by Zoe Matthews
She didn’t blame him. She was nervous, too. What if this didn’t work?
She held on tightly to her necklace and reached out to touch Daniel’s shoulder. She couldn’t help but notice how his muscles trembled under her touch. She took a deep breath and focused on the task at hand. She thought there should be some form of contact in order to take Daniel and Laura with her. Since he was holding Laura, the most she could do was lay her hand on his shoulder.
“Are you ready?” she asked them.
Daniel nodded stiffly.
Laura quietly whispered, “Yes.”
Barbara breathed in deeply, then let it out in a gush. She closed her eyes and pictured Megan. It wasn’t hard; she loved her daughter’s happy smile. The way her eyes twinkled constantly. Her brown hair that she kept short.
She didn’t remember feeling anything the first time she’d traveled. This time, she could sense a vague sensation of falling. She could almost feel air rushing past her face. She didn’t dare open her eyes, but she could still feel Daniel’s solid shoulder beneath her, and that sent a wave of relief over her. Once the sensation ended, she cautiously opened her eyes.
She laughed out loud as she recognized the gazebo they stood in and Keegan’s house ahead of her. She looked over happily at Daniel and Laura but was quickly sobered when she realized Laura was barely conscious. “Let’s get her to a hospital right away.”
She ran into the house, with Daniel following close behind. “Megan! Keegan!” A quick glance at the clock told her it was still early, too early for the shop to be open.
“Barbara?” Keegan’s shocked voice came from the front room, and Barbara made a beeline to him.
She saw Keegan staring at the doorway in shock when he saw her and Daniel enter the room, with a sick Laura in his arms. He composed himself quickly, however, and gave Barbara a hug. “You’re alright? We have been so worried! Where have you been?”
“I know. I’m so sorry to worry you. How is Megan?” Barbara didn’t want to get into the story right now.
“She’s not great. She was ready to postpone the wedding. We thought George had gotten to you,” Keegan said solemnly.
“Can you let her know I am alright? This is Daniel Gouldsmith and his sister, Laura. They are from 1816.”
At Keegan’s gasp, she knew she had gotten her message across that she had traveled back through time.
“Laura is very sick, and she needs a hospital right away.” She reached out and took her keys, which she had left behind the counter before this whole adventure had started. “Daniel, we will need to drive my car.”
He looked hesitant but followed her swiftly. She helped him and Laura into the back seat, and showed him how to fasten his seatbelt. She did her best to buckle Laura up as well, but it was more difficult since she had to be lying down, and soon she gave up. The hospital wasn’t too far away, and it was more important to get Laura there as soon as possible.
She drove as fast as she dared to the hospital. While she drove, she glanced in the rearview mirror a few times to watch Danie’s face. He alternated between looking out the windows in amazement at everything he saw and then looking with deep concern at his sister. Less than ten minutes later, she arrived at the hospital. She pulled up to the emergency room doors and let Daniel and Laura out at the patient drop off, instructing him to go ahead and go inside, and that she would join them after she parked the car.
She was able to find a spot for the car pretty close to the emergency room entrance and she breathed a sigh of relief. She ran to the emergency room and found Daniel and Laura waiting on a couple of chairs in the waiting room. Laura was awake but looked groggy. Daniel had an angry scowl on his face, and she realized how incredibly different the two of them looked from the rest of the people in the room. They were getting curious glances from everyone.
“Have you talked to anyone?” she asked him.
Daniel gave a short nod.
“How long did they say the wait time was?” she asked him.
“Thirty minutes,” he practically spat the words.
“Oh,” she sighed. He was pretty frustrated. “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong? My sister is clearly in need of immediate attention, and they are making me sit here and wait!” His voice was rising.
Barbara tried to use a soothing voice and placed a hand on his arm in comfort. “That is normal. They can’t take you back there if there isn’t a room available for her to sit in, or a doctor available to look at her. They are working on it.”
Daniel grunted angrily and continued scowling.
Barbara could understand why Daniel was acting this way; his sister was very sick. He was asked to sit and wait instead of doing something to help. She had felt like this several times when Megan had been sick as a child, and she even knew to expect wait times and paperwork. He’d had no idea they would have to wait. She thought about telling him as much, but sensed that now was a bad time to approach him.
Just then, a nurse walked up to them and held out a clipboard. “Here is some paperwork I’d like you to fill out before coming back.”
Daniel looked at the nurse with angry shock and said nothing. Barbara took the clipboard from her and thanked her quietly.
