Idanha Hotel

by Smith, Dean Wesley

  Carol returned to 2019 on September 30th, just a week after she had left. She had wanted a little time to pass just to make sure she felt like she had been gone and to give Director Parks more time to move forward on the plan to install the major medical facility.

  He was making headway, gathering the equipment and the researchers to help with the construction.

  “Do you want me to help at all?” Carol asked.

  “No, I think we have it,” Parks said. “Thanks. But there is one thing you might consider doing.”

  Carol nodded and Parks took a deep breath.

  “You have the timeline marked where Megan was given the operation, correct?”

  Carol nodded.

  “Jump twenty years after you will meet Megan to see if she is still alive, to see if the operation worked,” Parks said. “But don’t let her see you.”

  Carol felt stunned.

  She wasn’t sure if she wanted to see a Megan in a future time. But she knew Parks was right. There was no point in going through all this if the operation didn’t work.

  They all needed to know.

  “Good idea,” Carol said. “I’ll go tomorrow.”

  That evening she walked back to her condo, taking her time in the crisp fall evening air.

  Then she took Megan’s quilt and wrapped herself in it and went out on her patio to just stare at the river.

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  June 10th, 1912

  Boise, Idaho

  CAROL HAD DECIDED to follow Director Craig’s instructions, but not exactly. Instead of jumping twenty years ahead in the timeline where she met Megan, she jumped only ten.

  She figured it would be easier to trace Megan after just ten years. And if Megan’s heart wasn’t fixed, she never would have lived those ten years.

  Besides, twenty years put her into a different time in Boise where the old poker room in the basement of the Idanha Hotel had been converted to a secret speakeasy. Carol wasn’t sure if Megan would have stayed at the hotel through those times.

  She had first asked Duster why going back to check on Megan was even possible. She had told Duster that if the surgery worked and Megan lived, then Carol would want to go back to the same point in 1902 and meet Megan one more time. And then the events that Megan lived past that time would be changed.

  “Alternate timelines from that moment in 1902,” Duster had said. “In one timeline you go back and decide to meet her and the other you don’t. Or as in this case, you haven’t yet. Every decision point starts an infinite number of timelines.”

  That had helped.

  Sort of.

  So Carol jumped back to June 10th, 1912.

  It was about six in the morning, and the sun had come up promising a warm day, even though the air still felt cool and smelled of fresh growth.

  Boise was a booming city, more so than even the ten years before. Warm Springs Avenue in front of the Institute was now a fairly smooth two-lane road and other mansions had been built along the river’s edge on both sides of the Institute homes.

  She had dressed in slacks and a nice blouse and a sweater over the blouse as was the riding fashion of the women of means of the time.

  Carol had decided to still ride into town, even though many of the roads were now crowded with the new automobiles. She doubted she could drive one of those things, anyway.

  The stable that had been behind the hotel had moved six blocks farther toward the edge of town, which was fine with her. She could use the walk anyway to get a sense of the time and the growing city.

  The Idanha Hotel still towered above the other buildings along Main Street. The brick and stone looked inviting to her, like something solid moving through time.

  Carol glanced at the time and made sure she was across the street from the entrance to the hotel on the side, pacing slowly up and down. That side door was where Megan always stepped out for a breath of fresh air after a night shift of baking.

  Carol waited there, slowly pacing, for almost an hour without luck. She didn’t want to feel panicked. But she did.

  Just a little.

  She wouldn’t let herself believe that Megan had died after the surgery.

  Carol headed toward the front door and went into the large hotel lobby. Nothing had changed other than the wooden benches looked a little worn and the tile on the floor also showed major traffic wear. But the old Otis elevator still dominated one side of the room next to the grand staircase.

  Carol turned to the right to go into the dining room.

  The dining room hadn’t changed in the slightest either. Same tables, same large windows, and same stone fireplace dominating one corner of the room. Ten years of time had not made any inroads into this restaurant that Carol could see.

  And the smells were as wonderful as Carol had remembered.

  A man in a formal suit greeted her and showed her to a table near the window looking out at Main Street.

  The room might not have changed much, but the view through the window sure had. Instead of horses and wagons and a dirt road, the wide street had been paved and both sides were lined with automobiles parked facing inward. A few horses were still tied up in places along the road, but very few.

  And the noise from the street was much louder. The world of the noisy car had started and wouldn’t quiet down for almost two hundred years when electric cars completely took over everything.

  After Carol had ordered poached eggs, two pieces of toast, and fresh berry juice, she asked the waitress if Mrs. Megan Taber still worked at the hotel.

  The woman laughed lightly. “She runs our kitchen. And helps with the baking.”

  “Thank you,” Carol said, trying to contain the smile.

  That was the best news that Carol could have ever imagined.

  “Would you like me to mention you are here?” the waitress asked.

  “Oh, no bother,” Carol said. “I am just a fan of her wonderful cooking. But thank you.”

  Carol ate a leisurely breakfast, taking her time and savoring the wonderful flavor of the bread.

