As if that name was supposed to mean something to her.
“I think Jason put this on the bottle back at the game.”
“Jason? Your crazy, homicidal friend from the future, Jason?” Sarah tried to figure out where this explanation was going and just how long she should listen before walking away.
“I think he’s figured out a way to bend time beyond what we’d originally thought possible.”
“The time thing again,” Sarah turned to begin waving down another taxi.
“Yes,” Derek grabbed her shoulder, spinning her back around to face him.
Surprised, she wore an expression of shock with a hint of fear.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I know how it sounds but you have to believe me. It’s true. When we used the machine the first time we had very specific points in time that we could travel to. You see, the earth has to be aligned in exactly the same location as the time from which you're traveling. We had the ability to bend the trajectory of the jump a bit, but no more than twelve hours.”
“That’s the twelve hours you were mumbling about last night. That’s why you said I was safe and that’s why you thought you were stuck here,” Sarah finally seemed to be catching on to what he was saying.
“Yes, but I don’t think that’s true anymore. Jason must have figured out a way to expand the window.”
“In one day,” Sarah was trying to comprehend the insanity that was coming from Derek’s mouth.
“One day for us but it could have been weeks, months, hell, years for him. All that matters is that I think he did it and now I think he’s come back.”
“For this Tillmore chick.”
“Yes...no...I mean, for her daughter.”
“Her daughter? How do you know she has a daughter?”
“Because, in about fifteen years Jason is going to go out with her and she’s going to ditch him at the amusement park.”
Now she knew he was making this whole thing up. “Really? He’s so unstable that he’s going to come all the way back in time for the mother of a girl who ditched him in high school?”
“I know it sounds crazy—”
“—No, we’re way past crazy,” Sarah turned again to flag down a ride.
“It is crazy. There’s a very dark side to Jason that I didn’t even know existed until last night. I think you saw a hint of it in the restaurant the other day. That wasn’t the Jason I knew who said those things to you.”
“I thought you pressured him to be more outgoing.”
“Yes, but you have to admit, there’s outgoing and then there’s offering sex for food…to put it politely,” Derek softened Jason’s words.
“Why, now?” Sarah moved closer to the curb, still searching for a cab as Derek followed.
“Well, I suspect that he hasn’t figured out how to bend the trip enough to go after the actual girl yet.”
“Yeah, but why not just hunt her down in his...your time? Why come all the way back here?”
“Because I’m here,” Derek realized just how sick this situation was. Jason wasn’t just back here for the girl. He was back for him as well. He obviously wanted him to know what he was up to, but why? Was he going to try and frame him for another murder or was this some sort of sick cat and mouse game that he was trying to get going. All he did know was that he had to get to Mrs. Tillmore and warn her before Jason could go through with whatever he had planned.
“Taxi!” Sarah shouted at a passing cab, snapping Derek out of his introspective trance.
“We don’t have time for this. We have to get inside. According to this...” he held up the bracelet again, “...Mrs. Tillmore was checked in earlier today. We at least have to go in and see if she’s still here.”
“No. I don’t have to go anywhere. Listen, you seem like a real nice guy...you might be a bit unhinged...but a nice guy nonetheless. I just don’t have time for stories of time travel and psychotic best friends and revenge on the mother of a scorned lover,” Sarah clarified to herself just how crazy this whole thing was as a cab finally pulled to the curb beside them. “You go ahead and alert Mrs. Tillmore, but let me warn you…,” she added as she opened the door and took a seat in the back of the cab, “...if you go in there and tell her even half of what you’ve told me, you’re going to end up in the psych ward instead of that E.R..” And with that final warning, the cab pulled away with Sarah in it.
Standing on the curb, watching the cab as it turned the corner and disappeared from view, Derek contemplated Sarah’s advice. She was right. No one was going to believe him and he probably was going to end up in some psychiatric hospital, but he had helped to create the device that had brought about these events and it was his responsibility to do everything in his power to stop Jason, no matter what.
His determination rejuvenated, he sprinted for the E.R. doors.
*****
“I can’t be pregnant and you can stop doing that. I’m knocked up, not crippled,” Tabitha complained, freeing herself of her husband’s over coddling grasp. Ever since they’d left the hospital he’d been carefully guiding her around with one hand on her arm and the other on the small of her back as if he expected her to collapse again at any moment.
Richard released his grip and ceased his escort as his wife entered the master bath alone, closing the door behind her. He wasn’t offended by her harsh tone or short temper. She’d been through a lot already and the news of an unexpected pregnancy was something she’d have to get used to. He, on the other hand, was doing everything he could to contain his excitement.
“Can I get you anything?” he called through the door, his question going unanswered as his words were cut off by the sound of water coming from the bathtub faucet.
“I mean, how are we going to make this work!?” Tabitha continued to vocalize her nerves, shouting over the running water.
“We’ll make it work."
“I know we’ll make it work. We always make things work. This just isn’t how I planned it. I don’t have time to take care of a baby and run a failing company.”