She could hear Daniel muttering angrily to himself, so she did her best to fill out the paperwork. She had to make up a birthdate for Laura, and left several parts of the paperwork blank, including insurance. The important parts, such as symptoms and medical history were easy enough based on what she and Daniel had already talked about. She had no idea how she was going to pay for this, but decided to worry about that later.
Eventually, they were brought back to a room where Laura was quickly assessed and given an IV. The doctor came in and did another examination, diagnosing her with pneumonia and dehydration. He gave them a prescription for antibiotics and told them that they would need to stay for another couple of hours on the IV to rehydrate Laura and see how she was doing. If she seemed to be doing better, they wouldn’t need to admit her.
The entire time they were in the small room, Daniel held Laura’s hand. Even after the doctor left, Daniel stayed by her side, and wouldn’t look away from her face.
“I remember when she was eight. She had gotten into some trouble climbing a tree too high. Father hated it when she climbed trees. He said it wasn’t right for a girl to do such boyish things. She never listened to him. For hours, she was stuck in the tree. She refused to call out and ask for help, even when we started searching for her. I still don’t know if she was scared of getting into trouble, or if she didn’t want to admit she couldn’t get down on her own.”
He shook his head and chuckled. “Father and I looked all over for her. I eventually spotted her and waited until Father had walked away to help her down. Anyone who meets her knows she is sweet as honey. What most people don’t know is she has always had so much spirit.”
Barbara smiled at his memory, and yet her heart broke for him. She could tell he was very worried about his sister. She yearned to wrap her arms around his shoulders or rub his back gently. Anything to help comfort him, but she knew he would see it as inappropriate.
After another few minutes, he started talking again. “She was married before, you know. He was a wonderful man, with an equally strong spirit. They were only married for a year before he had an accident with a spooked horse. He died instantly.” He stopped talking then, and she could imagine the painful memories that would be coursing through him.
“She has never been the same since, and she started getting sick a lot right after he died. The doctors kept trying to tell me she was sick because she was so sad. But I knew there was something else going on. I can hardly stand to see her sick like this.”
Barbara’s heart broke at hearing the anguish in his voice. Even though she wanted to do so much more, she couldn’t stop herself from reaching out to touch his shoulder in comfort. “She will be alright. People who get pneumonia in my time usually get better very quickly,
and it goes away within a few days with the help of antibiotics. It’s not very common to die from it.”
Daniel nodded, but said nothing. She could tell he didn’t believe her, but also hoped that what she said was true.
“I’m going to go make a phone call,” Barbara told him. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Daniel nodded, although he looked curiously at her and then the phone she was holding. She slipped from the room and walked down a long hallway until she reached an area where there wasn’t anyone around. She didn’t want anyone to overhear her conversation.
She called Megan, but the phone went right to voicemail. She left a short message and then called Keegan.
“Hello,” Keegan answered.
“Hi, Keegan,” Barbara said. “I tried to call Megan but she didn’t answer.”
“There’s something wrong with her phone,” Keegan explained. “But let’s talk about that later. Is everything alright?”
“Yes. We are in the Emergency Room. Laura was diagnosed with pneumonia but she should be fine.”
“That’s good.” There was a brief pause. “So, are you going to tell me what’s going on? Where you in 1816?”
Barbara looked around to make sure she was still alone. “Yes. I accidentally traveled through time.”
“How did that happen?”
“I was in the gazebo and I somehow was transported to England in 1816.”
“Wow.”
“I’ll explain everything later. To make a long story short, I met Daniel and Laura. Laura became very sick and I suspected pneumonia. I brought them here so she could be treated.”
“Are they going to return to their time?”
“I’m sure they will,” Barbara responded, although she hoped they might want to stay awhile, at least.
“Boy, we all sure seem to attract time travel devices, don’t we? First Kimberly, then Nicky, then her brother, me, Megan, and now you.”
Barbara smiled wryly. “It’s looking like that.”
“Are they going to admit Laura?”
“No. They immediately started antibiotics and are hydrating her, but they think she will be able to be released soon.”
“That’s good.”
“I’d better get back to them. I just wanted to let you know what was going on.”
“I’ll tell Megan.”
After they said their goodbye’s, Barbara pocketed her phone and walked back to the room Laura was in. Daniel looked up when she came in. She could tell he had many questions but he didn’t ask them. She was glad he didn’t because of how thin the walls were. She would answer all of his questions later when they were back at Keegan’s house.
After what seemed like an eternity, Laura started to wake up. Color had started to return to her cheeks as the IV did its job as it helped rehydrate her. Daniel continued to hold her hand.
“Laura,” he sighed with relief. “Laura, we are right here.”
Laura looked around the room with some shock and confusion before her eyes landed on her brother. “Are we in the future?” she whispered.
