by J W Rocque
“Luckily for you, I"m not one to care about anyone cheating the government.”
“Well, if you were, I guessI"d be on my way and you"d still be looking for someone to help out with the rent. No worries.”
“No worries. Best of luck at the Regal, Eric. Hope to see you later.”
“Thanks, Bryan. I look forward to meeting your friends tonight.” Eric left the apartment to head for the Regal Repertory.
December 13, 1983 Linda Sherman stopped Dr. Frank DiLaurio before he entered Evan"s room. “Frank, can I see you for a minute?”
“Sure, Linda. What"s up?”
“Mr. Troy asked the head nurse to leave him alone with Mrs. Fleming. That"s the young lady"s mother. He referred to her as his mother-in-law. Now I recall that you had said that Mr. Troy and Miss Fleming both said that they are not married.”
“Yes, that"s correct.”
Linda sighed. “This is getting more mysterious by the moment. I"m doing my best at putting off calling the authorities.”
“Did you do any research on them, Linda?”
“I did. Miss Fleming checks out. Mr. Troy does not. There is no record of any existence of an Evan Troy… at least no one that fits his approximate age in the United States and Canada.”
“Kind of what we expected. So what now?”
“Frank, how is he doing? Contacting the authorities has always been secondary to stabilizing the patient, unless the patient appears to be a threat.”
“I wouldn"t call him a threat. As for how he"s doing… I
major university think we may need outside help… from a hospital.”
“Well, with that will probably come
publicity... and a university hospital will want some identification
first… especially if they are taking on a patient that has already
been treated. When Mr. Troy came here, he needed immediate
attention. We couldn"t waste time with the normal registration
formalities.”
“True, but Hugo and I have consulted all the doctors on our
staff. No one knows what to do beyond what we have already
done for Mr. Troy. We haven"t done much really. After we
stopped the initial bleeding, there hasn"t even been a lot of
bleeding to stop. Most of the lost blood disappeared as the leg
decomposed. My guess is that it somehow dried up as it came into
contact with the outside air. It"s hard to treat what we can"t even some unneeded explain medically or scientifically. Anyway, though we once thought the deterioration had stopped, it is now apparent that Mr. Troy"s decomposition is slowly spreading and will probably not
stop at the pelvis unlesswe get him the best care we can find.” “And no hospital specializes in stopping bodies in the state
of decaying.”
“That’s a problem. We need to find a university hospital
that is not afraid to take on a challenge for the sake of its
reputation.”
“Well, if you are certain that there is nothing else we can
do, I"ll try Fletcher University Hospital. Once Mr. Troy is free
from visitors, we will need to inform him that he will need to
provide some background information in order to get transferred.” Frank nodded. “And we may finally find out who Evan
Troy really is.”
April, 1972 Evan gingerly entered Michelle"s bedroom as she sat on the edge of her bed with her forehead resting on the bedpost, still crying. “Hey, my love,” he softly said as he sat beside her while placing his hand gently on her shoulder.
Michelle sniffled. “Oh, Evan. You must think I"m a baby.”
“Actually… no. Your mom filled me in on the reason you"re crying. Believe me… I"m just as upset as you are. I… even feel somewhat responsible for what you"re going through.”
“You do? Oh, you"re so sweet, but why would you feel that way? This has nothing to do with you.”
“It has everything to do with me, sweetheart. Can we go somewhere to talk?”
“Where did you have in mind? Did you plan on doing anything special tonight?”
“Yes. I planned on being with the best person I ever met in this big crazy world.”
Michelle stopped crying long enough to muster a smile. “I meant are we goinganyplace special?”
“Well, I brought you a birthday gift and I planned on having you choose what you wanted to do… but it looks like you could use a loving friend to just listen to you and talk only when needed.”
“We can talk here. I need to get rid of the redness around my eyes before we go out anyway. There"s not much for me to say. Mom told you about the girlsat school?”
“She did. I understand how that can bother you… but would it make everything alright if I said that you could stay the way you are forever and I will stilllove you forever?”
Michelle chuckled. “Oh sure. That would make everything just great. I stay like this forever while you get old and gray.”
Evan took a deep swallow. “Michelle… what would you say… if I told you… that… well… I really don"t intend to get old and gray? Hey, maybe I want to stay the way I am. I mean… look… I don"t look much different than I did five or six years ago, do I?”
This seemed to make Michelle forget her misery. “Uh… no… but that"s different. You"re older to begin with. You were already fully grown when I met you. I should have grown in the last five or six years.”
“Well… yes… I was fully grown when we met… but look at my face. Is it any older? What I"m trying to say is that we seem to be two peas in a pod. We have what other people dream of… eternal youth. It"s like God has shined His grace on the two of us. Someday those same kids will be cursing their old age while we remain just as we are.”
Michelle gave Evan a skeptical frown. “Evan… you"re not helping me by telling me fairy tales. One day I"ll start looking my age… probably when I"m thirty. And the same with you.”
“Michelle, why don"t you open your present? Happy birthday. I hope you like it.”
