PLAY ON

by Marilynn Halas

  Good grief! Mediums and psychics, clergy and clerics, and quantum physics and gravity? Is it possible that these are all just variations on the same theme? Vibrations of the same strings? All part of the same whole? Each theory diametrically opposed to the others and yet, all meeting to prove each other true? In fact, none can be proven without the others, he thought. Oh boy, now his head was really hurting!

  The only thing Thomas was sure of was that this time, he would be sure to make zero assumptions. Before he left them the other day, he made Maggie and Ryan swear that now he had the whole story—no more surprises.

  “Yeah, sure. Science is never surprising. Right,” Thomas muttered to himself as he sat down at the computer and made another list:

  Dillon, born 1985 ???

  Transported as infant to 1995 ?

  Fifteen years old in 2011

  Guitar acts as catalyst for initial cross-dimensional travel; Danny to Dillon

  Danny, born 1985

  Coincidence? Thomas didn’t believe in coincidence. So the boys are different ages in 2011 because Danny was born in 1985 and stayed in 1985, but Dillon must have made his first leap as an infant?!?

  Thomas rubbed his eyes and sighed.

  November 11, 2011

  Friday at last! Dillon wished Danny would stop by, but he figured that in a lot of ways, no news was good news. Either way, right now, only one thing mattered and that was his night with sweet Marie. His dad had gotten them tickets to see Jason Austin, and even better, they had backstage passes.

  At first, Marie was clueless about Jason Austin, but she was a good sport. Then they turned on GCM, the Great Country Music channel, and there he was, belting out a song and Marie started to smile. Dillon hoped she was smiling because she liked the music, but he had to admit that there was an even more compelling reason for her giggle.

  When Dillon had seen Austin on TV, he was so excited that he jumped off the couch and bounced right into the wall.

  “Holy Cow! That’s Jason Austin? I didn’t even know who he was! I heard the song on the radio, but I never put a face with the music before. I know him! Er, well, technically, I met him.”

  Dillon went on to explain to Marie that this was the guy he had met on his first trip out to Nashville. Dillon told her that it was Jason Austin who had told him that country music was just three chords and the truth, and then Jason had given him the first chord. Dillon had had no idea the guy playing acoustic guitar at the honky tonk for Michael McIntyre was now a superstar. Cool.

  Now the night was finally here. They were going for burgers and then to the show. Dillon practically danced down the street on his way to pick up Marie. Two hours later she was dancing beside him, his boots were tapping, and their hands were clapping. The show was amazing from the first song to the second encore. Lights, fireworks, and a steel guitar—Dillon was in heaven.

  After the show was over, they went backstage. They flashed their passes and were brought into a room full of food and fans. Dillon’s ears were ringing, and it took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the lights in the room, but he figured that was normal. He was dead wrong.

  Dillon rubbed his eyes and then he reached for the wall. He tried to tell Marie that he felt like the room was swaying, but then his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed. Marie screamed, called 911, and held his hand until the ambulance arrived.

  Ryan, Maggie, Thomas, and Tom met them in the ER. Maggie and Ryan disappeared behind the sliding doors. Before Thomas followed, he said, “Wait here and I’ll come back and let you know what’s happening as soon as I can.” Marie and Tom sat down in the waiting room, and Marie wiped away the tears from her eyes.

  Danny was still in Tennessee when he felt it. At first he thought it was a headache, but this was different; this was no ache, it was a pain. It was the strangest sensation Danny had ever felt. He felt like his eyes were on fire, but he felt removed from the pain at the same time. He pressed his hands to his eyes and then in an instant, he understood. Dillon’s face flashed in front of him and it was riddled with pain. Danny could actually feel Dillon’s pain.

  “Oh God, Dillon! What’s wrong?” A moment later he was at Dillon’s side in the ER.

  “I’m fine. I promise you, I’m okay now. No, I don’t know what happened, but whatever it was, it’s over now.” Dillon was talking to his parents and getting exasperated and embarrassed. Danny considered both to be good signs. As soon as Dillon saw Danny, he relaxed a little.

