by Amelia Rey
“When the War of 1812 ended in the year 1814 and the Treaty of Ghent was signed, my father returned home to his young wife, Annabelle, who had anxiously waited two years for his return.
“My grandmother, Harriet, was so happy to see that her son had made it home alive, but she was not as fortunate as my mother because her husband, Jeremiah, did not return. He was among the brave soldiers who perished in the American waters.”
The patient realized that she had been talking nonstop, and all through her conversation, the doctors and nurses had remained quiet. She looked at them, waiting for a reaction, but they were speechless.
Finally, one of the doctors broke the silence and asked, “How do you explain your presence in our time?”
“I don’t know,” Katherine said. “This is not the first time I have traveled into the future. All I know is that I had just finished giving birth to my daughter, Sarah Annabelle, and I was experiencing excruciating pain.
“My husband, Cornelius, was sitting next to the window holding our daughter as my mother was tending to me. But when I opened my eyes, they were gone, and the only face that I saw was that of Mrs. Kennedy. I realized that I was no longer in the year 1840. I need to get back to my time; my daughter needs me!” she said, agitated.
“Everyone out of the room, please,” said the doctor. “The patient needs to rest. Mrs. Kennedy, please call psych and have them send someone up here to do a psychiatric evaluation on the patient.”
Chapter 17
After a week of intensive physical and mental evaluations, the doctors all concurred that the patient was ready to be discharged from the hospital. The psychiatrist determined that the patient was suffering from amnesia and that she may or may not recover her memory; only time would tell. But until then, Katherine needed to start living a normal life to create new memories.
Mrs. Kennedy offered Katherine her home and treated her like the daughter she never had. Katherine was grateful to Mrs. Kennedy, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the people whom she shared her life with back in the 1800s. The memories were so vivid in her mind.
She was working in the garden one morning when the memory of walking in the garden with her mother invaded her thoughts. “Why is this happening to me again?” she asked aloud.
Mrs. Kennedy overheard Katherine’s comment, and she approached her. “Katherine, those memories are not real! When you fell into a coma, your subconscious took over and began generating dreams while you were sleeping, and the various medications that were administered to you during your coma contributed to the vividness of those dreams.”
Katherine got up and hugged Mrs. Kennedy. “Help me find Ruth Miller and Elisabeth Seymour,” she said, crying.“They helped Cornelius and me get back to the year 1838when we were stranded in the year 1990. Only then will you believe that what I’m telling you is the truth.”
“Oh, dear child!”said Mrs. Kennedy. “You are really tormented by those dreams. Your spirit won’t rest until you accept them for what they really are. But if helping you find those ladies will bring you peace, let’s get right on it!”
“Thanks, Michelle,” said Katherine. “I have to warn you to prepare your heart and your mind for what you are about to discover.” She hugged Michelle and assured her that everything was going to be all right.
After their conversation, Michelle went upstairs and called her grandson, Brandon. Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang. Michelle was still upstairs getting ready.
“Katherine!” shouted Michelle. “Please open the door. I’ll be down shortly.”
“OK!”shouted Katherine as she rushed to open the door.
A strikingly handsome young man stormed into the house.
“Excuse me!” said Katherine.“Who are you?”
“Oh, I apologize for barging in like that,” he said. “I’m Brandon Kennedy, and you must be the amnesia patient whom my grandmother speaks so highly of,” he said with a smile.
“Yes, sir. I’m Katherine.”
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” Brandon said.
Michelle descended the stairs, and Brandon immediately hurried to meet her halfway. “You forgot to mention how beautiful your guest was,” he whispered.
“That’s because I didn’t want you to steal her heart with your irresistible charms,” she replied. They both laughed.
Katherine looked at them and smiled.
Mrs. Kennedy properly introduced the two of them. Afterward, she said to Katherine, “I hope you don’t mind, but I asked my grandson to help us look for your friends.”
“I don’t mind at all,” said Katherine. “Thank you, for your kindness, Mr. Kennedy.”
“Please, call me Brandon.”
“Thank you, Brandon,” she said again.
“Katherine, do you have any idea where we should begin our search?” he asked.
“Yes, we should start at the library,” she said. “Elisabeth Seymour worked there for many years.”
Brandon was completely captivated by Katherine’s beauty, even though he knew what she believed to be real only happened when she slept in a coma. He chose to ignore the facts, and without any hesitation, he went with her and his grandmother to the library that Katherine indicated.
When they arrived at the library, Katherine asked the librarian about Elisabeth Seymour, but the librarian did not know who Elisabeth was. “Please, help me find information about my family in the archives from the years 1838 to 1840,” she asked kindly.
The librarian looked for information for every name Katherine requested, but no information was found that indicated that she or the people she remembered really existed in that time period. Katherine was despondent.
Brandon suggested that they should check census data from the 1800s at City Hall. They immediately went there, and Brandon’s friend Bobby, who worked there, helped them search for the names Katherine had provided. Unfortunately, all was in vain. No records about Katherine, Cornelius, or any other name she remembered were ever found.
After a year of intense searching, Katherine finally gave up and accepted the amnesia version of her life. Slowly, she had been building new memories around the people whom she had learned to love, especially Michelle Kennedy, whom she had come to love like a mother. Some of the other nurses from the hospital had been true friends to her since she woke from her coma, and there were the people from church as well. Last but not least, there was Brandon Kennedy, who with his love, patience, and profound understanding had little by little stolen her heart, giving her life a wonderful new meaning.
Chapter 18
Three years had passed since Katherine woke up from her coma. She married Brandon Kennedy, and a year later they had their first child, a beautiful baby girl whom they named Sarah.