  She knew that Megan was just on the other side of that closed kitchen door, doing what she loved, and living a healthy life. That thought made Carol as happy as she had felt since her last day with Megan at her Condo.

  After almost an hour, and with only a glimpse at the closed kitchen door as she left, Carol walked through the cool morning air to get her horse and go back to the Institute and 2019.

  It was time they saved Megan from her own heart.

  And healed Carol’s heart in the process.

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  June 7th, 1888

  Montana Territory

  MEGAN HAD BEEN twenty-five when Carol met her in 1902. So fourteen years earlier, in 1888 Megan would have been eleven. Montana was still one year away from statehood and was a very rugged place.

  Megan’s home was on a small farm near Placerville, thirty miles east of the growing mining town of Missoula. Placerville wasn’t more than a few general stores and a couple of saloons and was a distance off the main road into Missoula.

  Carol and Bonnie and Duster had gone back to 1888 the last week of May and had spent almost two weeks working their way to Missoula from Boise, taking their time and planning every step of what they were going to do.

  And planning every bit of the journey back to Boise with Megan, which they were going to need to do as quickly as possible. Duster bought and had new horses standing by at three different places along the trail.

  In essence, when it boiled right down to it, they were going to take an eleven-year-old girl with permission from her mother and her local family doctor to have an operation. That was the surface plan.

  They decided it would be best to not tell the mother and local doctor that they were going to take young Megan all the way to Boise for the operation instead of just Missoula.

  They told the local doctor and Megan’s mother that Megan would be gone just over two weeks, and not to worry if it was a day
or two beyond that.

  Megan’s mother had said simply to Duster, “As long as my daughter comes back healthy and with a strong heart, that’s what matters.”

  Carol was amazed that Megan’s mother had allowed her daughter to go like that, but it seemed that Duster had a strong reputation in the area. And the local family doctor knew enough to know that Megan wasn’t going to live very long without some help.

  The local doctor must have made that clear to Megan’s mother.

  The plan was as simple as they could make it. Bonnie and Duster would go pick up Megan, then Bonnie would give her a shot on the way back to Missoula to knock her out.

  Carol would join them at a point outside of Missoula and ride in the wagon with Megan to make sure she stayed comfortable and out cold.

  So on the bright morning of June 7th, 1888, ten miles outside of Missoula, Carol joined them. Megan was already out cold in the back of the wagon.

  Carol tied her horse to the back of the wagon and climbed in on the thick padding with the young Megan.

  Bonnie got on her horse and went ahead of the wagon and they headed around Missoula and south for Boise as fast as they could go.

  Carol was stunned at how much the young Megan looked like the beautiful woman she would grow into being.

  Carol just sat there staring at Megan.

  This had to work.

  Just had to.

  Carol kept Megan as comfortable and cleaned up as she could as they drove the horses and wagon as hard as they dared. She gave her fluids and nutrition intravenously every time they stopped.

  They changed out the horses as planned three times in the four days it took them to get to Boise.

  Once they got there and had Megan downstairs, they cleaned her up completely and got her ready, putting her in a warm bed and keeping her sedated.

  One hour later, the doctor from 2319 arrived.

  His name was Teel. Dr. S.T. Teel, but he liked to be called just Teel.

  Carol liked him at once. He seemed charming, calm, and very assured. He was about six feet tall, had deep brown eyes, and a smile that Carol bet many women and men liked.

  And since the same operating room was in his Institute in his time, he knew exactly where to go and what was needed.

  He did a quick check of Megan, ran some scans and got images of her heart and the area around it, and then turned to Carol. “First things, first, we have to grow her a new heart.”

  “Doesn’t that take months?” Carol asked, shocked. They couldn’t keep Megan for months. For some reason she thought they would be using the stem cells from the Megan who had died in the hospital a hundred years in the future.

  “It will take two days,” Teel said, smiling, indicating a large machine sitting against a back wall of the medical center. “And we will grow it to match exactly her size now so that it will continue to grow with her over the next few years.”

  Carol nodded and made herself take a deep breath. It made sense that the organ replacement growth would have sped up in a century. Complete sense.

  They did the stem cell extraction from Megan easily, then Teel showed Carol how to keep Megan asleep without using any drugs at all.

  “You will have to revert to drugs on the way back to Montana,” Teel said, “but for the next few days and while she is recovering, this is a much better way.

  Carol could only agree to that.

  After the young Megan was settled in and resting comfortably, Dr. Teel turned to Bonnie and Duster and Director Parks. “I would love to see this fair city during this time in history. And I am dying of hunger. Pizza any good here?”

  Duster laughed and reminded Teel, “This is 1888. But in 2019 we have pizza and Italian food to die for.”

  “To 2019 it is then,” Teel said, shaking his head.

  They invited Carol to go along, but she declined, saying she wanted to keep an eye on Megan.

  Carol made herself a sandwich and got a sports drink and went into the area near where Megan slept, staying outside the glass that kept the medical area germ and bacteria free.