“Yes. We made it, and the doctors know how to make you better,” Daniel spoke gently.
Laura just nodded, then looked at Barbara. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Barbara smiled, knowing Laura would be alright.
Chapter 13
A few hours later, they were signing the release papers, and gathering some of the medical supplies the doctor and nurses had given Laura.
“Thank you so much,” Daniel said, shaking the doctor’s hand. He had done the same with every nurse and orderly who had come into the room in the last half hour.
“You are welcome. Just be sure she finishes the antibiotics completely; otherwise, she will be more likely to get sick again.” The doctor smiled at them before leaving the room.
“All right, are you ready to go home, Laura?” Barbara asked her.
“Yes,” she said quietly. Some of the color had returned to her cheeks, and the medicine they had given her was keeping the fever down and the pain at bay, but Barbara could tell she still felt weak.
Ever since she had woken up, she had been looking at the equipment around the room as if she was afraid of it.
They walked to Barbara’s car with Laura between Barbara and Daniel, each holding one arm to help support her. This frustrated Laura, and she insisted she was fine to walk on her own. Barbara eventually let Daniel lead Laura by the arm on his own, and stopped trying to help, although she watched her carefully in case Laura started swaying again.
The sun was setting as they drove home; Barbara was shocked at the amount of time that had passed. Her stomach rumbled, and she was sure Daniel was hungry as well. Neither of them had eaten since breakfast that morning.
The drive was quiet, but tense. No one talked, but Barbara could feel Daniel’s and Laura’s discomfort in her car. Laura was significantly more stressed about the speed they were going and eventually just buried her face in her hands.
When they pulled up to Keegan’s home, Daniel carefully helped Laura out of her seat belt and the car.
Barbara was impressed with how well Daniel was doing surrounded by all of the technology he had been exposed to in the last few hours. She had expected him to be more shocked or frightened when he saw something new, but he was taking it in stride. This was likely due to his being focused on caring for his sister, Barbara realized.
When they entered the house, Megan immediately ran to her and wrapped her in a tight hug.
“I was so scared you were hurt, Mom,” Megan said with a thick voice.
Tears pricked Barbara’s eyes at the sound.
“I’m all right, sweetheart. I’m alright.” They stayed like that for a few moments, then Megan pulled away.
“I thought George had done something to you. We have been working with the police. I reported everything you told me, and there is a restraining order against him.”
Barbara’s eyes widened at the news. “We need to let the police know that I am alright.”
“I called them a few hours ago. They weren’t happy at my lack of explanation, though. I didn’t know what to tell them.” Megan looked uncertain. “There is someone coming by tomorrow morning to hear your story.”
Barbara sighed. “I will need to think of something to tell them.” She realized Laura and Daniel were still standing, awkwardly waiting to be noticed.
“I’m so sorry to leave you standing. This is my daughter, Megan. This is Daniel and Laura.” They all greeted each other, then Barbara’s stomach grumbled painfully. “Let’s take this conversation into the kitchen. I think we all need food.”
Daniel sent her a grateful look, and she led them to the kitchen, where she found Keegan cooking something that smelled fantastic. She turned to Laura. “You can sit here at the table, or if you are too tired, we can get you settled in a room upstairs. We will bring the food up when it is done.”
“If you don’t mind, I would like to lie down,” Laura admitted, swaying slightly on her feet. Daniel was instantly at her side and helped walk her to the stairs.
“We have a room all set up for you,” Megan said as she led the way upstairs. “The chicken should be ready in about fifteen minutes.
Barbara sank into one of the chairs, exhaustion seeping through her.
“How did it go?” Keegan asked, watching her carefully.
“It was fine. Like I told you, she does have pneumonia, and will need to take antibiotics. We got the prescription filled at the hospital pharmacy, and she has already had her first dose. She should start feeling better by tomorrow night.”
Keegan nodded. “And, how are you?”
Barbara smiled at his caring nature, once again grateful that Megan had found such a good man to marry. “I am fine, just tired.”
“Time travel can wipe out your energy,” Keegan responded, speaking from his own experience.
“Yes, it can.”
Megan came into the room and sat down next to B
arbara. “Laura is all settled, and Daniel wants to stay with her.”
Barbara smiled. “I figured he would. He has hardly left her side since he found out she was so sick.”
Keegan finished tossing the salad together and pulled a casserole dish out of the oven. “There, it should be done. It is nothing special, but should hopefully feel good on Laura’s throat.”
Barbara helped dish two plates of chicken and rice with salad. She took them upstairs, and let them eat their meal in peace. She sensed that Laura was overwhelmed with her surroundings, and likely needed some space.
