as she spoke. “One: Whether it is the proper way to address me or not, it’s still weird. Two: You’re not an old man now. Your eccentricities are going to land you in Bellevue under a psych watch. Three: I don’t like it. It makes me think you are talking down to me, rather than giving me respect.” Merlin watched her closely, looking for something, before sighing heavily.

  “As you wish, Elaine.”

  Arthur burst out laughing. “I have never seen anyone force Merlin to change anything,” Arthur explained at Elaine’s questioning glance. “I think I am going to like this revival.”

  “It does not change the fact, my la…” Merlin cleared his throat before correcting. “Elaine. That magic is real, and as the Lady of the Lake, you will be capable of using it.” Elaine glowered at him as he turned his gaze to Arthur, “And I am perfectly capable of changing my mind, Arthur, I am usually right, so there is rarely ever a need to do so.” Elaine looked at Arthur whose face remained surprisingly neutral. “We will have to teach you how to use your powers, Elain
e, before the search for the knights can begin in earnest. I think perhaps we should begin tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?” Elaine asked.

  “Yes,” Merlin nodded, returning attention to his tablet, the glow illuminating a smirk on his face. “You still have time off from the hospital, so it is ideal to work on your lessons before you resume your duties.” Elaine turned back to the television in a huff.

  “I worry that I’ve gotten you into trouble,” Arthur leaned in and whispered.

  “It’s no trouble that I hadn’t already made for myself,” Elaine laughed. Arthur smiled warmly before fiddling with the tv remote trying to remember his crash course from hours ago.

  Chapter Six

  Early the next morning, a knock on her bedroom door awoke Elaine. She threw off the covers and hastily opened the door. Merlin stood there, looking almost cheerful. “Good morning, Elaine.” She had the urge to slam the door in his face,

  “It’s still dark out,” she mumbled.

  “Best time to begin,” Merlin said, “is early.”

  “What is the likelihood that I am going to be able to talk you out of this?” Merlin just smiled and shook his head. Elaine rubbed the sleep from her eyes and closed the door to attempt to get ready for her magic lesson. She was exhausted. Physically. Emotionally. If there was a third type of exhaustion, she was that too. She had called Lacy before she had gone to bed, and she'd filled her in on a bland version of the day's events.

  She was not going to tell her sister what had happened, so she had come up with a reasonable cover story. Mr. Merlin had taken ill, and his great-grandson, Geoffrey Merlin had come to stay at his house to help his grandfather, bringing along his friend Arthur to stay. After more than a few jokes about Geoffrey Merlin and his friend Arthur, Elaine hung up with her sister, guilt forming a rock in her stomach. She hated lying to Lacy. She wasn’t any good at it, but there was no way that Elaine was going to drag Lacy into everything, not until she knew more. Elaine sighed as she brushed her teeth, washed her face, pulling on whatever clothes she could find, and making her way to the kitchen where Merlin sat reading his tablet.