  “Man. Why can’t you just be a normal brother and be seen by everyone?”

  Danny’s jaw dropped when he heard that, but Ryan and Maggie turned sheet white.

  “What did you say?” everyone asked Dillon together.

  “For Pete’s sake, just look at him!” Dillon was getting tired. He forgot they couldn’t see Danny.

  “We don’t look much alike. Maybe your eyes are more screwed up than you think,” Danny stammered.

  Dillon was incredulous. “Are you kidding me? When was the last time you looked in a mirror?"

  Danny moved over to the mirror, but he wasn’t sure what he expected to see. Ghosts don’t have reflections. “Dillon, why do you think we’re brothers?”

  Dillon looked away and heaved a big sigh. It had already been a long night and now, in front of everyone, Dillon had to just say it. Maybe he could salvage his pride by writing this off to the IV drip in his arm.

  Probably not.

  When Dillon faced them again, he had tears in his eyes.

  “I mean that for me, it feels like we are brothers. I don’t know, maybe there was a screw-up somewhere, but I just know in my gut that no matter what, we are connected. We have a bond so strong that time and space move out of our way. That can’t just be a coincidence. I don’t believe in coincidence.”

  Maggie looked terrified. Did this mean Dillon knew how he came to them? Had Joe shown him more than he was saying? Her mind was a swirl of unanswered questions when Dr. Greene came into the room.

  “Well, kiddo, I think you can get ready to go home. You need to see a neurologist on Monday and I would recommend an ophthalmologist too, but for now, everything checks out. My hope is that you passed out from all the excitement. I’m sure that’s what the specialists will confirm, but we need to check it out further just to be on the safe side.” The doctor then motioned Dillon’s parents outside, but it looked like whatever they were discussing was just referrals. Dillon’s eyes still burned, but he didn’t say a word; he just wanted to go home. Two forms, a discharge order, and ten minutes later they were free. Marie ran up to Dillon and hugged him like she was hanging on for dear life.

  “You look better, buddy.” Tom smiled as everyone headed outside.

  Dillon was so embarrassed about passing out, but all his embarrassment melted into relief when he saw Marie. “Not quite the evening I planned. Sorry.”

  “Are you kidding? It was great. Really exciting, you know, in a 'permanently scarred' kind of way.” Marie smiled and held Dillon’s hand.

  “What did the doctor say? Are you alright?”

  Dillon rubbed his eyes again but he laughed a little when he said, “He said I got too excited. I guess you just have that effect on me.”

  Now it was Marie’s turn to laugh. “Yeah, sure. Guys are always falling all over me.”

  Dillon looked serious. “Guys? What guys?”

  November 18, 2011

  Dillon was seen by experts in the fields of neurology and ophthalmology and had more tests than a lab rat in the days following the concert. He was exhausted. In the early morning hours he slept. Danny wanted to talk to Dillon about Dillon’s suspicions that they were brothers, but Dillon looked so tired, almost smaller somehow. Danny didn’t have the heart to wake him. So instead Danny sat nearby, softly strumming the old guitar.

  “You play that just as well as your dad. How is that old crow anyway?” Joe startled him.

  Danny was shocked. “I can see you.”

  “Yep. Looks that way.”


  “Can Dillon?”

  “Sometimes, but not like this. Only when he travels. Most of the time, he can’t hear me either, but at least you can. I’ve been here all along, but you guys couldn’t see.” Uncle Joe smiled and sat down next to Dillon.

  “Did you bring us together? Did you want him to know about me?” Danny was so happy to find someone like him. He had to hold himself back from hugging this guy.

  “No. I’m not that powerful. I’m just glad for the chance to get a message to both of you. Neither one of you can see what’s right in front of you. Open your eyes.” Uncle Joe looked frustrated and the more upset he felt, the harder he was to see. Danny reached out, but Uncle Joe was gone. Suddenly Danny’s eyes were burning again, but this time it felt different. This time it wasn’t a sympathy pain for Dillon; this pain was all his own.