Katherine cherished the memories of her dream life in the 1800s, which was still so vivid in her mind. But after carefully researching every detail from those dreams and reading every book about the history of New York from the specific period of time she remembered, she found no proof that would link her life to the mid-1800s.
She did come across the name of a Richard Zenger, who lived in New York up until the year 1865. This Mr. Zenger was a prominent doctor who coincidently had a wife by the name of Elmirah Zenger. Katherine saw their picture in an old, faded newspaper clipping, and even though Elmirah and Richard had aged extensively, Katherine recognized them both without a doubt. But at that point, she was already convinced that her past memories were a product of her subconscious dreams.
Katherine’s therapist recommended that she write all the memories of her supposed life in the 1800s in a journal. She followed her therapist’s advice, and two years later, the memories from her supposed prior life in the 1800s became a bestseller novella.
Michelle Kennedy convinced her grandson, Brandon, to take Katherine on a vacation trip to Europe. Michelle was worried about her because she did not think that Katherine was ready to deal with the stress that the unexpected fame of her novella, The Other Side of the Pain
ting, had brought her.
Brandon took his grandmother’s advice and traveled with his wife and daughter, Sarah, to Italy. Their vacation turned out to be a great idea. They were having a wonderful time enjoying the beautiful scenery of Venice.
But after their third night there, they became concerned about a woman who appeared to have been following them everywhere they went. One morning, as Katherine and Brandon had breakfast in a restaurant near their hotel, Brandon noticed the woman sitting outside the restaurant. He approached the woman and politely asked her if there was something he or his wife could do for her. The woman didn’t answer.
Katherine walked up to her as well and said, “Have we met before?”
The woman handed her a copy of The Other Side of the Painting and said, “My name is Isabella, and I, too, lived in the 1800s.” Katherine looked at her husband in shock, while the woman stood in front of them waiting for a response from her.
“Isabella,” said Katherine, “I want to thank you for purchasing my book, but that story is completely fictional.”
“I know that you now believe that your memories from your life in the past are a result of your subconscious dreams,” said Isabella, “but I’m here to tell you they’re not. I met Nathaniel and Sarah in 1839 on their trip to Italy. Nathaniel saved my life from a fatal disease by sending me to the year 1999, where he knew I would find the cure for my illness.”
“Please, leave us alone,” said Brandon. “You are upsetting my wife.”
Sarah began to cry, and Katherine picked her up.
Isabella looked at the child in profound astonishment. “She resembles your husband, but the birthmark on her arm—she definitely got that from her grandmother, Annabelle, who I met when she traveled with Nathaniel and Sarah the second time they came to Italy.”
Katherine was so stunned by Isabella’s comment that she spilled Sarah’s drink all over her clothes. “How do you know that Annabelle had a birthmark on her arm? I did not write that information in the book,” she said.
“I’ve already told you,” said Isabella. “I met her when she came to Italy with Nathaniel and Sarah on their second visit. I’m sorry. I did not mean to upset you,” said Isabella as she looked at Katherine. She walked away.
Brandon noticed Katherine’s reaction and said, “Don’t let the words of a confused fan get to you.”
“I don’t know what to believe now,” said Katherine. “How could that woman have possibly known that specific detail about Annabelle? According to the doctors, my life in the 1800s was a product of my subconscious dreams while I deeply slept in a coma. I don’t remember giving any specific details about what anyone in my dreams looked like.”
“Sweetheart, you told me how confused you were when you woke up and that you told the nurses and the doctors about your supposed life in the 1800s. You probably did mention the birthmark, and anyone in the hospital could have spread that information.”
“You are probably right,” she said.
For the remainder of their stay in Italy, Katherine and Brandon tried to forget the incident with Isabella, and they enjoyed the rest of their vacation. When they returned to New York, they resumed their lives as usual. Brandon concentrated on a difficult case his firm had assigned him, and Katherine took care of their daughter.
Every other Friday evening, Michelle happily came over to watch Sarah so that Brandon and Katherine could enjoy sometime by themselves. On this Friday evening, they went to a play.
“I really enjoyed that play,” said Katherine. “It seemed so real, especially the part when the brother realized his sister was telling the truth about her husband waking up in the middle of the night to scare her and then making her and everyone else believe that she was losing her mind.”
“Yes, that was a great play,” said Brandon. “The author is a psychiatrist; the story is actually about his sister, and she portrayed herself in that play.”
“You mean she really went through all that pain?”
“Yes, she sadly did, and it would have been worse if her brother, Dr. Lancaster, had not come to her rescue.”
Katherine was in shock when she heard the name “Lancaster.” Brandon noticed her reaction and asked her if she was OK.
“Do you know the first name of this Dr. Lancaster?” she asked.
“Yes, it is Shane. Dr. Shane Lancaster,” he said. “Shane and his wife run a mental clinic somewhere in New York. Why do you ask?”
“No particular reason. I just don’t recall hearing his name during the play,” she said.
“Honey, they’re not going to use their real names,” he said in a sweet tone of voice.
She smiled. “Let’s go home, sweetheart. I’m feeling a little tired.”
Brandon kissed her tenderly and caressed her face. “Honey, all you need is one of my special massages, and you’ll be like new.”
When they got home, Katherine went straight to Sarah’s room. She looked at her for a long moment and said to herself, “What if I really lived in the 1800s?What if I really have another daughter who needs me?” She realized that even if that were the truth, there was nothing she could do about it.
She kissed Sarah, and for her sake, she promised not to give it anymore thought. Brandon came in the room and put his arms around her, and they both watched their daughter sleep.
The End