by Bob Blink
Jake returned his attention to the room. He could see no place they might have put his clothes, but recalled that there was often a tray under the bed. They might have put a bag with his stuff down there. He didn’t consider having a look. He wasn’t going anywhere soon. He sensed he might fall flat on his face if he attempted to stand, which was worrisome as he didn’t feel drugged at all, so what might be affecting his equilibrium? Only one thing in the room stood out. A large, open topped carry bag sat on the floor adjacent to one of the chairs next to the wall. He recognized the bag. It belonged to Karin. Whatever had happened, she was aware he was here. Since the bag was present, that suggested she had Janna with her. He was willing to bet she was off changing their daughter at the moment. That minor mystery solved, he felt better.
While he waited for Karin to return, Jake focused his attention on what he could recall. He remembered the first two piggy-back jumps he had made in his attempt to send his memories back to a time before the Washington attacks. A month each, shorter than the six-week jumps he’d made before. He’d tried to minimize the time associated with each, yet they’d still been very uncomfortable. The first part of the second sequence had positioned him for the final segment of the total jump. It was necessary to plan the sequence carefully, because once Carlson had contacted him, he’d been back in Washington D.C. for almost two weeks, and therefore physically too distant for him to make the back-track connection from his home in San Jose.
That had made the whole matter very tricky. Originally he had arrived back in California on the evening of the 10th of September. He’d targeted his second jump to the eleventh, and taken a day of rest before taking a plane back to the East Coast. Fortunately Karin had gone to work and taken Janna with her, so she hadn’t realized where he’d gone. After the flight, arriving in Washington in the evening of the twelfth, he’d back-tracked to the twenty-seventh of August. That was the day after he’d arrived in Washington. He broke it into three small jumps, but executed them in quick succession. He’d called Carlson, told her not to expect him that day, something that wouldn’t matter in the big picture but he didn’t want her wondering all day where he was, and then flew back to California that same day, arriving in the later afternoon very tired. Once there, he’d attempted the final back-track to the twenty-fourth, his original target.
He probably should have waited. He could recall nothing after triggering the final jump. That suggested whatever had happened to him was related to the back-track attempt. He didn’t know whether he’d been successful or not. He prepared to reach for himself, to see if he could sense his former self as was normally the case. The fact he had to make an effort was an indication something had changed. Normally the awareness was automatic, but he’d felt nothing since regaining his senses a short time ago. Awareness of his earlier self would also give him an idea when he was.
Before he could make the attempt, he was aware that a woman in a blue smock had stepped into his room. She was middle-aged, with short light brown hair. He guessed she was average height, but that was difficult to determine from his reclining position. Slender, almost skinny, her light blue eyes were wide with the surprise of finding him awake and observing his surroundings. Obviously, she hadn’t expected the change. The clipboard she carried nearly slipped from her fingers.
“You’re awake,” she blurted, stating the obvious.
Jake tried his voice. His throat felt thick, probably from a period of disuse. “Where am I?” he asked.
“Let me get the doctor,” the nurse said, and turned and hurried off without answering Jake’s simple question.
Jake could hear her footsteps hurrying away. He’d just have to wait until someone returned. In Jake’s experience, that might not be as soon as might be expected. The doctors worked to their own schedule, and whoever the nurse had fled in search of might be involved with another patient. Hopefully if that were the case, the nurse or someone would be back to check on him so he could get some answers. With luck Karin would be back soon from wherever she had gone.
Much to Jake’s surprise, it was only a handful of minutes before the door was pushed open, an elderly doctor leading the way, with the same nurse Jake had seen moments before following along behind.
“How are you feeling?” the doctor asked as he came in and automatically checked the various indications that knew more about how Jake was doing than Jake did.
Jake noted the badge on the doctor’s chest. Doctor Mark Tracey it claimed. Jake estimated that Dr. Tracey was somewhere in his sixties, his short hair gray, but not thinning noticeably. He was a wiry man, not much taller than the nurse. His hands were thin and heavily veined, but steady as he reached out and touched Jake’s forehead. His gray eyes were steady and focused as he observed Jake and waited for a response.
“Confused,” Jake said finally, his voice still a bit ragged.
“I suppose so,” the doctor agreed. “Do you know where you are?” he asked.
“Hospital,” Jake replied. The real question was where and when. Since Karin was here, he hoped it was in California, but that didn’t have to be the case.
“What day is it?” Jake asked before the doctor could ask him anything else. Jake needed that matter settled. He hoped he’d made the jump successfully, because he really doubted he was in any shape to attempt another back-track for some time.
The doctor smiled fleetingly. “You’ve been out more than twenty-four hours. It’s August twenty-fifth. Does that help orient you?”
Jake nodded and relaxed somewhat. He’d made the jump as planned, but a full day had slipped away from him. Since he’d made the jump, he’d be in California. Carlson would be calling the next day, and Jake didn’t appear to be in any shape to respond.
“What happened?” he asked.
“We don’t really know,” Dr. Tracey replied. “According to your wife you were fine one moment, and then suddenly you simply keeled over and dropped unconscious to the floor. When she couldn’t get a response from you, she called for an ambulance.”