Michelle opened the small package and lifted out a delicate necklace with a pretty emerald stone at its center. “It"s beautiful, but that"s not my birthstone.”
“No,” said Evan, “it isn"t, but the green stone will make your green eyes even prettier than they already are. What"s in a birthstone? You are more special than everyone else who happens to share your birth month.”
Michelle blushed. Evan loved the way she always smiled just before lowering her head as she blushed. “Ah, you"re in a better mood now. I think there"s something I need to tell you… now… before you ever get hurt by comments made by ignorant people again.”
Michelle looked up in anticipation as Evan got her curiosity aroused.“And Michelle, my love, I think it is best I tell you now beforeyou pick tonight"s destination. Because after I tell you what I need to say, you will either bevery happy… or very upset. You may or may not want to go out with me tonight. I hope that what I have to say will make you very, very happy. But I will understand if it does not. Now… if God will only grant me the strength.”
Michelle was perplexed. What could it be that could have her either happy or upset? A marriage proposal? That would be intimidating but I would definitely be happy. I love Evan so much. She dried her eyes in preparation forEvan"s announcement. She managed an anticipatory smile. “Go ahead, Evan. I"m ready.”
Evan drew a deep breath.“Michelle… you know how the defining moment, for me, of our relationship has always been that birthday card you gave me when you were twelve?”
Michelle wondered where this was going. “Yes?”
“If I were to ask you what is your defining moment, what would you pick?”
Michelle thought for a few seconds. “I"d say it was when you invited me to the sundry shop for our first real date. Until then, we talked to each other a lot, exchanged cards and notes, but I didn"t know how you really felt about me.”
“I knew you"d pick that moment, Michelle. If you hadn"t won my heart with that thoughtful card on my birthday, I think I would also pick that afternoon as my defining moment. That was special. You got my attention with the card. You won my heart during thedate in the sundry shop and the walk home afterwards.”
“I know. It was like a fairy tale to me. I remember when I wrote the words in your birthday card. I didn"t want to make a fool of myself by writing too much. I was so afraid that you would think I was being silly. I didn"t even expect you to fall in love with me. I just wanted to let you know that I liked you without really understanding why I felt I had to do it. I mean… I really didn"t think we would ever be alone together. I mean… you were so much older than me.”
“Well, I still am just as mucholder than you. It"s funny. As time goes by, age differentialdoesn"t really matter as much as people think it does initially. All of a sudden, when those same people reach their golden years, even a twenty year differential means nothing. But when the lovers are young, it"s somehow scandalous.”
“Yeah… when I was thirteen we had to be concerned with everyone"s perception. No one cared if we claimed to love each other.It made it hard… especially on you.”
“I"ve got news for you. I"ve been around long enough not to be concerned with perception. Granted, your mom has made it easier by putting trust in both of us. We never gave her reason to think I would ever take advantage of you. As for your father… I"m not sure that he has ever felt completely comfortable with his little girl being with an olderman, but he respects his wife"s judgment. You do have an awesome mom. I"m just not sure how understanding her awesomeness would be.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, she thought I was going on twenty when we had our first date… as did you. I… er… have a confession to make.”
“Ohhh-kay… so you"re saying that you were even a little older? You could have told me. You looked about twenty. You couldn"t have been thatmuch older.”
“Hmm… this is tough. You say that I looked about twenty when we first dated. Michelle… look at me… I still look like twenty. Just like you look like you are thirteen… albeit the sweetest thirteen anyone has ever looked… but thirteen nonetheless. Have you ever thought that we are in the same boat?”
Michelle frowned, confused. “No… I… only saw it in me… probably because I"m so much younger. It"s not as odd for you.”
“Well, it is exactly the same for me. What I"m trying to tell you is that you needn"t worry about keeping your youthful appearance because I will also be keeping mine.”
Mary knocked on the bedroom door and spoke without opening it. “How"s everything going in there?”
Michelle answered, “Everything"s fine, Mom. As usual, Evan made everything alright again. We"re just talking.”
“Well, your dad and I are going out for a while. Lock up if you leave.”
“Sure, Mom. Oh, Evan gave me this beautiful necklace!”
“That"s nice, honey. I look forward to seeing it when we get back. Goodbye, you two.” Michelle and Evan both said their goodbyes through the door. Evan was relieved that the Flemings were leaving the house. It made the next phase of the conversation easier knowing that when Michelle and he left the room, they would not need to hide the emotions that would result from their conversation.
Evan waited a few seconds to give Mary a chance to walk away from the door. “Michelle, let"s get back to talking about that sundry shop date. Do you remember the ice cream soda I made for you?”
“Yes, I do. I remember every little thing you have done for me.”
“Well, that ice cream soda was made with more care than you realize.”
“You care about everything you do.”
“Yes… well… that soda had an extra ingredient in it that you knew nothing about.”
Michelle gave Evan a look that said, „What are you talking about?’ But all she could say was “It must have been an aphrodisiac?”