  Across town, Thomas was busy working in the lab. He took Dillon’s DNA and decided to examine it gene by gene. There was no way he could believe that what happened to Dillon was just excitement. This kid kept his composure across the space-time continuum; no way he loses it at a concert.

  Isolating each gene took time, but little by little, Thomas extracted each one and breathed a sigh of relief when it was normal. He was beginning to feel like he was wasting his time when he saw it. He didn’t know exactly what it meant, but he knew it was anything but normal.

  Thomas called Dillon’s physician at home. She was an alumnae of Manhattan U. and easy enough to find in the alumnae directory.

  “Dr. Serina? This is Dr. Thomas Thurgood over at the University.”

  “Hospital?” She asked.

  “No, not Manhattan Hospital, Manhattan University.” From the tone of her voice, the good doctor didn’t appreciate being called at home. “Look, I know this is irregular, but I have some information about a patient of yours and I really think you ought to see it.” Thomas explained that Dillon was a lab volunteer and that when Thomas typed his genes, he had found a problem.

  This time the doctor’s tone was different: “I’m on my way.”

  November 19, 2011

  Dr. Antonia Serina was amazed when she saw Thomas’ lab, and even a little bit jealous. He had every possible piece of equipment she could imagine and all of it was brand new and in perfect working order. They worked together for two whole days and no matter how they looked at it, Dillon had one heck of a big problem.

  Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy is just plain bad news. Leber’s Disease, as it is often called, is caused by a change in parts of the genetic code. The disease affects the cells in the optic nerve and destroys the optic nerve’s ability to transmit visual information to the brain. If the cells within the optic nerve are irreparably damaged, they die, which results in permanent blindness.

  Thomas’ phone vibrated and he read a text from his son.

  "Hey Dad, mind if I meet Dillon over at Ryan’s place? He just got a new video game and --"

  "Yeah, sure, fine. Have fun," Thomas texted back before he had even finished reading.

  "Thx," Tom replied.

  Thomas sat down utterly exhausted and defeated. All this time he thought they were looking for some sort of cosmic secret that would turn the world on its ear, when they had a much bigger problem right in front of them. Thomas couldn’t share his questions with Dr. Serina, but he wondered if the change in Dillon’s genetic code was a side effect of the inter-dimensional travel. Dillon didn’t come back bleeding anymore, but what if damage was still being done? What if the conspiracy of silence around time travel is less about disbelief and more about the simple fact that it is too dangerous? Maybe that’s why it tends to be restricted to the dying and the deceased, he thought.

  “We have to tell his parents. I can’t even imagine their devastation. I just wish we had some sort of hope to offer them. These episodes will only become more and more frequent, and then eventually his sight will simply fail to return,” Thomas said.

  Dr. Serina was trying to be more positive. “There are new medical advances all the time. Maybe he can get into some experimental study. You can’t give up hope that easily. That will only make the situation worse, not to mention more frightening. I’ll check into any promising studies and set up an appointment with the family for Monday. Can I count on you to let me break this to them?”

  Thomas wanted to extend the professional courtesy she wanted. It was appropriate and a required protocol. He really did intend to agree, but he answered with only one word.

  “No.”

  An hour later Thomas was pounding on the door to Ryan’s place. When he had called ahead, he asked that Dillon and Tom go out for a while, get a pizza or do some skateboarding. Ryan sent them out with his dry cleaning and a twenty so the boys were set. They didn’t even know that Thomas was on his way over. This was an adult discussion, and Thomas wanted Maggie and Ryan to decide how best to tell Dillon that he was going blind.

  Maggie opened the door and her eyes were red and swollen.

  “It must be bad, right? For you to spend two days with Dr. Serina and now send the boys away for us to talk? I just know this is going to be bad.”

  Thomas gave her a hug and said nothing until they were seated inside. He had terrible news to deliver, but he had found hope as well.