“Where am I?” Jake asked.
“Memorial Hospital. Just a few miles from where your wife says you live. She’s here somewhere with your daughter. I’ll have a nurse go find her after we’ve talked.”
“Jake!” He heard Karin’s familiar voice coming from behind the doctor. She stepped into view, his daughter, now a baby, held in the crook of her left arm. “Is he okay?” she asked the doctor, her eyes examining Jake’s face with concern.
“We are still trying to determine that,” Dr. Tracey replied. “You can stay, but please sit over there for a few minutes.”
The doctor turned his attention back to Jake. “We’ve run a great number of tests on you. For the most part you are fine, but your brain is showing some unusual swelling. I’ve never seen the like, and from what your wife has told me there is nothing that happened that would have triggered the onset. You didn’t strike your head, nor were you complaining of any headaches or confusion. For a time we feared we might have to go into your head so we could relieve the pressure.”
The look on Jake’s face wasn’t missed by the doctor.
“We didn’t have to do so,” the doctor reassured him. “Fortunately the swelling stabilized, and during the last six to eight hours appears to have been receding somewhat. That’s probably why you woke.”
“I still feel thick-headed,” Jake informed him.
“I expect you will for the immediate future. We’ll have to keep a watch on you to be certain the favorable trend doesn’t reverse itself.”
Swelling of the brain, Jake thought. It had to be the stress of the back-tracking. The headaches had become more severe with the repeated extended jumps. Karin had probably guessed at the cause of Jake’s problem, but she hadn’t told the doctor. There would have been little point. Dr. Tracey wouldn’t have believed her, and even if he had, the information wouldn’t have been useful to him. Jake’s ability was unique, and knowing that the back-tracking had most likely caused the swelli
ng wouldn’t have helped the doctor cure the problem.
Jake reached out cautiously for his earlier self. He smiled faintly to himself as he sensed himself there. The ability wasn’t lost. But, for the first time ever he could sense something else. His mind was screaming at him that he shouldn’t reach out to that previous self and attempt to connect. Jake was certain that any attempt to back-track at the moment would have serious repercussions.
“When can I leave?” he asked softly.
“I don’t know. That remains to be seen. Certainly not for a while. Not today, and probably not tomorrow. I am willing to bet you will find standing a challenge at the moment. We’ll give that a try a little later, after you’ve been awake a while longer. I’ll want to repeat some of the scans and monitor the swelling to be certain things are progressing in the proper direction. There is no reason to hurry. A few days might make a big difference in how well you recover from this.”
Jake knew there was reason to hurry. Something was about to happen that threatened thousands of lives, but he couldn’t tell the doctor that. On the other hand, his unique ability might be threatened. He couldn’t be certain he would be able to back-track again, which would make helping Carlson questionable. Even if he waited until he was cured, and the ability returned fully functional, back-tracking to this time would place him in his current self, which wouldn’t be helpful.
“I’ll go arrange for the tests,” Dr. Tracey said. “It’ll be a half hour or so. Why don’t you talk to your wife while I’m gone. She’s been very worried.”
Dr. Tracey and the nurse left, leaving Jake and Karin alone. She came over and brushed Jake’s lips with her own. “You scared me,” she said, her eyes moist.
“Sorry,” Jake said. “Nothing like this has ever happened before.”
“Something is up?” Karin asked in a way that only Jake would know what she was referring to.
Jake nodded. “A big one. Susan will be calling tomorrow. If I’m still here you might have to talk with her for me.”
“Jake, you’re in no shape to try and help Susan this time.”
“It’s more complicated than that.”
Jake motioned Karin closer. He whispered in her ear. Briefly he explained that he’d already successfully helped Carlson, but a threat to the three of them now forced him back to revisit this time. He indicated he’d explain in full once they were somewhere secure.
When Karin stood up, the worry was obvious in her eyes. Jake didn’t know if it was because he’d warned her of an unknown threat, or whether she was concerned he’d have to back-track with uncertain consequences to resolve the problems facing them.
“Can I hold Janna?” Jake asked.
Karin smiled for the first time, and settled their daughter into Jake’s arms, careful to avoid the tubes that connected him to the equipment.
“You should see her as a one year old,” Jake said softly.
Karin’s eyes widened as she realized the implication of Jake’s simple statement, uttered so softly no one else could have heard.
Chapter 24
When the orderlies came to take Jake for his tests, another CT scan and MRI, he persuaded Karin to go home and get some sleep. She didn’t want to go, but the bags under her eyes revealed how tired she was. The only sleep she’d had in over twenty-four hours was what she had been able to grab sitting in the chair next to Jake’s bed. Janna had spent the night with a neighbor they sometimes used to watch her.
“I’m fine, and getting better,” Jake reassured her. “Take Janna and both of you get some sleep. You can come back in the morning and we’ll both hear the test results from Dr. Tracey together. I’m certain they will reveal a marked improvement.”
Karin felt guilty for leaving, but the truth was Janna was out of diapers, and she was dead on her feet. Finally, she bent and gave Jake another kiss and a wan smile, and when they wheeled him away, she waved and headed down the hall the opposite direction toward the elevators.