“Melody can pick up the slack for you.”
“Melody is a brilliant Creative Director but she’s no salesman. You can have the greatest idea in the world but it doesn’t do any good if there’s no one to sell it.”
Leaning against the doorjamb, “I’m sure she’d do fine. Besides, you just landed that big deal today,” he reminded her.
“One deal.”
“Well it’s one more than you had yesterday. You’re going to be fine. The company is going to be fine and we are going to be fine,” Richard leaned closer to the door as the water stopped.
She didn’t answer.
“If we have to we...” Realizing that he was still yelling, even though he no longer had to compete with the roar of the running faucet, he turned the knob and slowly cracked the door. His wife’s head came into view in the large mirror over the sink, though the rest of her body remained concealed by the porcelain walls of the oval, garden tub nestled in the corner. “If we have to...” he continued in a softer tone to announce his presence, “...we’ll hire a nanny.”
Pulling the washcloth from her eyes, she slowly tilted her head to the side to face her husband, who was now standing in the middle of the room, looking down at her. “And how are we going to afford that? We can barely afford this house right now.”
“Well...you’re not the only one who got a bit of news today,” he hinted at the news he’d been keeping since he’d received the call from Melody that Tabitha was in the hospital.
Tabitha just stared.
“You know how I told you about that big job in Texas that my company was bidding on?” He took her continued interest as a “yes”. “Well…we got it and they asked me to be the lead engineer on the project.”
The worried frown, which had plagued Tabitha’s face since the doctor had uttered those two life changing words, finally began to melt as a smile fought it way through. “That’s great! Why didn’t you tell m
e earlier?”
“The whole hospital thing and then the baby news. The timing didn’t seem right.”
“That’s amazing,” the frown began to return.
“What’s wrong?” Richard watched as his wife’s brief happiness slowly faded away.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?” he asked, taking a seat on the edge of the tub and placing a hand on her head, careful to avoid the large, stapled gash just above her forehead and partially concealed beneath her hairline.
“For being such a bitch.”
“What?”
“You’ve had that news all day. It’s probably been killing you to hold it in and all I’ve been doing is going on and on about how screwed we are and woe is me.”
“I was wondering if it would ever end,” he smiled.
“Ass,” Tabitha’s smile returned as she playfully swatted a spray of water in his direction.
Laughing, “It does mean a bit more travel but it also means a fairly significant raise,” he continued.
“How much travel?” Tabitha questioned, concerned that she was now going to be left to raise a baby on her own.
“One week a month, tops,” he assured.
Okay with that number, “how much more money?”
“Ten percent and this puts me one step closer to making associate with the firm and only five to ten years from partner.”
She could tell that he was excited by the news. Ambition was what she’d always found most attractive about Richard. He was a go getter, incapable of failure, which is why, deep down, even though she truly was worried about being a mother, she really did believe that everything was going to be alright. “Congratulations, Mr. Tillmore,” she smiled, looking into his eyes.
“Why thank you Mrs. Tillmore,” he smiled back as he leaned in for a kiss. “Is there possibly room in there for another?” he scanned he tub, eyeing his wife’s naked body beneath the ripples of steaming water.
“I don’t know. There’s two of us in here already. It’s getting kind of crowded.”
“Maybe I can join you and we can try for twins.”
“I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work like that,” Tabitha grinned.
“But it could be fun to try,” he smiled as he slid over the edge and splashed down beside her.
*****
Staggering through the E.R. doors holding his left arm, his original plan had been to fake a heart attack in hopes that such a serious ailment would allow him to bypass the cuts and broken arms and miscellaneous ailments filling the busy waiting room. As soon as he’d set foot on the white tile floor however, he’d instantly changed his mind, and, fearing drawing too much attention to himself, he’d quickly ducked into the sea of patient filled, blue plastic chairs.
His original plan, while likely to bypass the line, was also likely to land him in a hospital bed, hooked up to every machine available and surrounded by doctors and nurses, eager to correct his fabricated ailment. He needed to find Mrs. Tillmore, if she was still there, and if she wasn’t, he needed to find something with an address on it so he could find her before Jason did. Having half of the E.R. staff standing over him, shoveling aspirin down his throat and hooking him up to I.V. drips seemed counterproductive to his cause. Instead he’d taken a seat in the far corner of the room, next to a mother who was tending to a nine year old soccer player while her two year old daughter watched from a stroller beside them.
“Boo boo,” the little girl pointed at the large gash on her brother’s knee as her mother pulled the makeshift bandage away from his leg.
Normally the sight of such an injury would have made Derek cringe but given the past twenty-four hours, he figured it would take a lot more than a sports injury to make him squirm.
“It hurts, it hurts,” the boy cried as his mother looked around the room in frustration.
It was obvious that they’d been there for a while. The sun had been down for about an hour already. The boy’s soccer game had likely ended hours ago. His bedtime had probably come and gone and his mother was clearly at her wits end; made even more evident as she eyed the nurse’s station and mumbled something on the lines of “un-fucking-believable.”