  “First of all, the truth is, yes, the news I have is not good, but we will not let this news become the whole story. I’m going to ask you to hear me out before you respond. I have an idea that might give us a break, but you need all the information first.

  “Dillon has suffered a change in the fundamental genetic code of his optic nerve. The result of that mutation is a disease called Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy, or Leber’s Disease. It’s characterized by progressive episodes of temporary blindness that begin during the teenage years.”

  “Progressive?” Ryan was sure he knew the answer even before he asked the question.

  Thomas nodded and continued. “The blindness becomes permanent fairly quickly and both eyes can be affected in as little as eight weeks. There is another concern. In rare cases, the disease is linked to cardiac arrhythmia. I think that was a major factor in the way Dillon responded to the MRI. Some strains of the disease affect the brain’s ability to control muscle movement, muscles like the heart. At this time, there is no cure.”

  As a nurse, Maggie understood the prognosis all too well. She started to sob, and Ryan could barely move. Thomas didn’t want them to get so lost in their grief that they would be unable to keep listening, so he continued. “That is the current reality. Dr. Serina is looking for clinical trials and she will be in touch the moment she has news. She wanted to be the one to tell you this. As Dillon’s doctor, it was her right, but I insisted. I need you to just stay with me here for one more minute. I have an idea.

  “We all know that Dillon has been able to travel back in time and even forward a few years with Maggie when he was a baby.”

  “Oh, no. Did I do this to him? Did his genetic code get scrambled from the time travel?” Maggie looked at Thomas with desperation in her eyes.

  “No. I’ll admit that I worried about that too, at first, but this disease is passed down from the mother’s DNA, so I have to believe that he already had it when you brought him forward. Either way, right now, it doesn’t really matter how he got it. He has it, and I think I may know how he can get rid of it.”

  Maggie stopped crying.

  “Diseases tend to get cured eventually,” Thomas continued. "What if we could figure out when this one will get an effective treatment? What if we could figure out a time and place where Dillon could be treated and send him there?” Thomas needed them to believe it was at least possible. They would have to face the hurdle of figuring out when and where to go later.

  Dillon and Tom were digging into their second slice at Lenny’s Pizzeria and loving every minute of it. With cheese dripping from his chin and the salt from the pepperoni on his fingers, there was no doubt about it: life was good. As far as the boys knew, there was no
real news yet. They knew that Thomas was working with Dr. Serina, but they had no idea how unusual that really was.

  “So. Are you gonna ask her or not?” Tom was enjoying making Dillon uncomfortable.

  “Yeah, I guess, but I just don’t know how exactly.” Dillon started to fidget. “You know, it’s a big deal. I want to do it right.”

  The Starlight Ball was a huge deal at Madison Country Day and required a jacket and tie and a heck of a lot of nerve. It was a formal dance with a big band and countless opportunities for embarrassment. The ball was held every year on the winter solstice, to light up the longest night of the year. Tom and Dillon hadn't gone the year before, but now things were looking up. Tom was just finishing up his pizza when he looked up and nearly choked.

  Amanda Armstrong walked into the pizzeria and smiled when she saw them.

  “You look like you need a napkin,” she teased as she put one in Tom’s hand. Tom was as red as a tomato, but he cleaned up and offered her his seat.

  “You want a slice?” he asked her.

  It wasn’t long before she helped herself, and Tom’s color returned to normal. He gave Dillon the eye, and Dillon took the hint. He excused himself and went to the bathroom. He knew what Tom had in mind and all he could do was hope it turned out all right.

  “So, ah Amanda. I was wondering, you know, ah . . . do you have any plans for Starlight this year?” There, he'd said it. Now Tom could breathe.

  “Yes. I have plans,” Amanda said coyly.

  Tom nearly choked again, and he couldn’t hide the surprise and disappointment on his face. He didn’t know what to say. “Oh.”

  “I have plans to go with you, idiot,” Amanda said, as if Tom should have known.

  “Oh, good, that’s good.” Tom tried to be cool, but he was grinning from ear to ear.