Jake felt the tests took far longer than was reasonable. He was forced to wait patiently as they wheeled him from place to place, up a couple of levels in the cargo elevator, and then being forced to wait for the patients ahead of him to complete their own tests. By the time the orderlies finally returned him to his room he was starving, having survived on what they had pumped into his veins since the previous day. His stomach hadn’t been a participant in that input, and was telling him in no uncertain terms that it expected the matter to be dealt with.
Fortunately he had been cleared for food by the doctor, and shortly after returning, a nurse he hadn’t seen before wheeled in a rack that supported a tray with the evening meal. Jake noted her name on the tag on her uniform. It read Bonnie. She positioned the portable table and his food tray over his bed, but at an elevation that made it difficult to really see the food he was being provided. As hungry as he was, Jake didn’t really care, and reached up and started spooning in the closest thing he could reach which was some almost mashed potatoes. The main course also included crumbly meat loaf, and some truly delicious peach cobbler.
When Nurse Bonnie came to take away the tray and present his medications, something Jake didn’t really want as he thought they were probably contributing to the vague stuffiness he still felt in his head, she asked if there was anything he wanted.
“A pencil and some paper,” Jake told her.
She nodded, and waited for him to take the pills in her presence. She told him they were supposed to help the swelling, so Jake relented and swallowed them down. She nodded happily, took the empty cup, and left to return in about ten minutes with a small tablet with lined pages and a ballpoint pen.
Jake took the offering, and sat for a minute before jotting a few notes to himself. He wanted to write a note for Karin to read privately, but he had a number of things to include and wanted a list from which to guide his composition. He had just completed creating his list, each point vague enough not to have meaning to anyone else, when Nurse Bonnie returned.
“Exercise time,” she announced. “We have orders to see if you can stand and move around on your own.”
After setting the tablet down on one of the tables, Jake turned around so his bare legs dangled off the edge of the bed. With the nurse there to support him, he gently slid off the bed and placed his feet in the red slippers that Bonnie had positioned for him. When he stood erect he felt a moment of dizziness and had to reach back to the bed to steady himself. Bonnie also kept a firm grip on him.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I’m not sure,” Jake admitted. “Let me just stand for a minute. The central processor has to get used to controlling again.”
Jake stood in place and after a couple of minutes felt the uncertainty of being upright fall away. He nodded to Nurse Bonnie who helped him walk to the door, out into the hallway and across to the nurse’s station. Jake felt the cool air on his open back, and was certain his bare butt was on display from the hospital gown which wasn’t tied very well.
“You did that better than I expected,” Bonnie said when they reached the long desk across the hall.
While she continued to support him, Jake retied the gown. Then he was led to a walker.
“See what you can do on your own,” Bonnie ordered, but stood close beside him as Jake made his way a short distance down the hallway. The walker had a seat he could use if he felt insecure. After they had gone about a hundred feet, Jake felt comfortable.
He smiled at Bonnie and said, “I think I’m good.”
“Let’s go down to the community area and back. If you can do that without a problem, then you can move around the floor on your own.”
The walk was uneventful, and soon Jake was making laps around the floor by himself. He walked for the better part of an hour, feeling stronger all the time. He felt some of the stuffiness recede, and felt his balance and motor control returning to normal. Finally he returned to the room, climbing into the bed by himself.
He worked on the note for
a while, and had just folded it and slipped it out of sight under the mattress when Nurse Bonnie returned. She hooked him back up to his instruments.
“Shift change coming up,” she told him once she had everything working to her satisfaction. “Someone else will be watching over you tonight. I thought you’d want to know that Dr. Tracey called in and said to tell you your swelling had dramatically reduced. He’ll go over the tests in detail in the morning.”
With nothing beyond television to occupy himself, Jake drifted off to sleep early, waking just after two AM. Unable to get back to sleep, he dug out the note, made a few changes and then added a section on how to access the secure video system. Karin would have to take the call from Susan Carlson that Jake knew was coming later in the day.
Karin and Janna arrived at eight-thirty when visiting hours opened, but it was another hour before Dr. Tracey suddenly appeared. As before, he quickly scanned the readings on the instruments.
“Looking good,” he informed them. “Your tests were better than I could have hoped. Only a little swelling remains. I wish we knew what triggered it in the first place.”
Dr. Tracey took ten minutes to explain what the scans had shown and compared them to the earlier results. Jake understood about half of what the doctor showed them.
“Do you think I can get out today?” Jake asked hopefully. He might be home to take the call from Carlson if he could get released this afternoon.
“I doubt that,” Tracey replied without missing a beat. “We don’t want to be premature. I think another twenty-four hours of observation would be prudent.”
Jake cursed silently to himself. Still, he needed to be in good health for what was coming, so it might be best to be certain he had fully recovered before running off to aid Carlson. While Jake knew what had triggered the problem, he didn’t know what the repercussions were going to be, and while he could sense his earlier self better with each passing hour, he could still sense that it wouldn’t have been wise to attempt a back-track. He suspected it would trigger some manner of relapse, even if not a complete collapse as the last transition had done. Even when he felt back to normal, he was going to have to limit any attempts to single jumps at most, and then hopefully short ones.