“Story,” the little girl suddenly held up a book from the stroller.
“Not now, sweetie,” mom took the book from her daughter’s hand and laid it back down on the tiny, built in tray next to her sippy cup. “I’m going to find out how much longer this is going to take,” she turned back to her son, who continued to wince in pain as he held the paper-towel bandage over his knee. “Keep an eye on your sister. I’ll be right back.” Almost tripping over the massive purse/baby bag next to the stroller, mom weaved her way through the crowd toward the busy nurse.
“There’s no hope”, Derek thought. He’d have to saw off his own arm if he had any hope of getting back there and even then he’d still probably be sitting around for hours.
Turning his attention from the departing woman, his eyes locked with the two year old beside him, who was staring at him with an inquisitive gaze as if to say, “so, what’s wrong with you?”
Derek smiled, then looked over at the little girl’s brother, who traded tension for a zen like approach to pain management as he leaned back in his chair, head tilted back and eyes closed. Turning back to the little girl he was met with a giggling smile as if he’d done something to amuse the toddler, though he didn’t know what. Over the giggles she grabbed her cup, and tilting back in the stroller, began sipping at the drink as a trickle of the red juice slipped from the corner of her mouth, down her chin and onto her tiny dress.
The sight of the juice gave him an idea. Glancing over at the nine year old Buddha again, then up at the impatient mother who was still at least three people deep in line, he leaned over and began feeling around inside the large baby bag. The little girl’s puzzled look returned as she looked down at his hand buried deep inside her mother’s property. Feeling something soft, he pulled a white cloth from the bag.
“Perfect.”
Seeing his pleased smile, the little girl reciprocated with one of her own.
Checking the boy and the mother again, Derek pointed to the cup in the little girl’s hand.
Confused, the little girl just stared at his outstretched finger, then up at his face.
Raising his brow, he reemphasized his request with a shake of his finger at the cup.
Again the little girl looked at his hand, though this time seemed to put the silent request together as her eyes wandered toward her cup. Looking up again, then back at the cup she finally realized what he was asking, and held her cup up for him to take.
With a smile, Derek took the cup and began dripping the deep red juice onto the white cloth as the girl watched confused. Once he was satisfied with the stain, he held the cup back out for her to take and mouthed the words, “thank you,” which drew a big smile and a few bounces from the excited little girl as he got to his feet and wandered toward the check-in station with the freshly soiled towel around his hand.
“Excuse me,” Derek pushed through the people waiting in line to yell at the obviously stressed young woman behind the counter.
“Where are you go—?” the little girl’s mother started to protest Derek’s cutting until she noticed the red stained cloth wrapped around his hand.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized to the group of frustrated patients and parents as he approached the counter.
“Sir, you’re going to have to—,” Noticing the red towel. “Oh, my.”
“Yeah,” Derek looked down at his hand as he placed the other one over it and pulled it to his chest for fear that, if anyone got a good whiff of it, they’d notice its fruity nature. “The other girl checked me in already,” Derek lied, hoping that there really was another girl, which given the woman’s lack of protest, he figured there probably was. “I was just wondering if I could go back and get a new bandage while I wait to be seen.”
“Let me get a nurse. That looks pretty bad,” the young woma
n insisted.
“No,” Derek motioned for her to sit back down. “It’s not that bad, really. You’re very busy with these people.” He glanced over his shoulder at the crowd who apparently shared in the woman’s concern as he noticed a distinct separation between himself and the next person in line. “I just need a bandage and if you could point me in the direction of the bathroom that would be great,” he smiled, wincing a bit to make it more believable.
Returning to her seat, she pointed to the double doors over her left shoulder, at the end of the short hall. “You can go right through those doors over there. Just let them know that Jessica sent you back for a bandage.”
“Thank you Jessica,” Derek smiled, drawing a smile in return.
“Even with a cherry flavored, blood soaked hand he still had it,” he thought as he headed for the indicated doors.
“Oh! The bathrooms are just to the left of the doors!” Jessica stood again to shout the forgotten directions.
“Thanks again!” Derek turned as they exchanged another smile and he watched the momentarily distracted, angry mob swarm Jessica’s counter again.
Carefully pushing through the doors, still clutching the red rag in the event that he had to offer someone on the other side an explanation, the explanation for the long wait came into view as he saw busy nurses darting from one room to the next and stressed and tired looking doctors wandering from patient to patient, doing all they could to get ahead of the insane, emergency rush.
Clearly unnoticed, he breathed a sigh of relief as he ditched the cloth in a nearby trash can before making his way to the nurse’s station. The pace behind the counter wasn’t any slower than in front of it as nurses came and went, picking up charts and dropping off charts, all while the overwhelmed redhead behind the counter struggled to keep the mountain of paperwork beside her from toppling over while typing information into the computer.
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