Evan chuckled. “No, Michelle… it wasan elixir… that has kept you from physically aging. I gave it to you because you were… are… so perfect. And I had already taken the same elixir. I… didn"t want to see you exceed me in biological age. Perhaps I should have waited until you reached eighteen or twenty, and perhaps I should have even gotten your permission first… but I loved you… and I wanted to keep us as we were when we fell in love. I was selfish, yes, and I pray that I did the right thing… but in case I did not do the right thing… I want to tell you that I"m sorry. It"s because of me that you are ridiculed by your peers.”
Michelle just stared, not quite believing yet. “You are joking, right?”
Evan felt better after speaking what he did. He only needed to take it a little further now. Michelle was not upset, but probably because it didn"t seem real to her yet. He held her tightly to his chest. “You know that chapter in the Bible you like the best?”
“Love is patient, love is kind…”
“That"s the one. Michelle… I knew the author of those words personally.”
“You knew one of the disciples?”
“It was actually the apostle Paul. Michelle… I have no idea what my exact age is. I was born in Greece over two thousand years ago. At around the age of nineteen or twenty… I"m not sure exactly… I met an alchemist. He believed he had developed an elixir that would conquer the aging process. He had experimented on plants and an animal… I believe it was a sheep. He was looking for a willing human being to take the elixir so he could observe the results. He was apprehensive about taking it himself because he already had some ailments that he did not particularly want to carry with him forever. He had told me that he felt that if he stopped aging in his condition, he would probably one day have to take his life to ease the suffering. But if a young, healthy, vibrant person were to take the elixir and it worked, he would have something beneficial for the masses… the key to eternal youth. Having an inquisitive mind and a zeal to help further scientific ideas, I volunteered to be… the human guinea pig.”
“This is too weird. Are you making this up?”
“You decide. Neither of us isaging, Michelle.”
“So what happened to the sheep?”
“Good question. I assume there must have been some success with the animal. Otherwise, why move on to a human being?”
“So somewhere there"s a two thousand year old sheep?”
“Probably not. It would have made scientific news. My guess is that it ended up slaughtered or attacked by a predator. That was my reservation when I took the elixir. It only offered the possibility of keeping me from aging, not the probability of immortality. Of course, I didn"t really expect the elixir to work at all. But I"m not indestructible. I can be killed just like a newborn baby or a child can be killed. I just cannot age. And neither can you.”
“Because you put the same elixir in my soda? And you kept this elixir with you for two thousand years?”
“I did. I drank only half of what the old alchemist gave me. I thought it foolish to walk away from that man without keeping a remnant… just in case I ever wanted… some good company on my long journey… assuming that it was indeed possible for me to be in store for a long journey through time.”
“So did you ever see the alchemist again? Didn"t he want to observe you?”
“He did want to observe me. But as I said, he was ill… and he died soon after I drank the elixir. He did not live to see his success… but more tragically, no one else knew what was in that elixir. I went through his notes and found nothing. I thought about having the rest of the elixir analyzed, but then I had reservations about it becoming public. What if it could be easily duplicated and humans started living forever? Would that cause severe overcrowding of the Earth? What about those who died by accident? Would the survivors be able to handle not joining them in the afterlife unless they also suffer some fatal accident? Not to mention the probability of the formula being kept secret by tyrannical powers who would rule forever. The
implications are mind boggling.”
“And you never had any accidents?”
“No, some people are just lucky and never even break a bone. Of course, once I realized that the elixir actually worked as designed, I tended to avoid activities that would put me in physical danger. I moved around a lot so no one would notice that I wasn"t getting visibly older. The thing I lacked was permanent companionship. I met a lot of people, some famous even today… the apostle Paul, as I mentioned, was an interesting chap. I particularly enjoyed knowing Shakespeare, too. You are the only person I ever gave a second thought to sharing my gift with though. In fact, you caused even third, fourth and fifth thoughts. It wasn"t long before I knew you were my perfect soul mate to spend the rest of the ages with.”
“Okay... I know you"re putting me on to make me feel better about the ribbing I"ve been getting.”
“Michelle… I assure you I am not. Would I make matters worse by adding jokes to your hurt feelings? Michelle, you are not aging, and you will never age.”
Michelle pulled away from Evan and stared right through him.
August, 1953 Eric left the Regal Repertory with a job in hand. His lack of a resume, despite countless backstage and on-stage theatrical jobs, landed him on the low rung of the company ladder. He had no doubt that his experience would soon, as it always had in the past, win him some better assignments. He made his way back to the apartment before the guests arrived.
“Hey, Bryan,” Eric said as he entered the apartment. “Eric!How did the job hunt go?”
“Nailed it at the Regal.”
“Impressive. Good for you.”
“It wasn"t exactly what I was looking for, but I guess I"m
pretty bad at keeping my res ume up to date.”
“Up to date? You were pitching hay in a barn for the last
few years. I think you would leave that off your resume. Wasn"t
your previous theatrical experience on your resume?”
“Yeah… well… I guess I tend to downplay my
experience.” I suppose telling the Regal management that I
performed Shakespeare while he was writing his plays would