  There was a couch in the outside room and a coffee table, so Carol put her feet up and ate her dinner, sitting alone with a young girl who would hopefully, given luck with this surgery, grow into the woman of Carol’s dreams.

  Twenty minutes later Carol dozed off from the stress of the long ride. Bonnie woke her when she and Dr. Teel came back to check on Megan, who was still doing fine and resting comfortably.

  Bonnie convinced Carol to go home and get a real night’s sleep. Dr. Teel would be staying upstairs in the Institute and the machines would alert him if anything changed with Megan.

  Carol did as Bonnie suggested, jumping back to 2019 and walking along the river trail to her condo, then taking off her clothes, taking a shower, and curling up in Megan’s quilt on the bed.

  She didn’t dare dream about having the adult Megan with her here. That dream had been dashed too many times already.

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  June 14th, 1888

  Boise, Idaho

  CAROL WAS SCARED to death.

  Today Megan’s new heart would be ready and they would be doing the surgery.

  Even though Carol had assisted in a dozen of these two hundred years in the future, and Dr. Teel was from a hundred years farther forward, Carol still felt scared.

  She couldn’t eat any breakfast, but did manage to get down a little juice.

  And she made herself walk slowly along the river path to the Institute, just to get herself in some form of calm before jumping back to 1888.

  As a doctor and surgeon, she had done her share of operations. And today she was only assisting.

  But she had lost Megan four times, a thought Carol just couldn’t allow to surface very often. Losing her again, especially at the age of eleven, would be just too much to bear.

  As it turned out, Carol didn’t have much to do at all except monitor equipment that surrounded Megan. It was a necessary job, but not a difficult one.

  Carol had to make sure of the levels of unconsciousness, the levels of pain blockers, and the levels of Megan’s breathing and blood flow. As they started the operation, everything was at normal for an eleven year old girl with a damaged heart.

  Dr. Teel had Megan opened up and on life support in less than fifteen minutes. Megan’s blood now flowed through a very small machine that sat silently beside Megan.

  The change-over hadn’t even hardly been noticed on the monitoring machines. Carol was impressed at that.

  Dr. Teel, using a form of laser, removed Megan’s damaged heart and a few minor areas around her heart, then placed the new heart into Megan.

  Working quickly, yet without seeming to be in a hurry, he sealed up each blood vessel with an instrument that seemed to just blend and heal the tissue together instantly. After a moment, Carol couldn’t even see the line where the seam had been before.

  That took him only thirty minutes, his hands working so fast they seemed like a blur.

  Then he spent another twenty minutes carefully checking every detail, sometimes sealing a small area again, but mostly just nodding and saying nothing.

  Carol liked the fact that when he was out in public, Dr. Teel was a nice, friendly person. And she really liked the fact that he didn’t bring anything but business into the operating room.

  No chattering, nothing. He did his job and he expected her to do hers.

  Then Dr. Teel started Megan’s new heart and let it beat in time with the pulses from the machine for a few minutes before removing the connections of the machine and sealing up those areas as well.

  The complexity of the operation was staggering to Carol, yet Teel did it smoothly and carefully, never hesitating with anything.

  Megan’s new heart was beating fine and to Carol the heart looked completely healthy and strong.

  And all the instruments Carol was monitoring said the same thing.

  Megan had gone from a young girl with a bad heart to a young girl with
a very, very strong heart.

  Dr. Teel carefully sealed back up Megan’s chest, one layer at a time, making sure he had missed nothing with each step.

  Carol loved how completely meticulous and careful he was even with the closing procedure.

  Finally, he sealed the skin he had opened on Megan’s chest, leaving a faint white scar running vertically.

  He smiled and nodded as he ran a healing light over it. “She won’t hardly be able to see that scar in two years.”

  That was the first thing he had said all operation.

  And all the machines monitoring Megan gave perfect, healthy readings.

  Carol just stared at Dr. Teel as he ran more scans of Megan, continuing to nod to himself as he did.

  Finally, he nodded and stepped back, clearly finished.

  “It will be safe to move her in that wagon in two days,” he said. “Better if you wait three.”

  “After all this,” Carol said, “I think we can wait four to be really safe.”

  Teel nodded and smiled. “I will stay around and watch over her for the next day and then check in a few times per day after that until you are ready to take her home.”

  Carol nodded. She felt numb.

  It was over.

  Megan had survived.

  Then as Carol and Dr. Teel left the operating room to let Megan rest, Carol hugged him.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

  He seemed as embarrassed as any doctor would be.

  Carol didn’t care. The relief she was feeling was just too strong to not hug someone.

  Megan was alive and had a new, strong heart. And that was all that mattered.

  And outside the operating room, Duster, Bonnie, and Dr. Parks were smiling huge smiles and applauding.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  June 18th, 1888

  Boise, Idaho

  CAROL SAID GOODBYE and thank you to Dr. Teel outside of the Institute on a crisp June morning. The sun wasn’t even close to being up yet and only a lantern held by Bonnie on her horse lit the area.